The UFC was in for some very heavy labor last week as the promotion ran two events in just a three-day time span. On Wednesday, the Octagon was set up in Fayetteville, N.C. for “Fight for the Troops,” and three days later the Zuffa staff returned to Las Vegas for the “Ultimate Fighter 8” finale.
Escudero possibly spoils Zuffa’s Philippine plans, bolsters Latino pool
Despite coming into Saturday’s lightweight final as a solid underdog, young Mexican Efrain Escudero used his strong wrestling and good top control to grind out a decision over Team Nogueira teammate Phillipe Nover. The “Filipino Assassin” had been billed as the next Georges St. Pierre or Anderson Silva prior to the bout, but could not live up to the expectations except for a brief portion of the third round where he was able to apply some submission attempts.
With the loss, Zuffa’s plans to run a show in the Philippines on the heels of a possible Nover win could be sent back to cold storage. The intentions to go to the islands in the Pacific Ocean had previously become quite specific with a possible date in April already reserved. With Nover coming out second best and Zuffa openly dissatisfied with the performances of Brandon Vera, its other Filipino star, it is likely that the company’s venture into Southeast Asia will be pushed back until Nover has collected a couple of solid wins.
One man’s loss is another man’s gain as Escudero becomes the third “Ultimate Fighter” from a Latin heritage after Diego Sanchez and Nathan Diaz. Together with Jorge Rivera and Cain Velasquez, Zuffa is perhaps looking for Escudero to draw the attention of the Hispanic audience away from newly founded promotion Bellator Fighting Championships, which is looking to establish itself in this niche of the sport. The UFC’s lightweight division is particularly well manned with Latino fighters, bolstering Sanchez, Diaz, Escudero, fellow “TUF 8” alumnus Rolando Delgado and Roger Huerta.
‘Ultimate Fighter’ finale with two halves
While coaches Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Frank Mir split the season with six wins each, Team Mir got off to a much better start to the finale, winning all three preliminary fights against Team Nogueira. Tom Lawlor earned a hard-fought unanimous decision over Kyle Kingsbury, Eliot Marshall scored a quick submission over overmatched Jules Bruchez and Krzysztof Soszynski showed well-rounded skills en route to a second round win by tapout over Shane Primm.
The tide turned for the two divisional finals however: Since Efrain Escudero and Phillipe Nover were both trained by “Minotauro” on the show, Mir pinned all of his hopes on Vinicius Magalhaes in the light heavyweight showdown with Ryan Bader. The powerful wrestler from Arizona impressively pointed out the holes in the Brazilian’s striking game, though, as he hurt the three-time Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion with a cracking overhand right midway through the first round and finished him with strikes on the ground.
With the sweep in the two finals, Nogueira went up 2-0 on Mir, who will challenge him for his UFC interim heavyweight championship on Dec. 27. In episode nine, the former Rings and Pride heavyweight champion went up 1-0 on the former UFC titleholder when he beat him in a soccer penalty shootout within the framework of the coaches’ challenge.
AKA answers inside the cage
The American Kickboxing Academy made headlines in late November when some of its UFC-employed fighters, like Christian Wellisch and Jon Fitch, were released from their promotional contracts after a dispute over their names and likenesses being used in the official UFC video game, due out next spring. After a stink was raised, both fighters were convinced to sign the proposed deal and were welcomed back into the organization.
All eyes were on their teammates, Josh Koscheck and Mike Swick, as they co-headlined UFC Fight Night 16 “Fight for the Troops” on Dec. 10. With AKA’s reputation as one of the premier mixed martial arts camps in the country on the line, the welterweight duo delivered two stellar performances en route to two first-round knockouts. Koscheck’s destruction of Japanese standout Yoshiyuki Yoshida was particularly impressive, as it marked his first clean knockout in more than three and a half years.
It will be interesting to see what matchmaker Joe Silva has in store for Koscheck and Swick in 2009. The situation with Koscheck seems especially complicated, as he’s still a couple of big wins away from a title shot, even though he’s already faced or beaten many of the UFC’s top 170 pounders. A bout against EliteXC welterweight champion Jake Shields, should he sign with the UFC, would help define where both men stand in the division. As for Swick, having him fight Karo Parisyan would have fight fans’ mouths watering.
Sport or sports entertainment?
The way the UFC handled the situation after the “Fight for the Troops” main event between Koscheck and Yoshida brought a lot of critics to the scene. Koscheck knocked out Yoshida with two crushing blows that left the 34-year-old Japanese veteran motionless on the canvas for minutes. During the remainder of the broadcast, the announcing team did not provide any updates on the condition of the fallen judoka.
This approach may only be explained by Zuffa’s desire to portray its athletes as indestructible supermen whom fans and viewers need not worry about under any circumstance. However, since MMA is not professional wrestling, and if it wants to be taken seriously as a sport, live spectators and television audiences deserve to learn every important facet that concerns a downed fighter, even unpleasant facts about a competitor being taken to the hospital for further examination.
The UFC had already failed to inform its viewers about the condition of Sean Salmon after he was knocked out by a brutal Rashad Evans’ head kick at UFC Fight Night 8 in January 2007. It’s understandable that UFC President Dana White & Co. want to portray the sport as safe and family friendly. With that said, it would be a welcome change to see them focus not only on entertaining the masses but keeping their fans informed as well.
Japan loses ground as MMA superpower
In the light of Yoshida’s obliteration at Koscheck’s hands, it’s becoming more and more apparent that fighters from the Land of the Rising Sun have not had a very good year. Whether it’s due to unfavorable matchmaking, their not being accustomed to cutting weight or their lack of experience against top competition, the record of Japanese mixed martial artists inside the UFC and WEC this year has been terrible.
Out of 18 total bouts, Japanese fighters have managed just five wins. Back-to-back losses have resulted in a number of them -- Michihiro Omigawa, Keita Nakamura and Kuniyoshi Hironaka included -- receiving pink slips. Ryo Chonan, Akihiro Gono, Yushin Okami and Yoshida are the only four Japanese representatives currently on the UFC’s roster of more than 200 fighters.
Hardcore Nippon fans will cling to the belief that most of their country’s best -- like Masakatsu Imanari, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, Shinya Aoki and Kazuo Misaki -- still ply their trade in their native land. However, it should be noted that former Shooto and Pancrase top dogs Yoshiro Maeda, Akitoshi Tamura and Nakamura have failed to repeat in the United States the success they enjoyed domestically.