Bring in the Fireworks!

Dana wearing a "Korean Zombie" t-shirt; paying tribute to the WEC fighter, Chan Sung Jung.

Get ready for fireworks on the big stage! The UFC and WEC merger will definitely boost the notoriety of the likes of WEC superstars Jose Aldo, Urijah Faber, and Miguel Torres.  More importantly, the wedlock will bring more excitement to the UFC and probably prove as one of the best moves for the company. I have been waiting for this move for two years. I remember watching the epic reign of terror by Urijah “the California Kid” Faber and Miguel Angel Torres and trying to figure out why Zuffa did not combine both promotions and use the marketability of Faber and Torres. Today, both fighters do not look as unstoppable as before but the WEC has grown with the influx and development of more talent.  Fighters like Scott Jorgensen, Leonard Garcia, Ben Henderson, Donald Cerrone, Antonio Banuelos, and Jose Aldo to name a few, have cemented the promotion’s relevance in the world of MMA. The marketability of these fighters is present in the newfound fan base of the “Korean Zombie”, Chan Sung Jung. Jung has garnered a positive reputation even though he has lost his last two fights. He exemplifies the spirit of the smaller sized fighters of the WEC. They have heart and always come to fight and offer excellent performances. Everyone in the WEC is excited of this bright future ahead. Miguel Torres told mmajunkie.com, "It just gives me a bigger audience to show how much of a badass I am and what a cool haircut looks like.”  WEC Lightweight Champ Ben Henderson commented, “Come January, we're going to find out how WEC guys stack up against the UFC guys and my prediction is we're going to do very well. There's a chip on our shoulders. There always have been us WEC guys not getting the notoriety and same respect as the UFC guys. Not from our peers, not from other fighters, but from fans and media. They saw a difference between WEC guys and UFC guys. Now we'll show it. You better believe every WEC guy who steps in the cage against a UFC guy; they're going to fight their butt off. I am definitely looking forward to the pay increase. I'm going to move out of my apartment, buy a house, and make sure I save enough to pay my taxes. It's cool. It's not the only factor, but it's a big factor for us WEC guys." I am especially excited for this introduction of exciting fighters. I hope this will mean that we don’t have to go through grueling fight cards that prove as disappointments like UFC 112 and UFC 120 which both looked good on paper but fell flat. I don’t want to take away from Carlos Condit’s performance at UFC 120, but the rest of the card was not good. Cheick Kongo should be let go for his pathetic showing.   UFC 112 held the first meeting between BJ Penn and Frank Edgar for the Lightweight Championship, Anderson Silva’s infamous shitty performance against Damian Maia for the Middleweight Championship and the failed superfight between Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie. I apologize for getting off subject but I really didn’t like these cards. Nevertheless, these fight cards would have been saved by bouts like Leonard Garcia vs. the “Korean Zombie” and the first fight between Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone. On last week’s episode of the Ultimate Fighter: Koscheck vs. GSP, Dana White is shown wearing a “Korean Zombie” shirt attesting to the marketability of the WEC warriors.   

Top 10: The Month of October 2010

1.      

The top ten significant events in the world of MMA, at least in my book. Here we go...

 1.    Zuffa’s sister companies, the UFC and WEC merge as a potentially new and more exciting UFC. Consequently, Jose Aldo becomes the first UFC featherweight (145lb) champion.  Both Ben Henderson (WEC Lightweight champ) and Dominick Cruz (WEC Bantamweight champ) will defend their title one more time in December at WEC 53 (last WEC event) under the WEC banner before the company is folded.

2.       Cain Velasquez defeats Brock Lesnar, ending the rein one of the UFC’s greatest Heavyweight champions in the company’s history.   Brock Lesnar defended his title a record 3 consecutive times (tying the UFC hall of famer Randy Couture).  Velasquez won brilliantly in a dominating performance by TKO in the 1^st round.

3.       The longest winning streak is brought to an end. Megumi Fujii loses via split decision in a championship matchup for Bellator’s inaugural Women’s 115lb against Zoila Frausto at Bellator 34. Heretofore, Fujii broke a record by winning 22 straight bouts.

4.       Bellator Lightweight Champ Eddie Alvarez destroys Roger Huerta at Bellator 33 via TKO (Doctor’s Stoppage) after the 2nd round in a non-title superfight.

5.        Big mouth Dan Hardy is humbled by a highlight reel KO by one of the dark horses of the UFC welterweight division, Carlos “Natural Born Killer” Condit.  I think someone else deserves a title shot over “boring” Jake Shields.

6.        Marloes Coenen becomes the second Strikeforce Women’s middleweight (135lb) champion by defeating Sarah Kaufman via submission (armbar).

7.       Nick Diaz successfully defends his Strikeforce Welterweight Championship against KJ Noons in a less than fantastic performance via unanimous decision.

8.       Middleweight powerhouse Hector Lombard defends his Bellator Middleweight title against Russian striker Alexander Shlemenko via unanimous decision at Bellator 34.  

9.       Ben Askren uses his wrestling expertise to grapple his way to a Bellator Welterweight championship, defeating Lyman Good the previous champion. Askren won via unanimous decision.

10.   Bellator 33 introduces two new inaugural champions in weight classes that lie at both extremes. Cole Konrad becomes the Heavyweight champion (206-265lb) submitting Neil Grove with a keylock. Zach Makovsky defeats Ed West via unanimous decision becoming Bellator’s first Bantamweight (135lb) champion.  

One step at a time is the policy for the UFC.  Dana White announced the merger of the WEC and UFC yesterday; consequently bringing in both the featherweight and bantamweight divisions into the UFC. Unfortunately, the UFC will not be a home for a Women’s division just yet. Dana stated that he wishes for the talent in the world of Women’s MMA to grow and mature a little before implementing a Women’s division in the UFC. Fortunately, Bellator and Strikeforce have both taken the time to develop such divisions. In the last year we have seen three divisions come to fruition with three very deserving champions. In August of 2009, the biggest fight in Women’s history, Gina Carano vs Crisitiane “Cyborg” Santos took place to determine the Strikeforce Middleweight champion (145lbs). Cyborg completely dominated Carano in spectacular fashion. Since then, Women’s MMA is on a steady rise. This month two other divisions have been graced with a champion. On October 9^th Strikeforce held another exciting bout between Sarah Kaufman who received notoriety for her KO SLAM of Roxanne Modafferi in July and Marloes Coenen for the Strikeforce Welterweight Championship (135lbs). Coenen was the first to challenge Cyborg at 145lbs for her title and lost via TKO in the 3^rd round.  She did not disappoint this time! Coenen submitted Kaufman with an armbar in the depths of the 3^rd round to be the first Women’s Welterweight Champion. Bellator completed their inaugural Women’s tournament lastnight for the Women’s 115lb division with a history making fight between Megumi Fujii and Zoila Frausto. Fujjii holds the record for most consecutive wins in MMA at 22 before she lost last night in a close contest against Zoila Frausto. Frausto was not favored to win but pulled off the biggest upset in Women’s MMA history.  I’d like to thank Bellator and Strikeforce for putting their faith in Women’s MMA. Both promotions have done a great service to the sport by empowering Women’s MMA. I wait for the day that we can watch Women’s MMA on the biggest stage in the world, the UFC.

 P.S. Women like Megumi Fujii are scrutinized in Japan by some crtiiques for fighting. Jessica Aguilar hasn’t even told her mother that she fights MMA and she was one fight away from the Bellator championship bout, but lost to a close decision against Zoila Frausto.  These women need some support that goes beyond getting paid a reasonable amount.

Here's the link for the video of Sarah Kaufman's epic slam of Roxanne Modaferri:  WATCH IT!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP9dRUtsbaU

 

Jose Aldo Plays his Cards Right!

On October 19^th, the arguably best pound for pound fighter of the world and WEC featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, declined an offer from the UFC to fight Kenny Florian at lightweight (155lbs). Good move!  The UFC announced its merger with the WEC yesterday. Now Aldo can enjoy UFC caliber pay days as the featherweight champion. To put things in perspective, a UFC champion in a typical championship bout makes as much or more than what all fighters were paid in total at WEC 48. WEC 48 was the biggest fight card payout and only WEC broadcasted on PPV ever! Aldo himself made a mere $60,000 compared to the hundreds of thousands UFC champs bring home from one fight. Who knows, Aldo may be able to dominate at 155. But these days it’s better to play your cards right and make the money where you can. Aldo should cement himself as a great WEC and UFC featherweight champ by winning two or three fights and then move up into the lightweight division. Why not start your career at the top of your division than foray into the stacked UFC lightweight division. Both, the near end of The Ultimate Fighter Season 12 (TUF 12) and the introduction of the already stacked WEC lightweight division set up an array of challenges that can tarnish a fighter’s credibility if the right match up were made and Aldo were to face defeat. Right now, Aldo looks unstoppable. I think he should play to his strengths as he is initially introduced into the mega fight circuit and see where he goes from there. I guess he doesn’t need my advice. Jose Aldo will defend his featherweight title on January 1^st, 2011 against a yet to be determined contender.