It’s been a busy week in the world of mixed martial arts. The recent announcement that Junior Dos Santos and Brock Lesnar would coach the next season of The Ultimate Fighter sent shockwaves through the MMA community.
Never before has there been such a weight difference between where the coaches fight (265lb. heavyweights) and those competing on the show (170lb. welterweights). For my full thoughts on the decision to have Dos Santos and Lesnar coach the show, visit http://www.mmahq.com/blog/2011/01/11/does-lesnar-vs-dos-santos-make-sense/. In short, I’m not a big fan of the idea and think it was a weak attempt to get ratings and reinvigorate the television show, which becomes less relevant by the season.
The other major news this week is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand-Prix, scheduled to take place throughout 2011. If they can pull it off, this tournament will be huge. It will likely solidify the victor as the number one heavyweight in the world.
Of course, the most important word is IF.
Scott Coker and his team have had trouble getting fighters to actually….ya know…fight. Coker’s inability to separate himself from the friendship side of the business and become the leader he needs to be is one of the major downfalls of Strikeforce. There are fights that people want to see happen which he for one reason or another has been unable to make. Until he does, he’ll continue to be parked behind the UFC in terms of popularity.
February 12 the first round of the grand-prix takes place. There are two fights that everyone wants to see out of this tournament: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Alistair Overeem and/or Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum (the rematch). Overeem and Werdum face off in the first round of the tournament so ultimately one of them are guaranteed to move onto the second round.
It’s now on Emelianenko to bounce back from his first loss in ten years and make one of the dream fights happen. A first round loss by Emelianenko to Antonio Silva will put a significant dent in the tournament’s marketability.
In closing, don’t buy this video game. It’s a joke and it makes the sport many of us have worked extremely hard to legitimize over the last ten years look horrible. Nothing like this happens in real life so why sell it? This is Street Fighter or Mortal Combat in a cage. People already think mixed martial arts is some bloodthirsty violent group of misfits and things like this don’t help.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5ctYwwenbQ&feature=player_embedded
Also, check out my story on the mysterious 10-8 round. It was fun to write and I think it supplies good insight into what a 10-8 round should look for.
http://www.mmahq.com/blog/2011/01/09/the-mysterious-10-8-round/
I just received word that I’ll be doing a cover story on Anthony Pettis for the next edition of Scrapp Fight Magazine. One article at a time I’m making my mark.
- - SS
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