Last week, the UFC announced that five-round fights would now happen for all main events. Yahoo! Sports' own Dave Meltzer wrote an excellent breakdown of why five-round title fights are a good thing. He discussed how many close, non-title main events have taken place and that five-round bouts will make the winner more obvious.
But there are downsides to this decision. Namely:
Not every fighter is ready for a five-rounder. The UFC's Ultimate Fight Night, UFC on Versus and "The Ultimate Fighter" finale events give the UFC a chance to promote up-and-coming fighters. The main events are often populated by fighters who will eventually be near a title shot, but they need time to grow. Pushing them into five-rounders too early could hurt their development.
A main-event injury could wreak more havoc on the cards than we've seen. Consider what happened with UFC 131. Just weeks before the fights, Brock Lesnar had to pull out of the main event, and Shane Carwin stepped in. If Carwin had to switch up for a five-round fight on short notice, then he (or any fighter) might not be able to prepare for a five-rounder in time. The fighters would be in a position to either go into a bout not as prepared as their opponent or turn down the opportunity to headline a card.
It takes away a champion's advantage. A champion has few advantages going into his fight, besides the cool walk-in with someone holding the belt over his head and the fact that to win the belt, he has been into deep waters before and knows just what those extra two rounds require. Now anyone who has been in a main event will have that experience.
25-minute fights will eat into a broadcast window. As Meltzer noted in his column, five-round fights means that in televised events, five-round fights will only allow for three other bouts within a broadcast.
It isn't the silver-bullet to end judging questions in close fights. Lyoto Machida and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, B.J. Penn and Frankie Edgar, and Gray Maynard and Frankie Edgar all fought five-round bouts. Every one of those bouts were close, had controversial decisions and required a rematch. Those extra two rounds didn't decide anything.
What are your thoughts on five-rounders? Tell us in the comments or on Facebook.
MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Ryron Gracie to talk about his and Rener Gracie’s wildly popular post-fight Gracie Breakdown video series. The videos are a must-see if you haven’t caught them yet!
Who's looking for some fine grappling when Chris Leben and Wanderlei Silva lock horns? That's what I thought. Two of the most prolific bangers in the history of MMA should provide some fireworks next week at UFC 132.
Silva has 23 knockouts in 33 wins while Leben has 13 in 25 victories. Silva says he's on another level.
"I'm faster than him. Who's gonna hit first? I don't see him going past the first round," said Silva (0:38 mark). "I'm going to hit him a couple of times and after that, he's going to go out."
This is a huge fight for Leben (25-7, 11-6 UFC), who allowed Brian Stann to use him as a stepping stone at UFC 125.
"I've had a lot of fights and I should have known better but I think I just got a little comfortable. I was feeling really good after my three fight win streak. I was feeling good and I underestimated Brian Stann a little bit," Leben said during the UFC 132 teleconference. "I think the biggest thing that got affected actually was my diet. I came in just a little bit too heavy, and I cut too much weight."
Leben's not making the same mistake against the legendary Silva. He actually said Silva's game scares him a bit.
"This time, I'll be honest, I'm excited to fight Wanderlei. And a little scared at the same time too," Leben said. "I think for me that's definitely a very motivating and driving emotion. I'm really focusing a lot harder on my diet, and when I'm in the gym, I'm in the gym 110 percent. I'm listening to my coaches and I'm putting everything in because I want to go out and I want to win this fight."
It's also a huge fight for Silva, who at 34, appears to be on the downside. He dropped to middleweight to make a run at Anderson Silva's title and hasn't been able to remain healthy. He beat Michael Bisping in his official 185-pound debut, but hasn't fought since in 16 months.
The possibility of sanctioned mixed martial arts in New York in 2011 is effectively on life support after the state Assembly's Ways and Means committee left a bill which would regulate the sport off its agenda for its last scheduled session.
Monday is the final day of the Assembly's 2011 legislative calendar, and the committee filed a full listing of 26 bills it intends to vote on, but Bill No. A04146 authorizing mixed martial arts events is not one of them.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo has indicated the possibility of extending the legislative session past Monday, but that would likely be to handle legislation of major importance such as tax issues and rent control. MMA would not be expected to be included in any special session.
Despite easily passing through votes in the state senate, the Assembly's Tourism, Parks, Arts and Sports Development committee as well as the Codes committee, the bill's chances to make it into law have looked bleak since early June, when Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said there does not appear to be "widespread support" for the legislation.
Assemblyman Dean Murray, a co-sponsor of the bill, showed that wasn't entirely accurate by producing a letter of support signed by 60 members of the Assembly.
There are currently 146 members in the Assembly, so an MMA bill would need 74 "Yes" votes to pass into law in an up-and-down vote. MMA Fighting has identified 66 total members that have voiced support for the bill, meaning only eight more members would have to join the group to legalize the sport.
But the bill never made it that far, stalling in the Ways and Means committee. It faced an uphill climb there as well, after its chairman Herman Farrell voiced his own personal distaste for the sport.
"I don't think very much of the sport," he recently said. "Next we'll give them clubs with spikes on the end; that will be good."
At least 12 members of Farrell's Ways and Means committee have disagreed with him and indicated support for the bill. The UFC also sent executives and athletes to the state capitol in an attempt to educate and influence the vote, but seemingly to no avail. Barring any last-second miracles, the process will begin all over again in 2012.
CHICAGO -- Sitting at a restaurant in Chicago with Strikeforce boss Scott Coker and a handful of reporters, Dan Henderson answered questions on a variety of topics, from his future with Strikeforce to the his opponent on July 30, Fedor Emelianenko. He made it clear that he was not done yet, and is looking forward to this next challenge.
"With both of our careers, we've done a lot in the sport. You match two guys up like that, and with me probably being the underdog and a smaller guy, I have a lot more to gain than he does. I have a lot less to lose, and those fights are always the most fun for me," he told Cagewriter
Henderson will fight in a weight class much larger than any of his other fights, against a man who, until recently, was considered unstoppable. At 40 years old and with a legacy in combat sports set, why do it?
"The challenge of things, and things like fighting Fedor. That's the biggest challenge of my career. Those are things that excite me and motivate me to keep going," Henderson said.
In this bout, he won't defend his recently-won Strikeforce light-heavyweight belt. That hardly matters to Henderson.
"No, when I'm out there, I don't think, [expletive], the belt's not on the line. I better not hit this guy. I'm just as motivated when I train."
But the prospect of uniting light heavyweight titles across Strikeforce and the UFC does interest Henderson. When Henderson signed with Strikeforce, it seemed an impossibility, but Zuffa's purchase of Strikeforce changed that.
"As soon as Zuffa bought Strikeforce, Jon Jones fought right after that. Everybody was blowing up my Twitter about fighting Jon Jones. I think that fight would be fun for me because he's so unorthodox. It's something that probably needs to be built up after I defend the belt once or twice."
Focused on Fedor
And it's not the fight that Henderson is focused on at the moment. Though he says that he never bought into the mystique of Fedor Emelianenko, he does respect what the Russian fighter has accomplished.
"I knew that he was talented and tough and there every fight. Those are the types of guys that are pretty consistent and I would never bet against him."
Like all fight fans, Henderson has wondered what happened to Emelianenko in his last few fights, which were losses to Fabricio Werdum and Antonio Silva.
"Looking on the outside, his heart hasn't been into it. He's hardly trained. Ever since PRIDE, he doesn't look like he's put much into it. I'm hoping he gets rejuvenated."
Timing was a key part in putting this fight together.
"It was something that was interesting to me, that could possibly make everyone a lot of money, but things had to fall in the right way. With me losing my first fight, and then him losing, I thought it wasn't going to happen. Just the way things have gone in the light heavyweight division and then Fedor getting mugged by a really big heavyweight, they started looking at fighting littler guys. I'm probably about as little as he'll get to fight ever in his life. "
Henderson, who normally walks around at 204 lbs., has no plans of getting bigger to fight Emelianenko, who weighed in for his last fight at 230 lbs.
"It won't change a whole lot at all, except at weigh-ins, I'll drink water to make sure I'm over 205 lbs. I don't typically weigh over 205 much at all."
With a loss to Henderson, Emelianenko's management indicated that he might retire. Henderson doesn't want to see him walk away from MMA, but that doesn't mean he intends to hold back on July 30.
"No, I'm a fan of his like everyone else. I don't want to see him retire. But that won't stop me from beating him, either. "
Retirement isn't on Henderson's mind. He still wants to accomplish more, but he thanks his open approach to the sport for his long, successful career.
"My first fight, I hadn't done any training in MMA. I was just a wrestler. To learn along the way has been fun, and to evolve with the sport, and having the mentality that I could learn from anybody. That, and being smart over the years with my training."
Add another country to the list of places that UFC can lay claim to, as the promotion sold out its long-awaited return to Brazil in 74 minutes.
The August 27 event at HSBC arena sold its allotment of 16,572 seats in a flash.
The promotion has not held an event in the nation that is largely considered MMA's birthplace since October 16, 1998, when UFC: Ultimate Brazil took place in the country's largest city, Sao Paulo.
That was over two years before the fight organization was purchased by current owners Zuffa LLC.
Since then, the UFC has visited various parts of the world including the UK, Ireland, Germany, Australia and the United Arab Emirates.
The UFC Rio event, officially dubbed UFC: Silva vs. Okami, is headlined by a rematch of a 2006 bout between current UFC champ Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami. In that first fight, Silva was disqualified for an illegal upkick, giving Okami a win. It was the last time anyone has left the cage with Silva credited for a victory. Since then, he has won 14 straight fights.
Josh Barnett definitely has a sense of humor. Let's just hope the stiffs from the California State Athletic Commission do as well.
During Strikeforce's workout day, Barnett took the media on a pro wrestling journey. There was a back breaker, chops to the chest and even a figure four leg lock.
"I've been sitting on the sidelines, sitting there watching everybody go out and fight. Hard times have been on Josh Barnett. Dealing with athletic commissions. Everybody saying, 'You did this, and you did that. You're the problem for this.' That's hard times. Hard times for my family. Hard times for my friends. Hard times by me. Hard times not being able to get a fight. Hard times is the company, waking up one day, is saying they've been sold out to your competitor! Not knowing what the hell you're going to do. Where's my contract at? Where's my money? Where's my security? Who says I'm going to get that shot now? Having that on your mind? That's hard times."
Barnett then turned his attention to Rogers:
"And then you get this big old Brett Rogers in front of you. He thinks he knows what's tough. He thinks he's going to make a name off of my head. So I've got to get up every morning, break of dawn. I've got to get those running shoes on. I've got to hit that concrete; I've got to get those miles under my feet. My knees are aching, my body is sore. I've got guys like 'Hammer' beating on me every single day. I've got body breaking down, my mind getting pushed, feeling the effects of 14 years of fighting - feeling the effects of trying to put yourself in the best condition you can be in. Waking up every day having to deal with that? That's what hard times is about.
"I'm going to tell you what Brett Rogers. Come Saturday, American Airlines Arena? I'm going to give you a lesson in hard times. I'm going to take all that anguish, all that pain, everything that I have been through, everything all my family has been through, everything all my coaches have been through - I'm going to put that on you, Brett Rogers. I'm going to show you exactly what hard times is about. Who wants to see that? Not you, Brett Rogers. You do not want to see that."
Donald Cerrone's transition to the UFC has been nothing but smooth. He made sure of that at UFC 131 by crushing Vagner Rocha with leg kicks. Rocha, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, could never get the fight to the mat and took massive damage to his legs. Cerrone rolled to a unanimous decison, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26, in the first fight on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 131 in Vancouver.
There were questions about Cerrone, a former WEC lightweight champ, when he was brought on board by the UFC, the biggest promotion under the Zuffa umbrella. He's now won two straight in the UFC over Paul Kelly and Rocha, and three in a row overall.
"My wrestling has gotten better and better thanks to Greg Jackson and all of the wrestlers down there. I'm working with guys like Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard and the Vanier brothers every day. I'm disappointed that I didn't get the chance to finish him," said Cerrone.
Cerrone's muay thai just destroyed Rocha all night long. Cerrone (15-3, 2-0 UFC) landed dozens of kicks on the outside and inside of Rocha's lead leg. By the third round, Rocha switched stances for a brief second and was limping. Over the final two minutes of the fight, he was wincing on each nasty leg kick that landed.
"After the first round, I could tell the leg kicks started bothering him. I just didn't let my hands go after negating the takedown. I'm happy with the win, but you know I always want to put on exciting fights," said Cerrone.
Rocha (6-2, 0-1 UFC) tried for takedowns throughout, but lacked the size and technique to threaten Cerrone. A replacement for Mac Danzig, he was simply overmatched at this point in his career.
"That was just a bad fight for me. It wasn't what I had planned at all. I was really frustrated that he was able to defend the takedowns that well and it threw my game plan completely off," said Rocha.
Sam Stout loves post-fight bonuses. Outside of Chris Lytle, "Hands of Stone" has cashed the most UFC bonuses in history. They usually come via the 15-minute route. Tonight, Stout took a different path by making quick work of Yves Edwards with a vicious knockout in less than four minutes. Stout landed a left hook that knocked Edwards stiff at 3:52 in the first round at UFC 131 in Vancouver.
"I thought it would take a little bit longer to be able to connect against a fighter of Yves Edwards' caliber. I was putting my combinations together and trying to slow him down. We've been working for several months on landing a left hook against a left-handed fighter," Stout said. "Tonight, it landed and it worked. It's an amazing feeling to score a knockout like that in front of the Canadian fans."
It could've very easily been Stout lying on his back. He ate a big right hand over his ear just a split second before his sledgehammer left hand caught Edwards on the chin.
Edwards, a UFC veteran who first fought for the promotion back at UFC 33 in 2001, was out on the way down and then slammed his head on the mat. Edwards' (40-17-1, 8-5 UFC) arms went out to his side and his eyes were wide open. The physicians attended to Edwards for nearly two and a half minutes before he rose to his feet. Once he got back to the locker room, Edwards was able to speak, but was still in shock.
"I've never been knocked out, so this is a tough loss for me. I've got to go back and see the tape to figure out where my defense broke down," Edwards said.
Stout has cashed bonuses on five previous occasions, good for over $200,000. While training for this fight in Las Vegas, the lightweight spoke with RawVegas and defended his go-for-broke style.
It certainly worked tonight. Stout (17-6-1, 6-5 UFC) has won 4-of-5 now in the UFC. At 27 years old, he may be turning the corner.
Donald Cerrone's transition to the UFC has been nothing but smooth. He made sure of that at UFC 131 by crushing Vagner Rocha with leg kicks. Rocha, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist, could never get the fight to the mat and took massive damage to his legs. Cerrone rolled to a unanimous decison, 30-27, 30-27 and 30-26, in the first fight on the pay-per-view portion of UFC 131 in Vancouver.
There were questions about Cerrone, a former WEC lightweight champ, when he was brought on board by the UFC, the biggest promotion under the Zuffa umbrella. He's now won two straight in the UFC over Paul Kelly and Rocha, and three in a row overall.
"My wrestling has gotten better and better thanks to Greg Jackson and all of the wrestlers down there. I'm working with guys like Clay Guida, Melvin Guillard and the Vanier brothers every day. I'm disappointed that I didn't get the chance to finish him," said Cerrone.
Cerrone's muay thai just destroyed Rocha all night long. Cerrone (15-3, 2-0 UFC) landed dozens of kicks on the outside and inside of Rocha's lead leg. By the third round, Rocha switched stances for a brief second and was limping. Over the final two minutes of the fight, he was wincing on each nasty leg kick that landed.
"After the first round, I could tell the leg kicks started bothering him. I just didn't let my hands go after negating the takedown. I'm happy with the win, but you know I always want to put on exciting fights," said Cerrone.
Rocha (6-2, 0-1 UFC) tried for takedowns throughout, but lacked the size and technique to threaten Cerrone. A replacement for Mac Danzig, he was simply overmatched at this point in his career.
"That was just a bad fight for me. It wasn't what I had planned at all. I was really frustrated that he was able to defend the takedowns that well and it threw my game plan completely off," said Rocha.
DALLAS -- MMA Fighting spoke to Alistair Overeem following his win against Fabricio Werdum at Strikeforce: Overeem vs. Werdum about his performance in the fight, Werdum's gameplan, fighting Antonio Silva next and whether he proved he's one of the best of the heavyweights in the world on Saturday night.
The speculation is over. According to an announcement through the UFC?s website, newly crowned divisional king Jon Jones will defend his championship for the first time against former 205-pound title-holder Quinton ?Rampage? Jackson on September 22 at UFC 135 as had been rumored in the weeks following Jackson?s win over Matt Hamill at UFC 130. [...]
So because I was so stoked to see Alistair Overeem take on a top 5 opponent, I decided to celebrate the occasion by running bonus contest for the MMA Torch Betting and Confidence Pick games.
JINX!
I blame myself for the lackluster main event, which dragged down an otherwise tolerable card. Sorry bout that. Anyhoooo, we still have some results to post. The winner of the Confidence Picks game will be awarded 15 extra points for UFC 132. The winner of the Betting Game will get an extra $500.
Congratulations, and 15 points, go to Casey Vaccaro for winning the Confidence Picks game for last weekend?s Strikeforce event. Casey?s 23 points managed to defeat yours truly by 1 whole point. Had Casey not colluded with JZ Calvan to poke a 4 foot deep hole in the eye of Justin Wilcox, I would have won. DAMN YOU, DAMN YOU ALL!
Ahem. Sorry about that little tantrum.
As for the Betting Contest, there were a ton of entries that were picking major upsets, looking for big payouts. As a result, only 4 of 29 players made their (imaginary) money back; and no one even managed to double up.
Jason Thompson managed to win the Betting Contest by earning a solid $1722.76. Jason will have $500 extra to bet for the MMA Torch Betting Game at UFC 132.
Jason Thompson: $1722.76 $310 on Barnett for $410 $300 on Wilcox for $300 * $190 on Masvidal for $475 $200 parlay on Overeem, Griggs, Cormier for $537.76
*- All bets placed on Wilcox and JZ Calvan were refunded. All 3-fighter parlays involving Wilcox or JZ were treated as two-fighter parlays. All 2-fighter parlays involving Wilcox or JZ were treated as straight bets.
Honorable Mention goes out to Confidence Pick game winner Casey Vaccaro for coming in second on the Betting Contest. Casey was the only guy with a perfect entry, but he only earned $1607.50, due to picking heavy favorites.
To recap, Casey Vaccaro will have 15 points added to his Confidence Pick game total for UFC 132, and Jason Thompson will have an extra $500 to bet in the Betting Contest for UFC 132.
Thanks for playing. More surprises may be in store...
It was a jubilant atmosphere at the UFC 131 postfight press conference in Vancouver. Sure the winners were all beaming, but it was probably because of the positive aura that always surrounds Junior dos Santos. The nastiest striker in the world in the heavyweight division immediately flipped the switch once the fight was finished and was chipper in front of the media.
- Dana White was amongst the participants with a big grin. Sharing the stage this weekend with the Stanley Cup Finals, UFC 131 was a success in Vancouver. The event drew 14,685 and a gate of $2.85 million.
- Some of that money was handed out in the form of $70,000 postfight bonuses. Dave Herman and Jon Olav Einemo got the Fight of the Night bonus. Chris Weidman received Submission of the Night for his standing guillotine stoppage of Jesse Bongfeldt and Sam Stout cashed the Knockout of the Night bonus.
- Stout, previously a five-time bonus winner, was relieved to finally score a clean KO. He joked that the pressure was on because of his "Hands of Stone" nickname. He hadn't scored a KO finish since late 2007.
- White called the knockout one of the most vicious in the history of the UFC.
- Dos Santos admitted that he tried to play referee Herb Dean at the end of the first round. After blasting away at Carwin with dozens of shots, he turned to the ref and asked him to stop the fight. JDS admitted that he was simply tired and needed a break.
- There was some clarification on why the fight was delayed in the final round. White said that Dean brought doctors into the cage with a minute left because Carwin had a flap of skin hanging over his eye.
- White wouldn't officially commit to who gets the next shot at UFC featherweight champ Jose Aldo Jr., but he said Kenny Florian is the most likely choice. That means he moves in front of Chad Mendes, who decided to take another fight at UFC 133 instead of waiting for Aldo to return from injury.
- The line of the night came from the UFC newcomer Herman. The shredded 6-foot-4, 231-pounder, who smiled throughout a fight where he ate some huge shots from Einemo. Answering what could've been the dumbest question of the week, Herman said he wouldn't be going down to 205. His reason? Herman said he doesn't like to cut weight, plus h'd be facing guys just as strong and faster and said, "I'll stick to fighting fat guys."
- Michihiro Omigawa will be back for at least one more fight in the UFC. He lost a disputed decision to drop to 0-4 with the promotion, but White thought the judges blew it according to MMAjunkie:
Hello again fans and friends and welcome back for part 2 of my latest entry into the ?5 Reasons Why? series of articles. Today?s pair of posts focuses on the upcoming showdown between Alistair Overeem and Fabricio Werdum. For five reasons why Overeem could beat Werdum, please click here. Now it?s time for the opposite: [...]
Hello once more fans and friends and welcome to another new edition of ?Best of the Rest?! I really enjoy taking the time to give my detailed thoughts on a show after watching it, but after the serious discussion and debate I?ll raise in topics like ?Top 5 Best Moments? and ?Best Performance of the [...]
Last week, the UFC announced that five-round fights would now happen for all main events. Yahoo! Sports' own Dave Meltzer
The possibility of sanctioned mixed martial arts in New York in 2011 is effectively on life support after the state Assembly's Ways and Means committee left a bill which would regulate the sport off its agenda for its last scheduled session.
CHICAGO -- Sitting at a restaurant in Chicago with Strikeforce boss Scott Coker and a handful of reporters, Dan Henderson answered questions on a variety of topics, from his future with Strikeforce to the his opponent on July 30, Fedor Emelianenko. He made it clear that he was not done yet, and is looking forward to this next challenge.
Add another country to the list of places that UFC can lay claim to, as the promotion sold out its long-awaited return to Brazil in 74 minutes. 
