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.

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.

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.

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.

It Sucks to Be a Replacement (But It Pays)

Imagine the big boss, not your supervisor, calling you into his office and saying that he wants you to do a big project, but it has to be done quickly and at the highest caliber. You have no preparation and you have to get ready to work with material you may not have worked with before.

It happens in MMA all the time, especially in high level organizations like the UFC. Injuries happen in training, and so fighters getting ready for their big matchup occassionally have to call in sick. None of the guys ever wants to, but alot of the time it becomes a political issue (when the Nevada State Athletic Comission will not license them to fight with the injury) and an issue of performance (no one wants to put on a poor showing, because then they have to really start thinking about their next pay check).

It really sucks to be the fighter who has to call and tell UFC management that you cannot compete in your next matchup for whatever reason. It sucks because you know that you aren't going to have that nice shiny paycheck coming in and, if you're a new guy, you have to consider how long it's going to be before they call you again.

However, when a door closes for one guy, it becomes open for another. The issue then becomes whether or not the fighter is in shape, whether he's prepared for the opponent and whether he can make weight.

You see, a matchup never goes off a card because one fighter can't make it. If you can't fight in the UFC, they will find someone to fight instead. They have that kind of money and prestige.

Being the guy that gets the nod to come in and fight as a replacement has its perks. You get to fight in the biggest organization on the planet and you get to fight a top flight opponent, but at what cost.

When you get called up by the UFC as a replacement, it is almost always close to the fight date. At most, it gives a fighter two or three weeks to be ready for a fight against an opponent that has been training for six or eight, preparing his strength and cardio to go 15 minutes with an opponent that has been training as hard as he has.

Fighters, like every athlete, track their training schedules so that they peak at fight time. When you get called two weeks before, that's a pretty small peak.

That isn't to say that the fighter ever comes in as the pillsbury doh-boy (unless they always look like that), but they don't have the same level of conditioning that comes from training their ass off for ten weeks getting ready to tear an opponents head off.

The other major issue is weight. Almost all fighters, in this day and age, have to cut weight. If you don't have a good deal of notice, this can leave you drained for the actual fight.

The cost of being a replacement is high. You have to rush to be ready, but if it pays off, it pays off. Fighters who win as replacements almost always get called back, even if they have to take their opponent to a decision, because the management knows that they won, even though they weren't at 100%, and that's what makes the big boss excited.

When a fighter comes in as a replacement and puts on a great show, if he finishes his opponent or at least goes to war with his opponents (even in a loss) he can get alot of attention for himself.

Eddie Sanchez came in as a replacement for current UFC #1 heavyweight contender Gabe Gonzaga and made his UFC debut on short notice against Mario Neto. When Sanchez KO'd Neto the fans weren't all talking about it, but it was clear that the management was. After all, they gave Sanchez an incredible matchup for his second fight: asking him to fight Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic, the best striker in the heavyweight division, ranked #2 in the world at the time.

While Sanchez was destroyed by CroCop, he got the opportunity to fight a top flight fighter.

Being the replacement has it's disadvantages, but the management of organizations like the UFC know that. They don't expect the replacement to pull it off, but if it happens, they know that they need to call that guy back, they need to find out what he can do.

No one expects the replacement to win, but when he does, it pays.

Ken "The World's Most Dangerous Man" Shamrock

To alot of new fans to the sport, they know Ken Shamrock as the fighter that Tito Ortiz kept beating up, but Ken Shamrock is a pioneer in the sport, he's one of the few guys that I can honestly say is responsible for the sport being where it is today.

Of all of the spokesmen for the sport over the 13 years since the UFC was founded, Ken Shamrock has been there. Ken was at UFC 1, where he beat Patrick Smith before losing to Royce Gracie.

Shamrock fought in the Pancrase organization before the founding of the UFC, but as soon as he was given the opportunity to fight at UFC 1 he dove in, fighting at UFC's 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 before returning to Japan to fight in the PRIDE organization.

Over the course of the first 9 UFC events, the sport began to evolve and when Ken Shamrock fought Royce Gracie at UFC 5, the torch was officially passed from the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu fighter who won the first 2 UFC events to the self-proclaimed "World's Most Dangerous Man."

Ken Shamrock was a submission fighter who specialized in leglocks, but his athleticism and strength, as well as his understanding of the sport made him dangerous whether the fight was standing or on the ground.

Shamrock became the first Superfight champion after UFC 6, when he defeated Dan Severn. He would defend the Superfight belt at UFCs 7 and 8, but would lose it to Severn at UFC 9 before he left the UFC until his return at UFC 40.

While Shamrock's career as a fighter was not the most impressive of his generation, his charisma and his ability to articulate the purpose and artistry of the sport made him a spokesman for MMA in America.

Shamrock openly debated with Senator John McCain on Larry King Live. He questioned the logic in McCain's opposing MMA but allowing boxing (a sport with a considerable higher mortality rate than MMA, which has managed to maintain a rate of 0).

Ken would return to the UFC as an icon because of his candidness about his support for the sport and his ability to speak up and articulate the feeling the the MMA community.

When Ken returned to the UFC, he would be plagued by an inability to beat, really, anybody of merit. He lost to Tito Ortiz in his return to the Octagon at UFC 40, followed by a win over the aging Hawaiian fighter Kimo Leopoldo. Shamrock would then lose to Rich Franklin, proving that his age might be too severe a handicap for him to compete with the younger generation of fighters.

After losing to Franklin, Shamrock returned to PRIDE where he lost to Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba. He would then return to the UFC and lose two more times to Tito Ortiz.

While the end of Shamrock's career seems uncertain, it isn't certainly not as glorified as it should be, given his contributions to the sport as a champion and a political advocate.

Shamrock brought fighters to the helm of the movement to legalize MMA and, though the movement would be solidified later by UFC President Dana White, Shamrock made it possible by not allowing politicians to label the fighters as heathens.

Shamrock is one of 4 UFC Hall-of-Famers, along with Royce Gracie, Dan Severn and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture.

While Shamrock's fighting career may prove his mortality, his contributions to the sport as a figurehead and an icon are indisputable.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

On 7/7/07, the day of UFC 73: Stacked, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will be welcoming a PRIDE legend into their heavyweight division. His name is Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Nogueira is one of the most dangerous heavyweights in the world and most rankings have him listed in the top 3 heavyweights.

Nogueira is a legend in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts for a handful of reasons. His world class boxing skills and his legendary Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu abilities are among them, but what sets him apart is something even more incredible.

Nogueira, affectionately known as Big Nog to man MMA fans, started his professional MMA career in June of 1999, submitting his way to prestige and gaining entrance to the RINGS organization, which also birthed many other stars that would later become famous in the PRIDE organization.

Nogueira's first loss came at the hands of Dan "Hollywood" Henderson, who would later go on to become the first fighter in history to hold belts in two different weight classes at the same time. Henderson is the only fighter to do so and currently holds the PRIDE 205 and 185 pound titles. While Nogueira did lose on the judges scorecards, the fight was close and he beat the Olympic silver medalist on one scorecard.

Nogueira then went 13-0-1, finishing 10 of his opponents with the Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu he quickly became known for. Among the opponents he beat were former UFC Heavyweight Champion Mark Coleman (submission), Gary Goodridge (submission), Heath Herring (Unanimous Decision), Bob Sapp (submission), Semmy Schilt (submission) and a cleansing of his only loss by beating Dan Henderson (submission).

After the displays of his groundgame, Nogueira was considered one of the most dangerous fighters in the world, but his next fight would be a challenge that many would never forget.

Nogueira stepped in the ring with Fedor Emelianenko at the PRIDE 25: Body Blow event in 2003 and though the fight would prove to be the most grueling of Nogueira's career and establish a hold on the PRIDE heavyweight division that Emelianenko would never let go of, Nogueira showed the world what he was really about.

For 20 minutes the fight between Emelianenko and Nogueira went on, and Emelianenko's standing ground and pound attack would overwhelm Nogueira and keep him from getting any of the leverage that he needed to pull of a submission victory, Nogueira hung tough and though he took punch after punch from Emelianenko.

The future PRIDE champion was unable to finish Nogueira and though he won on the judges scorecard, Nogueira became famous for his ability to take punishment and not give up.

Nogueira has only lost to one other fighter besides Emelianenko since then, a split decision loss to Josh "The Baby-Faced Assassin" Barnett which he avenged on New Year's Eve, December 31, 2006.

While Nogueira has accumulated another loss to Fedor, he has still never been finished, a feat that is very impressive, given the level of competition he has fought.

Nogueira is ranked by many the #3 heavyweight in the world and will be making his UFC debut on the UFC 73: Stacked card against Heath Herring for the third time. It promises to be a new chapter for the UFC heavyweight and gives the UFC two of the sports top 3 heavyweights under contract.