MMASucka

After rumors persisted about Chicago native and WWE superstar CM Punk walking down to the Octagon with Chael Sonnen at UFC on FOX 2 this Saturday night, it made me wonder if the UFC and WWE can work together and crossover. When talking to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, Chael Sonnen made an interesting point about why he wanted “The Voice of the Voiceless” to walk out to the cage with him.

One… we’re friends, two… I really like him, three… it’s his hometown, four… he’s a big UFC fan and five… there is major crossover.  A number of years ago I think we all thought we had to compete with each other. That boxing, MMA and wrestling thought that we were going to have to have our own fans but what we have learned with time is that it’s not true. People are crossover fans and just all around fans, especially when you’re talking about CM Punk here in Chicago. That guy is royalty around here and I think it would have been fun for both of us.

Chael touched on an interesting point that I have been saying for years. How is professional wrestling, which is sports entertainment, in direct competition with the UFC? They don’t compete directly with PPVs nor do they compete directly on cable television. Show me how the UFC or the WWE have suffered in pay-per-view revenue because of one another?

It also seems that Dana White has a great deal of respect and admiration towards Vince McMahon. You can see how some of the marketing over the last couple of years has emulated professional wrestling in some respects. Yes MMA is a legitimate sport, and professional wrestling is professional athletes acting. I know… I get it. Please keep the hate mail to yourself and hear me out.

I know some of you are pulling your hair out once again because I just compared the UFC to the WWE, but I hate to burst your bubble, there are  a lot of fighters who have also grasped onto the idea that marketing oneself through cutting a good promo and hyping a fight is a great way to get noticed and make money. Sure nobody is ripping their shirts off and telling you to say your prayers and eat your vitamins, but adding a little spice and bringing out some personality is sure a hell of a lot better than thanking your trainers, God, and telling the fans that you will fight whoever the UFC lines up. Zzzzz…boring.

Chael Sonnen seems to understand this “technique” the most. Sure, it’s not for everyone. The sport still needs guys like GSP and Junior Dos Santos; all round good guys who do their talking in the cage. The sport is full of honorable classy guys and gals who feel they don’t need to talk a bit of trash, but you have to love Nick Diaz, Chael Sonnen, Michael Bisping, Josh Koscheck, Ronda Rousey and Josh Barnett for stepping out of that mold and giving the UFC and Strikeforce some personality. Imagine if all fighters were like NHL hockey players? I don’t think the sport would survive. It’s the fight game and with fights there needs to be hype. This has been the way since the beginning of time. Hell, it worked wonders when the Romans promoted their Gladiators. Not much has changed.

Getting back to the point or the question of why the UFC can’t cross promote with the WWE? It’s not like it hasn’t happened before. Remember when Ken Shamrock made his run in the WWF back in the 90’s? He came into professional wrestling  in his prime and was marketed as the “The World’s Most Dangerous Man,” a moniker ABC News gave him while he was fighting in the controversial UFC.  He was a UFC fighter getting into the WWF ring to feud with the likes of Vader, Brett “The Hitman” Hart and Shawn Michaels to name a few.

The WWF at the time had no problems having a former UFC fighter in their stable. To them it brought more legitimacy to their brand of sports entertainment.  Since then we have seen boxers like Mike Tyson, Buster Douglas and Floyd Mayweather cross promote within the WWE realm. Why would it be so crazy to see a UFC fighter do the same? Or vice versa?

Before Brock Lesnar retired there were rumors of him doing a special appearance at a Wrestlemania event to promote his upcoming UFC bout. Now how close that was to coming to actual fruition is not known. Those were merely just rumors and nobody really knows if that was accurate.

However, now that Lesnar is retired, do you not think that if he returned to the WWE that the storyline would be a former UFC heavyweight champ makes his return to the WWE ring? First off,  it’s not a matter of “if” it’s a matter of “when” Brock Lesnar returns to the WWE. They wouldn’t all of a sudden put him into their video game if they didn’t think he would make a return. The WWE is going to take their time in building his return to professional wrestling much like they have done with The Rock and his upcoming Wrestlemania bout with John Cena. Think about it, Lesnar hasn’t been in a WWE video game since “Here Comes The Pain” in 2003. Why did they all of a sudden include him now? When Lesnar does make his much anticipated debut how many UFC fans do you think will be tuning in? Don’t lie…you’ll watch.

Professional Wrestling, the UFC and boxing have proved that they can co-exist because in some ways they have very different target markets. Guess what? Some of their audience do crossover to each other. It is true Boxing has an older demographic, WWE has a younger demographic and the UFC seems to have an audience somewhere in the middle. Since the UFC has become more mainstream, those audiences are starting to blur into each other, which is great for all three sport entities. Why can’t someone enjoy boxing, MMA and wrestling? From what I’m seeing there are quite a few people who do.

Chael Sonnen is now playing down CM Punk’s appearance at UFC on FOX 2, claiming Vince McMahon kyboshed the idea. Who knows how accurate that is? WWE’s Royal Rumble is the next day and a little advertising at a UFC event to try and get a few more PPV buys doesn’t hurt. I wonder if this is Chael playing the media to make CM Punk’s appearance even more surprising when it does happen. We shall see. Nothing surprises me anymore.

Last year, there were meetings between Dana White and Vince McMahon. DW has never really divulged what those meetings were about. I do know at the time the WWE needed permission to use Brock Lesnar in their 2012 WWE video game and also allow Brock to promote it. Maybe there was an agreement in place to work together when it was convenient to help promote pay-per-views. With economic times being tough in the States, finding another marketing channel to advertise on once in a while is not always a bad thing.

Why would it be so crazy to see CM Punk walk down with Sonnen? It’s really not that big of a deal. We have seen WWE stars at live UFC events in the past. If Mike Goldberg were to mention that CM Punk is walking out with Chael Sonnen, and elude to the fact that he is involved in the WWE’s Royal Rumble on Sunday afternoon, would that be a bad thing? We have seen boxing and the WWE do crossovers. This symbiotic relationship has led to Batista walking out with Manny Pacquiao and HHH accompanying Mayweather to the ring.

On occasion, I don’t think there is anything wrong with having a UFC fighter do an appearance at a WWE event, or seeing a WWE guy walk out with a UFC fighter. Or maybe we see a UFC star like Nick Diaz try his hand at professional boxing or a high profile professional boxer enter the Octagon…oh wait we saw that already…never mind. You get what I mean.

MMA fans quiver when someone compares their sport to professional wrestling. What people forget is that if it wasn’t for professional wrestling, there would be no UFC. Here is something you may not have known. The UFC would have never had season one of the Ultimate Fighter on Spike had it not been for Vince McMahon giving Spike permission to air the show after Monday Night Raw. The rest is history. That is a fact.

That said, the UFC and WWE can work together on occasion and it can be mutually beneficial. I’m not sure what the big deal is. I haven’t been a huge WWE fan since “The Attitude Era” ended but I can understand the buzz that is created when the two organizations do a little crossover. It’s all in good fun. It’s true that Professional wrestling and MMA are apples and oranges but let’s not forget that they do come from the same fruit bowl.

-Corner Man-

Follow Trevor Dueck on Twitter @tdueckmania

Earlier in the week The Ultimate Fighting Championship publicly supported the SOPA Bill which was probably one of the worst pieces of legislation in the twenty first century.

I don’t think the UFC realized that there would be so much backlash. A part of me wants to believe that Lorenzo Fertitta and the UFC threw their support blindly at a bill they thought was only about killing online piracy. Unfortunately, it has caused another week of UFC public relations clean up. When you line yourself up with corporate bad guy like Walmart there should be enough alarm bells going off to think it might be a bad decision.

If you are not familiar with SOPA or PIPA I recommend reading this great piece written by Miranda Miller. It will help you understand in simple terms what certain members of the US Government and the entertainment industry are trying to do. It also explains that there are other ways to fight piracy without government having control of the internet.

Luckily SOPA’s recent attempt at becoming law failed miserably, largely due to the protest of online giants like Google, Microsoft, Wikipedia, EA, Twitter, Facebook, to name a few. How the UFC thought the SOPA bill was a good idea when so many were against it is beyond me. However, for those of you who think that it’s over, it’s not. The bill will be rewritten and the powers that be will pretend that they have been compromising. It’s all part of the master plan.

Now let me make something clear, just because you don’t support SOPA or PIPA, doesn’t mean you support piracy or theft. The bigger issue with the proposed bills was the infringement on the rights and freedoms of people online. Giving the US Government control over the internet is a slippery slope. That kind of power would be a huge knife in the heart of the so called “democracy” or freedom of speech that Unites States, Canada and many other free countries were built on. You have to ask yourself how that sort of control over online content is any different than what Communist China currently does. The idea that this kind of power would only be used to fight international online pirates is a red herring. Giving any Government control of what you see online would be a complete travesty.

Now I won’t go on a rant about how North America as a whole is not a true democracy. It’s a well known fact that true democracy is dead. Sorry to break that news to you. I want to believe the last thing the UFC wanted to do was to back something that infringed on democracy and promoted censorship. There is no depth to the amount of hypocrisy I think that would stir up.  Isn’t the UFC fighting a similar battle in New York?

Like many entertainment companies before, the UFC has shouted to the heavens that they are at war with online piracy. They have sunk millions of dollars to try and fight it. What they don’t understand is it’s a futile war. Most of the entertainment industry is so behind the times that they will never catch up. In fact a lot of the piracy that is going on today was because these corporate giants never changed with the times. Unfortunately SOPA was and is not the answer. If anything it is a giant step backwards.

I’m not going to sit here on my high horse and write about how I don’t condone online piracy. I know many people who download torrents but also purchase media too. I’m not a pessimist, I’m just a realist when I say that it will always be around and it will never go away. Especially when there are millions of people around the world who access it.

Downloading media has become a regular thing among the masses. For anyone who is currently reading this don’t pretend that it’s not a fact. Let’s be honest we live in a day and age where we have access to free media. I’m not seeing Lady GaGa taking the bus to work and hoping she has enough money to pay her mortgage.

Just recently Megaupload (major international file sharing conglomerate) got their assets seized by the US government for breaking US piracy laws. What is really scary is the precedent that has taken place. If the United States can seize a Dutch citizen in New Zealand over a copyright claim, what is next? Funny how all of that happened just as the SOPA bill was trying to be passed…but I digress. However, somebody else will come along and continue where Megaupload left off.  I read a great quote the other day that I think puts everything in perspective.

“I am concerned about the corruption of government by media companies particularly,” according to Susanowa. “I have worked for a major label and also as a musician and band promoter and I know exactly how the entertainment business screws artists, suppresses product, bungles distribution and promotion and basically is actually bad for musicians and artists. The fact that a law like SOPA or PIPA can be fast-tracked with no mention on the nightly news, no debate, in closed sessions & the rest of it is alarming and indicates the power of corruption that the entertainment industry has to suppress information and produce, push or alter legislation that harms almost everyone in their pursuit of a trumped-up reason (pirates!) for their own business-model failures of the last 20 years.” -Miso Susanowa-

The UFC supporting SOPA was a bad PR decision. Instead, they should just focus on continuing to put on entertaining fights but keep those fights in the Octagon. This letter written by the UFC about their support for SOPA only makes them look silly.  If anything all of the backlash has probably been a slap in the face to UFC executives when it comes to throwing their support to any political agenda. Maybe this will be a hard lesson learned or maybe not. Let’s hope the UFC is really not this out of touch. I’ve always been told not to talk about religion and politics at the dinner table. It’s best to keep these sort of dealings in the back room.

The entertainment business needs to realize that they are fighting a losing battle. Instead of spending millions of dollars to try and fight piracy, why not try to find ways that make their product more accessible and, hate to say it, affordable. To be fair though, the UFC does do a good job of making their shows available in different formats. I don’t blame them for wanting to make as much money as possible, but to support SOPA was just bad form. There are other avenues to take that could help combat illegal streaming of their live events.

For now, the UFC needs to stay behind the scenes instead of issuing public statements against American rights and freedoms. Somebody needs to remind them that it wasn’t too long ago that there were bills trying to be passed to outlaw the sport of professional mixed martial arts.

Below is a very interesting video of how some of the major networks who are trying to pass bills like SOPA or PIPA had a hand in the piracy phenomenon. Feel free to voice your comments while you still can.

-Corner Man-

@tdueckmania

Las Vegas, Nevada – The Ultimate Fighting Championship® announced today the addition of two new staff members who will play key roles in the organization’s television production efforts. Former ESPN Deportes coordinating producer Kieren Portley joins UFC as Vice President of Studio and Spanish Production, while former ESPN producer Zach Candito takes the role of Event Producer for UFC’s weigh-in, pre- and post-fight shows on FUEL TV.

Portley, an Emmy Award-winning producer, spent 10 years at ESPN and was responsible for the creation of popular shows such as MMA Live, Fantasy Football Now, and other high profile content. While at ESPN Deportes, the University of Rhode Island graduate was responsible for all cross platform original content and sales integration. In his new role, Portley will oversee a variety of UFC studio productions with a concentration in Spanish-language broadcasts. He will be based out UFC’s offices in Los Angeles.

Also an Emmy Award-winner, Candito spent five years at ESPN, producing the hit shows MMA Live and Fantasy Football Now, while also creating digital content for ESPN.com. A graduate of Quinnipiac University in Connecticut with a degree in broadcast journalism, Candito will manage and produce UFC’s weigh-in, pre- and post-fight shows. He’ll also work closely in production elements surrounding UFC events on FOX, FX and FUEL TV. He will be based out of UFC’s Las Vegas corporate headquarters.

“The next two years are going to be big for us and we’re going to produce a lot of new programs for our fans,” UFC President Dana White said. “We’ve got some of the most talented people in the world on our staff and it’s great to bring on accomplished guys like Kieren and Zach to our production department.”

UFC continues to invade the world this time making their much anticipated debut in Sweden on April 14 at the Ericsson Globe in Stockholm and in developing news that will get the Swedes jazzed up their own Alexander Gustafsson will be in the main event against Antonio Rogerio Nogueira.

Additionally a bantamweight tilt between Damacio Page and Brad Pickett has been added to the lineup as well.

Gustafsson is currently one of the highest touted prospects on the UFC roster while riding a four-bout win streak with each of his opponents being stopped before the final bell, most recently he dispatched hard-nosed veteran Vladimir Matyushenko in the opening stanza.

Nogueira was once a top-ranked light-heavyweight combatant with notable wins over AlistairOvereem, Kazushi Sakuraba and Dan Henderson.

Although considered by most to be in the twilight of his career after a decade as a professional fighter but last time out we saw him blister the mid-section of former champion Tito Ortiz so the Brazilian bomber isn’t quite ready to call it a day yet.

Pickett walks to the cage in Sweden in a do-or-die situation having lost two of his three bouts and losing in his UFC debut. The proud Brit was recently submitted by Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt Renan Barao in the opening frame.

His opponent, Page, is also in a must-win situation now that he is coming off back-to-back defeats of Brian Bowles and Demetrious Johnson, both by submission.

Both men are known for their exceptional punching power so expect a fan-friendly slugfest which will likely score a fight bonus for somebody.

Here is the card for April 14’s UFC on Fuel 2 event:

• Alexander Gustafsson vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira
• Alessio Sakara vs. Brian Stann
• Siyar Bahadurzada vs. Paulo Thiago
• Damacio Page vs. Brad Pickett
• DaMarques Johnson vs. John Maguire
• Cyrille Diabate vs. Jorgen Kruth
• Simeon Thoresen vs. Besam Yousef
• Francis Carmont vs. Magnus Cedenblad
• Papy Abedi vs. James Head

Tickets go on sale for fight club members tomorrow so if you’re in the area or willing to make the trip you better get in fast.

Weeeeeeee’re Back…. Trevor Dueck and Jeremy Brand are back with MMASucka Radio. We aren’t pulling anymore strings. We will bring the goods to you straight and raw. Our first guest for our second go at MMASucka Radio is none other than UFC 142 co-main event fighter, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson. Rumble goes into detail about what he did during his hiatus in 2010, his thoughts on Vitor Belfort and who is going to win the Super Bowl. In the second half of the show we are pleased to welcome UFC.com and The Vancouver Province’s “Keyboard Kimura” E. Spencer Kyte for “The MMASucka Media Rundown”. Sit back relax and enjoy the show folks.

Download this episode (right click and save)

This past Friday Alistair Overeem stamped his ticket to challenge for the UFC heavyweight championship by defeating former ruler of the heavyweight landscape Brock Lesnar and forcing him into an early retirement.

The Dutch striker promised in his pre-fight interviews that he would put away the former pro wrestling star in the first round and that’s exactly what he did – Overeem dropped Lesnar to the mat with a brutal liver kick that reportedly broke his ribs before attacking him with a barrage of punches before referee Mario Yamasaki was forced to step in.

“The Demolition Man” has been a busy man, in the past few years alone he has held the Strikeforce heavyweight championship, DREAM heavyweight championship and K-1 World Grand Prix championship.

Despite making his UFC debut at UFC 141 this is not his first rodeo, Overeem had been training in kick boxing since his mid-teens and competing as a professional since 1999.  He began in Japan where most of his bouts have taken place making a splash in the PRIDE organization during its heyday.

In 2007 after bouncing between weight-classes prior he committed permanently to being a heavyweight and since then has only suffered a lone defeat to Sergei Kharitonov and is riding a huge eleven-bout unbeaten streak defeating the likes of Mark Hunt, Todd Duffee, Fabricio Werdum and now Brock Lesnar.

However, holding the belt that he desires is Brazilian slugger Junior dos Santos who is on quite the tear of his own.

For the longest of time we have heard about “the new breed” of fighter – That prodigy who is young, athletic and is ready to take the sport by the horns and take it to new heights, that man may very well be Junior dos Santos.

Six years ago he did no martial arts, now the Brazilian prodigy is the heavyweight champion of the world. In 2008 he made his UFC debut against submission magician Fabricio Werdum and wasted no time making an impact defeating Werdum at 1:21 of the first round en route to earning a nice $65,000 knockout of the night bonus.

This trend has continued with all of his opponents to date whether they were stopped early or survived to the final bell, he has looked impressive each time we have seen him.

In November the UFC made their debut on the FOX network by presenting a heavyweight title fight between the heavy handed Brazilian and consensus #1-ranked heavyweight Cain Velasquez. They planned to hit their entire new audience bang on the jaw with their title fight but 64-seconds can’t have been what they had in mind.

When the challenger stepped into the cage that night in the Honda Center in Anaheim, California the friendly giant persona disappeared and an ice-cold killer emerged. After a brief feeling out process he connected with an overhand right that signaled the end of the Velasquez era.

Unquestionably Overeem vs. Dos Santos  is a fight that will live up to all the hype, neither man will likely attempt to implement a wrestling strategy and the two imposing giants will throw leather until someone crumbles to the mat.

Striking is the weapon of choice for both men but an advantage must be given to the challenger – “The Reem” has spent most of his career sharpening his striking skills alongside the likes of Gokhan Saki and Semmy Schilt and has a more diverse arsenal of strikes since he likes to punish opponents with a barrage of knees, elbows and punches.

But the champion isn’t a slouch in the striking department either, “Cigano” began his foray into the martial arts world as a boxer going unbeaten in eight bouts and trains regularly with polished strikers like Anderson Silva, Jose Aldo and Lyoto Machida.

What does work hugely in his favor is the advantage he has in speed, being much smaller he is able to move in and out and do damage and with 9 of his 14 professional fights ending with a knockout it’s clear that this Brazilian behemoth packs a lot of power and could put anyone in the heavyweight division to sleep.

If this bout is to hit the mat it opens up a whole new world of possibilities since dos Santos’ mat game has been something combatants have been looking to exploit for a long time due to his barely seen grappling abilities but a brown-belt under arguably the greatest heavyweight grappler of all time, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira ought to make them second guess that.

Even though the Dutchman is associated with his striking abilities he is also an underrated grappler as well with 19 submission victories to his name. Additionally, he also has an ADCC European trials title against his name where he defeated all three opponents with his go-to hold the guillotine-choke.

If Overeem is going to test the abilities of the champ on the mat he would have to get him there first, the only person to get him off his feet to date is NCAA Division II wrestler Shane Carwin but he soon got back to his feet.

The Amsterdam native will step into the cage for their imminent title fight with a clear advantage in experience with 48 professional MMA bouts under his belt as oppose to the 15 on the record of the champion but one huge factor is that neither man has been 25 minutes in their career.

Overeem has shown a tendency to bring the thunder earlier in the fight looking to put his opponent away without pacing himself and it has cost him in the past, if dos Santos can drag him into the later portions of the five-round affair it would work hugely in his favor.

Although he has only gone to the judges’ score cards twice dos Santos has shown a better ability to remain very active with a high volume of punches being put out even in the dying portions of fights against high-end heavyweights like Shane Carwin and Roy Nelson.

The final thing we have to consider is the added pressure put on the back of dos Santos while defending his title for the very first time. Even great champions like George St-Pierre or Randy Couture have failed to defend championship on their first defense.

These two knockout punchers will remain mutually respectful in the lead-up to the fight since neither harbors any ill will towards the other but when the bell rings, fisticuffs will be flying and all bets will be off.

Brock Lesnar announced his retirement in the cage at UFC 141. The man from Webster, South Dakota who had faced down the toughest heavyweights the sport has to offer as well as two separate bouts with diverticulitis, said he was fulfilling a promise to his family that if he lost to Alistair Overeem, he would pack in his MMA career and head back home. Thus ending the career of the most famous 5-3 fighter in the history of the sport, a man whose arrival on the MMA scene was as sudden and violent as his departure. A whirlwind of a career that packed highlights and controversy into four years what it takes others a lifetime to accomplish. His sudden departure from the sport will only further his near-mythical status, turning him into the MMA equivalent of Keyser Soze.

“I work for Keyser Soze.

Who’s Keyser Soze?

Judging from the sudden change in mood….I’m sure your associates can tell you.”

Lesnar burst onto the MMA scene in 2007 after a career as a pro wrestler and a failed attempt at making the NFL as a walk-on. The former NCAA amateur wrestling champion debuted at K-1 HERO’s debut on US soil, taking on Korean judoka Min Soo Kim. Lesnar destroyed Kim in just over a minute, and the MMA world waited with baited breath to see what he would do next. They wouldn’t have to wait long.

At UFC 77, Dana White announced that Lesnar had indeed signed with the promotion, and would make his debut in the co-main event of UFC 81, taking on veteran Frank Mir. The move immediately polarized the MMA fanbase, with some decrying how a “phony pro wrestler” with a career record of 1-0 could be put in a prestigious main event slot. Others chose to focused on Lesnar’s collegiate background, size and athleticism and wondered if we might be seeing the birth of something truly special.

The time came for UFC 81 and as soon as the bell sounded, Lesnar immediately took Mir down and unleashed with vicious ground and pound. As Mir turned his head, one of Lesnar’s canned ham-sized fists made contact with the back of the head. Referee Steve Mazzagatti immediately called time and deducted a point for the foul, then stood both fighters back up. Lesnar appeared angry, but after the restart dropped Mir with a cannon-like right hand and resumed the ground and pound. Mir, the jiu-jitsu expert, worked to retain guard and Lesnar made the rookie mistake of standing up, leaving his leg exposed. A kneebar later, and Lesnar had lost his UFC debut.

The result undoubtedly was not the one Lesnar wanted, but the debut was still impressive. People who had doubted Lesnar’s claim for a place on the UFC roster went silent. The volume and ferocity of the ground and pound Lesnar had dished out had won over many of his detractors and left pundits wondering who hew would take on next.

“Soze showed these men of will what will really was.”

Lesnar’s next opponent proved to be Heath Herring, the Pride veteran who almost equalled Lesnar’s size and was famous for both his wars with Minotauro Nogueira and crazy hairstyles. Herring, the logic went, would be a good litmus test of just how much Lesnar was “for real”, and show where he was in the division’s pecking order. The answer was clear just seconds into the fight, as Lesnar landed a massive right hand that sent Herring somersaulting backwards. Lesnar pounced on Herring and never let up, using his wrestling to completely neutralize Herring en route to a unanimous decision victory. “Can you see me now?” Lesnar bellowed in his post-fight interview. Indeed, every pair of eyes in the sport were now focused directly on him.

UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture was embroiled in a contract dispute with Zuffa at this time, so the promotion had created an interim Heavyweight title, held by Minotauro Nogueira, who was prepared to defend that title against Frank Mir. In a move that surprised many, Couture reached a settlement with Zuffa and agreed to return to the octagon to defend his title against the heavyweight division’s new phenom, Brock Lesnar.

Couture had a history of doing what was perceived to be impossible. He did it so many times that you couldn’t use the word “upset”, Couture simply defied the odds. He had won the heavyweight title by defeating Tim Sylvia, a man even larger than Lesnar. It was a clash between a wily veteran known for having the best game plans in the sport and a man who looked and fought like he was created by scientists in a genetic engineering lab.

The clash at UFC 91 was billed by some as the biggest in UFC history. Couture was attempting to employ a strategy that involved a lot of clinch work but was tellingly having difficulty with Lesnar’s size and strength. Then it happened. Midway through the second round, Lesnar nailed Couture with a right hand that landed behind the ear and hit Couture’s reset button. The follow-up ground and pound was merely elementary as the fight was stopped and Lesnar was declared victorious. There was no one who could dare doubt Lesnar now. He was now at the pinnacle of the sport. He was the Heavyweight Champion of the world.

The fight not only determined that Lesnar was the top fighter in the heavyweight division, he was now the company’s top pay per view draw. UFC 91 did over one million buys and at the time was the second highest drawing card in the promotion’s history. But there was one dragon that had to be slain, one loss that had to be avenged. Frank Mir.

Mir had defeated Nogueira for the interim Heavyweight title and now he and Lesnar were poised to face each other in a rematch to unify the two titles. The event was to be held at UFC 100, a historic number that UFC hyped massively. The two had exchanged taunts in the media, with Lesnar claiming Mir was simply lucky in their first encounter and putting much of the blame for the loss on referee Steve Mazzagatti. Mir responded by saying that he was hoping Lesnar would be the UFC’s first in-cage fatality.

They met at the center of the octagon for the stare down each flanked by extra security. The amount of rhetoric between the two had increased so much that no one was wanting to take any chances that the fight might begin before the bell.

Lesnar pulverized Mir over the next two rounds before referee Herb Dean (who was appointed the official after Lesnar has specifically requested that Mazzagatti not be assigned to the fight) called a merciful end. Mir’s face was was a grotesque sight, swollen and bloody. Lesnar then went on a post-fight tirade in his interview where he not only insulted Mir but UFC sponsor Bud Light, and also talked about his plans to “get on top of his wife” later in the evening.

UFC 100 smashed the all-time pay-per-view record with a staggering 1.6 million buys. The event is still by far the highest-grossing event in the promotion’s history. ESPN covered both Lesnar’s win and post-fight antics. Brock Lesnar was mainstream. There appeared to be nothing that could stop him.

“He becomes a myth. A spook story. Something criminals tell their kids at night. ‘Rat on your Pop, and Keyser Soze will get you.’”

Indeed a took something outside the cage to bring down the Lesnar juggernaut. In November 2009, Dana White announced that Lesnar had taken ill with diverticulitis, and the future of his career was in doubt. Lesnar didn’t return to the cage until the next summer to face Shane Carwin, who had won an interim title in Lesnar’s absence. Carwin battered Lesnar in the first round, with Lesnar showing a vulnerability that had eluded him to this point in his career. Carwin exhausted himself from punching and in the second round Lesnar took advantage, sinking an arm-triangle choke and again becoming the undisputed Heavyweight Champion.

The formerly invincible veneer of Lesnar had been shattered however. He continued to insist he had made a complete recovery from his illness but questions persisted whether Lesnar was the same fighter that had struck fear throughout the division. His next title defence against Cain Velasquez saw Velasquez dominate Lesnar en route to a first round stoppage. Without the title and forced to re-evaluate his approach, Lesnar prepared for a number one contender fight against Brazilian striker Junior dos Santos.

During training for the dos Santos fight, Lesnar’s diverticulitis returned. This time, Lesnar was forced to undergo a major operation that removed a foot of his colon. Again his career was thrown in doubt as the toll on Lesnar’s health was immense. He sat out for a full year before the loss to Overeem, in which the Dutch kickboxer targeted his surgically repaired midsection with pinpoint accuracy.

“And like that, …. he’s gone.”

Lesnar became a legendary figure in his brief career. He retires with four of the top-six highest grossing pay-per-views in company history. Additionally, he became the prototype of the new generation of heavyweights who cut weight to make the 265 pound limit but sacrifice nothing in the way of skill. In the end, it was not a fighter but a disease that felled the monolithic warrior. He will be remembered as a Tyson-like figure, known not just for his vicious power but his controversial nature. He has the sort of mythic quality that transcends the sport. In the future people will ask of heavyweights of the day “could he have beaten Lesnar in his prime?” as if he were a spectre haunting the heavyweight division from his reclusive ranch in South Dakota. Lesnar’s impact will be felt for years to come.

All quotes from the film “The Usual Suspects”. If you haven’t seen it, do so immediately.

By Justin Faux

Last night amidst one of the busiest weekend’s combat sports has seen all year Brock Lesnar is the hot topic of discussion.

It was billed as the biggest heavyweight fight in UFC history when the NCAA Division I champion met the K-1 kickboxing champion in a throw-back to the early days of the promotions history with a traditional striker vs. grappler showdown.

There were millions of questions circling both men and it didn’t take long for them to be answered – Despite suffering a cut early above his eye “The Demolition Man” relentlessly stalked Lesnar who only reverted back to his bread-n-butter  wrestling game on one occasion with a takedown attempt that was easily stuffed.

As we were about to reach the half-way point of the first of five potential rounds Overeem connected with three shots to the liver with the final one dropping Lesnar who was swarmed on with strikes.

The former WWE Champion announced his intentions to walk-away from the sport in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.

“I’ve had a really difficult couple years with my disease,” Lesnar said after the fight. “And I’m officially going to say this is the last time you’ll see me in the octagon.”

Brock added that he had promised his wife, Sable of WWE stardom and his child that if he won this fight he would get a title shot and that would be his last fight. But if he lost, as he did, he would retire.

It’s been a busy few years for the Webster, South Dakoda native beginning his career in 2007 Lesnar did in eight professional bouts more than what most could do in eighty.

In 2008 with only one octagon victory under his belt Lesnar dominated two-division champion and first ballot Hall-of-Famer Randy Couture en route to winning his first UFC title which he would go on to defend twice.

In 2009 he had his first flare with the severe intestinal aliment diverticulitis during a hunting trip in Canada and after spending 11 days in hospital the imposing giant had lost 40 pounds and was recommended to have surgery to remove his colon.

This year he would once again be troubled by diverticulitis which would force him to cancel his UFC 131 bout with rival coach Junior Dos Santos on the thirteenth season of Spike TV’s hit reality series The Ultimate Fighter.

Now with a 5-3 professional record and for the first time in his career suffering back-to-back defeats Lesnar hangs up his gloves.

Literally seconds later the key-words “Brock Lesnar” and “WWE” were trending worldwide so you can guess what people were talking about.

Following winning the NCAA Division I Championship for the University of Minnesota he chose a career in professional wrestling over going to the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia for one simple reason – Money.

Over his four-year career with the WWE he made plenty of it taking the wrestling word by storm and achieving almost everything that there was to do.

Conspiracy theorists have been hard at work since last night proceedings with wet dreams about Brock Lesnar vs. The Undertaker at WrestleMania 28.

Will the former champ return home to the WWE after nearly an eight-year hiatus? Yes, but not right now.

Firstly, Lesnar will not return to the WWE on a full-time schedule unless it was for the most ridiculous amounts of cash. Lesnar speaks in his autobiography about the toll that a 300+ day schedule in the WWE can take on your body which forced him to an addiction to Vicodin and Vodka and at 34-years-of-age I don’t know if that’s something he really wants to do again. Secondly, returning in time for WrestleMania in April of 2012 wouldn’t make as much of an impact as it would have in years prior because the Main Event for this year’s super-show is The Rock vs. John Cena. I would be shocked if Brock Lesnar never made a big return to the WWE for a few big-time paydays at their big events.

Brock Lesnar has tried his hand at a lot of things in life between MMA, a try-out with the Minnesota Vikings that came up empty and an amateur wrestling career but he found the most success being a part of the WWE roster.

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It was three weeks ago when the MMA world was in shock that Dana White had let Miguel Torres go following a rape comment on twitter.

Ariel Helwani gave the word today via his twitter account.

Dana says Torres is back. Torres has donated money to local rape centers, visited them. Dana says Torres was very remorseful.

No word as to when the former WEC bantamweight champion will return to the octagon.

Did you expect the UFC to bring Torres back? Were they right to let him go in the first place? Will he be in any main card fights?

What I love about being a fan and a writer is that there is always a good nugget of a story hidden behind all the hype and hoopla that comes leading up to a UFC event. Nothing changes, heading into UFC 141 that takes place on January 30^th at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, where the great story in Johny Hendricks continues.

The Oklahoma State University grad was considered one of the best amateur wrestlers in the country. While competing for OSU, Hendricks won the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Division I wrestling title at 165-pounds, and he finished second in 2007 after falling to Mark Perry from the University of Iowa. That was the only tarnish on Hendricks’s record and going into that match he had compiled a 56-0 record.

During Hendrick’s University days, when he was making guys suffer on the mats, if you would have asked him about possibly fighting in MMA he would of given you a puzzled look.

To be honest, my focus at the time was on the Olympics. I didn’t have any Internet or knew much about anything “mixed martial arts” until I graduated from college. I was 24 years old before I even started training in boxing, jiu-jitsu, or anything. After my last wrestling match where I lost, I was at a crossroads in my life. I had a manager ask me if I wanted to fight for a living, so I prayed about it, and decided why not. I went to Vegas to train and fell in love.

Johny eventually found a home at Team Takedown. He trains with the Rosholt brothers and Shane Roller. Team Takedown is a place that prides itself on turning select high-level wrestlers into MMA warriors. It’s a perfect fit for the Oklahoma native who feels that five years of University prepared him for the rigors of MMA training.

What I tell everybody is if you can make it through five years of college wrestling you can make it through fighting. Five years of college wrestling is brutal. You learn so much of what you can do and what your body can handle. You also develop into a man. When I started I thought I was strong until I started rolling with guys who were around twenty-three years old. The longer I stayed in wrestling, the stronger I got and the more I developed into a man instead of being just a strong eighteen year old boy.

However, the transition wasn’t easy for Hendricks who had to work really hard at making sure he could throw down with his hands and feet.

The stand up came natural to me too. I tried to just shut everything out and all I did was spar. I sparred with guys at amateur night and with guys who were pros. Once I started beating amateur guys in sparring sessions, which took about four months, I moved up to sparring with pros. What I did after that was if my technique wasn’t where I wanted it or something didn’t work in the pro practice, I would move back down and spar with the amateurs. Instead of just beating the amateurs up, I would work on my technique. I knew my place and I knew what I had to learn. I knew that I had to just take my time and not get frustrated. If something wasn’t working I took a step back, really looked it over, and then moved forward.

Moving forward is all that Johny knows and cares about. MMA was never on the radar back in University but possibly winning a gold medal at the Olympics was. But, after graduation he decided that he wanted nothing to do with the Olympics or amateur wrestling.

The wrestling world really didn’t like me and I don’t think they do today. A lot of people just didn’t like me. So I asked myself did I really want to go to the Olympics and represent people who despised me?

Some within the wrestling scene have said that Hendricks was a “dirty” wrestler but a lot of that venom might have been thrown his way due to how dominant he was. When you’re one of the best in the country and at the top of the mountain, people will do and say what they can to see you fall off your perch. Maybe Hendrick’s style of wrestling was just preparation for a fighting career. When you ask Johny why some in the wrestling community disliked him he gives this answer,

Whenever I wrestled I loved playing mind games. If we were close to the edge and you’re on bottom I’d push you out of bounds and make you work that much harder to get back into the center. Also if you are trying to stand up and we are almost out of bounds and I’m riding you all the way out, I would give you that extra shove so you’d get madder coming back to the middle. I’d do that over and over again. If I had a single leg on the side of the mat and we’re close to the edge and I know I’m not going to be able to finish the take down, than I will just drive you and push you out. I’d play mental games with people. They’d always be wondering why did he push me out? Why did he do this or that? It was fun for me to do that stuff and see them get mad and lose focus. They didn’t like that though.

In some ways life has a funny way of working out. Hendricks has now found himself closer than ever to a potential title shot in the UFC’s welterweight division. Except one thing, he doesn’t quite know where he currently stands.

Right now I gotta win. I have to beat Jon Fitch. Having GSP injured and out I think has hurt my chances of getting into the title mix quicker though. You had GSP and Diaz fighting, Carlos Condit and Koscheck, and me and Jon Fitch. There was some order…but now the waters are murky. I have no idea who will get the next title shot even if I win. I think it would have played better for me if GSP didn’t get hurt but since he did, who knows. But right now I’m not worried about it, because I have to get past a tough opponent. If after that night, god willing, things go in my favor, then maybe I’ll start thinking more about it.

At UFC 141 Jon Fitch will stand across the cage. It’s been a while since Fitch has been in the Octagon. In fact it will be ten months almost to the day and Hendricks doesn’t believe cage rust will be a factor in this fight.

I can’t speak for him but I know if I don’t compete for five months, I don’t feel rusty when I get back in there. He’s been out for a bit longer than that but there is still that competitor’s edge where as soon as you step into the Octagon all of that stuff goes away and your body does what it needs to do. I mean there are two ways to look at it, one it’s a blessing because you have February until now to train or you have February until now where you need to get a job and you can only train once a day and that can hurt you.

When it comes to Fitch’s much maligned style of fighting, Hendricks believes it’s much ado about nothing.

His style is tough. He’s a grinder. Jon Fitch knows how to win and get his hand raised better than most anybody in the UFC. He’s a winner pure and simple. Whenever a fight starts to not go his way, he is really good at switching the momentum to his favor and that is what I have to stop.

Some people are already calling for this fight to be a “snooze fest.” Which is quite surprising to Johny who feels his style is very pleasing to the fan’s eye. He is also tired of hearing about wrestlers being boring fighters.

Look…if you have two guys who are really good at wrestling and are able to compete against each other at a high level that is when it has the potential to be a boring fight. But each fighter is different. I personally don’t think I am a boring fighter, at least I hope not, but if I were to fight someone who is stylistically similar to me it could end up being boring. You do what you have to do in order to get your hand raised, but there has to be a little bit of both. What I mean is that although it’s all about getting your hand raised, I do understand that you have to put on a bit of a show for the fans.

This fight actually has all the makings of fight of the night. Fitch may not be as highly decorated of a wrestler like Hendricks but most fans know that Fitch is an expert when it comes to grappling in the Octagon. He also trains with Josh Koscheck who has spent a lot of time preparing his AKA partner for what could be a war of attrition. For Hendricks he knows that his wrestling is going to have to be better than ever.

I’ve been training my wrestling a lot this camp and also for my last fight against Mike Pierce. I have done more wrestling in the last eight months than I have in four years.

There is no doubt that this is the biggest fight of Johny Hendrick’s career and a win over one of the best welterweights in the business would be a huge statement. Besides working on his wrestling, Johny is also preparing his body the right way with the help of Mike Dolce who is one of the best nutritionists in the game. A proper diet will be a challenge going into the Christmas season.

I’m going to wake up, let my daughters open their presents. That’s about it. I just want to watch my daughters enjoy Christmas. I’m doing the Dolce Diet so I’m hitting pretty light right now like around the mid to high 80’s. With his diet I’m drinking around a gallon and a half of water a day and eating five meals but I’m hitting my weight and it’s nice. Usually I have to suffer to make that. Now it’s easy because I already cut 25lbs so the process is better on my body and mind. It’s extremely nice.

For a fighter dropping weight the proper way is such a big relief. There are still athletes out there who drain themselves and try and suck every last piece of poundage out of their body leading all the way up to fight day. When you’re preparing for a war with Jon Fitch, Hendricks knows that a proper diet could be difference between a win and loss.

It [Dolce Diet] has worked really well for me. What I like about it is there is variety. What I mean by that is there are really only eight things you can eat, but you can make those eight things in so many different ways. I like oatmeal, I like eggs and turkey bacon but one thing I get to do is eat venison steak or venison burgers instead of turkey burgers and stuff like that because venison is deer meat and very organic. It is some of the most organic meat you can get. The only thing that has been hard to get use to is the amount of water I have to drink. It’s tougher than you think, especially since I am use to drinking a lot less per day. You eventually get sick of water but not only that I found myself getting thirstier. So what Mike Dolce told me was to drink it through out the day slowly instead of drinking it quickly that has seemed to work. If you eat clean and drink that amount of water, it just flushes your body out. It’s pretty sweet. It’s all key to my preparation.

UFC 141 promises to be a great card, and although most of the focus will be on Lesnar vs. Overeem, in my opinion it will be a showdown between Hendricks and Fitch that could steal the show and the winner could find themselves as a possible number one contender. You know that is in the back of Johny Hendrick’s mind and he is thankful to be in this position.

I want to thank Ecko for this fight, as well as Team Takedown. I always say thanks to my family especially my wife who lets me sleep in until 11am and still makes me breakfast in bed. She is in the background allowing me to do what I do for a living. I also want to thank God that I have been blessed to wake up and do something that I love.

Johny Hendrick’s Facebook Page

Twitter: @johnyhendricks

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-Corner Man-

Trevor Dueck

@tdueckmania