UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen - The Funbits
by Matthew DiRienzo on Aug 6, 2010 12:50 PM EDT
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If you are looking for a technical breakdown of all the fights for UFC 117: Silva vs. Sonnen, you will not find it in this column. What we have here is some predictions, storylines and other fun tidbits to enjoy before you sit down to enjoy some MMA goodness Saturday night.
Fight of the Night: Jon Fitch vs. Thiago Alves. Almost went with Clay Guida vs. Rafael dos Anjos here but the backstory behind this rematch is just too good to pass up. Take two of the top Welterweights in the world, mix in a dash of Fitch's quest for a rematch with GSP and thrown in a pinch of Alves's recovery from brain surgery and you got yourself a pretty sweet recipe for Fight of the Night. Delicious.
Knockout of the Night: Junior dos Santos. Eventually his streak of rearranging fighter's faces has to stop, but I don't think it is going to end at UFC 117. Junior knows that a shot at the title is on the line here, so don't expect him to over look the aesthetically challenged Roy Nelson. What a better way to make a statement to the champ then destroying your opponent's face in a number one contender fight.
Submission of the Night: Dustin Hazelett. I am hoping Paul Daley knocked some sense into Hazelett and made it so he doesn't think he is a stand up fighter anymore. Hopefully, Hazelett will not want to test out his striking again and goes back to being the submission wizard that got him four out of his five wins in the UFC. As the old saying goes, "dance with the girl that brung ya" and that girl for Hazelett happens to be some high level BJJ.
Non Combat Related Story of the Night: UFC PPV buys. Even though Anderson Silva may be the best pound for pound fighter in the world, the buy rates for the PPV he headlines don't always back that up. This might change with UFC 117 due to the campaign his opponent, Chael Sonnen, has been on for the past few months promoting this fight. I guess the question is, will Sonnen's non-stop ranting equal huge PPV numbers?
More funbits and predictions after the jump...
Fighter in danger of getting cut: Rodney Wallace. Three is the magic number in the UFC and by magic, I mean you get cut if you rack up three losses in a row. Rodney has lost his first two fights in the UFC and isn't getting an easy one when he faces Phil Davis this weekend who is filling in for the newly signed, injured, undefeated Senguko veteran Stanislav Nedkov. Speaking of Mr. Davis...
Hot UFC Prospect: Phil Davis. I guess if you are a former collegiate national wrestling champion that has a career 6-0 record in MMA and is 2-0 in the UFC, you probably aren't a prospect anymore. Anywho, let's see if he can continue his impressive roll and change the "hot prospect" status to "the next big thing" on Saturday night.
Most interesting match-up in terms of style: Matt Hughes vs. Ricardo Almeida. Sure, I could have taken the easy way out here and gone with Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, but who really wants to do that. So instead, I picked Hughes vs. Almeida. Will Hughes's experience and wrestling ability be able to counter Almeida's BBJ prowess? I guess we will find out if wrestling or BJJ is better when these two meet in the center of the Octagon.
Don't blink fight: Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen. Yes, on this one, I took the easy way out. Since Silva first debuted in the UFC way back in June 2006, all his fights have been "must-watch" events (not in terms of PPV numbers though). Come Saturday, we are either going to see one of two Anderson Silvas; the one that made Forrest Griffin look like the Brooklyn Brawler of the UFC or the one that looked like he was auditioning for "Step Up 3-D" against Demian Maia. You just never know which Silva is going to show up (I personally think angry... no... very angry Silva is going to show up). Either way, you aren't going to want to turn your head for a second when this fight starts because something either awesome or crazy (or both) is going to happen. I guarantee it.
Do you think I am off with any of my picks? Let me know.
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I like your picks
any picks for the other categories
by Matthew DiRienzo on Aug 6, 2010 1:09 PM EDT up reply actions
Non-combat – I’d go with buys as well. It will be a very telling stat, but it’s going to be manipulated one way or another. If they’re low, “Anderson’s not a draw”. If they’re high “Chael drew them all”. It’s no win for AS at this point.
Fighter in danger of getting cut – I’d say Hallman or…this one will shock everyone…Jon Fitch. I absolutely believe that if he loses badly tomorrow, he’s in danger of getting released. His inflated salary, issues with management, refusal to fight guys in his camp, and perceived boring style might be enough for the UFC to part ways with him. He won’t give Strikeforce a boost, so it’s at least plausible.
Style matchup for me is Hazelett/Story. Pure BJJ vs. pure wrestling strength. I think Story will take it.
And I agree on the don’t blink fight. It’s the only one I can see ending very early.
http://www.instrength.com
Fitch
is a problem in every way for the UFC. He picks off potential contenders that could turn into draws without ever turning into a draw himself. I don’t know why they keep him around. Purely a decision based in sport and not business.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
Cagesideseats.com
While Dana does many peddy things
Cutting Fitch would be the worst of all of them. You can’t cut a guy who consistently wins (even though many feel his style is boring) and is considered the number 2 WW in the world behind GSP. The only headache that he really is for Dana is when he says he won’t fight his teammates at AKA, but its not like he is the only fighter that is like that (i.e. – all of Team Black House). Cutting Fitch would make the UFC more like the WWE than the NFL and Dana wants to be (actually beat) the NFL
by Matthew DiRienzo on Aug 6, 2010 3:15 PM EDT up reply actions
Fitch already had the big flap with them about video game rights too, and it’s clear that him and Dana don’t see eye-to-eye on most things (similar to Kos). If this was just a sport, I’d absolutely agree. But from a business standpoint, it makes sense. Werdum was a top 10 guy and got KO’d by JDS and sent packing. Not exactly the same case, but there’s precedent.
http://www.instrength.com
Werdum was a top 10 guy and got KO’d by JDS and sent packing
Werdum got released because he wanted to renegotiate this contract for more money and was pissed when he had to fight JDS instead of getting a title shot. He wanted out and the UFC wanted him out.
Dana White has openly called Koscheck an asshole and I don’t think he is going to get cut if he loses anytime soon. Dana isn’t going to cut Fitch just because he doesn’t like him personally nor should he.
by Matthew DiRienzo on Aug 6, 2010 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions
No
Werdum had ALREADY renegotiated his contract. He got a 5 fight 110k/110k deal and was promised (outside the bounds of the contract of course) that he’d get a title shot after 1 more win. JDS knocked him out, and they released him because they realized he wasn’t wort the cash.
“When I first heard the rumors, I didn’t know anything,” Werdum told Tatame.com. “I had four more fights left with [the UFC] on my contract, which ran to 2010. But they demanded to renegotiate my existing contract by cutting my pay in half.”
http://www.instrength.com
Either way
It is not the same as Fitch’s current situation. It just makes no sense to cut one of the top fighters in the 170 division when that division is lacking really contenders at the moment for GSP.
They could afford to cut Werdum at that time because they already had Brock, Carwin and Velasquez on the roster establishing themselves. The Welterweight division is too weak at the moment to cut the #2 170 pounder in the world
by Matthew DiRienzo on Aug 6, 2010 4:37 PM EDT up reply actions
Fitch has already had his shot though, and as stated, it’s all about the other reasons.
At that point, Shane and Cain had only fought twice. Released Werdum was about his loss and his contract, nothing more. Fitch makes big money and he’s not a draw at all. I think it’s still very possible.
And WW isn’t hurting for talent. It’s just hurting for talent that can challenge the champ. There’s a big difference. Fitch wouldn’t be missed.
http://www.instrength.com
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