As UFC gets closer to their 200th pay-per-view and the biggest show in the company’s history, the very precarious nature of champion’s health has once again caused a massive change in the main event of a title fight. In March, it was a leg injury to Junior Dos Santos that changed the course of that show and, quite possibly, Conor Mcgregor’s career. This time, it was the grudge match between Light Heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones that has now fallen apart, but not in the way many people expected less than 7 days ago. As a result, Jon Jones will now fight for the interim Light Heavyweight title against top contender Ovince Saint Preux on April 23rd in the main event of UFC 197.
It was March 29th when Jon Jones sat in a Albuquerque, NM prison for a number of charges related to drag racing. The mere mention of Jones once again involved with the law started the chatter of a possible fight cancellation, but the charges merely led to an adjusted probation for the former title holder. Instead, a more significant incident was ignored for nearly 2 weeks prior, when Daniel Cormier was spotted at the NCAA Wrestling Championships in New York City with a noticeable limp. With the NCAA Men’s basketball tournament occurring across the country at the exact same time, Cormier was able to duck the spotlight for a few days, but his injury did not heal in time, leading to his stepping away from the title fight. But in a curious occurrence, the fighter considered to be next in line, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, was also unavailable to take up the fight due to an injury, this coming from a recent oral surgery that would prevent him from being able to wear a mouthpiece.
0 Comments
The arrest of former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones on March 29, 2016 appears to be just the latest in a series of bad vehicular incidents in the life of the pound-for-pound world’s best mixed martial arts fighter. He is currently facing a parole violation, but the charges stemming from his verbal confrontation with the police, which was posted publicly on the internet, may stand to reduce the severity of that charge. Either way, there is little expectation that his upcoming title fight with Daniel Cormier will be affected.
According to Jones, he was was pulled over by local police after peeling away from a stop light on March 24th after showing off for some fans who had pulled up next to him. After being pulled over, Jones and the officer engaged in a back-and-forth verbal dispute when the officer accused Jones of drag racing and Jones retorted back with an expletive. As a result, he was charged by the officer with having an unclear license plate, being unable to maintain a traffic lane, breaking an ordinance regarding modified exhaust for revving his engine, drag racing and exhibition driving. The latter two charges are the most dangerous as they are the ones that can lead to a violation of his parole agreement from the 2015 hit and run incident if a judge so declares it. Jones had just cleared up a January ticket of driving without proof of insurance or a license and was told to stay out of trouble for 90 days and the ticket would be cleared (since he produced evidence that he possessed the documentation, just not at the time of arrest). He’s been in jail since the 29th and will have a bond hearing on the 31st where he will have the opportunity to explain his side of the story. The arrest of New York State Assemblyman Sheldon Silver in 2015 on corruption charges sent shockwaves through the political scene of the Empire State. But in-the-know fans of Mixed Martial Arts secretly rejoiced, knowing that with his arrest (and subsequent conviction), the state’s ban of MMA would finally come to an end.
By the time this article sees print, New York State will be the last of the 50 states to officially vote to legalize MMA. This will allow for Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White to realize one of his dreams, a UFC Pay Per View being held at the Mecca of sports venues, Madison Square Garden. The path to legalization was literally a loop-de-loop of sorts, as New York was the first states to actually ALLOW what would become mixed martial arts under the auspices of the New York State Athletic Commission. In 1996, after three years of holding events under a perceived “no holds barred” atmosphere, UFC owners SEG had made an agreement with the NYSAC that allowed their style of competition to be regulated by the state. As a result, UFC would hold their next event, UFC 12, in Niagara Falls, NY near the Canadian border (and far from New York City and the press mob that comes with it) to present their first ever show featuring 2 weight classes in an attempt to appear more as a sport than spectacle. The talks were somewhat clandestine, as NY politicians could not drum up support for a full on ban, and agreed to regulation. A successful, low key event held away from the city could pave the way for future events in bigger towns and, as UFC saw it, would give them the time to legitimize their events away from the aura of being a “bloodsport”. Then along came a rival organization, EFC, who used the legislation opening to immediately book an event in Manhattan with the promotional line “‘Extreme Fighting — Whatever It Takes to Win’ – The roughest, toughest, most brutal fighting event in the history of television.” That was all the bait the New York press needed. Despite the warring promoters using the language of sport to describe their events, the New York Times article’s first paragraph was blistering, still referring to the competition as “human cockfighting”. Embarrassed and enraged, the New York politicians, who admittedly could not immediately ban the events (despite the efforts of NYC Mayor Rudolph Giuliani) instead forced the UFC show to a huge new set of rules, including the use of headgear. A court fight ensued, but with a ruling going against UFC the day before the show, UFC had no choice but to relocate the event to Dohan, Alabama with less than 24 hours notice. A bill banning extreme fighting was soon signed, preventing any form of professional combat sport in the state for nearly 20 years. A few weeks ago, I detailed how just one injury to a UFC fighter could have negatively affected the whole balance of two of UFC’s biggest shows of 2016. How fortunate for them that an injury did occur, but instead it brought more positive fortune for the company. UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos suffered a broken foot in training for his UFC 196 title bout with Connor McGregor, requiring him to take 4-6 weeks off. As it stands, the bout has been pushed back and will most likely occur as the main event of UFC 200 in July, giving the company the big storyline they were looking for to headline the show: their hottest star’s quest to become a champion in 2 different weight classes.
But meanwhile, there are about 10,000 cavorting Irishmen (and women) who have hotel rooms and flights booked for Las Vegas for March 5th, and they demand a show. In order to protect the McGregor gravy train, and to ensure that there are no requests for refunds, a call went out to any contender in a 25 lb range and they found someone with enough fight and enough mouth to make it work. Nate Diaz will be McGregor’s next opponent and the recipient of a McGregor “Red Panty Night”. What’s intriguing about the fight is that it will be held at Welterweight (170lbs) as opposed to either of the weights McGregor has previously competed at (145 & 155 lbs). This covers all angles of risk for UFC, as it ensures a big buy rate for the show with a tough, trash talking opponent while it protects McGregor, in the event of a loss, from being derailed on championship quests for either title. There is risk for McGregor as to this date he hasn’t faced anyone with Diaz’ chin, long reach and jab, but Diaz also comes in on a 2-week camp. A loss for McGregor at a weight class where he has no intent on pursuing the title only puts the blemish on his current 15 fight win streak (7 of those since joining UFC). Were Diaz to lose, he’ll certainly mouth off about not having a full camp and will insert himself in line for a title shot should McGregor accomplish his goal of winning the Lightweight title. “Success is simply a matter of luck. Ask any failure.”
Earl Wilson As UFC closes the books on a spectacular 2015, their ability to replicate and exceed such success hinges on factors that are nearly out of their control as they prepare for 2016. In fact, UFC 197 in March may wind up being the biggest show of the year. While Ultimate Fighting Championships has successfully branded itself as the premier promotion in oshark_mma_ufc_logoMixed Martial Arts across the world for years, 2015 saw the company reach new heights thanks to a pair of megastars that have eclipsed in popularity any other fighter to put on the iconic UFC gloves. From Anderson Silva, Randy Couture, Chuck Lidell, Brock Lesnar to George St. Pierre, none of these men (who all weigh over 175 lbs) can match the popularity behind UFC Featherweight Champion Conor McGregor and former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion Ronda Rousey. In the last two years, McGregor and Rousey captivated two unique, and possibly, individual audiences: Those who were captivated by the well-dressed, charismatic, brash McGregor with speedy, powerful fists and fans who were absolutely mystified at the sight of the blond bombshell Rousey, who could be mistaken for a woman in Anywhere USA, physically dominating her opponents in a fashion rarely seen by anyone, including her male counterparts. Thanks to their fights, numerous media appearances, soundbytes and highlights, all carefully orchestrated by UFC, fans flocked to watch these two in record numbers in 2015, with four million pay per view buys between the 5 fights featuring either Rousey or McGregor in the main event. The roadmap to UFC’s big anniversary event, UFC 200 is currently laid out, but to make it a more successful show than UFC 100 (which had 1.6 million pay per view buys) is dependent on big star power for the main event and on a number of things to go perfectly right. UFC 197 has been booked for March 5th with a double main event featuring McGregor going up in weight to challenge Rafael Dos Anjos for his Lightweight title and Holly Holm defending her Women’s Bantamweight strap against #1 contender Meisha Tate. The women’s fight is intriguing because it will be Holm’s first title defense since her shocking victory over the celebrity Rousey. A win lines her up to defend her title in the fall against a returning Rousey in a fight that can take on legendary proportions for all the redemption storylines involved. It could legitimately be UFC’s single biggest fight of all time considering the media attention it will get. But what if Meisha Tate wins? Were that to happen, Rousey would find herself staring across the octagon at a familiar rival and someone that she shares few good feelings about. In fact, many would argue that Rousey’s popularity in UFC stemmed from the trash talking and near fisticuffs that occurred during their stint as opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter. A rematch between those two will ensure more cross words and a true grudge match feel. As a result, no matter who wins the Holm/Tate fight, women’s fighting will remain a hot commodity in 2016. |
Steve TozinA connoisseur of global sports, entertainment, pro-wrestling and mixed martial arts. Archives
April 2016
Categories
All
|