MMA Opinion

Anyone who is paying attention to modern MMA can see that the biggest names in the business are not consistently offering a top shelf product. Elite XC put together a card that pits their champions against mediocre fighters and will make for a less than entertaining night aimed at getting attention, not at putting out a high quality product.

The UFC put on one of their best events ever, which had three interesting light heavyweight matchups, the debut of a man many consider a future phenom (Shane Carwin, just so we’re clear) and the biggest matchup that they can offer at 155 pounds.

Still, as I scroll down the cards of upcoming events, I found something bizarre.

The UFC is promising to put out shows that are far from interesting, namely it’s utterly uncreative UFC 85 card which consists of two interesting matchups on the entire evening (Davis vs. Swick and Vera vs. Werdum) and it’s unpromising TUF finale card which is headed by two fighters hardly at the top of their game, while the only two interesting matchups it has to offer (McFedries vs. Eastman and Lister vs. Horn) will remain in the middle of the card and will probably not be broadcast but for the grace of God.

So I am damned to look for incredible fights on the outskirts of the MMA world, but what I found is that I don’t actually have to look, because everybody else seems to actually care about putting out top notch fight cards.

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Or is he really that good? I’m certainly assuming it’s the former as I was not impressed with the Brazilian once again during UFC 84. As Machida pulled off a 30-27 decision win over Tito Ortiz, I wondered if UFC judges were really listening to Mike Goldberg when he told us (once again) that each five minute round would by decided by effective striking, grappling, aggression, and octagon control by the judges.

For the record, I have nothing against Machida. Sure, he was boring at UFC 84, but I didn’t think BJ Penn was exciting as he jabbed his way through nearly three full rounds either. I’m also not a Tito Ortiz fan more than any MMA junkie. Ortiz has been around long enough that I’m aware of his abilities and I respect him as a ground and pound fighter.

It’s not that Machida is a bad fighter, he is just able to exploit the flaw in the judging system to win 8 out of 13 fights via decision. So more than 60% of his fights are left to the judges as he dances away from the fight and he continues to move on up in the UFC’s light heavyweight division. Two TKO’s in 2003, a guillotine in 2004, a rare technical knockout in 2005, and an arm triangle choke against Rameau Sokoudjou in 2007 make up his decisive wins as a fighter. The rest of his fights, the eight he didn’t end, were left to three judges to decide and only once did a split decision nearly cost him his undefeated status. That was in 2003, quite a while back if we are talking about current MMA standards, against an unknown Sam Greco.

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The UFC 84 fight card was a great one. It was jam packed with huge names, big fights, and plenty of controversy. One of the largest stories of the event and over the past 6 months was the ongoing feud between Dana White and Tito Ortiz. The post fight press conference only added more fuel to this fire as Tito was not invited! For the post event Tito interview go to http://opinionatedsports.com/Tito_after_UFC_84.html. Tito and his lady were definitely not happy about not getting an invite and did not hold back in the interview. Here is an update on the top fights of the night, the complete results and awards.

BJ Penn def. Sean Sherk via TKO - Round 3, 5:00 UFC Lightweight Championship

This was the main event, and was a solid performance for the champ. Penn used his jab and length to his advantage. Sherk wanted to establish his standup game prior to attempting takedowns; he wanted to show the world that he could box. Unfortunately Sherk never got to that point. Penn’s jab was used to perfection and let him control the fight from start to finish. The fight ended in a fury at the end of the 3^rd round. Penn pushed and got the better of an exchange. Sherk then stepped back and leaned into the cage. Once his momentum brought him off the cage, Penn landed a flying knee and dropped punches until the bell. At first glance it seemed like Sherk had been saved by the bell, but between rounds the referee stopped the fight. Throughout the 3^rd round it seemed like Sherk was favoring his right hand, and seemed to be throwing more leg kicks and less rights. The medical results aren’t out of yet. In a move of bad sportsmanship and one that many are talking about, Penn ran over to Sherk after the fight was stopped, wiped some of Sherk’s blood and licked it. Prior to the fight it was assumed that the winner would fight the winner of the Ken-Flo vs. Huerta fight, but Penn says the fans want him to bump up and fight GSP. The future of Sherk is unknown, but the loser of the Huerta Florian in Minnesota was hinted in the post fight press conference (if Penn gets the winner). That could happen unless Penn bumps up. If he does then the 155 division will be shaken up and a fight for the title could ensue.

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I won’t say that UFC 84 changed the entire sport, because that would be an outright lie, but the 205 pound division needs to be seriously rethought, and the UFC management has been neglecting restructuring it for a while. It’s clear that there are fighters that are ranked way to high in that division and other fighters who need to be reevaluated and reappraised.

The return of Wanderlei Silva to form may have been the most important thing that happened last night and, unfortunately, everyone simply sees it as a last hurrah for Silva, because after his loss to Liddell he seems almost unmarketable for title contention, and I think that’s the right judgement, but at the same time, there are guys that Wanderlei should be fighting, guys that he should step in with because they need to be tested as much as he needs to gain some more practice and credibility in the cage.

Questioning Wanderlei’s credibility as a fighter is like questioning Mirko CroCop’s ability to hit hard. It’s an unquestionable truth in the world of MMA, but the question is whether or not his return to the top tier is legitimate, or if it is just, as some seem to think, a last hurrah. It makes alot of sense to put him in and test him against top tier opponents like, say, Houston Alexander or Rameau Thierry Soukoudjou.

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The Huntington Beach Bad Boy Tito Ortiz will have one large thing in common with Barry Bonds, Allen Iverson, and Daunte Culpepper after his much anticipated fight with Lyoto Machida this weekend at UFC 84. They will all be free agents looking to make a contract to solidify their future.

Almost all athletes will come to a crossroads in their athletic career where they will be forced to decide if they should move to another city and get paid, or stay where they are and be happy with what they are offered. If you pay attention to the current MLB season, most of the players that are in the final year of their contract are playing better than previous years. In a way they are acting like a personal billboard - advertising their talent so that in the offseason another team will spend the big bucks on them.

Tito Ortiz is at this cross road and will be looking to advertise himself this Saturday at UFC 84. Every MMA organization would love to have Ortiz in their organization. He is a big name, bring with him a billion dollar company in Punishment Athletics, and is one of the most dominate fighters in UFC history. On the horizon he looks to be in movies, and to be hosting his very own reality show. However, they will only pay big bucks for the Tito Ortiz that once dominated the cage. This second Gary Shaw is running numbers in his head and is sure to make a strong run at Tito. A Tito that can’t win isn’t worth nearly as much as one that does.

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No fighter ever goes into a fight without thinking that he will win. Well, no fighter except Kalib Starnes, but he’s not fighting for the UFC lightweight title in a month.

BJ Penn and Sean Sherk are two of the greatest pound for pound fighters in the world, and yet they couldn’t be more different. Penn is one of the greatest jiu-jitsu technicians on the planet, he’s limber and he’s agile. He strikes with finesse and versatility and shows some of the best technical savvy out there.

Sherk’s a technician too, but no one talks about his technique. He’s a wrestler, phenomenally skilled, but if you looked at him, you see a man built like a Greek statue, if the Greeks had been sponsored by Balco.

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My fighter profiles have been getting a lot of positive feedback from people, so I appreciate it, and I’ll continue to put them together, but I felt like this series on BJ Penn and Sean Sherk (and, yes, Sherk’s will be out shortly) is one that has to be done, because no two fighters have really danced around each other for so long while remaining so close in level of competition.

There was a time when BJ Penn was considered the most dangerous fighter in the world, pound-for-pound the most frustrating man that you could have standing across the cage.

Even before BJ came into MMA, his skills as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner were well documented. He was a prodigy in jiu-jitsu and he didn’t come across the name by accident. Penn is a world class submission fighter, and has one of the most incredible, innate abilities for learning the martial arts. Fighters as legendary as Frank Shamrock, who coached him when Penn first turned to MMA, have always been impressed with his ability to learn techniques and put them into practice.

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I know that there is plenty going on for the Ultimate Fighting Championship right now, but I think that it’s about time we look ahead (besides, there will be plenty of articles written on Serra vs. St. Pierre, and I’ll talk about the aftermath soon).

Still, I’m willing to look past the Serra vs. St. Pierre matchup because I want to aware that the best matchup the UFC has promised this year is coming, and while there’s been some talk, it’s not getting the credibility it deserves, and part of that is political, and all of it is crap.

If you’re still not aware of which fight I’m talking about, I’m talking about UFC 84’s main event: Sean Sherk vs. BJ Penn. It’s going to be a war, and everybody knows that this is going to a challenge for both fighters, because of how perfectly their skill sets match up.

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