A New Day, A New Piece

So, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the upcoming fight between Michael Bisping and Charles McCarthy, not so much because I think it's a fight of the year candidate (but you never know), and more because I think that a fighter demonstrating that guys who drop down from 205 can have alot of success will attract the attention of guys who feel like they're being screwed in the lightheavyweight division.

I'm not going to name names...... okay, I will.

I think it's a little fucked up that Forrest Griffin gets a title shot still relatively soon after his loss to Jardine, while guys like Thiago Silva are just passed over. I know Forrest beat Shogun, but I'm shocked that essentially one fight has made him a title contender.

Lightheavyweight Rankings

As with my heavyweight rankings, I'm not going to offer reasoning where I don't feel it's needed. This is one of the more complex divisions, as it's been pretty well mixed together since the integration of the UFC and Pride as 205, but I think my rankings are pretty solid, even given the craziness that exists within this division.

1. Quinton Jackson

2. Dan Henderson

3. Lyoto Machida

People will definitely feel as though I have to justify this ranking, but let me start by saying that I think having Keith Jardine ranked as #3 is ridiculous. I am equally upset by the fact that Dean Lister, Houston Alexander (who beat Jardine badly) and Thiago Silva are not ranked, despite having performed much better than the list Sherdog offers. As for ranking Machida at 3 when sherdog doesn't seem to think he's even top 5 material. I'll say that I think his undefeated record is very impressive, while I may not be totally impressed by his win over BJ Penn (something I've talked about before). I see some of his opponents as being serious top guys, especially Sokoudjou and Nakamura, and I feel that he shouldn't be underestimated, as he is one of the most formidable fighters in the division, and far and away the most versatile.

4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Sokoudjou is a warrior. He has stopped two fighters who are the best in the world at what they do and while his loss to Machida has shaken out some of his mystery, I still think he's one of the most interesting fighters. He has serious athleticism and powerful explosiveness. I know people will dispute this ranking, say that a guy who has been finished recently cannot be this high in the rankings. CroCop didn't drop from the top five after his loss to Gonzaga. Barnett didn't drop after his loss to CroCop. That statement is untrue in regards to the world ranking. It's about losing to a respected opponent, and I feel that Machida is both respected and respectable, as is clear in my ranking of him.

5. Thiago Silva

6. Houston Alexander

This is my greatest problem with Sherdog, and it's one that is perpetual, not just because of this one ranking. They do not respect the up and comers. They need to see it far too often before they acknowledge it as a fighting style and not a fluke (as they did before Sokoudjou's fight with Ricardo Arona, and as they have done with dozens of fighters over the last few years), either that or they fall into a trap of believing it is a fighting style when it's an act of fight-specific planning (as they did with CroCop and Gonzaga going into the Couture fight, thinking Gonzaga's striking would be overwhelming). Alexander has been proven. Jardine is now considered a legitimate fighter (and is ranked 3 by Sherdog), but Alexander destroyed him. Alexander is an explosive fighter, as is Silva. These are not guys who bring one solid performance. I am severely disappointed that Thiago Silva is not the next 205 pound contender, but when he is (I don't personally see it as a matter of "if") he will get the opportunity to prove that his viceral style of striking is the real deal, and not just some fluke. Alexander will continue to do the same.

7. Chuck Liddell

8. Keith Jardine

It's clear that I don't care that much that Jardine beat Liddell. The fact is, Jardine has won two fights, and that is the basis most people see to put him in the top 5. That is stupid. He beat Liddell by split decision (meaning one judge gave the other fight to Liddell), but Liddell has a history in this division and has finished more than one opponent, unlike Jardine. I think it's a great disrespect to Liddell to have him ranked so much lower, or even lower at all, that Jardine, given the clear differences in their record and the fact that Jardine barely won that fight. While I think Jardine is higher on the lightheavyweight ladder within the UFC, I think that Liddell deserves a higher ranking.

9. Forrest Griffin

10. Mauricio Rua

I am not sure that I really want Rua to be ranked 10, and I almost put Wanderlei Silva in that spot instead, but I am taking into account the fact that, not long ago, Rua was ranked one. If he can wean himself off of his dependence on the Pride rules, he will be fine, otherwise, he will be in trouble, and may be dropped from the rankings altogether.

Tito Ortiz: Sometimes Bad is Good

Of all the fighters in the sport of mixed martial arts, by far the most controversial and most polarized is Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz, and he seems to get attention inside and outside of the cage, regardless of who his opponent is. He's been in open conflict with the Lion's Den, single handedly smashing the upper echelon of the gym and gaining fame and fortune (and a porn-star girlfriend) in the meantime.

At the beginning of his career, Ortiz seemed to be simply a shadow of mixed martial arts heavyweight legends like Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman, trying to use the groundnpound style of fighting that the men had perfected. Ortiz made his debut at UFC 13 in the tournament style that was popular during the period.

While Ortiz TKO'd his opening opponent, Wes Albritton, with the explosive groundnpound for which he would become famous later in his career, he dropped his second fight to Guy Mezger when he got caught in a guillotine choke by the more experienced Mezger. (On top of two UFC's matches at UFC's 4 and 5, Mezger had competed in almost twenty matches in Japan's Pancrase organization) The fight would be a lead up to the long standing conflict between Tito and the Lion's Den gym that Mezger represented.

Ortiz took a break after losing to Mezger, partly to recooperate from the mental damage of a loss and partly to really hone his groundnpound and learn to defend submissions like the one that Mezger had caught him in.

Ortiz returned to the sport more than a year later, in December of 1998, to fight Jeremy Screenton in West Coast No Holds Barred. Ortiz TKO'd screenton in 16 seconds, and would quickly be resigned by the UFC.

At this point, Ortiz really began to exploit his charisma, which many credit with helping the expansion of the sport more than anything else. He began to hype his fight with Jerry Bohlander, a teammate of Guy Mezger's, making it an issue of revenge for his loss and verbally attacking Lion's Den coach Ken Shamrock. While the Lion's Den fighters did not take him too seriously, when Ortiz TKO'd Bohlander after fourteen and a half minutes, they started to get a little upset. While Shamrock had yet to become vocal, Mezger took some open offense to Ortiz's comments and requested a fight with Tito.

In Tito's second UFC fight since his return, he hyped up his fight with the Lion's Den even more, and the UFC put together one of the earliest high-profile grudgematches in the sport: the rematch between Tito Ortiz and Guy Mezger. While the hype on paper did little for long time hardcore fans, the new fans that Ortiz managed to bring in with his charisma and open disrespect for much more seasoned fighters left many long term fans hoping Mezger would put him in his place for the second time, and many new fans wondering if this kid from LA was really as tough as he said he was.

The fight with Bohlander was also the debut of what would be one of Tito's many calling cards in later year. His gravedigger finish had already become noticed by some fans, but the addition of the victory t-shirts that would become the subject of alot of arguments among hardcore fans and fans who loved the flare came after Bohlander, when he donned a shirt that said: "I just fucked your ass."

Ortiz finished Mezger even quicker than he had finished Bohlander, cutting near 15 minutes down to around 10 and picking up another TKO on his record.

The t-shirt after this fight read: "Gay Mezger is my bitch." and it pissed Ken Shamrock off enough that he began to address the conflict himself.

In his next fight he would get the opportunity for a really, really dangerous opponent, as he was matched up with UFC middleweight (a title that, at that time, was 205 pounds) champion Frank Shamrock, the blood-brother of Lion's Den leader.

Frank had already become a legend in the Pancrase organization that had really brought his blood-brother into the spotlight and it was a fight that Tito hyped up like it was Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston, saying that it was time for the young up-and-comer to bring the sport into the new age.

The fight, though, didn't go like Ali vs. Liston at all. Shamrock stopped Ortiz with strikes in 4:42 of the fourth round of their title fight.

In what some would call the lone show of respect in Ortiz's career, he put on a Frank Shamrock t-shirt after the fight.

Shamrock left the UFC due to a contract dispute shortly after, vacating his title. Ortiz (the only fighter to last more than one round in the Octagon with Shamrock) was named an immediate contender. His opponent was to be Japanese MMA legend Wanderlei "The Axe-Murderer" Silva, who had started to make a name for himself in the Japanese upstart at the time, the Pride Fighting Championships." Silva had also already had a few fights in the UFC.

Tito beat Silva in what would be the first decision win of Ortiz's career, staying on top of Silva and pounding him with elbows for five rounds.

His next fight would be the beginning of his major tear in the UFC, as he finished Yuki Kondo two mintues into the first with a vicious neck crank.

The t-shirt has become one of the most notable sayings, not just from Ortiz, but in all of MMA: "RESPECT: I don't earn it; I just fucking take it."

Ortiz would continue to dismantle all of the fighters put in front of him as he slammed future 185 pound champion Evan Tanner for a 32 second win and stopped Australian Elvis Sinosic with a cut from his elbows at 3:32 in the first.


Above: Highlight reel of Ortiz in his prime as the lightheavyweight champion.

After Ortiz fought Russian warrior Vladimir Matyushenko, winning against by decision, a match was lined up with Lion's Den head Ken Shamrock. Some of the newer Ortiz fans, who had drawn in with his charisma and explosiveness, didn't know of the old rivalry between the two fighters, but Ortiz made sure to let them know.

Now Tito was the champion and Shamrock was the challenger, but many saw the future UFC Hall-of-Famer Shamrock as a god of mixed martial arts, and some referenced the fight Tito had had with Ken's brother as what would probably end up happening in this fight.

Ortiz would beat Shamrock when his corner threw in the towel at the end of the third round, but it would be Ortiz's last fight in the Octagon for a year.

Severe personal problems forced Ortiz to leave the UFC, and some of the stories are more myth than fact (some involve him wrapping a car around a tree, some involve overdoses and drunk bar fights).

Ortiz returned to the UFC after almost an entire year off in September of 2003 to fight interim champion Randy Couture. Couture was a former heavyweight champion (and currently holds the heavyweight strap) who came down to 205 for different challenges.

Couture would outclass Ortiz in a matchup of a Division I national champion and a Junior college warrior. It was clear that Ortiz was not the same fighter, or at least that the sport had gotten away from him a little bit.

Ortiz would then drop his next fight to another DI wrestler (though not national champion) in Chuck Liddell, when he was stopped for the first time since his fight with Frank Shamrock almost five years before.

His next fight was more of a stepping stone fight then anything else, when Ortiz beat Canadian Patrick "The Predator" Cote.

The UFC then set up a matchup of former champions, matching Ortiz against Brazilian warrior and UFC legend Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort. Belfort made a war of the fight, taking Ortiz the judges scorecards, but two of the judges overruled the third and gave the fight to Ortiz.

After being declared the winner, Ortiz would make the first political statement of his career; his t-shirt didn't insult Belfort (a fighter who had been one of the most dominant in the sport for the prime of his career), instead it read "Bring Home Our Troops!"

Ortiz's next fight would also end in a split decision, when he beat Forrest Griffin in what would prove the most controversial win of Ortiz's career, a decision that is still questioned today.

With the clear impossibility of passing Ortiz off as a serious title contender, regardless of his charisma, the UFC management set up another match with Shamrock. Ortiz won easily.

Though there was some minor controversy that might have been overlooked, Ortiz took another fight with Shamrock, and the third fight resembled the second in an order of deja vu with extra elbows.

While Ortiz's recent career has included a tough second loss to then 205 pound champion Chuck Liddell in his title shot and a draw with Rashad Evans that Ortiz might have won without a point deduction, Ortiz remains one of the greatest champions in the sports history and a definite candidate for the hall-of-fame.