Tomorrow evening’s WEC event may be headlined by one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but culturally speaking, a more significant MMA fight is occurring on the undercard.

"The Mongolian Warrior" Tiequan Zhang is heralded as a top Chinese prospect.

Chinese Lightweight fighter Tiequan (or Tie Quan) Zhang makes his WEC and North American debut on the card headlined by Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo defending his title against former Ultimate Fighter contestant Manny Gamburyan.

The undefeated Zhang (11-0) will take on the also undefeated Pablo Garza. His original opponent, Jason Reinhardt, was removed from the bout by the Colorado State Boxing Commission due to fears over his prescription contacts (MMAJunkie has more details on the debacle).

Zuffa’s expansion into China started at the end of last month, when Dana White tapped former NBA executive Mark Fischer to head up the UFC‘s main Asia office in Beijing. Current plans incude a Chinese edition of “The Ultimate Fighter” and re-airing live UFC events on Chinese television.

There’s no question for the potential for the UFC to make money in China, as the country seems ready to embrace MMA and Zuffa is ready to break though. The question lies in whether Chinese fighters are ready for international competition. Continue reading →

Two very different fights in two different weight classes at UFC 119 last Saturday night had two very different outcomes. Yet, they both displayed one central theme that is continually debated in the fight community: fighting hard vs. fighting smart.

Smack dab in the middle of the pay-per-view portion of the card was the Welterweight bout between Matt Serra and Chris Lytle. The fight did not have any great implications for the division, save for perhaps giving Lytle an extra boost in his quest to climb back towards relevancy at 170. It was an entertaining fight to say the least, but you’d be hard pressed to say that either fighter fought smart. Lytle dominated the first two rounds, but still went out in the third swinging wildly and taking chances that, against a fighter still in his prime, would have cost him dearly. His opponent, Matt Serra, also put on an entertaining and gutsy performance, but did so at the expense of giving himself a chance to win. He curiously went for the body in the first round, then spent the rest of it slugging it out with Lytle when he would have been much better suited (and may have had a chance of winning it) taking Lytle to the ground. Matt Serra has his strengths as a fighter, but he opted against them so that he could put on a better show.

In contrast was the main event of the evening, a heavyweight bout between Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop with much greater implications for both fighters; arguably, a loss for either meant far more than a win. As such, they gave each other a lot of relative distance and respect. They fought safely, with Mir trying to neutralize Cro Cop with clinches against the fence while former knockout artist Cro Cop gingerly spent three rounds feeling out his opponent and trying to find his distance. The result was an atrociously boring and regrettable main event, which considering it ended on a flash knockout via a hard left knee from Mir is saying quite a bit. Continue reading →

There are no shortage of cliches in sports, because let’s face it, if their gifts lied elsewhere they wouldn’t be playing a game for a living. Besides, an adage becomes a cliche only out of necessity and because it almost always holds true.

One of these is “play to the whistle,” and while there are few similarities in execution and motivation between team sports and combat sports, there are times like this that we are reminded of the commonalities in competition.

Just ask Rousimar Palhares.

Going into the main event of Thursday night’s Ultimate Fight Night 22, Palhares was thought to be a contender in the Middleweight Division and a very real test for Nate Marquardt. A win would not only secure his place at the top of the division but potentially put him a fight or two away from a title shot.

Instead, Palhares became the prime example of what not to do in a fight. Continue reading →

Tonight is Ultimate Fight Night 22 followed by the season premiere of the 12th season of UFC’s hit reality show “The Ultimate Fighter.” The hook for the season is the rivalry between opposing coaches Josh Koscheck and UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, with the two facing off in December in a title match.

The last time the two had met was in August 2007. Koscheck was a young fighter on the rise in the division and GSP was looking to climb his way back into title contention after a stunning knockout loss to Season 4 winner Matt Serra.

Koscheck made a name for himself in the show’s inaugural season as a brash, outspoken Middleweight with a penchant for wrestling and not much else. Over time he has developed into a solid striker in his own right with a few memorable knockout wins under his belt. Amazingly, he’s also managed to somehow step up his game considerably in the trash-talk department.

Many fighters will concede to trash-talking as a means of gaining a psychological advantage over their opponent. Conventional wisdom has held that it’s a way to get into an opponent’s head and make him doubt himself, or catch him at a moment in the fight where his emotions get the better of him and he drops his guard.  In other words, make Georges St. Pierre get too angry or upset to remember who he is and give the trash-talking Koscheck a chance to find the chink in the seemingly impenetrable armor of the best pound for pound fighter in the world.

From recent observation, though, I’m starting to wonder if we need to re-think that stance. Not because trash talk doesn’t work, but rather because it may not hurt the opponent so much as help the one doing the talking. Continue reading →

There’s a new post on my blog for the Albany Times Union where I explore the possibility that MMA fans are just like any other sports fans. And it gets weird.

Click here to read “George and I”

The big story of the moment is the UFC’s sudden and unexpected firing of Heavyweight stand-out Todd Duffee, who made headlines after knocking out Tim Hague in seven seconds at UFC 102 in August of 2009, but lost via knockout after dominating Mike Russow for three rounds at UFC 114 this past May.

Adding to the surprise of the announcement is the fact that Duffee was scheduled to fight Jon Madsen at UFC 121 in October until a recent injury forced him to withdraw from the bout.

No official reason has been given yet for his release, but Josh Gross stated on his Twitter feed last night that those close to the situation are keeping mum about it, with one source who almost always comments declining to make any comment on the situation. Continue reading →

James Toney appeared stoic as Bruce Buffer made the introductions for his fight, which marked his first and what looks to be final foray into the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

His opponent Randy Couture – a champion for the UFC at both Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight – looked at his opponent across the ring, a hulking 237 pound former great in boxing who still had plenty of knockout power. He knew James Toney wouldn’t be able to match his skill set if he had nine years to prepare for him, let alone nine months. Still, in a Mixed Martial Arts fight, one never knows what can happen if a power puncher is allowed even a brief moment to land his shot. One need look no further than Ray Mercer, who was tapped out by perennial amateur Kimbo Slice but then followed that up by knocking out former UFC Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia.

But then, Randy Couture is no Tim Sylvia. Or is that the other way around? Continue reading →

The long talked about Strikeforce Middleweight Grand Prix is happening after all.

Strikeforce’s CEO, Scott Coker, told MMAJunkie.com that the tournament will be televised on Showtime from the HP Pavilion in San Jose, California on October 9th. Coker also said the promotion hasn’t decided whether they’ll do a single event four-man tournament or go with an eight-man tournament stretched across two (or possibly three) events.

The Middleweight title was vacated when Jake Shields left the promotion last month and signed with the UFC to join their Welterweight Division. A new champion will be determined in Houston on August 21st when Tim Kennedy takes on Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza.

The loser of the fight will likely join the four or eight man field. Barring an injury or some other catastrophe, Jason “Mayhem” Miller will almost definitely be part of the field as well. Other possible participants include Matt Lindland (who has told folks that Coker’s already talked to him about competing in the tournament), Robbie Lawler, former Pride Light Heavyweight and Middleweight champion Dan Henderson, Melvin Manhoef, Luke Rockhold, Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos (aka “Mr. Cyborg”), Scott Smith, Nick Diaz, and Joey Villasenor among others.

Continue reading →

When Jake Shields’ potential jump to the UFC meant making Strikeforce look foolish, fans and journalists were abuzz with the news. Losing Shields was going to be a huge blow for Strikeforce, as he’s a legitimate top 10 at 185 and 170 and proved in his fight with Dan Henderson that he’s nearly unstoppable on the ground.

Now he’s signed with the UFC, and he’s a boring fighter who’s not going to make them any money and is going to be a huge bust.

How’d the tide turn so quickly? Continue reading →

Brock Lesnar’s successful title defense against Shane Carwin at UFC 116 several weeks ago has sparked intense debate. Some of it has been in reference to where Lesnar falls in the Heavyweight rankings, i.e. if Fedor should be unseated as the consensus #1 ranked Heavyweight in favor of Lesnar. To me that debate is neither here nor there, since the relative lack of competition Fedor has faced in the last five years automatically disqualifies him in my mind from being considered the hands-down best in the world.

The other argument has stemmed from whether or not it’s necessarily fair to have a weight division that allows for a sixty-pound weight discrepancy, and if perhaps there should be an additional weight class for those weighing in at 225 and up to prevent an unfair size advantage.

I don’t want to dismiss the notion entirely, since somewhere down the line it might need to be addressed.

That time isn’t now. Doing so wouldn’t create two very weak divisions, with the heavier class having a very, very shallow pool.  Continue reading →