The Couture Vs Vera event is now just a few hours away, so I figured I’d throw some words up here in case anyone wanted some help passing the time until the event started. I’ll take a look at a few of the main fights, chit chat about the fighters’ histories and try not to sing…
Couture Vs Vera Fighter Comparison
The first thing that needs to be addressed is the talk I’ve seen about the winner of this fight getting a title shot. Obviously when Randy’s name is involved a title shot is always possible. For those that don’t know, the last time Randy lost two straight fights at heavyweight he was given an immediate title shot at light heavyweight.
These days the division is one of the deepest in all of MMA and the UFC has around 8 of the top 10 fighters in the division currently. Given the current state of affairs it seems unlikely either fighter would get a title shot following a win tonight…though anything can happen.
Randy Couture
Randy is an exception to a lot of commonly believed MMA rules. Often times I’ll quote something about his record or career, and some assume I’m bashing Randy. In those times my goal isn’t to bash Randy, but rather to show that there are exceptions to these rules and that simply stating something like “recent fights are all that matters” is more of a “guideline” than a “rule”.
When talking about “recent fights are all that matters”, let’s look at Randy’s recent performances. Remember, I’m not hating on Randy…I’m hating on the “rule” (ok more precisely the people that quote it as though it’s a 100% hard-fast-fact).
So far this year Randy has fought once…He lost.
Last year Randy fought once…He lost.
In 2007 Randy fought…twice…and won both! (including the HW title) This is interesting because the last time Randy won two fights in a row prior to this was in…2003. (this is trivia shit to throw at your buddies during the event, get a pen and paper more is coming). What is so significant about 2003? Glad I asked! In 2003, Randy won the LHW title.
Almost everyone considers Randy an amazing fighter, a legend in the sport, etc. I take nothing away from what he’s done and I’m impressed almost every time he steps in the cage. However, if it were true that “only recent fights matter”, there’s no way Randy is top anything. Understand that even “legends” lose in MMA and some of them do it quite often. It doesn’t mean they are a can and it certainly doesn’t mean they should be disrespected.
Although I don’t expect a title shot for Randy after tonight’s fight (win or lose), I do see some interesting possible matchups. With a win you might be able to see Randy Vs Lil Nog. Since Randy’s last fight was a loss to Big Nog this could be interesting and the wins against Vera and Lil Nog makes a title shot more likely.
In the event Randy losses I think it’s probably time to make Randy Couture Vs Mark Coleman happen. Both are legends in the sport, and although they’ve faced some of the same opponents, they have yet to meet head to head.
Brandon Vera
Vera is a fighter that just needs to get back on track. He opened his career by winning eight fights in a row. He was a heavyweight then and people were talking about him challenging for the heavyweight title and possibly being “the one” to take out Fedor.
In the last two years though that eight fight win streak turn into a three and three record. That six fight streak includes back to back losses at heavyweight that sent him down to the light heavyweight division.
Another thing to note about that six fight streak (get your pens) is that it has *FOUR* decisions in it. Going from one decision in eight fights to four decisions in six fights is a pretty large increase.
Truth be told (no pun intended) Vera has a lot more to lose tonight than Randy does. Randy’s legacy is set and a loss tonight won’t change much. For Vera a loss tonight would be very bad. It would make him 2-2 in his last four…it’d make him 3-2 since dropping to LHW (with wins against weaker opponents than those that beat him). It would also make him three and four since starting his promising career 8-0.
Vera is a great fighter with great potential, and tonight’s fight gives him a large stage to show he’s serious about being one of the top guys in a very, very difficult division.
Swick Vs Hardy
A fight that might have upcoming title shot implications and doesn’t seem to be getting enough attention is Swick Vs Hardy. I suspect the reason for that is because most don’t see Swick or Hardy as a legitimate threat to GSP. Perhaps not, but Cote wasn’t seen as a major threat to Anderson, nor was Thales.
Heck, who considered Serra a serious threat to GSP? If fighters win, they move up the rankings and if they keep winning they earn a title shot. Once two guys are in the cage…anything can happen. The fact that some don’t see either fighter being a major threat to GSP shouldn’t take away from their fight against each other.
Mike Swick
Mike “quick” Swick should come to the ring wearing a number five basketball jersey. (got your pens?)
Here is how his career has played out thus far:
Won his first 5 mma fights
Then lost to…Chris Leben
Won his next 5 mma fights
Then lost to…Yushin Okami (dont’ worry!!! Both were “middleweights” yup, no size or weight advantage at all)
Following that loss to Okami Swick dropped down to welterweight and has peeled off four wins in a row. Could tonight be number five?
With his time on the ultimate fighter and the win streak at middleweight Swick is fairly well known and if he wins tonight it seems very likely he would need at most one more win before getting a title shot.
Dan Hardy
Dan seems to be a fighter that has been under the radar a little bit. He has had several fights against less well known, but still credible MMA fighters. Even though he has won 11 of his last 12 it appears many focus on the two split decisions he’s had recently. During that 12 fight streak only three fights went to decision. Tonight’s fight is a great chance for Hardy to prove to MMA fans that he is for real.
I actually think this is a pretty good matchup from a ranking perspective. This fight should also be quite good from a stylistic point of view. Both fighters have ended a majority of their fights via (t)KO and both fighters also have a handful of submission victories. The winner of this fight will be ranked higher and likely be very close to a title shot.
Bisping Vs Kang
This is another fight that I think makes a lot of sense from an MMA ranking point of view and also has the potential to be a great fight.
Denis Kang
I want to start by talking about Kang because he seems to be the less known fighter. Understand that Denis has had a long career (over 40 fights in 10+ years).
The start of his career wasn’t overly impressive:
Won first three
Lost next two
Won next two
Lost next three
Following a NC against Hallman Kang then won his next two…lost his next two.
Now sitting at 7-7 is where his career got hot. Kang went on to win five in a row before having a draw. He then won 10 in a row before another NC. Then won six more in a row before suffering his first *LOSS* in 23 fights.
Though that streak included fights against weaker opponents it also included wins against fighter like Ninja, Gono, and Suloev.
Following that tremendous run Kang descended into the slump he is now in. He lost a split decision to Misaki. Beat a 1-1 fighter, then dropped two in a row to Mousasi and Sexyama. After winning two fights in a row (including one against Marvin Eastman) Kang came to the UFC and lost his debut against Alan Belcher. A win in April against Professor X helped get Kang back on the right track. Another win tonight would go a long way towards getting Kang’s name into the mix with other top tier middleweights.
Michael Bisping
Tonight’s fight for Bisping is interesting to me because it seems as though he has two real challenges. Denis Kang (whom we just discussed) is obviously a very real challenge. However, Bisping also has a challenge on the public relations side of things. Let’s look back at his career a bit and I’ll try to explain what I mean.
Michael’s career got off to an incredible start with him winning his first thirteen fights. Not only did he win them, he finished everyone one of them. That’s right, 13 fights…13 (t)KO/subs. A very impressive start. Factor in winning the ultimate fighter, having won his first three fights in the UFC and it’s easy to see how high Bisping was riding.
Where the wheels started to come off was in his next fight against Matt Hamill. Although his official record shows a “win” for the fight, it was far from it. Hamill battered Bisping in the first round, tossed him around several times and ultimately lost a very controversial decision.
Not only was this fight the first decision of Bisping’s career, but it quickly got worse when he took the mic after the fight. In a time when he could have earned new fans, when he could have shown his ego wasn’t as big as some alleged, when he could have called for a big round of applause for Hamill and possibly requested/offered a rematch…he instead opted to toot his own horn and insult Hamill and the fans watching around the world.
Following the “win” over Hamill Bisping faced Rashad Evans and offically “lost” that split decision.
With his second straight decision and the first loss of his career Bisping decided to drop down to 185. His first fight was against Captain Miserable and many would have preferred McCarthy to just stay in the locker room. Bisping cannot be blamed for the fight, but it was very one sided with McCarthy finally stopping and then retiring from MMA shortly there after.
Bisping’s second fight at 185 saw a solid performance against Jason Day that ended via TKO.
The fight that followed against Leben was another case of a win wrapped in a loss. Taking on Chris Leben, Bisping kited his way to a unanimous decision victory. Though a perfectly valid win their were some that wondered how a fighter that started their career with 13 straight fight finishes suddenly came into a fight going for a decision win.
In his last fight Bisping suffered one of the nastiest KOs seen in recent years. Not only did Bisping suffer a KO, but the fight helped show just how far Bisping had slipped in the PR rankings. A fighter that started off as exciting and maybe a bit polarizing has quickly become one of the more universally disliked fighters in the game today.
Even though Bisping has multiple challenges tonight I think it’s a very good thing for him. If he handles it right he’s guaranteed to walk out of that arena a winner. Here is how I see it.
if…IF…*IF*….*IIIFFFFFFFFF*
Bisping is ready to go out there and fight, not for the decision, not for the victory, but for the fans, then he simply can’t lose. All Michael has to do is go out there and throw, and hustle, and push the pace.
If Bisping is willing to do that, then the worst thing that can happen is that he will lose the fight. Even with the loss he could still take the mic for a minute and say something akin to:
“I just want to thank Denis for one hell of a fight. That one was for you guys. I really didn’t care if I won or lost I just wanted to make sure I showed people that the old Bisping is back. There was just no way I was going to let this one go to decision. Look…I know I made some mistakes, I know I upset some people…I’m sorry. The truth is, it got to me…The ultimate fighter, the fame…all of it, it got to me. I lost sight of being a fighter and worse, I lost sight of you guys (the fans). I’m not going to win them all, but I hope to at least make it exciting for those watching…Thank You”
Give or take a few words, I basically just pieced together some fortune cookies I had left over from last night.
What it really comes down to though is this. Bisping is still an asset to the UFC. Even if he loses in 12 seconds he’s still going to get another fight. Even if he wins a boring three round decision, he’s going to get another fight. Today provides him a great opportunity (win or lose) to score some much needed PR rating. Obviously he could just play the heel and it might not change much. I do recall a time though when a lot more people liked him, a lot more people wanted to see him fight and a lot more people would have been upset about Hendo dropping the can of peas on his head at the end of the last fight.
Almost Done
There are definitely some solid fights on tonight’s card and several interesting story lines. For me it will be interesting to see what impact the event will have on upcoming title fights. I also think it will be interesting to see how Bisping carries himself and if he manages to win back some of the fans he’s lost in recent years.
I don’t intend to rant following the event because I’ve got too much ranting que’d up for next week as it is. Then again, if there’s a really bad decision (couldn’t the Nelson fight have gone to the third round!? I mean, I didn’t even know who they’d given the fight to and I thought it needed a third round), or something else happens I might not be able to keep quiet. Lets hope for good, clean, exciting fights and I’ll see ya’s next week.