Speculation is mounting that Chael Sonnen could be making a hasty exit from the fight game following his second loss to Anderson Silva.

The ballyhoo that Sonnen spit out last year regarding his exit from the sport if he lost a second time may have been an unintentionally self-fulfilling prophecy, if one of Sonnen’s grappling coaches is to be believed:

“I don’t know what Chael’s plans are, but I got a feeling he’s done fight,” Melanson said (thanks to MMAMania.com for transcribing). “I don’t know. I’ve just got a feeling he’s done. Maybe I’m wrong, but I think he was serious when he said, ‘If you beat me, I will leave forever,’ and there’s a very good chance of that.”

A lot of sites are running with this, but I’m a bit skeptical. It seems strange that Sonnen would just walk away from what could be some very lucrative paydays at 205. Hell, even a rematch with Bisping at 185 would put some handsome digits into his checking account.

On the other hand, he was roided the fuck out for that fight with Silva and the best he could manage was a first round that Silva looked like he was literally giving to him, with the champion flying at him recklessly and literally laying under him for the rest of the round with his eyes closed. There’s also the issue that I don’t see a lot of other people talking about, which is that the bullshitty Therapeutic Use Exemption granted to him by the Nevada State Athletic Commission is only good for that state. Were he to fight elsewhere, say New Jersey or California, he’d have to go through the whole process over again and in the case of Jersey I don’t think they’d give him the green light for it. That limits the UFC’s options in terms of booking him if he were to continue with this pathetic charade.

Keep your ears to the ground on this one.

The video is below.

I believe this much: he did receive a phone call from Renzo Gracie. I believe it because in one form or another, a ton of fighters – not just Brazilian – have reached out to him over the course of the past year to state unequivocally that he had gone way too far in his comments about Brazilians.

There are a myriad ways to hype a fight, and Sonnen has engaged in just about every form of it. There’s plenty to be said for hyperbole. But what Sonnen says about Brazilians at times borders on racism, and at other times runs right over that line.

Sadly, not enough people seem to be calling him out on it. Fighters prefer to say it in person, giving Sonnen the benefit of the doubt that he’s just getting carried away in the moment. Some MMA journalists have mentioned it, but not enough, because many of them either don’t have a backbone or do it to get a press pass and a good seat.

But then, just when he appears to be humbly regretting his racism, he’s right back at it on the largest sports network in the country, telling Dan LaBatard:

“The only resentment or confusion that I have is the implication is that they’ve got dentists on every other block in Brazil, you know. There’s something wrong with your tooth in Brazil, some doctor waves a fishbone in front of your face and hopes your mouth feels better.”

Despicable. It’s the sort of thing that doesn’t want make me want to see him get beat up, it makes me want to see him just disappear completely.

Intriguing and well-done. Whoever’s responsible for these can’t be paid enough by the UFC, and I’m surprised that more focus isn’t put on them.

Also, if you haven’t seen it already, my new contribution for Spike’s MMA Uncensored blog is up – Chael Sonnen & Anderson Silva: Are These Guys for Real?

As MMAFighting.com notes, Dana and Lorenzo weren’t thrilled with the idea:

“I actually asked Dana and Lorenzo, could I take a fight for the fans at the end of 2012,” Jones said. “I figured beating Henderson and Rashad, there would be a period where we’d figure out who I’m going to fight next, and during that period, at the end of 2012, I asked to fight a heavyweight — a Top 10 heavyweight.”

…
“Dana and Lorenzo didn’t think that was the best for me to do right now,” Jones said. “They wanted me to continue at the light heavyweight division.”

I drew the comparison between Silva and Jones only because thus far in his reign Jones has shown the same level of dominance against the best of his division in the same way Silva has for the past few years.

There are, however, some differences that need to be acknowledged. First, there’s the fact that there’s a big discrepancy between Middleweight and Light Heavyweight in terms of both drawing power and depth of talent. The Middleweight division has improved leaps and bounds from where it was four years ago, but despite having the best pound for pound fighter as its champion (or perhaps in part because of it) is still something of a journeyman’s division. There are a crop of what I would consider “natural” 185 fighters finally breaking through, but for years the division was occupied by guys moving up in weight because they’re too slow for 170 and others who couldn’t cut it at 205. Even today, the #2 and #3 fighters at that weight, Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping, are examples of the latter.

So while Jon Jones has been dominant, he still has some contenders in a much deeper division. That said, as ridiculous as it may sound, he’s almost there. He’s beaten Bader, Rua, Jackson, and Machida in less than one calendar year. After he gets through Evans and Henderson (which I have a strong suspicion he will given his utter dominance of the other fighters), he’ll have cleaned out the top 10 of the Light Heavyweight division. Who will be left to contend? Phil Davis is a prospect, but showed last Saturday that he’s not quite there yet. The only other fighters who could even be considered top 10 – Thiago Silva and Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – are not likely to get in a position of title contention anytime soon (if ever again), let alone stand a chance against him.

The frequency with which Jon Jones has fought has made him an MVP for the promotion, but the UFC sort of shot themselves in the foot by overbooking him, because he’s run through every potential contender they’ve put in front of him and now they’re in a scenario where he likely won’t have any contenders after the Spring. Dominant champions are good for a spell, but their drawing power is severely diminished once the fans can no longer buy opponents as viable contenders. That’s why Brock Lensar was the UFC’s top draw: it wasn’t just because of his mainstream notoriety from pro wrestling, but also (and more importantly) because he was seen as a beatable monster and every challenge he faced held some degree of intrigue. With Jones, each successive title defense seems more and more like an inevitability, as it has with Anderson Silva and to a lesser extent Georges St-Pierre.

For those same reasons, I understand Dana’s refusal to let Jones fight a top ten heavyweight. That division is a mess as it is and they’ve lost Lesnar to retirement. The influx of Strikeforce Heavyweights is promising but lends to it an air of uncertainty, particularly with fighters like Josh Barnett and Allistair Overeem, both of whom the UFC is going to be booking with baited breath and hoping they don’t piss hot for a Commission drug test. Having a Light Heavyweight, even its champion, move up in weight for one or two fights and potentially sabotage another contender wouldn’t be good business. Anderson Silva fighting James Irvin and Forrest Griffin was one thing, because Irvin was never going to contend and Griffin by that time was all but done as a contender and just around for name value and the occasional superfight (see also: Franklin, Rich). Having Jones do the same would probably draw a good buyrate, but at the risk of bringing depth and legitimacy of an entire division into question.

Still, one has to ask: if/when the time comes where Jon Jones has beaten literally every single potential contender, what the Hell are they going to do with the guy?

Ever get the sense that Anderson Silva is just bored with fighting? Crazy, right?

Chael Sonnen is convinced that Anderson Silva is afraid of a rematch. He tells people that, in his mind, he won that fight and that he’s the true Middleweight Champion.

It’s easy to dismiss that coming from Chael, though, because the guy’s a buffoon, a cartoon character, and a convicted liar. But when it’s coming from someone with more respect and consistency, such as Dan Henderson, people start to take it seriously.

Henderson recently went on the MMA Hour and told Ariel Helwani that he believes that Anderson Silva is, if not lying about, at least milking injuries to avoid fights with legitimate competition:

“[Silva] wants to ensure that he retires for the next how many fights he has without losing,” Henderson said. “Anybody that has a chance of beating him he doesn’t want to fight. That’s just my take on it. Obviously, Chael has show he’d probably beat him up if they ever fought again as long as he doesn’t get caught with something stupid at the end of the fight.”

Like anybody else who’s been watching the sport for more than five minutes, I respect the Hell out of Dan Henderson and value his contribution to the sport. But I don’t put too much weight into this, and I base that on my observation of Silva himself.

I personally don’t think Silva is afraid to fight Chael Sonnen. I don’t think he’s afraid of a rematch with Henderson, either, nor does he see anyone at Middleweight that provides a real challenge.

And that’s the problem.

Anderson Silva isn’t afraid of losing. In fact, he doesn’t think he’ll lose. I think he’s just bored. For the last two years he has appeared at times listless, agitated, and downright drowsy about the sport. He’s so good that he’s all but walked through fights with the likes of Demian Maia and Forrest Griffin, but having that great of a talent disparity at Middleweight means that you eventually get the mindset that you’ve done all that you need to do and no longer need to prove yourself. With that comes a diminished drive and desire to even get in the cage in the first place.

We have to start thinking about the possibility that it isn’t a case of Anderson Silva not wanting to fight Chael Sonnen. Maybe he just doesn’t want to fight, period.

For what it’s worth, preparations are being made for a fight with the winner of Sonnen vs. Munoz in the Summer, with the idea of it main eventing another card in Brazil.

After showing up looking like he’d lost some muscle mass and with none other than comedic actor Kevin James in his corner, Jason “Mayhem” Miller completely bombed out after an aggressive but sloppy first round and became easy pickings for his nemesis, fellow TUF 14 coach Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Miller won the first round, but it wasn’t pretty. While his style has always been described as unorthodox, his swings were wild and undisciplined. He went for several takedowns and was successful in one of them, pinning Bisping’s back against the cage and controlling his legs and lower torso. However, he was unable to do anything once in the position and ultimately burned himself out.

Michael Bisping won a lopsided fight against Jason "Mayhem" Miller, but the real story is still what he couldn't do.

As soon as the second round started, it became clear that something had gone wrong in Miller’s camp during preparation for this fight. He didn’t just look tired, he was straight up exhausted. Even the lightest jabs from Bisping gave the appearance of Miller being out on his feet, gasping for air and taunting Bisping with his hands down. It would take another round before the action was mercifully – for Miller and the fight’s spectators – stopped.

Afterwards, commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan invoked the phrase “adrenaline dump,” which is only used when someone wants to excuse a fighter they like for his poor conditioning and preparation. Dana White wasn’t so diplomatic after the event, calling it one of the most lopsided fights he’s ever seen and hinting that Miller, making his first foray into the Octagon since a similarly overwhelming loss to Georges St-Pierre in 2005, might not be long for the promotion. Bisping took pride in his performance and said that Miller felt like a little boy, but also took issue with suggestions that Miller became tired. He suggested instead that it was the tenacious beating he put on Miller that caused the exhaustion and lack of effort from his opponent.

To his credit, Bisping did what he needed to do in order to win the fight. His boxing looked crisp and he was fairly light on his feet despite a very rough weight cut that took him three attempts on Friday to make the 186 pound cut-off. But if that fight on Saturday night was an audition for title contention or even placement in the Top 5, he failed it miserably.

To be unable to capitalize on an exhausted fighter who was beaten by poor preparation before he even got into a cage is not quite inexcusable given Miller’s reputation, but his tentativeness and the lack of power behind the free and open shots Bisping was handed is a troubling prospect in a division currently ruled by the best pound for pound fighter in the history of the sport. Even the first round, which on most peoples’ scorecards went to the sloppy but still more effective Miller, is a sign of trouble down the road for Bisping. Miller was practically – if not literally – throwing wild chimpanzee punches with his eyes closed. Bisping did very well in not panicking and trying to get into a slugfest with Miller, which is a mistake most fighters would have made and might have cost him dearly. But he also didn’t show enough when opportunities presented themselves, and in being patient also showed the same tentativeness and lack of instinct to finish that led to the knockout loss to Dan Henderson that continues to haunt him.

His inability to finish Miller, though, isn’t the only major stumbling block to title contention. There’s also his severe and heretofore unaddressed grappling deficiency. In the first round, when Miller was able to successfully take him to the ground, Bisping kept looking to the ref and requesting that he stand it up despite the fact that Miller was throwing strikes and improving on his position. He conveyed frustration and tried to convince the world that Miller was doing nothing at all, but that wasn’t the case.

In that moment I had a sudden realization that gave me pause: it is 2011 and Michael Bisping, despite now having over seven years of experience in this sport and five at its highest level, has absolutely no grappling game to speak of.

This is going to be a big problem when he moves up to the upper echelon of his division. Bisping is praised for his takedown defense, employing a strategy similar to the one popularized by Chuck Liddell. What fighters like Bisping and many commentators overlook, however, is that the style worked for Chuck Liddell because he had the knockout power that Bisping lacks and was an NCAA Division 1 wrestler at Cal Poly. Liddell had the grappling background that allowed him to hold his own and not panic if it did in fact go to the ground. And when he sprawled, it wasn’t with the idea to simply prevent being taken down, but to also get the fight back to where he wants it to be. Bisping’s takedown defense has improved, but is still only good enough to make it hard – but not impossible – for a good wrestler to take him to the ground. Once the inevitable happens, Bisping is still completely lost and at the mercy of his opponent.

Just imagine Bisping, who was overwhelmed by Miller’s competitive but comparatively mediocre grappling skills, having to fight someone like Chael Sonnen or Mark Munoz. As things stand now, he’d be smothered and pounded into the canvas.

Bisping’s next fight is speculated to be against Demian Maia, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert with an above-average grappling game. He can and will get Bisping to the ground, but unlike Miller, he’s going to be able to do something to Bisping.

It’s easy with all the resentments and apprehension that fans have towards Bisping to take him to task, but it’s not entirely his fault. As I’ve written countless times on this space, European and especially UK fighters have a severe grappling deficiency owing to the lack of competitiveness on lower levels and absence of high-level amateur wrestling programs. That makes becoming an MMA fighter and making the move to the highest level of the sport a precarious, if not dangerous, proposition. Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, and others have shown the same problems Bisping has: they are contenders until the moment someone with enough skill and gas left in their tank secures a takedown.

It’s not impossible for Michael Bisping to do something to address this problem, but the time to do so was yesterday and he faces an uphill battle. With children and a family to care for, Bisping won’t and can’t be expected to make the move stateside. But there has to be a sacrifice made somewhere if he or any other British fighter ever expects to hold a title in the UFC.