MMA Conquest

For years boxing fans, and boxers themselves, insisted that if the world of MMA ever had a legitimate boxer kick down the door and enter the ring of mixed martial arts that they would easily reign supreme.  The theory was that MMA fighters were not equipped to withstand blows from world class strikers.  At UFC 118, one of boxings most dominant fighters the past decade entered the cage to face off against an MMA legend.  James Toney (72-6 as a boxer) talked a lot of trash, sold the fight, and in the end convinced few that he could go in to a MMA match with 8-9 months of preparation and come out victorious.  Randy Couture sat back and enjoyed the showmanship Toney provided and waited until the fight to make his point.  Seconds after the fight started Couture lunged in very low, grabbed Toney's ankle, and pulled the heavyweight boxer down to his butt.  Instantly Couture pounced, as he locked in the submission he called to the ref that Toney "gave".... the ref did not stop the fight, so Couture locked in tighter, and before long Toney tapped. 

At the post fight press conference UFC president, Dana White, admitted he was "nervous" before the fight.  He wouldn't clarify why other than to say "in a fight, anything can happen".  Presumably because for years White made no bones declaring that if a boxer stepped in to the cage with no other MMA training, he would get beat, and beat fast.  But, what if Toney could catch Couture?  Couture himself admitted that was a concern for him, hence why he went for such a low take down.  Had Toney had more grappling experience, he could have easily countered the single leg takedown, and forced Couture to come in close.  Couture said "I knew that if I had to go for a double leg takedown I would have to get within striking distance, and he (Toney) has arms, so I could have been put to sleep".  Toney's managers have invited Couture to step in to Toney's world, and when asked, Couture respectably declined stating that if he were to step in to Toney's world the fight would likely go in Toney's favor, in the 1st round.  A respectful response from the MMA legend.

In the main event, Frankie Edgar had the chance to prove his first victory over BJ Penn was no fluke, and with a win Penn believed he was about to start a long unbeaten reign.  Well the fight was almost an exact replica of the first match.  Edgar was shifty, allowing Penn to pursue him, and he countered with an effective striking game while he avoided Penn's strikes.  Penn attempted very few leg kicks or takedowns once again, allowing Edgar to dictate the pace and style of the fight.  Edgar again had several strong takedowns, showed some very solid ground defense to counter and reverse Penn's few dominant positions.  This just doesn't look like the same Penn, and its hard to tell if the weight cut affected him, if his mental state just isn't right, or if Edgar is just a really, really bad matchup.

As a fan, I am not all too excited about Edgar's style.  He is another in an increasingly alarming trend of MMA fighters who win by backing up, countering, and winning just enough on points to defeat their opponents.  Similar to Anderson Silva, or Lyoto Machida, or any number of other guys, they back up, back up, let their opponent stalk them around the cage, avoid the strike, counter strike, avoid the strike, and counter.  Because they are doing all the backing up, they look like they are the more active fighter, yet they are not the aggressor.  I am  not arguing against the effectiveness, but I just don't care much for that style of fighting. 

Gray Maynard, who defeated Kenny Florian earlier in the night to earn a shot at Edgar's belt may pose a tough test for Edgar however.  He is the only man to have beaten Edgar, and he is a world class wrestler, so while he is likely to be the agressor in that fight as well, he does offer some very strong takedown skills that Penn does not have.  If Maynard wins, I can easily see Penn walking through Maynard as Maynard will press Penn the way Diego Sanchez did, allowing Penn to work his game.  Its a rock, paper, scissors division now, but still has some intrigue. 

BJ Penn was expected to blow through Frankie Edgar last April the same way he blew through the rest of the light weight division, with ease.  Instead, Edgar used his unorthodox style, and excellent take down skills to confuse Penn and keep his timing off for the entire 5 rounds.  Penn just didn't look like himself in the fight, he had a knee brace on, and after the fight, also claimed to have been battling a sinus infection.  Well at UFC 118 BJ Penn gets his immediate re-match against Edgar to get back to the top of the division.  

Edgar on the other hand looks to prove his victory over Penn is no fluke as he defends his position on the top of the heap.  Edgar is a very good fighter, and may have been over looked by the experts the last time out.  He only has one loss to the man who was supposed to face BJ Penn had he defeated Edgar, Gray Maynard, and has to be feeling a bit disrespected that many experts again have Penn as the clear favorite.

Gray Maynard is probably at a loss for what he needs to do to secure a title shot.  He sits with an undefeated record (one no contest), has beaten current champ Frankie Edgar, Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta, and Dennis Siver to name a few.  Now he gets to test his mettle against Kenny Florian, another former top contender making his way back to a title shot.  Florian's last loss was to Penn a year ago, but has since choked out both Clay Guida and Takanori Gomi.  The winner likely will get the champion early next year.

And maybe the most interesting fight of the night is the MMA debut of James "Lights Out" Toney as he faces off against Randy Couture.  Toney is supremely confident to say the least, he has called out virtually every guy in the UFC, and done so with unparalleled bravado, calling them names, being disrespectful, and questioning their manhood.  Toney is 72-6 as a boxer, which is incredible, he has held titles in 4 weight classes, and still holds the IBA Heavyweight title.  He is 41 years old, and has no MMA experience, so Couture is a tall order for a first opponent.  Still, as you say in boxing, he has a punchers chance, and its hard to argue anyone is as good a puncher in the UFC as James Toney.

Randy Couture is no slouch in that department either.  What Couture has in his favor is his wrestling and ground game, not to mention his experience in the cage.  But if he decides to stand with Toney, he could hold his own.  Couture has the ability to clinch and dirty box, something that the referees would break up in Toney's past life.  Couture is 47 years old, so age will not be an excuse for Toney.  Both fighters are legends in their respective sports, and since Toney has already announced he has avoided training is several of the skills a complete mixed martial artist would have, its likely Couture takes him down, and makes an example of him on the ground.  

Its clear that the UFC locker room will be behind Randy Couture, and should Toney win, a line would probably instantly form in front of Dana White to take their shot at the boxing champion.

Full card listed below if you want to make your picks.  Looks like Cyle won last time, so we will have to see if he can hold on to his title.

FULL CARD:
Lightweight: Frankie Edgar vs. B.J. Penn (Championship bout)
Heavyweight: Randy Couture vs. James Toney
Middleweight: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
Lightweight: Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
Welterweight: Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis

One of the things I hate about MMA is also one of the things I love.  Its when you watch a fighter drop his hands, weave his head around, dances, shakes off his opponents strikes with a grin, show boating instead of fighting... until that one moment that stops it all.  Its the moment I love most in the sport.  Its the moment when the show boater is taught a lesson and is knocked the F out.  Anderson Silva is famous for these antics, but largely gets away with it because there are no fighters capable of shutting him up.  That was until last month when Chael Sonnen beat him up for 5 rounds.  Sonnen still lost, but he dominated every second of the fight, and because he gave fans what they paid for, and continued to press in the final minutes, Silva managed to catch him in a triangle hold, but it was still a gratifying lesson to the show boater.

Last night at Strikeforce Houston, King Mo came out playing the role as the show boater.  Sure, he came out with his familiar crown and cape, as well as a court full of women dancing as he made his way to the cage.  But that isn't what bothered me.  King Mo opted to bob and weave, strut and smile, shake his shoulders and in the end, he took a nap in the cage.  Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante stood toe to toe with King Mo, exchanging strikes despite the fact that no one gave him a chance on his feet.  But Feijao saw King Mo was more interested in looking cool, fighting with style, which is amateur for looking like a, well amateur.  In the 2nd round, Feijao connected with a number of solid punches, King Mo shook his head and smiled... he still didn't protect himself.  Then he was struck to the mid section with a strong knee from Feijao, which hurt the champ.  You could see King Mo was desperate now, shooting for a take down.  Feijao stepped back, grabbed the back of Mo's head, and landed several more Muay Thai knees to the "King's" face.  Mo fell, and grabbed on to the challengers legs, refusing to let go because he knew it would be over for him.  Mo stuck in there for a long beating, getting a dozen or so hammer fists to the side of the head until referee Big John McCarthy ended it, pulling Feijao away, and letting King Mo fall face first to the mat.  He was out, he lost his belt, and he looked out classed as a fighter. 

Speaking of looking out classed as a fighter, Bobby Lashley has avoided fights with bigger name opponents despite a lot of criticism, opting to face unknown Chad "The Grave Digger" Griggs.  Lashley came out looking like a million dollars, and he did have some pretty good takedowns, but that was the end of his prowess.  Once he would get Griggs to the ground, he looked lost, he didn't know what to do.  He couldn't transition, he couldn't leverage his strength, he also looked pretty amateurish against the unknown Griggs.  But once Griggs busted open Lashley's eye, then Lashley went in to a rage to finish like the monster he appears to be physically right?  Not really.  Lashley looked like he wanted to quit then, he didn't, but he seemed to be hoping someone would pull the plug, throw in the towel, so he could escape this fight, and not be the one who quit.  He came out for the 2nd round, and almost the same way the King Mo fight ended, so did the Lashley fight.  Lashley didn't show boat, to his credit, but he got rocked, went for the take down, and allowed Griggs to throw 10-15 hammer fists to the side of his head until it was stopped. 

In the end, two of Strikeforces biggest stars lost, which is bad news for an organization desperate for some stars if their prize fighter, Fedor Emelianenko (who also lost in his last fight) leaves the promotion.  The organization does have some very good fighters, but they try to promote the guys who are more sizzle than steak, which, as a promotion, is an amateurish thing to do.  Sense a theme?