The time is right for a dedicated two league system of MMA.
Too many fighters get cut from the UFC only to find themselves out of the TV spotlight and looking for regional shows.
Too many fighters lose valuable career months being caught up in contracts that stop them from competing for rival organisations.
Conflict between promotions gets us nowhere as a sport. Affliction vs UFC, Strikeforce vs UFC…..it all just creates bickering, and the belittlement of great fighters by promoters- just because they don’t fight for their organisation.
That helps no-one, it’s not good for the sport and only fuels forum trolling.
Put aside all pointless promotional loyalty, and think about it from the perspective of fighters, fans, and the future stability of MMA. Nobody wants to see a potential promotion battle that ends with only one survivor. That is not good business.
If it can be acknowledged that the UFC have the largest world foothold in MMA (the most shows, most countries, widest world TV coverage) then they are the League One of MMA.
If the UFC are League One, Strikeforce would obviously be League Two.
If the idea of Strikeforce being League Two fills you with anti Zuffa-shill rage, please feel free to place an imaginary organisation as the League Two promotion. It doesn’t matter to me, I am using them because I think that bias aside, they are the logical second position huge promotion.
This is not just a case of ‘Why can’t we all just get along.’ This is not Co-promotion, or an attempt to look down on League Two fighters either.
Championhip football teams in England are supported with no less passion than Premier League teams. It is simply a necessity in a sport that is expanding quickly, that there is a more logical structure to the two biggest shows.
There has to be a more dedicated step below the UFC and above regional shows, and there are numerous benefits in having a definite league one, league two approach.
Great for the fighters: revolving doors at the bottom of the UFC and the top of Strikeforce. Two separate organisations commentary teams could actually mention and compliment the other’s fighters without it being perceived a threat to personal business. An agreement between promotions regarding smooth contact transitions means fighters would keep food on the table.
Great for both organisations: The UFC has a constant supply of winning fighters who have proved themselves in League Two, who are known to fans. Strikeforce have a constant supply of fighters who there just isn’t room for on UFC rosters. Fighters that have not peaked yet, or have peaked but still have a lot of great fights in them.
League Two will also showcase more exciting new stars who are on their way up.
Great for the fans: Instead of struggling together, two separate organisations could streamline a fighter’s career path and put more energy into MMA expansion.
So there it is.
Unlikely to ever happen, as companies rarely cut through the bull for the benefit of others, and very unlikely Strikeforce would accept the role of League Two.
That aside, do you agree that it could work as a system? Perhaps with another promoter as a dedicated League Two?
If you are a fighter, would you welcome a defined two league system?
Sunday, 13 March 2011
Sunday, 20 June 2010
GUEST POST: Fedor Emelianenko Takes On Fabricio Werdum in a Joint Strikeforce/M1 Spectacular By Alexia Krause
The Strikeforce event on June 26th is bound to be one for the books as Strikeforce mixed martial arts joins up with M-1 Global to bring some of the toughest fighters in the world together within one caged ring. This is an extra special event because it combines Strikeforce MMA with M-1 Global, which allows it to be a complete world showcase of some of the world's best fighters. This showcase has a huge title card as Fedor Emelianenko (who is actually a co-owner of M-1 Global) takes on Fabricio Werdum in a heavyweight bout that promises to entertain.
Fedor Emelianenko- also known as "The Last Emperor"- holds a record of 31-1. His only recorded loss comes from the fact that his fight with Tsuyoshi Kohsaka was stopped when Emelianenko suffered a gash in the opening seconds of the fight. Even though he has a loss to tarnish his undefeated streak, "The Last Emperor" understands that numbers don't mean anything when you're inside the cage.
Fedor has been at the top as the best heavyweight in the world for the better part of the last decade. He has taken down Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipović, Mark Coleman, and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira on his way there. On June 26th, he goes up against Fabricio Werdum (the number 9 heavyweight in the world) for a showdown that's bound to define the two fighters and the event.
Even though Emelianenko is among the top heavyweights in the world, he will have a lot on his hands going up against the jiu-jitsu technician, Fabricio Werdum. Werdum is known as "Vai Cavalo" or "Leading Horse" which speaks to his wild and free nature in the ring. It looks like Emelianenko will be tasked with taming Werdum if he wants that victory.
Despite this exciting main card, the June 26th Strikeforce will feature much more heated action. In fact, many more people are looking forward to the top woman in the world, Cris "Cyborg" Santos taking on Jan Finney. Most feel that Cyborg will take out Finney pretty easily and glide on to an effortless victory (even more so considering that Finney's nickname is "Cuddles"), but Finney has been known to be scrappy making the fight a good one to watch.
With some of the best male heavyweight and female featherweight fighters clashing on the same night, the June 26th Strikeforce event is destined to be an exciting evening for MMA fans.
Alexia is a lifelong fan of sports and fitness. Recently, she's been obsessed with MMA. As a result, she has joined forces with MMA Industries- purveyors of widely popular MMA gloves and shirts. Alexia has been writing about the latest developments in MMA training equipment for the past few years, and continues to bring you the latest news in the mixed martial arts world.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Fresh Fighting Stances
When the Gracie family promoted their art at UFC 1 it was clear that most fighters had no idea how to compete against the Brazilian Jui Jitsu style.
The evolution of UFC fighters started as soon as it was realised there would be further shows. When interviewed at UFC 2, the kickboxer Pat Smith stated he had been learning submission defence in preparation for the tournament.
From that moment on fighters began to fill the holes in their game.
Fast forward to the present day, and all successful fighters have skills in the main proficiencies of MMA. Boxing, kick boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, wrestling and BJJ.
This group of disciplines has standardised the model of what is considered the ‘complete fighter.’
Many gyms (including the newly branded UFC gyms) can now offer training in MMA as one all encompassing discipline, containing the elements mentioned above. Whilst this gives a very broad skill base it could serve up a fighter who lacks the individualism found in one who has moved to MMA following many years in a specific martial art.
Very rarely there is a fighter such as welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who presents such a problem for opponents, being so skilled in all areas. As one of the most ‘complete’ fighters in MMA, there is no easy way to take him ‘out of his game.’
I believe we are entering an age where being well rounded may not be enough anymore.
MMA as we know it is not becoming stale as such, but if all fighters are training in the same areas, the shock of the unknown is disappearing. Today an aspiring fighter knows which type of coaches to hire in order to train for competition, but perhaps they should be looking further a field?
Since the crowning of Light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, we could now be seeing a brand new species of predator in MMA.
Future champions will raise themselves above other elite not just by their completeness, but by their individuality.
Dinosaur fighters beware: Evolve or become extinct.
Lyoto Machida’s father Yoshizo, adapted Shotokan into his own style of Machida karate.
Lyoto’s style involves extremely fast attack and retreat style evolved from his father’s Martial Art, and his competition karate background. Now that he has matched this with an aggression fit for ending fights in the octagon, he is a devastating force as light heavyweight champion.
Regardless of your own view of the outcome of Shogun v Machida 1, it was evident that Shogun’s success came from his strict adherence to Muay Thai, and his refusal to be drawn into Lyoto’s game. Style vs Style again, but now specific striking styles, backed up with well rounded MMA skills.
On the Discovery Channel show ‘Fight Quest’ two American fighters Doug Anderson and Jimmy Smith tour the globe meeting masters of each country’s national martial art.
They learn Hapkido in South Korea, Kalarippayattu in India and Kyokushin karate in Japan.
After a week of intensive training they face off against skilled veterans of that style, in a full contact bout.
It is extremely difficult to bring newly learned moves to an intense full contact battle. When pressure hits, the stars of the show often revert to their subconscious comfort tactics of boxing and kick boxing, forgetting the intricacies of the moves it was so important they master in the previous days.
The local fighters capitalise on this, their own techniques having become ingrained through many dedicated years of practicing correct form.
The tourists rarely win a bout.
This skill retention of these local fighters helps to illustrate why Machida’s style is so difficult to counter without opponents having a similar background. Shogun will have the benefit of five rounds of experience when they next meet. Will that be enough for an undisputed victory?
One issue regarding new fighting styles coming to MMA is that expert single style fighters are by definition not generally interested in transitioning to another sport. Why would they be? MMA world expansion will change this at a grass roots level, helping to bring in young practitioners of more obscure martial arts. Fighters across the globe will have new headaches as they seek to prepare for opponents with unfamiliar skills.
So which other arts would contribute effectively to MMA?
Shogun Rua almost decapitated Ricardo Arona using an acrobatic Capoeira kick at the PRIDE Middleweight final, 2005. The Brazilian art can be very distracting to an unsuspecting opponent, check out Marcus Aurelio vs Keegan Marshall for a brutal KO.
Cheick Kongo learned his base striking skills from the Indonesian art of Penkcak Silat and the French art of Savate which will definitely be popular amongst his emerging countrymen as MMA legislation changes.
The success of Chinese promotion ‘Art of War’ will mean more Sanda fighters moving into MMA, watch out for Wu Hao Tian, aged 23 (6-0-1) whose style is also derived from Mongolian wrestling. The prowess of Cung Lee attends to the effectiveness of Sanda as a base, something Frank Shamrock’s broken arm would not dispute.
There is no denying that Muay Thai, BJJ et al are the main influences on modern MMA, however fighters can still look elsewhere for a fresh inspirational edge.
I’m not talking about Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson pulling off a Daniel LaRusso Crane Kick against Brock Lesner, but there are some clever moves out there in the wide, wide, world of martial arts that may shake things up over the next few years.
Andrew McGuigan
The evolution of UFC fighters started as soon as it was realised there would be further shows. When interviewed at UFC 2, the kickboxer Pat Smith stated he had been learning submission defence in preparation for the tournament.
From that moment on fighters began to fill the holes in their game.
Fast forward to the present day, and all successful fighters have skills in the main proficiencies of MMA. Boxing, kick boxing, Muay Thai, Judo, wrestling and BJJ.
This group of disciplines has standardised the model of what is considered the ‘complete fighter.’
Many gyms (including the newly branded UFC gyms) can now offer training in MMA as one all encompassing discipline, containing the elements mentioned above. Whilst this gives a very broad skill base it could serve up a fighter who lacks the individualism found in one who has moved to MMA following many years in a specific martial art.
Very rarely there is a fighter such as welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who presents such a problem for opponents, being so skilled in all areas. As one of the most ‘complete’ fighters in MMA, there is no easy way to take him ‘out of his game.’
I believe we are entering an age where being well rounded may not be enough anymore.
MMA as we know it is not becoming stale as such, but if all fighters are training in the same areas, the shock of the unknown is disappearing. Today an aspiring fighter knows which type of coaches to hire in order to train for competition, but perhaps they should be looking further a field?
Since the crowning of Light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida, we could now be seeing a brand new species of predator in MMA.
Future champions will raise themselves above other elite not just by their completeness, but by their individuality.
Dinosaur fighters beware: Evolve or become extinct.
Lyoto Machida’s father Yoshizo, adapted Shotokan into his own style of Machida karate.
Lyoto’s style involves extremely fast attack and retreat style evolved from his father’s Martial Art, and his competition karate background. Now that he has matched this with an aggression fit for ending fights in the octagon, he is a devastating force as light heavyweight champion.
Regardless of your own view of the outcome of Shogun v Machida 1, it was evident that Shogun’s success came from his strict adherence to Muay Thai, and his refusal to be drawn into Lyoto’s game. Style vs Style again, but now specific striking styles, backed up with well rounded MMA skills.
On the Discovery Channel show ‘Fight Quest’ two American fighters Doug Anderson and Jimmy Smith tour the globe meeting masters of each country’s national martial art.
They learn Hapkido in South Korea, Kalarippayattu in India and Kyokushin karate in Japan.
After a week of intensive training they face off against skilled veterans of that style, in a full contact bout.
It is extremely difficult to bring newly learned moves to an intense full contact battle. When pressure hits, the stars of the show often revert to their subconscious comfort tactics of boxing and kick boxing, forgetting the intricacies of the moves it was so important they master in the previous days.
The local fighters capitalise on this, their own techniques having become ingrained through many dedicated years of practicing correct form.
The tourists rarely win a bout.
This skill retention of these local fighters helps to illustrate why Machida’s style is so difficult to counter without opponents having a similar background. Shogun will have the benefit of five rounds of experience when they next meet. Will that be enough for an undisputed victory?
One issue regarding new fighting styles coming to MMA is that expert single style fighters are by definition not generally interested in transitioning to another sport. Why would they be? MMA world expansion will change this at a grass roots level, helping to bring in young practitioners of more obscure martial arts. Fighters across the globe will have new headaches as they seek to prepare for opponents with unfamiliar skills.
So which other arts would contribute effectively to MMA?
Shogun Rua almost decapitated Ricardo Arona using an acrobatic Capoeira kick at the PRIDE Middleweight final, 2005. The Brazilian art can be very distracting to an unsuspecting opponent, check out Marcus Aurelio vs Keegan Marshall for a brutal KO.
Cheick Kongo learned his base striking skills from the Indonesian art of Penkcak Silat and the French art of Savate which will definitely be popular amongst his emerging countrymen as MMA legislation changes.
The success of Chinese promotion ‘Art of War’ will mean more Sanda fighters moving into MMA, watch out for Wu Hao Tian, aged 23 (6-0-1) whose style is also derived from Mongolian wrestling. The prowess of Cung Lee attends to the effectiveness of Sanda as a base, something Frank Shamrock’s broken arm would not dispute.
There is no denying that Muay Thai, BJJ et al are the main influences on modern MMA, however fighters can still look elsewhere for a fresh inspirational edge.
I’m not talking about Roy ‘Big Country’ Nelson pulling off a Daniel LaRusso Crane Kick against Brock Lesner, but there are some clever moves out there in the wide, wide, world of martial arts that may shake things up over the next few years.
Andrew McGuigan
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