As for last weekend, the UFC on Fox and Mayweather/Cotto both competed with my show at Comic Syndrome in downtown Albany. Needless to say, both beat me out in terms of attendance and, likely, entertainment value.

On Fox, Nate Diaz beat Jim Miller by submission in Round 2 and Johny Hendricks beat Josh Koscheck by Split Decision. Both were given title shots as a result of their victories, and both will actually sit out and wait rather than take fights in the interim.

Diaz will face the winner of the rematch between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar for the UFC Lightweight Title. That rematch was supposed to occur in August, but has been pushed back to an as-yet-undetermined date in the Fall. That means Diaz will likely sit out until January 2013 at the very earliest.

Hendricks will face the winner of the unification bout between Interim UFC Welterweight champion Carlos Condit and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who was sidelined last Fall by a torn ACL in his right knee. Nasty stuff. His earliest date of return would probably be October or November and so, like Diaz, Hendricks likely won’t see action until early 2013.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily good for a fighter to sit on the shelf for nine months or more waiting for a title shot. By that I mean I’m legitimately ignorant of the pros and cons. It certainly will decrease the likelihood of a guy being knocked out of contention by a loss and/or an injury, but what of the motivational factors? Do bad habits develop as a result of a long lay-off? How does one go about pacing himself while avoiding the pitfalls of overtraining? Legit questions that I’m sure someone with more inside knowledge of the fight game could give me, and I suspect would be something along the lines of “depends on the camp or the fighter.”

The only other noteworthy item from the UFC on Fox would be that it was Ricardo Almeida‘s first time as a judge at a UFC event, and he’s the one that scored the fight for Josh Koscheck. Considering how much people hold judges’ feet to the fire for decisions they don’t agree with, it’s sort of amusing to see those same critics and commentators providing excuses for Almeida. Personally, I don’t think it was nearly close enough to say that criticizing Almeida’s scorecard is without merit. I just think it goes to show that judging is and will continue to be a problem so long as the ten point must system and other criteria remain untouched and unexamined. It doesn’t matter whether or not the judge is a former fighter. It’s always going to be subjective, and the best you can do in boxing or MMA is to try to identify and fill the holes that so many judges keep falling into.

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Meanwhile, on pay-per-view, Floyd Mayweather beat Miguel Cotto by Unanimous Decision. It’s the result I expected, though from reports I’ve read Cotto put up a much better fight than anyone anticipated. I don’t like Mayweather as a human being – I suspect few do outside of 50 Cent and Floyd’s immediate family (Floyd Sr. notwithstanding) – but you can’t deny the guy’s greatness.

This victory and Mayweather’s jail sentence starting in June has made the fight against Manny Pacquaio even less likely. Personally, I hold the same opinion I did two years ago, which is that if this fight ever happens it will be long after it matters anymore, when one or more likely both fighters are in the twilight of their careers and their respective promoters decide to make one last cash grab with “unfinished business” as the hook. Floyd earned the biggest guaranteed payday of his career fighting a guy that Pacquiao thoroughly walloped two years ago. The money they can make not standing across the ring from each other makes them averse to the risk of a showdown. With no overseeing entity to force the issue, there’s nothing in it for either fighter.

In other news, fucking Justin Bieber was part of Mayweather’s entourage for some reason.

It’s certainly saying something when you have Lil’ Wayne in a picture and he’s not the one that looks awkward and out of place. Gary Andrew Poole over at Esquire thinks it was a play for likability. I’m not so sure. If Mayweather ever gave a shit about being liked as a human being, he’d have done something to indicate it before Bieber showed up. Perhaps the kid flashed those chubby cheeks and big dimples and melted Mayweather’s heart? That or Mayweather’s almost as big of a starfucker as the people around him. I think that’s the more likely scenario. Mayweather doesn’t care if you like him, he just wants to make sure you’re talking about him. Which, well, we are.

I will say, though, that I dig Bieber’s attempt at a Morrissey haircut. Big ups to sadsackness.

Ben Fowlkes (whom I consider the best pure writer covering MMA by a mile) has written a great profile piece on Nate Diaz that explores the relationship with his more controversial and less genial brother and what led him into fighting:

But Nate will tell you now that it wasn’t until high school that he really learned to fight. Even then it was more Nick’s doing than his. Nick was the motivated one, the focused one. Nate was just the kid who wanted to tag along with his big brother. At first, Nate admitted, he wasn’t terribly interested in jiu-jitsu. He also wasn’t very good. What kept him coming back was that, after practice, the older guys in the class would usually buy he and his brother a burrito from the food truck that pulled up near the gym each night.

“That was actually the main reason I wanted to go train,” he said. “I didn’t have any money. At home we didn’t have s–t. I was starving all day. So if I went to train I’d get something to eat.

Read the full piece: A Tale of Two Diaz Brothers (MMAFighting.com)

*****

Tom Lawlor’s entrances
Last Saturday, Lawlor fought in the last Facebook prelim against Middleweight phenom Chris Weidman. He lost (Weidman is on a tear and I expect him to be in a position for a title shot by the end of 2012), but he won our hearts with his latest entrance. Even better, though, was his turn at the weigh-ins where he showed up dressed as Steven Seagal:

*****

Chael Sonnen’s mental illness

Sonnen  is an incredible creep, highly unlikable, a liar, a cheater, brash, and irritating. Thankfully, though, he’s also batshit crazy. This makes him at least entertaining, even when he’s being intolerable.

*****

More “free” MMA than ever before
With UFC on Fox now behind us, we’re set to see more specials on Fox, Fuel, and FX in the next few months. As a bonus, they’ve learned their lesson from JDS/Cain, and Fox Network specials will have a minimum of two fights. It’s little consolation for those who decided to forego the Facebook prelims or didn’t know about them and missed a fantastic display from Benson Henderson and Clay Guida.

*****

Too much MMA
One of the things MMA fans have complained about over the past year – and I’m certainly one of them – is burnout. At certain times the UFC has operated at a blistering pace, putting on as many as six events in as many weeks. Add that to the weekly (and fantastic) Bellator cards and it becomes a bit too much to take. But let’s put this in perspective: remember when we’d get a UFC once every six to eight weeks? Not only was the wait killing us, but if you’re like me and had the occasional obligation on a Saturday night and missed a card, you had to wait another month or two before you got to see a decent fight again. In that sense, maybe too much MMA isn’t such a bad thing after all.

More Fight of the Year Candidates in the next five weeks (or would be if Shogun and Henderson hadn’t fought last Saturday)
UFC 140 is just two weeks away – I know – and features Mark Hominick taking on the Korean Zombie, Chan Sung Jung, on the undercard. As star-studded as the card as a whole is – it’s a triple bill featuring Jon Jones vs. Lyoto Machida, Frank Mir vs. Antonio Minotauro Nogueira, and Tito Ortiz vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira – Hominick and the Zombie are all but guaranteed to steal the show. Then, just a few weeks later, we get Brock Lesnar taking on Alistair Overeem in the main event of UFC 141 and in the semi-main event a fight featuring two of the most aggressive Lightweights in the world, Donald Cerrone and Nate Diaz. And a lot of people seem to be sleeping on the main event of The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale between coaches Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller, which I think is going to surprise a lot of people with its intensity. It could be a thoroughly competitive, entertaining affair. Well, so long as Bisping doesn’t stick his chin out and skip in a straight circle like an idiot.

*****

Am I missing something? Probably. But clearly, there’s a lot to be thankful for and a lot to look forward to in the weeks, months, and years to come. So when you’re at your table tomorrow and your elderly grandmother asks you to lead the family in saying grace, take the hands of those next to you and tell everyone that you’re thankful to God and everyone else for the Minotauro brothers, the Korean Zombie, horse meat, and Mayhem.

Amen.