Last week was a tumultuous one in the world of MMA, with firings and fights taking the spotlight. Every week on MMASucka, I will be looking back at some of the talking points of the week and giving my 2 cents on those issues. Will my opinions be popular? Probably not but if you have any issues with them please feel free to take them up with me on Twitter (@MMAOpinIAN – yep, a cheap plug) or email Jeremy Brand who runs this ship. So what has caught my eye this week, let’s have a look!
Thiago Silva should never have been re-signed in the first place.
When the disturbing videos were published by the ex-wife of Thiago Silva, I was skeptical on which route the UFC would go down in addressing whether or not they should terminate Silva’s contract, especially as he had just been brought back a matter of weeks ago. I think ultimately, the whole ‘issue’ was handled confusingly by the promotion and I am sure behind closed doors the whole organization are disappointed with the way they handled the situation. The simple bottom line on this matter is that Silva should NEVER have been brought back and the quotes that were attributed to Dana White were confusing. While it is easy to criticize, I also would like to commend the promotion on how they did act swiftly once the video emerged and also how they have dealt with the allegations against Anthony Johnson. Whether it was damage control or not, the UFC has now set a line for domestic abuse cases involving any of their fighters in the future.
Mark Hunt continues his Cinderella story career renaissance.
Mark Hunt is my hero. Well, not really but when you see a 40-year old man, who was at one point on the scrap heap, winning fights at the highest level of competition, one has to fist pump. While Roy Nelson is no world beater, the fact he was able to face plant ‘Big Country’ is what was remarkable. The question now is how far can Mark Hunt take his career? I definitely think he could fight for the title with one more win and if the promotion put him against Arlovski, he almost likely could be in with a chance of fighting the winner of Velasquez and Werdum. Could he beat either guy? I don’t think so. However, when you have his power and chin, anything is possible. With only 5 fights left on his UFC contract, we should cherish his fights because he is definitely one of the m ore unique fighters we have seen.
The UFC should go to Japan more often.
Whenever the UFC goes to Japan, I get nostalgic about the great cards that PRIDE FC held. While Asia is going through a boom in terms of MMA, no doubt thanks to ONE FC; Japan should remain the hotbed for MMA in the region and although the UFC have already suggested there will only be one event in Japan next year, I would go with two. It is no coincidence that this weekend’s card (according to Dana White), produced the highest viewership to date. Of course Mark Hunt and Roy Nelson were big parts of the deal but I would be surprised if anyone was disappointed with the card from top to bottom.
The best of the rest.
UFC 178 is edging closer on us with it going down this weekend live on PPV. I am really excited to see how the PPV does in terms of sales because, although Demetrious Johnson does not translate to buys, there is definitely some hype on this card in relation to the emergence of Conor Mcgregor and the debut of Eddie Alvarez. The winner of their respective bouts may just jump the queue on who gets the next title bouts in their divisions.
It looks like UFC on FOX 13 will have a 4 fight heavyweight main card. The promotion has already announced Junior dos Santos vs Stipe Miocic, Alistair Overeem vs Stefan Struve and Matt Mitrione vs Gabriel Gonzaga. If the UFC are going down this route, I would like to see them go with Mark Hunt vs Andrei Arlovski as the other fight on that card.
Bellator MMA are doing a lot of good things since the arrival of Scott Coker, while the likes of Melvin Manhoef and Doug Marshall aren’t the best fighters under their banner, their style of fighting makes fans want to tune in. The key thing now is how the promotion approaches using their good prospects such as Liam McGeary and Goiti Yamauchi to make sure that they have the talent to make themselves a viable option in competition with the UFC.
