Ten Seconds With The Count

Today I was fortunate enough to get one-to-one with Michael 'The Count' Bisping. Taking part in #HuntUFC at Victoria Station, London, where the UFC announces they are giving away tickets and other goodies on a first come first serve basis; unfortunately I was too late in finding Bisping (despite being there an hour early!) and received no goods. I did however manage to get an "exclusive" on the Count's gameplan for the upcoming Mayhem fight. I should note now, I am fully aware that we all know what his gameplan shall be. Never the less I have transcribed the conversation interview fully here:

Me: "So what is your game plan for Mayhem? Beat him up on the feet?"

Bisping:"Yeah, he's gunna try and take me down and submit me, so the plan is to keep it on the feet and knock him out."

So there you have it! An insight in to the gameplanning currently being done by camp Wolfslair. Almost made it worth the seven pound train fare.

Clash of the Titans: Lesnar vs Overeem

Chichen Itza...Christ the Redeemer...The Colosseum...Machu Picchu. These are some of the New Seven Wonders of the World, announced on July 7, 2007, in Lisbon, Portugal.

Now, on the 7th of September, 2011, the Eighth New Wonder of the World has been announced:

Brock Lesnar vs Alistar Overeem.

A five round number one contender bout set for December 30th at the Mandalay Bay Arena, Las Vegas, this fight will see two of the biggest and most skilled Heavyweights clash styles in a classic 'Wrestler vs Striker' duel. Except with enough muscle in the Octagon that a collapsed canvas a la Brock vs Big Show is not out of the question.

Perhaps the best aspect to this fight is that both men have a great amount at stake. This is the beginning of Lesnar's comeback path, seeking to prove he has beaten, or at least tamed, his illness and that he is a fighter worthy to have been, and be again, a world champion. Criticised for his apparant inability to take a punch, he has taken it upon himself to dismiss the critics in the most brutal and explicit manner possible, by taking on the reigning K-1 World Champion. Should he win, even by a Fitch-esque performance, he will be rightly heralded as a worthy contender to the winner of Velasquez vs Dos Santos.

For Overeem this is the culmination of his fighting career. Carrying a fearsome reputation this is the perfect time for him to step into the Octagon and showcase his MMA skills. Well known for his striking, if he can resist the juggernaut like takedowns of Lesnar he will have shown himself to become as well rounded as his bicep muscles. A (T)KO victory over Lesnar will strike the UFC Heavyweight division like a thunderbolt and he will likely come in to the Championship fight a strong favourite, depending on how either Velasquez or Dos Santos win.

This fight is also great business for the UFC who will break the million-buy rate for the first time in this year's PPV calendar, and regardless of who wins the fight, all involved will come away at the very least a lot richer. Of course the fans are also winning here, the UFC once again displaying their knack for putting on both big money fights but also highly relevant and competitive bouts. A true product of the current sports training and nutritional science approach taken by these two fighters, this may very well be the peak of the monster heavyweight fights promised by the emergence of Lesnar and Overeem ever since they started lifting weights.

Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix: Any Point?

As has been revealed over the past couple of days reigning Strikeforce HW Champion, Alistair Overeem, has been pulled from the Grand Prix. The reason behind this was because he refused to fight on September 10th, the date Showtime has tentatively booked the semi-finals for. Overeem has stated he needs time to rehab a foot injury and so the 10th would simply have been too early. He has been replaced by the quickly surging Daniel Cormier, who is coming off of a fantastic unanimous decision win over hardy veteran Jeff Monson. The result now being that the semi-final fights are currently Antonio Silva vs. Daniel Cormier, and Josh Barnett vs. Sergei Kharitonov. Now these are still very good and relevant HW fights, but my complaint is that the Grand Prix has lost nearly all relevance.

When news of the Grand Prix broke it was considered that it was going to be the biggest MMA story of the year (though it was quickly overshadowed by the Zuffa insurance policy story). The Grand Prix's claim was that this contest would show who the number one Heavy Weight in the world is (that was not in the UFC). Yet with Overeem gone the scenario now seems to be: This GP will decide who the second best HW in the world is (that is not the in the UFC). As I said before the remaining fights are still very good, but this tournament has been bastardized to the point of obscurity in the context of its original MO.

Furthermore, it would have been nice to have seen Showtime display a bit more tact in dealing with Overeem and his injury. Despite his horror show of a fight with Werdum, a Strikeforce PPV with Overeem will perform better than one without. Keeping him off it makes no sense in terms of ratings. What seems more likely is that Showtime could hear the bell tolling as soon as Zuffa announced their takeover of Strikeforce, and so are now keen to run through their contract and let the UFC swallow Strikeforce.

The most likely outcome now will be Overeem heals and signs with the UFC. There are reports of Overeem's desire to fight Vitali and Wladimir Klitschko in a boxing match, but there is no way that is happening. It is Nick Diaz all over again, except with less weed, broken cars and triathalon meets and a lot more horse meat and bicep curls. As for the Grand Prix, it would not shock me if Cormier uses his olympic caliber wrestling to run an absolute clinic on 'Bigfoot', whilst Barnett decisions Kharitonov. By the time this all ends each of the remaining finalists will be richer for the experience, but the overall winner will be left with a mediocre belt and a better view to greener pastures, where Overeem will be riding his horses to the UFC.

The Tale of TRT, Firing Nate Marquardt and the Brave New World of Steroids.

(photo courtesy of buzzle.com)

TRT, or testosterone replacement therapy, is once again in the MMA news with the firing of Nate Marquardt from the UFC for failing to come within the acceptable level of testerone required by New Jersey Athletic Commission. What is interesting about this case is the possibility for there to be a debate on the subject of using TRT or HRT (hormone replacement therapy) considering its proximity to the Chael Sonnen debacle. Of course, there is also the possiblity that it will be brushed under the carpet because in the history of the UFC steroid use is still a relatively minor issue, and the MMA media has to focus upon upcoming fight cards. Dana White chimed in the debate today talking to mmafighting and (surprisingly) lucidly explaining how TRT works and why it is needed.

Essentially TRT is needed if a man's testosterone level is not at the peak level, that being between the ages of 21-25, genetics depending. However, TRT is generally only given to those in their late 40s and 50s. Randy Couture took HRT for his last few fights and no one expressed surprise or anger at that fact. Why? Because of his age. Marquardt is only 32 and all other things being equal he should not have to be on it. Now of course he may genuinely need it but the problem is (and this explains his firing) he has both a history of steroid taking, and he was in the process of dropping down a weight class. This is the perfect combination of factors to depict Marquardt as not needing TRT for therapeutic purposes. Moreover, if Marquardt does have low testosterone levels, as White says to mmafighting those who have previously used steroids will have naturally low levels for months as a result of testes shrinking from extraneous testosterone injections. So in Dana's mind Marquardt was either using TRT as steroids, or needed TRT because of prioir steroid abuse. It's a lose-lose situation.

Many may balk at the UFC's apparant hypocrisy considering Couture, Dan Henderson, Todd Duffee all were cleared for TRT, and others have been flagged for steroid use (whether unfairly or not) in the form of Sean Sherk, Chael Sonnen, Tim Sylvia, Chris Leben, Hermes France, Stephan Bonnar etcetc, and none of these were fired due to their steroid use. The reason they were not fired and Marquardt was is simply a case of timing. Had Marquardt been able to fight first then have been flagged for elevated testosterone levels he would still be in the UFC. The fact that he caused such matchmaking headaches literally hours before the event was due to start resulted in drawing the ire of Dana White. Chael Sonnen blatantly cheated but this wasn't known until after his fight with Anderson Silva at UFC 117.

Chael Sonnen also shows how being a useful commodity can save one's job. Put simply, Marquardt isn't good enough or liked enough to warrant Dana attempting to justify why the UFC should keep him. As White said in the mmafighting article, " I think a lot of people want to see Sonnen fight." You cannot say that about Marquardt. Prizefighting rests so much on fighter's personality that it is amazing what they can get away with provided they can get people spending their money to see them. And it's not just prizefighting. Sports, politics, religion, music, intellectual circles whatever. As long as the person at fault is loved enough, or needed to bring in money, interest etc, there will always be the majority defending them. Tiger Woods has forgotten more about cheating on his wife then any of us could hope to know, yet people are clamouring for him to be entering and winning golf opens, both fans and competitors. He is exciting to watch and brings in the sponsors that benefit all the players.  The same cannot be said of Marquardt.

I also believe Dana is right when he calls TRT a "loop-hole" for fighters to access testosterone. It has the potential to be abused just like medical marijuana is in America. With a good doctor Marquardt could have remained on TRT for the rest of his fighting career, just like a person who says the right thing to their doctor will have continuous access to marijuana whether they need it or not. Now I doubt Dana has a personal problem with TRT or even his fighters using steroids. It only becomes a problem when it screws with planned fight cards days and hours before they are scheduled to take place. With the implementation of the health insurance policy fighters using steroids as a way to recover faster from training and injuries should be a thing of the past. Of course the other benefits will always draw fighters to use them. However, it is possible for TRT to become a lot more difficult for fighters to obtain. The problem is this requires on doctors becoming more rigid in their practice and willingness to uphold the law, though I'm sure bribery can quickly crumple any attempt at moral rigidness a doctor may practice. TRT and steroids will plague the MMA and the UFC for the forseeable future. It seems the best option the UFC has is to be able to keep quiet about any high profile cases until more laws are implemented restricting use or steroids made legal in sports. It is a bleak outlook, but is there any other realistic option?

Post-Strikeforce Thoughts: Overeem and Barnett

On the surface Strikeforce, Dallas seems to have left a lot of questions unresolved. Namely, is Overeem deserving of the hype and is Barnett as good as people tend to think he is? Initial reactions trending seem to be that Werdum entered with such a bad strategy that we have no way of knowing how good Overeem really is against elite level MMA fighters. Yet I think we can take more from this fight than many are giving it credit for.

Overeem buckled Werdum on several occassions with high powered punches and knee strikes. Yes, Werdum was attempting to bait Overeem to follow him to the ground but when he was hit by those strikes, especially the knee in the second round, you can see Werdum literally fold in half. Yet it was not worth Overeem following up because of the massive submission risk that Werdum presents. The only time he entered his guard was with ten seconds left of the first and second round, and through large portions of the third round out of frustration at Werdum's ineffective butt-scooting.

The problem is many pundits are now taking this as an indication that Overeem has reached a glass ceiling in his MMA training. Yet looking through previous MMA fights I find that the Silva/Leites fight is analogous. In that fight we had a killer in Silva hurting Leites throughout the fight, yet Leites was so scared of Silva that he flopped to the ground time and time again in an attempt to avoid being hit as well as lure Silva to the ground. Yet despite that fight being atrocious no one then said that Silva was overated. Yet this is what happened in the Overeem/Werdum fight, and it will happen again if Overeem is put against another elite submission artist, just like it happened with Silva/Maia.

One thing we did learn though is that Overeem has to put combinations together. Werdum, by repeatedly tagging him when he stepped into the pocket showed that Overeem cannot rely on landing one big KO strike, especially against those unwilling to stand with him for extended period of time, which lets face it, is going to be 90% of the Heavyweight division. What he needed to do against Werdum is utilise the jab to keep Werdum at bay and then start mixing in straights and hooks, not just rely on keeping his waist bent and then looking to hit an overhand right. We know Overeem is better than that, and it would not take too much to tweek his K-1 game into an MMA game. The Reem can do whatever the hell he wants against the B-Level fighters his last 10 wins before Werdum came against, but he will have to learn how to use the jab in order to keep opponents at bay and ensure the majority of the fight is not spent stopping takedowns, and as a way to set up combinations, just like it is in boxing.

So what about Barnett? I think that his peformance was perfect, and I actually have no criticism, but I would like to address some of the criticism he is facing, namely the time it took him to put Rogers away. Considering Rogers' ground game, or lack of, many felt that given Barnett's ease with which he was able to get mount in the first round he should have finished him there and then. Yet as Barnett said in his post-interviews that wasn't the plan. The plan he had worked out with Erik Paulson was to grapple him, tire him out, use Barnett's heavy hips to wind him and pressure his lungs to set up the submission in the later rounds. It is a game plan that has been widely used in MMA. When Rick Story beat Thiago Alves, their plan was based around tiring Alves out. When GSP beat BJ Penn at UFC 94, GSP's game plan was based around tiring out BJ in the first round by clinching him against the cage and so preventing BJ from stopping the take downs in later rounds. The only difference between those two fights and the Barnett/Rogers fight is the quality of competition. However, just because Rogers isn't equal competition to Barnett doesn't mean that he should drastically alter his game plan. If we look at Lesnar/Velasquez, Lesnar did everything his corner wanted him to do...in the first 30 seconds. His rash nature helped lead him to a TKO loss. If Barnett had come at Rogers looking to put him away as fast as possible, then that could have led to Barnett getting hit or swept, all because of haste. What is obvious is that Barnett adjusted his game plan between rounds. When he realised how easy it was to get mount, he immediately locked in the arm-triangle in the second round. There was too much at stake for Barnett for him to try and finish the fight as quickly as possible. People praise GSP for being clinical, let us extended the same praise to Barnett.

It was also nice to see Barnett use striking to set up the take down in the second round. Though brief, Barnett was able to close the distance on Rogers and once inside secure the take down. I expect him to do the same thing to Kharitonov, paw quickly with the jab, follow it up with a straight right, and then either clinch followed by a trip, or else drop down against the cage, secure the single/double leg, and just proceed to pass from there en-route to a unanimous decision or arm-triangle/kimura submission win.

Josh Barnett Confirms Why He Is My Favourite Fighter

Usually an open work out is just another opportunity for the media to take a few shots of fighters hitting mitts or drilling wrestling. This is followed by the normal throng of mediocre questions, such as asking the wrestler what his gameplan is or asking the striker what he feels his biggest strength is.

Except for now.

Not content with beating up his shadow, Josh Barnett instead put on an impromptu pro-wrestling exhibition versus 'The Hammer', featuring eye rakes, chest chops, a back breaker, a clotheslines and a figure-four 'The Natural' would have been proud of. Check the MMA Fighting video for a post-fight promo that would have had The Rock tearing up...http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/06/16/at-strikeforce-workouts-josh-barnett-decides-to-put-on-a-show/

Strikeforce Fight Card: Alistair Overeem vs. Fabricio Werdum

With the second round of the Strikeforce Heavyweight World Grand Prix taking place this Saturday at the American Airlines Centre in Dallas, Texas, I thought I would take an attempt at handicapping the headline bout.

(Photo courtesy of bjjheroes.com)

Fabrico "Vai Cavalo" Werdum has undergone a renaissance recently starting with his Unanimous Decision win over Antonio "Big Foot" Silva . After weathering a harrowing first round knockdown, Werdum rallied back over two rounds, winning the decision based primarily on a strong clinch game and controlling Silva whenever the fight went to the ground. However it didn't show us anything we didn't know about Werdum already, namely when he hits, he can hit hard and he has a superlative BJJ game. However he was still content to windmill his punches and rely on non-existent head movement in an attempt to dodge punches. His chin saved him from a potential first round (T)KO. Still, he did enough to convice the judges to award the last two rounds and that is what mattered.

The fight that followed against Fedor Emelianenko has been thoroughly dissected for me to be able to largely skip it, save for me to add I believe his win was a result due more to Fedor's laziness than any game planning on Werdum's part. Yes, the fight got to the ground but only as a result of a huge knock down by Fedor. Still, a champion wins by any means and crucially he managed to lock in the armbar/triangle which led to the tap 'seen around the world'. Another (un)important consideration is that for one rare time the MMAth has even worked out. Werdum beat Silva, Werdum beat Fedor, Silva beat Fedor. Therefore Werdum>Silva>Fedor. How neat!

(photo courtesy of watchkalibrun.com).

Alistair 'The Reem' Overeem is enjoying both a 10 fight win streak in MMA as well as winning the K-1 World Grand Prix. That essentially makes him the best striker in (Heavyweight) MMA today. Yet for all this he is still considered by many a somewhat unknown product. His recent MMA wins have all come against strikers, and all of whom were either not very good (Rogers, Hunt, Thompson), should not have been in the ring (Goodridge, Fujita) or were relatively untested themselves (Duffee). However, I would argue that his K-1 win shows that we need not question his striking. So the argument against Overeem centres on his grappling.

Yet even here he is a largely proven article. His early wins came from a mixture of his BJJ game and stand-up and he won the ADCC Euro Championships (2005). He still trains his grappling as evinced by his recent training videos. It is just that we haven not seen it because his striking is so much better. We still know he has a wicked guillotine, but I am betting now his BJJ will have become primarily defensive, allowing him to stall or sweep with a view to standing the fight back up.

So who is the favourite?

I am going to have to go with Overeem and in a huge way here. If Silva and Fedor can knock Werdum down, Overeem will knock him down just by looking at him. Furthermore Overeem will not be silly enough to follow him to the ground and will be content to beckon him to stand time and time again until he is KO'd. Werdum can only win this on the ground and there is no way he is shooting a power double. That means he can only rely on trips from the clinch, and Overeems biggest strength is the clinch game. Just ask Fujita and Buentello. Overeem is too big, too strong and too good to allow such a one dimensional fighter to take the victory.