Ben Askern on his way to a Bright Future

I was on my way back home today from a business trip out of town and was listening to Sirius Radio and they had an interview with Ben Askern on. I was blown away with the maturity and honesty that Ben exhibited and it made me even more excited for his mixed martial arts career. In his young career he already has won the Bellator welterweight tournament and holds a victory over highly regarded fighter Dan Hornbuckle in the finals of that tournament.

What was most impressive to me about Askern though was his opinions and approach to MMA. One of the most interesting faucets of the interview was Askern talking about how there has never really been a guy successfully put together Brazilian jiu jitsu and wrestling. This seems to be something that Askern is intent on making a reality for him. He recognizes areas where he can succeed where others have either not tried or have failed.

He was asked about getting back to training after taking a few weeks off for his honeymoon and if he would ease his way back into two a days and Askern replied that he has only known two a days since early in high school when it came to the gym. This is a guy who enjoys training and seems completely immersed in wrestling and mixed martial arts. He also seems to have the intelligence and brashness to be a star. When asked if he thought he took Dan Hornbuckle's will, Askern replied, "Absolutely". Many guys would side step that or try to sugarcoat it, but Askern simply spoke his mind. He then goes on to talk about wanting to fight Paul Daley because he doesn’t like him and it could also enhance his brand.

This guy impressed me on so many levels and has also impressed me in the cage. Moving forward someone who sees the weaknesses in their game and also recognizes their strengths can go a long way. Anyone who watched Ben Askern fight knew of the talent and ability that he possesses, but after hearing his interview I now believe in the man as well as his abilities. That’s a dangerous combination in this sport.

The Cage Clinch Must Be Fixed

As the 2nd round of Rashad vs Rampage finished, my thoughts were off of the hype and everything and onto how disappointed I was once again by the round getting derailed by two fighters clinching against the fence. This for all intensive purposes is a neutral position and I believe there is a need to shorten the time allowed to fighters in this position. In 15 or 20 seconds if a fighter has not engaged a takedown then they need to be separated. The fact that fighters are using this to control and win rounds is a major issue for me.

If Rampage had staved off 7 takedown attempts and gotten multiple breaks then you may view the round differently. It would also encourage fighters to separate and get a shot in if they are not going to take advantage of the position. That round against the cage sucked the life right out of the fight for me. Same thing happened with Couture vs Vera. This is something that can be fixed and they need to get on it quickly cause its hurting MMA.

Shogun-Machida: A Refreshing Main Event

Over the past two years we have seen an increasing amount of main eventers and mixed martial arts fighters as a whole began to try and be very tactical with their fights. I think last night we started to see the speed and fluidity of technicality and skill combined with a killer instinct. From the opening bell you could tell neither Shogun nor Machida planned for this fight to be controversial. Both went out there to win, and it showed with their styles. It was by far the most aggressive Machida we have seen, and while he did get caught, he didn't get caught because he was aggressive, but because another fighter was just as quick as he was.

Often times after a three or three and a half minute fight, I come away feeling disappointed. Last night I came away with so many different things from those three and a half minutes it was insane. The takedowns by Machida were really impressive, and his ability to duplicate his character from UFC Undisputed 2010 and constantly land in half guard impressed me even more (not because he was duplicating the video game, but because he was getting a takedown and immediately creating an advantageous position for himself). This is where the positives stopped for Machida on the ground. The escapes from Shogun from the bottom were so technical and beautiful it left me in awe. He took little to no damage and was back to his feet. I believe this along with the Tito Ortiz near triangle prove that Machida needs to spend extended time working on his top control to continue completing himself as a fighter.

Machida looked good on his feet and was willing to take what Shogun gave him. Unlike previous Lyoto fights though he would not sit back and wait. He would come forward much more as well. Now that I have sufficiently talked about Machida, Shogun was on a different level last night. He was back to being fluid as hell with his strikes and transitions. He was back to having a killer instinct and moving in for the kill. It was refreshing to see a guy that hit such a low when he lost to Griffin, and now was back to 2005 form, or in my opinion even better as he took out one of the best fighters in the world.

The whole event last night had me excited, and part of that was the lead-in to the main event. More fighters were out there putting it all on the line and trying to finish. While from a pure MMA standpoint the WEC PPV might have been better, but last night proved that the big fight can still give you a totally different opinion about an event. Last night’s main event capped off a great night of fights that I won't soon forget. On top of that, Shogun has countless intriguing matchups such as Rampage, Rashad, Lil Nog, and Anderson Silva. I don’t think we will run out of credible opponents anytime soon. That being said, while the opponents may be credible, I have little doubt that the Shogun we saw last night can run this division for a long time.

The Live Experience: My First Time

I am just over two weeks out from flying to St. Louis for the Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery card and thought I would talk a little about the live mixed martial arts experience. Over the next two weeks leading up to my trip to St. Louis I will be talking about my live experiences and then going to hopefully blog throughout my time in St. Louis to bring the live experience to you as I experience it.

I have been an mixed martial arts fan since the mid 1990's and that first trip to the video store that saw me rent the UFC's as they come out before finally convincing mom and dad that I had to order the PPV's or my life simply would not continue. Through college there were several events I was tempted to attend, but the situation never really lined up to make it work. By 2008 I was on my feet financially after graduating school in 2006 and it was only a matter of time before I saw the UFC live. I was going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party the weekend of UFC 84, and naturally I could not miss that opportunity.

I bought tickets for the BJ Penn headlined events and planned to take in as much of the UFC experience while also hanging out with my buddies who were not really into mixed martial arts. I was able to do two days in studio with Goze and Alton, who were sitting in for George Garcia and Frank Trigg on TAGG Radio. The two days were nothing short of a blast hanging out with those guys and getting to be on the radio show. I was amazed on Thursday night at MGM Grand that guys like Carlos Newton and Ricco Rodriguez were just walking around. These were some of the guys I grew up watching, just milling around the casino like anyone else.

Everything around the event was awesome, but the event itself was beyond anything I could imagine. Seeing guys like Wanderlei Silva, BJ Penn, and Lyoto Machida live was amazing. The whole atmosphere was unlike almost anything I had ever seen at a sporting event. Afterwards I hung around outside as guys like Big Nog, Evan Tanner, Joe Lauzon, and others hung around outside and took pictures with the fans. It was truly a unique experience I will never forget. I told myself though that I would not come to another event till that was the sole reason of my trip. That would happen again in Las Vegas for UFC 100, but that’s another story for another time.

I didn’t really get to meet a ton of fighters outside of Evan Tanner and a couple others because of being there with guys that were not mixed martial arts fans, but as soon as I left that event I knew that I had to find a way to another event as soon as possible. I think that’s the common thing you will find with anyone who has the UFC Las Vegas experience. It almost puts you on a high that takes a couple days to come down from. My next exposure to the UFC in person would be in Atlanta at UFC 88, and this is when I realized that not all UFC events are created equal.

GSP Should Not Coach Season 12 of TUF

Historically the Ultimate Fighter Series has taken fighters from good fighters to household names and pay per view draws. We have seen the likes of BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, and Rampage Jackson gain even more notoriety by going on the reality television show. There are currently two rumors out there regarding the twelfth installment of the cable television series. The first one has a newly signed Jake Shields headlining against GSP and the second scenario sees the winner of the Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley fight taking their spot opposite of current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

While I think either opponent is credible for GSP at this point in his career, I fail to see what putting St. Pierre on my television set for 12 weeks is going to do in regards to the UFC bottom line. There are several reasons behind this and not just the obvious. The first one is the language barrier. GSP will need subtitles at many times during the broadcast and while Nog vs. Mir proved to be a pretty good draw, the reality is that since then Big Nog has failed to draw the PPV buys while headlining events. While you won’t immediately have this issue with GSP as he is one of the companies 3 or 4 largest draws, it likely means that you will gain very few new buys by putting him on the television show.

The second point that I see when I think about GSP being on season 12 of the Ultimate Fighter is it will lead to another extended period of time off for the champion. GSP has not fought more than twice a year since 2007. That means from 2008 through 2010 he will fight only 6 times. As I alluded to earlier, St. Pierre is one of the 3 or 4 biggest draws for the UFC in terms of PPV buy rates. What sense does it make keeping him on the shelf 9 months when he is healthy? I don’t believe that it makes any sense at all. He is in the prime of his career and failure to utilize him for three fights a year when possible is a horrible mistake.

My final point comes from what the UFC stands to gain by putting GSP on The Ultimate Fighter Season 12. I believe there is actually very little that they stand to gain. That being said I do believe Shields, Koscheck, and Daley can make legitimate strides from coaching on the series. Setting up Shields with the winner of Thiago Alves/Jon Fitch would make exponentially more sense in the term of creating draws in my opinion. GSP has fought in multiple main events, has had 3 hours (6 episodes) worth of UFC primetime hyping his fights and countless UFC Countdown shows. How many fans should they expect him to gain by coaching on the Ultimate Fighter? Even worse, what if he somehow leaves a negative impression (which I doubt) by doing the show? These are all scenarios that the UFC must consider before moving forward with this season.

At the end of the day it seems extremely odd to me that the UFC is choosing to go in this direction. It's almost as if they feel obligated to get him on the series because of his extended success in the organization. While many people know I am far from a GSP fan, which does not mean I don’t want to see the best fighters in the world fight consistently as possible. I hope the UFC decides to move in a different direction as they look at the business side of this decision. While I can’t imagine the decision having a negative impact on the UFC's bottom line, I can see it hurting the long term growth of additional PPV draws.

Snapping Reactions: UFC 112

I thought the show started out great with Munoz vs Grove. It was a back and forth start with Grove clearling coming in with a gameplan to counter the takedown defense. Grove then starts landing some shots and is able to get him in several chokes. I thought at times he might have been to aggressive with chokes that weren't likely to finish. Munoz once he gained top position in the 2nd round looked awesome.

Phil Davis has all the potential in the world and that choke he sunk in whats amazing. I was impressed with the takedown defense though early in the fight. I think Davis needs to continue to take fights and get experience.

I thought the Dos Anjos vs Etim was a great back and forth fight and was nothing short of a grappling clinic that the fans had to enjoy.

Hughes vs Gracie was neither interesting or enjoyable. I thought they were far to timid in the first two rounds, and the style match-up resulting in a very boring fight as Hughes just used leg kicks and eventually finished.

Congrats to Frankie Edgar. Edgar used his speed and activity on the way to winning the LW title. I am a huge BJ Penn fan and I could not help but be disappointed in his performance. I hope that he can regroup fix what was wrong and come back better then ever. Once again this was a five round fight made only interesting by figuring out how to score the rounds. Most observes had Edgar winning 48-47, but no one had 50-45. Many scored the bout for BJ. The fact that BJ is content to sick back and counter jab though is bad. He must become more aggressive, especially since he is likely headed back to 3 round fights.

The Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia fight was extremely boring and I hated it. Not going to waste words on a fighter that wasted my time today.

My UFN 21 Experience

UFC Fight Night 21 emulated from Charlotte, NC this week. For all the traveling I have done to see the UFC in person, I was finally fortunate enough for it to come to my hometown. I was a little worried going into the week, cause from some indications ticket sales started sluggish and I was worried about a 2/3 full arena. Another thing that worried me was the fans. I was afraid that we would get the fly by night, boo after 10 seconds of ground actions, obnoxious fans. So while I am usually an optimist, for the weeks leading up to the event I was very pessimistic about the outcome.

While I couldn't go to weigh-ins on Tuesday afternoon cause of work, I was able to take in Joe Rogan on Tuesday night. I have seen Rogan's standup previously on television and in person the night before UFC 107 in Memphis, but I have to say he really outdid himself this week. His opening act went for about 30 minutes and Joe took the state about 9:30pm on Tuesday night. Joe did some of his usual bits and a lot of material I had not heard for the first hour and a half and put on a great show. After that he started letting the audience throw out subjects for him to talk about and started taking more and more shots. Also the great thing about going to a Rogan show the night before an event is that a few people from the UFC usually show up. Stitch, Eddie Bravo, the Spanish announce team, Chandella Powell, and Tracy Lee all were there to watch Joe's standup and just hung out in the back and chilled. I must say Chandella is stunning in everyday street clothes.

The day of the event I had to work in the morning, and then got off around lunchtime and went to meet MMAWeekly posters Snapcase and NeonJesusFreak. As with every other time I have met one of the long time forum posters, it was a great time and they are good people. Upon getting into the arena and looking at my seats I realized that I was in for a treat. Bojangles Coliseum is older, and not very big. After being used to attending PPV's in huge arena's the sightlines and view was fantastic. I settled in and waited for the fights to begin.

Most everyone has seen the fights, but there are certainly a couple fights that everyone should make an effort to see if they did not. The first one is the Gerald Harris fight. I think it’s safe to say he will have to wait a while before heading back to Bum Fighting Championships. Gerald struggled a bit early with Miranda's reach, and at one point was even rocked by a shot and down on the canvas. With about 20 seconds left in the round, everything changed though Gerald landed a big shot, and the killer instinct kicked in. He dropped Miranda a total of 3 times before finally knocking him down for the final time. I have seen a lot of fights in person, and this might be my favorite ending.

The other fight that people really need to see is Yushin Okami's fight. These guys really cleaned up his standup and pushed the pace at times, when he used to sit back and be almost over patient. The repeated shots bloodied his opponents face, and it was one of the better technical striking displays I have seen in a while. I don't think we can measure Okami's improvements without a step up in competition, but there is no denying the fact that he looked great. The prelim fights ran up to 10 minutes before the start of the main card.

One of the highlights of attending a UFC live event is getting to see the video they put on just before the broadcast starts. It’s the best UFC video they have ever put out, and every time they show it at an event I get chills. It basically runs through the gambit of past UFC moments, and is perfectly in tune with the video. It features the Frank Trigg vs. Matt Hughes II and Griffin vs. Bonnar fights over the others, but there are few great UFC moments during the Zuffa era that are left out.

The arena actually filled in nicely and was full everywhere but the 4 corners of the arena, where there was a reasonable amount of open seats. The most amazing thing during the course of the event was just how amazing the fans and refs were. There were not any restarts due to inactivity and the fans rarely if ever booed. Not only that, but much like in Japan they would clap after a good sequence and after most every round. I certainly underestimated the fans of North and South Carolina coming into the event. I had yet another great time at a UFC event and can’t wait to get back to another one.

Women's MMA Boring Me Recently

First I want to state that this is nothing against women's mixed martial arts. This is simply my view of the situation. When women's mma first burst onto the scene, it almost never failed to deliver. For nine minutes, these women would go out and put on a show. Most the times there were limited to no spells of inactivity, but recently something has changed. There are a couple causes to this I believe. The first one is five minute rounds and the second one is the growth of the sport.

Let’s concentrate on the five minute rounds first. The first women's mma bout that I ever watched was three minute rounds and had nothing but action from the opening bell to the end of the bout. I came away shocked at just how much I had enjoyed watching it. I found that this trend continued over the next couple years as I even got to the point I was looking forward to the women's matches. Yet recently I have found more disconnect and boredom while watching their fights. They seem more methodical, more defensive, and dare I say it, more afraid to lose. Could this be because they have more time to work out the fight and they are not forced to go balls to the wall for three minutes to win the round? Or maybe there are other factors in play.

The other angle that you can look at this from is the growth of the sport. There are female mma organizations out there now, and more organizations are lending themselves to putting women's mma bouts on their cards. This is a great thing for the sport, but it also puts a lot more pressure on the upper tier women. Wins and losses become more and more important as getting on television is a big deal for these women and their sponsorships/magazine spreads/modeling. The reality is that being a women's mma fighter is not about just being a women's mma fighter. There are many other factors in play. I think we often see this in mma in general, fighters become timid and careful to avoid being finished over the course of the fight. This usually leads to more stalling, and more fighters only training to maintain positional advantages, but overall they ultimately take less risks. Maybe this is just the growth stage of women's mma as well, but only time will tell whether it can sustain or whether it will lose support over the years.

Bellator Providing Opprotunity to Free Agents

While no one will argue that Roger Huerta was one of the biggest signings in Bellator's young history, I believe it revealed just how attractive Bellator is to certain fighters. Huerta chose to sign with Bellator over any other organization. This marks the first time a major mixed martial arts free agent has chosen to sign with Bellator. Some people will immediately point to Eddie Alvarez and Hector Lombard, but neither of those fighters were a known commodity in the North American market.

I believe it’s important to explore the reasons that Roger Huerta arrived at this decision and it’s actually pretty simple. This is an opportunity that offers three of the major factors a fighter looks for in fights, money, and exposure. With Strikeforce you can get money and exposure, but many fighters have certainly struggled getting consistent fights. The biggest part of this equation for a guy like Roger Huerta has to be getting a high volume of fights in a short period of time. Huerta has only fought once since a decision loss to Kenny Florian in August of 2008.

During his time away from the sport Roger looked to become a movie star among other things. I was expecting a less then motivated fight from him against Grey Maynard and I came away very impressed. One thing that likely hurt Huerta in that fight was his time out of the cage. Bellator offer a chance to change that with three fights in a 12 week span against solid competition (Toby Imada and Jorge Masvidal to name a few).

In addition to the three fights in a short period of time, Roger can not only pick up $100,000 by winning the tournament but additionally collect sponsor money on three live broadcasts on Fox Sports South over those 12 weeks. While beating Imada or Masvidal will not put Huerta back in anyone's top 10, it will give him a super fight that could. Along with the money and the three quick fights comes a chance to face Eddie Alvarez if you win the tournament. This is a bout that could help propel Roger back into the spotlight and even back in the UFC once his Bellator contract would expire.

While Roger Huerta is the fighter with the most name value signing with Bellator this season, there are many other fighters who will benefit from the experience and exposure that Bellator can offer them. One such fighter is Joe Warren who gained experience on the fly during DREAM's FW Grand Prix in 2009. 2010 will see him compete for Bellator and try to become a household name in the United States. The cage time will be a huge benefit for Warren early in his career.

There are several fighters I believe should jump at the opportunity to join Bellator in Season 3 if an offer is extended to them. One such fighter is Jake Rosholt. Jake is staying active on the independent circuit and has a reasonably high profile fight against Jeremy Horn later this month on HDNet. He was a guy that was green while in the UFC and we watched as he grew and had growing pains in front of our eyes. I believe the three fights in 12 weeks could really benefit him. Also a possibility of fighting Lombard at the conclusion of the season would be a great fight for both guys. While we won’t know just how big a player Bellator will become in the mixed martial arts free agent market, I believe it’s something to pay attention over the coming year.

Quick Reactions: TUF 11 Just Got Interesting

With word breaking this morning that Chuck Liddell will face Rich Franklin and not Tito Ortiz at UFC 115, the mma community is buzzing with speculation. Filming of The Ultimate Fighter 11 was supposed to begin on January 21st and typically the seasons run about six weeks. This would mean the season would end around March 4th.

If you have followed the story very closely you realize there was a series of very cryptic tweets from Tito Ortiz as the month of February was winding down. With news coming out about the opponent change we are left only to speculate on what may have went on during the production of this season.

*Possible Spoiler Alert*- Please do not continue reading as posted below is what some might construe as a spoiler even though it remains only a rumor at this time.

MMAJunkie.com stated in their article today that Tito Ortiz was unable to finish the filming of TUF Season 11 and Rich Franklin was brought in to replace him. While no one knows the details, it would certainly line up with the timing of the tweets. Reports from Fighters Only additionally say that Ortiz being removed from the fight is not health related, but could affect Tito's future as a fighter.

I don’t know about everyone else, but that is about as good of buildup for a season of The Ultimate Fighter. I hope word does not leak out about what happens on the show so that when it finally airs we can all sit back and watch it unfold. Does Tito do something that causes him to get kicked off of the show and possible out of the UFC? If so, what exactly could he have done? Is it something in his personal life (I really hope not for his sake)? The speculation is going to be insane over the next few months and based on the timing of the tweets, we may not find out till the second half of the season.

Often times mma fans talk about how we don’t really like the reality portion of the TUF shows, but most mma fans are actually suckers for drama. When Fedor was a free agent or when Pride was close to being sold, the speculations and rumors going around were absolutely insane and most of the online community bought into them. Now TUF Season 11 offers an intriguing coaching dynamic, 28 up and coming middleweights, and an end of season fight that has much more intrigue then I initially expected (I was far from excited for Chuck vs Tito III). I can’t wait to come home from Ultimate Fight Night 21 live on March 31st and watched the first episode.

Noah Hubbs aka Buffaloblue

Dominant Champions - Are We Bored With Them?

The sport of mixed martial arts has constantly grown and evolved over the past 16 years. For years there were debates over who were the best between Pride and UFC. While that still exists to some extent with Fedor, the current mixed martial arts landscape finds the majority of the top-level fighters in the world fighting for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. There has not been a title change in the UFC since Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans at UFC 98.

Since January 1^st, 2009 there has been exactly one title change. We are currently in a day and age where many fans see BJ Penn, Georges St. Pierre, and Anderson Silva as the most dominant fighters in their respective weight classes. They have seemingly faced all challenges and with each one we are left to wonder if the next challenger even has a chance. Their dominance in recent fights has lead fans to ask how they would do at a higher weight class instead of who the next title challenger might be. Anderson Silva has already proven that he can win in dominant fashion at light heavyweight and there have even been discussions about him accepting a fight at heavyweight.

This doesn't address the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions though. Many viewed Machida as one of those unstoppable fighters until he faced off against “Shogun” Rua. That rematch should give us the next legit opportunity at a title change. Brock Lesnar currently is the UFC Heavyweight Champion in what has to be considered the most fascinating and wide open of all the weight classes. There are many questions regarding Lesnar’s ability to return from his sickness and find the form he had before.

I am going to turn my focus back to BJ Penn, GSP, and Anderson Silva. I started thinking about it the other day and wondered when was the last time I felt like one of these guys could legitimately lose their title. As an avid BJ Penn fan I would like to say it was GSP vs. BJ II, but the reality is that I made a reasonable size bet on GSP in that fight. Each of these fighters have fights in the next month against guys that are all ranked in the top 7 of their respective weight classes and have earned their title shot.

The problem is that when I look at the matchups I feel like I already know who is going to win. This is a title fight, and is supposed to be the highest level mixed martial arts in the world and it’s seemingly a continual lopsided battle. This is not to take away from their opponents as they are very strong opposition who earned their title shots, but rather it highlights the skill level that BJ, GSP, and Anderson are on. My first thought was that the dominant champs are taking something away from the matchups and even leading me to wonder if the dominant champions are boring. Not boring in their styles or their skill, but boring in the fact no one is on the same competitive level.

It took me about three seconds to realize I was out of my mind and that dominant champions are going to help create some of the most memorable moments of the upcoming decade. Imagine if BJ Penn doesn’t lose a fight in 2010 or 2011 while defending his belt 4 times and possible taking a welterweight bout. In February of 2012 someone is able to break through and defeat BJ Penn. That will likely be a moment none of us would soon forget. The talk of the mixed martial arts world for the next several months leading into the new champion’s next fight would be off the charts. This is not even taking into account how big the rematch could be down the road.

Any fighter that is able to defeat BJ Penn, GSP, or Anderson Silva will quickly become recognized alongside the best in the world. While we certainly view Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, Mauricio Rua, and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as some of the best fighters in the world at light-heavyweight, we rarely hear them mentioned as the world’s best 3 or 4 fighters due to the fluid title situation in the division. Having a dominant champion may not always seem like the most exciting thing during some of their lopsided victories, but if you keep the big picture in perspective and appreciate the level they are fighting at then it will lead to some of mixed martial arts defining moments.