Fort Hood Soldiers prepare for fights
Fort Hood Soldiers prepare for fights
Guillard, Hominick and Mitrione shine in fundraising event
UFC Deserving of Praise for Fundraising Efforts
For all the crap the UFC (and mixed martial arts in general) takes from opponents, name me another major sports organization that has brought their product directly to the men and women who protect us?
Fight for the Troops 2 gave more than 3,200 soldiers the chance to watch the sport first-hand, and the fundraising efforts attached to the event generated more than $650,000 in donations during the broadcast alone. The initial Fight for the Troops event held two years ago raised over $4 million for the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund, and Saturday’s event should eclipse that number when all the dollars are counted.
While other major professional sports leagues honor soldiers during regularly scheduled games and show their support for the troops in various ways, the UFC is the only organization to bring their product onto an Army base and give those soldiers a night away from their everyday stresses.
Regardless of your opinions on the sport, you have to give the UFC the credit they deserve for putting together an event of this nature.
Potential Realized
There aren’t going to be many lightweights interested in facing Melvin Guillard after his performance Saturday night, and I can’t say I blame them.
After teasing with his blend of power and speed for a number of up-and-down years, Guillard seems to have put it all together since joining Team Jackson. His impressive first-round finish of Evan Dunham pushing his winning streak to four, and gives Guillard victories in seven of his last eight bouts; a momentary brain cramp against Nate Diaz standing as the only blemish over the last three-plus years.
Saturday’s showing was a perfect example of what makes Guillard so dangerous; his speed is second-to-none in the division, and he has the power to stop you dead in your tracks. While he still has some room to grow on the ground, Guillard was able to get up quickly against Dunham and that will be crucial as he continues his climb up the ladder in 2011.
We see so many over-hyped prospects and guys with loads of potential fizzle out early or never arrive at all, it’s nice to see Guillard come through his struggles to put it all together.
Changing of the Guard Continues
In less than 12 months, the lightweight division in the UFC has undergone a makeover worthy of Ty Pennington and his annoying sidekicks from ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. Once dominated by B.J. Penn, Sean Sherk and Kenny Florian, Guillard’s victory over Dunham showed that the changing of the guard at the top of the 155-pound division is still in progress, but we’re getting closer to completion.
Dunham had gotten the better of Sherk in the eyes of many back in September, a performance that, while not judged as a win by those charged with scoring the bout from cageside, signalled his emergence into the upper echelon of the division. By blasting him early and often Saturday night, Guillard showed that he too belongs in that group, and that perhaps Sherk’s time amongst the best in the weight class is nearly an end. Penn has already vacated the division to pursue welterweight dreams, and Florian was manhandled by Gray Maynard in his last Octagon appearance. When you add Jim Miller, George Sotiropoulos and Anthony Pettis in with current champion Frankie Edgar, you have an entirely new cast of characters dominating the lightweight division.
Like death and taxes, change is inevitable.
Mitrione Ready for More
Every time Matt Mitrione takes to the cage, all he does is impress and Saturday night was no different.
The former TUF 10 contestant stopped Tim Hague with a barrage of punches in the opening round of the co-main event meeting, giving Mitrione a four-fight winning streak since leaving the Ultimate Fighter house. While some will detract from his accomplishments by attacking his level of competition, Mitrione has posted those victories after less than two years of training, and he’s ready for more.
A deceptively athletic big man, Mitrione told Joe Rogan post-fight that it’s time to take a step up the competitive ladder, and the UFC will undoubtedly oblige. While it is too soon to see Mitrione square off with TUF 10 winner Roy Nelson or former interim champ Shane Carwin, someone in the Ben Rothwell/Cheick Kongo range would be a good fit.
With the heavyweight division lacking in depth and dealing with four of it’s biggest names out of action until June or later, this is Mitrione’s opportunity to work his way into the Top 15 or higher, and the former NFL’er is looking forward to the challenge.
Dream Opportunity Awaits Hominick
Despite having been a professional fighter for the last ten years, Mark Hominick hasn’t gotten a chance to compete in his home province once. After scoring an impressive first-round TKO win over George Roop Saturday night, the Thamesford, Ontario native is going to get that chance and more at UFC 129 in April.
Not only will Hominick be fighting in his home province, but “The Machine” will also be challenging Jose Aldo for the UFC featherweight title in the co-main event of the evening. After more than a decade spent fighting around the world, Hominick’s homecoming bout will be the biggest of his career.
The long-time Shawn Tompkins trainee proved on Saturday night that he is one of the top strikers in the sport, a blend of speed, power and precision that can be overwhelming for opponents. Unfortunately, the same can be said of his opponent.
Whether or not those skills are enough to get his a win over the extremely talented Aldo is yet to be determined. For now, Hominick can enjoy the fact that he’s finally getting to fight at home, and for a championship no less.
Melvin Guillard
Melvin Guillard
Depth Needed ASAP
Hominick’s dominant performance over Roop not only highlighted his impressive striking arsenal, but also the glaring lack of depth within the newest UFC divisions.
While it’s understandable that the featherweight and bantamweight ranks are a little light, and the UFC deserves credit for their efforts to date to fill the gaps, it was clear early on that Hominick and Roop were at two different levels, and that is a problem the organization needs to address quickly.
Roop is a tough kid who still has some potential in the 145-pound division, but he’s not at a stage where he should be taking on the top contenders. His win over “The Korean Zombie” forced the UFC’s hand, but the lack of depth within the featherweight ranks only added to the situation.
With no real middle tier available, promising fighters like Roop are forced to bite off more than they can chew. Adding depth to the ranks will help prevent similar situations from happening throughout the year, and serve the UFC well in the long-term.
Pat Barry Must Get Mean
Leading up to his bout with Joey Beltran, Barry admitted that the idea of fighting wasn’t as appealing to him after breaking his hand and foot against Mirko Cro Cop last June. Some of that hesitancy he expressed to Ben Fowlkes seemed to carry over into the cage Saturday night, and that doesn’t bode well for Barry’s long-term future.
Barry is the antithesis of many of his contemporaries; he’s got charisma to spare and a winning personality when it comes to dealing with the media, but when the cage door closes, he seems incapable of channeling the killer instinct necessary to put opponents away and earn bigger opportunities inside the Octagon.
While he boasts some of the most devastating kicks in the sport, Barry is often too hesitant in unleashing his shin bones on his opponents. Though he managed to chop Beltran down by the end of their three-round affair, had he started his attack earlier, chances are Beltran would not have been standing by the final frame, giving Barry a more convincing victory in the process.
After his bromantic week in Vancouver with Cro Cop, critics questions Barry’s killer instinct, and his performance against Beltran won’t do anything to silence the questions. If Barry has designs on climbing any further up the heavyweight rankings, he’s going to need to get mean.
Meet Matt Wiman
Well, the days of flying under the radar are done for Wiman following his drubbing of Cole Miller in the opening bout of the Spike TV broadcast Saturday night.
The former TUF 5 cast member came after his one-time housemate right away and didn’t let up until the final horn sounded, battering Miller with a ground-and-pound attack that feature a number of Sakuraba-esque double sledgehammer shots from inside his opponent’s guard. Though one judge was clearly watching a different fight and awarded Miller one of the three five-minute frames, this was a complete whitewash for Wiman, the best performance of his career and one that positions him for greater opportunities moving forward.
His timing couldn’t be better either. With the top of the division already mapped out in terms of upcoming bouts, Wiman will get to continue his progression up the food chain more slowly than most. Instead of being thrown in with a Top 10 contender next, he’ll likely be offered a chance to resolve his differences with Mac Danzig or face someone else in the middle-third of the lightweight roster, both of which make more sense for Wiman at this stage of his development.
Waylon Lowe Shows Why People Hate Wrestling in MMA
Not to dump on Lowe after earning his second-straight win inside the Octagon, but all the people who argue that wrestling is ruining MMA now have a perfect fight to point to when making their objections.
The muscular lightweight was able to take Williamy Freire down and keep him there for the majority of their bout, but there was nothing entertaining about their fifteen-minute affair. The most discussion-worthy moment of the bout was Dan Miragliotta’s decision to stand the two up in the first round while the former Shooto champion was working for a kimura. This was “lay-and-pray” at it’s finest, and it needs to be avoided at all costs.
I have no problem with wrestlers using their best weapon inside the cage; what is challenging is watching wrestler fail to even attempt to advance positions and attack their opponents, and that is what we saw out of Lowe on Saturday night. He was exhausted by the middle of the second round, and while Freire was still unable to mount much offence, Lowe did little other than offer an occasional hammerfist, and that shouldn’t be enough to earn additional time on the ground or a victory.
The timing and determination of stand-ups is a delicate art, but something that needs to be addressed moving forward. Fighters need to stay active once they go to the ground, and for the most part they do, but in those cases where laying in your opponent’s guard is all you’re looking for, referees shouldn’t be afraid to restart the action in the standing position.
Facebook Broadcast a Winner
Not only did the four preliminary bouts broadcast over the UFC Facebook page come through crystal-clear on my new computer, but the entire idea to utilize the social networking site as an outlet for this event was a tremendous success.
Though some people have expressed issues with connections and a jumpy feed for fights, I experienced no such problems. In fact, watching the bouts over the Internet came through just as well as the Spike TV feed that followed, and is a medium I would gladly utilize again in the future. The decision to make use of Facebook should not be undersold either; we live in a technological age where just about everyone has access to the site 24/7, and putting the preliminary action on their Facebook page not only increased the number of “Likes” the company can now claim, but opened up the event to an even larger audience than normal.
The success of the event will undoubtedly lead to further use of the social networking medium in the future, and could also open the door for other organizations to start to follow suit.
