4 RE-MATCHES JUST FOR THE FANS

Sometimes a fight happens at just the right time. Both fighters are evolving at comparable levels, not climbing the skill peak, and not sliding down the other side. Sometimes fighters can miss their pre-ordained, perfect time of confrontation. Their respective career levels may have been too far apart. They may have been contacted to different promotions. Injury or weight class change could also have been a factor. Looking back over MMA history, there are some fights both big and small that would probably have a different outcome if the fighters met today. We always want to see the best version of each fighter. They should be at peak cardio, uninjured and have a fully developed MMA skill set. It’s kind of like if you kidnapped the Hermione Grainger from the first Harry Potter book, and kept her in a cupboard until she grew up to be the legal one out of the last book. She would now be sexy, but emotionally destroyed enough to only have eyes for you. Sure it would still be a victory, but you would know deep down that if you had met her when she was nineteen, she would be too good for you and her fully matured powers would zap your testicles into chocolate frogs before you could even get your mask and knife out. It’s exactly like that. Exactly. Aaaaanyway. Onto the potential rematches. WANDERLEI SILVA vs. TITO ORTIZ. A lot of people forget that these two legends have already met. But before you all rush out to buy UFC 25 be aware that is was not the most exciting fight ever. Although both fighters could now be past their absolute peaks, they are also very different fighters today than they were then. It would be nice to see how Tito still measures up against the swinging aggression of fan favourite Wandy. I think that even Dana would welcome the PPV hits of such a comeback. And the smack talk……oh lord, think of the smack talk. I reckon a Wandy victory by rape-choke ground and pound, followed by Dana tapping out due to excessive gloating. What do you think? KENNY FLORIAN vs. DIEGO SANCHEZ Lets be honest. Its probably going to happen. If Kenny takes the title from BJ and Diego wins again, there it is. If BJ wins and there are no medical suspensions for Kenny, it makes sense for Diego to have the fight right away, to legitimize his title shot. Ken-Flo has improved vastly in all areas since he lost to Diego at the first Ultimate Fighter Finale on April 9th, 2005. He is in a much more suitable weight class and his range of skills, tactics and samurai spirit have made him an unstoppable force. His only loss since Sanchez has been a title challenge against Sherk. Diego’s game has always been good and he looks ridiculously fast at lightweight. The question is how the two fighters now compare five years further into their careers, at a weight class two below when they previously fought. I cannot bet against Kenny. He has been my favourite fighter since he cut Leban open on TUF 1. I think it would come down to superior gameplan and not allowing Diego any space to er, think. (If that’s what he does.) I’ve got Ken-Flo by hot, sweaty, unanimous decision. What do you think? CLAY GUIDA vs. ROGER HUERTA When Roger Huerta decides to come back to the Octagon, he is going to need a warm welcome. A rematch with Clay “The Carpenter” Guida would be great for both old fans and new. Here we go...... A SHELF made combatant, Guida thrills fans even in defeat, so he is unlikely to VARNISH from the UFC anytime soon. Indeed, following a loss many fans are FLOORED by the decision of the judges PANEL. Its PLANE to all that tough as NAILS Guida can CONSTRUCT an exciting fight, and he would be eager to HAMMER out a revenge win. Even if he does have a SCREW loose. Nobody would be BOARD waiting to SAW who emerges winner. Sorry, ‘see’ who emerges winner. Clay would never BOLT from an all out octagon war. In practice he DRILLS for 100% action, and could never be accused of being a LATHEY fighter. Has Huerta still got the enthusiasm for MMA? For me, its Clay by round one rear naked hair smother choke. What do you think? MIKE SWICK vs. CHRIS LEBAN Mike and Chris spent time together as middleweights in the TUF 1 house. They were the only two fighters in TUF who had actually faced each other before. The Crippler Leban had knocked out Quick Swick in a battle they had at WEC 9 (Jan 2004.) Leban drank like a bastard in TUF house, taunting Swick to make sure everyone around knew about his victory. This bothered Swick immensely and he has looked for a way to fight Leban since, even accusing Leban of avoiding him. Although they now fight at different weights, this would be a cracking fight at a catch weight of around 177lbs. Swick has been on incredible form recently and at both first and second glance looks to be the superior fighter. There is one undeniable fact however. Chris Leban (hate him or just dislike him) has a solid KO victory over Mike Swick, and he still has those same very heavy hands. I would go for Swick by TKO. By using the gameplan that worked for Bisping, he could avoid Leban’s fists whilst continuously landing strikes. The difference being that I think Quick Swick would create the opportunity to stagger The Crippler and finish with an aggressive ref stoppage. What do you think? KEN SHAMROCK vs. TITO ORTIZ You'd watch it too wouldn't you, you sick fucks? You disgust me. Please leave your predictions in the comments section below!

I iz Publisht! I iz Publisht!

Great news my loyal readers! My tireless practice scribblings here in MMA-KNOCKOUT-SUBMISSIONS have borne fruit! I have secured the guest editorial page in issue 53 of 'FIGHTERS ONLY' magazine. 'FIGHTERS ONLY' is as you know, the best MMA magazine on the planet, and they are also the organisers of the yearly 'WORLD MMA AWARDS.' It is the literature of choice for all discerning MMA fans, rock stars, prize winning physicists and generally great people. I hope it is received well. Of course if you did like the article, you could always use the feedback email address to tell the nice folks at FO. fighters.only@gmail.com It is a long road to being a full time MMA journalist, all support is very much appreciated! Thanks again for taking the time to read MMA-KNOCKOUT-SUBMISSIONS, please leave comments will your reflections on any of my submissions! Its important for me to know they are being read! Thanks again, Andrew.

DO YOU WANT NEW UK FANS, UFC?

Imagine you are the UFC. Your return to the shores of the UK was met with jubilation by British fans. Every show you announce sells out, and the fans are ravenous for news of the next UK visit. As the UFC however, you are aware that UK is very much still a growth market. Your fans in the UK are mostly people who have followed the UFC for a while, and you still need to market your brand to attract new fans. So far so good? BUT….OH NOES!!1! What has happened? Your television distributor in the UK, SENTANTA SPORTS, has gone under. Your need to choose a new channel. Your existing UK fans are concerned that they might not be able to watch the televised live shows anymore, and you realise that you still need to entice new fans in to the world of UFC. So what short of channel should you choose? *A free to view channel would encourage new fans to the sport, and make existing fans happy, but provide you with limited revenue. *An existing satellite /subscribed channel would encourage new fans who already own the channel, and would be mainstream enough for existing fans, whilst providing you a higher revenue. *Pay per view would provide the largest revenue but definitely excludes the new fans and will annoy a percentage of existing fans who don’t want to pay full price for shows generally taking place at 3am Hmmmmm. What to do? What to do? Well, we know what NOT to do. DO NOT put it on a brand new sports channel (ESPN) that costs everyone £9/£12 per month! You are excluding the growth of new fans, who are not going to subscribe to a new channel on the off chance of liking an unfamiliar sport. ESPN is (so far) not included in package deals so even people with existing satellite or subscribed channels will have to pay extra! This is a lot of money on top of existing subscription costs for just one extra channel. It was not so long ago that the UK fans had to make do with watching taped delayed shows, internet highlights, streams or downloading PPV torrents the following day. These days the DVDs of shows are available to buy after a month or so online, with preliminary fights and extras included for a little more than £12. A lot of UK fans may choose to return to their old ways of watching UFC, and use the money they save to buy hard copies of the shows later, which they can keep forever. This may not be the “right” thing to do, but I am sure it will be an option many UK fans will consider. At the UFC EXPO, UK MMA journalist Gareth A Davies spoke with Marshall Zelasnik, the UK UFC president. Gareth spoke of the concerns UK fans have regarding their future viewing of the sport. Mr Zelasnik said that there were currently two deals being considered, and that if they come to pass, the UK fans will be very happy. The ESPN channel deal has been revealed for over a week now. I don’t know if such a deal will come to fruition, or how long it would last, but the UFC need to seriously consider the impact on their UK fan demographic. My vote? Put it on live and next day delay broadcast, (the same way we had with Setanta) on a channel that is already widely available to people with widespread subscribed TV packages. Sky Sports 1-3 for example. MMA is becoming more popular year by year. The UFC need a platform in the UK that is both open to curious potential fans, and able to provide worthwhile revenue. Both Sky and Virgin Media customers have access to these channels within standard sports packages. I had thought my days of getting results spoiled by internet morons were over. Maybe not. I hope the new broadcasting deal makes the UFC accessible to all of you out there. One way or another.