Rampage Jackson: How Did a Man This Stupid Ever Become a Good Fighter?

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on October 22, 2009

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Will Team Rampage win any of the first 8 fights?

• Yes
• No
• No Idea

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So I got home last night, flipped on my TV and DVR and started playing back yesterday’s The Ultimate Fighter episode, and I must say I'm feeling inspired from it!

This run of The Ultimate Fighter has taught me a number of things:

1.) If there was ever any doubt after his last run on TUF, that doubt has been destroyed: Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is an unbelievable moron!

2.) There is such a thing as being a complete and total failure as an MMA coach. If you go a step worse than that, you’re name is probably Quinton Jackson.

3.) A great pre-fight pep talk should include the word “titties” every third word, and should otherwise make absolutely no sense whatsoever.

4.) Picking fights with the guys on the opposite team is cool if your name is Quinton “Rampage” Jackson.

5.) We're doomed to see the following headline in the future: "Rampage Jackson beats soccer mom into unconsciousness!"

6.) Don’t worry about consoling your fighters when they lose! Rashad’s got your back, man!

7.) When it comes to throwing out insults and talking trash, Rampage can dish it but he can’t take it.

8.) The Ultimate Fighter is all about the fighters competing in the tournament...unless your name is Quinton Jackson. Then it’s all about you, and the fighters are just a pointless side-note.

9.) Kimbo Slice is the most fired up, eager warrior that will ever be a complete and total failure in UFC history.

10.) I have a better nickname for Roy Nelson than “Big Country.” Ladies and gentlemen, introducing “The Fat Kid that Could!”

11.) Kimbo desperately wants to get another chance at failure. This will be an important teaser on every single episode, to ensure that all the Kimbo faithful keep watching. Then we’ll go all the way through the entire Ultimate Fighter season without ever seeing Kimbo fight again.

12.) Kimbo Slice has the worst ground game I’ve seen since Art Jimmerson.

13.) Size doesn’t matter. Skill matters. This is why the comparatively smaller Team Rashad is 6-0. And Team Rampage is 0-6 because "they're all just crappy fighters" and "you can't teach them stuff."

14.) If you sent Rampage to go buy you a good horse, he’d come back with and ostrich.

15.) I’m actually starting to really, really like Rashad Evans. How weird is that? Maybe it’s because anybody looks awesome next to Quinton Jackson.

16.) I’m completely at a loss—why does ANYONE actually like Rampage Jackson?

17.) Rampage Jackson is going to pick at least one fight with every fighter on Team Rashad—one that almost comes to blows, but not quite. Then he’ll start on his own guys. Then he's going after Dana. After that, he's going to punch out the octagon girl.

18.) There’s stupid and then there’s Rampage Jackson stupid.

19.) This season, Rampage Jackson will probably do more damage to the gym than all of the fighters will do to the house combined.

20.) Quinton Jackson likes to throw tantrums and needs a timeout.

21.) I really, really, really feel like YouTube’ing Rampage versus Wanderlei Silva One and Two and Rampage versus Shogun. I just know that watching Quinton Jackson get beat into unconsciousness repeatedly will make me feel happy inside. I wonder why?

More than anything else, I’m scratching my head and trying to figure one thing out: How is a guy this stupid one of the best fighters in the world? Sure some fighters are idiots, but this is reality warping stupidity we’re talking about folks!

Beyond UFC 104: The Future of the Light Heavyweight Division

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on October 22, 2009

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After The Dragon and Shogun, who is the next best LHW in the UFC

• Rashad Evans
• Forrest Griffin
• Thiago Silva
• Rich Franklin
• Wanderlei Silva
• Keith Jardine
• Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
• Tito Ortiz
• Randy Couture
• Anderson Silva

vote to see results

Well, UFC 104 is upon us and everyone is getting more and more excited to see the Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida take on legendary brawler Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Predictions and speculations abound over who will win. I think it will be Machida myself.

But what happens after that?

If Machida wins, it will be the first successful title defense in a long time. Having a little consistency at Light Heavyweight Champion would do worlds of good for the UFC right now. Over the past couple years, the title changes hands so fast that you barely have time to get to know the new champion.

So who would be next for Machida if he beats Shogun? Unfortunately, the answer to this question is complicated. He's already beaten several of your best options: Thiago Silva, Rich Franklin, and Rashad Evans.

The upcoming return of Tito Ortiz, no matter how successful, won't generate a compelling matchup for Machida. Once again, Machida already beat him. If he wins this Saturday, I’m seeing a high chance of rematches in Machida’s future.

If Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida wins:

1. Quinton Jackson : Undoubtedly, Rampage is the best Top-10 Light Heavyweight to send up against Machida. Two things have to happen before you can make this match though. One: Rampage will have to finish with the “A Team” movie and come back out of retirement. Two: Rampage has an obligation to fight against Rashad Evans. I expect this would be his first fight upon returning. Rampage vs Machida is at least a year off, if it ever happens at all.
2. Gegard Mousasi : If the UFC can find a way to sign “The Dreamcatcher” this would be a match made in heaven. Both Mousasi and Machida seem to be unbeatable. This would truly be a fight for “Best Light Heavyweight on the Planet.” But how easily can Gegard be lured away from Strikeforce? He is their champion after all. If the UFC can find a way to sign Mousasi, this would be the best fight possible!
3. Winner of Randy Couture vs. Brandon Vera : This would be a great fight for the fans, whether it’s Vera or Couture. I don’t see either of them really challenging Machida, but it puts recognizable names in the octagon with the champion.
4. Winner of Matt Hammill vs. Jon Jones : Neither Hammill, nor Jones have beaten a Top-10 Light Heavyweight yet, so throwing one of them a title-shot seems premature. The trouble is, they just might have to step up sooner than everyone thought. I think both of them are extremely under-rated, particularly Jonny “Bones” Jones.
5. Ryan Bader : If he can beat Shafer, I think it might be high time to put Bader’s undefeated record to the test. Bader is a bit of an unknown. What we do know is that he is a pretty good all-around fighter. He’s undefeated, with four knockouts, three submissions, and two wins by decision. Like Hammill, or Jones, this is asking for a relatively unproven fighter to step up sooner than expected.
6. Rematch with the winner of Rashad Evans vs Thiago Silva : I don’t foresee this as being an extremely compelling matchup. Machida beat both of them so soundly they looked like amateurs. Still, both of them are legit Top-10 fighters with big wins on their resumes. Your best option just might be a rematch.
7. Forrest Griffin : I'm not really crazy about this option, but if Forrest beats Tito, then I suppose you could throw him into an upcoming title fight.
8. Anderson Silva : A fight against the Middleweight Champion is the fight that everyone is clamoring to see. The trouble is, Machida and Silva are friends and training partners. They’ve repeatedly vowed that they won’t fight each other. I don’t foresee this matchup ever happening, at least not anytime soon. But oh what a fight it would be!!

If Mauricio “Shogun” Rua wins: Okay, the “what’s next” picture for Rua is a lot easier. All of the fights above would be options, but with Shogun, you have even more compelling options:

1. Anderson Silva : There is some question whether Anderson would step up and fight the man that beat his best friend. He might decide not to so that Machida can do it for himself. Still, Anderson Silva would need very little convincing to fight Shogun. There’s some bad blood there stemming from the breakup of Chute Boxe. “The Spider” would love to beat down Shogun, make no mistake about it! And this is a fight that has a very good chance of actually happening!
2. Winner of Rashad Evans vs Thiago Silva : The winner of this fight should be an obvious number one contender. Either one should be able to give Shogun all he can handle. And unlike Machida, Shogun has never fought either of them.
3. Winner of Forrest Griffin vs. Tito Ortiz : You can believe that Shogun wants to avenge that rude welcome he got in his UFC debut at the hands of Griffin. If Forrest can beat Tito Ortiz, that might be enough of a winning streak to seal the deal. If Ortiz can win, I say “Why not?” Throw him in with Shogun and see how he does.
4. Rematch with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson : This would be a very compelling rematch. Rampage getting a shot at revenge against the other Muay Thai brawler that humiliated him back in Pride. Quinton would still have to finish his stint in Hollywood, come out of retirement, and he’d probably have to beat Rashad Evans too.
5. All of the same things as listed for Machida: Gegard Mousasi, Jon Jones, Matt Hammill, Randy Couture, Brandon Vera, Ryan Bader, etc.

Whatever happens Saturday night, it should be very interesting to see what happens next at Light Heavyweight.

Strikeforce: Fedor Emelianenko Vs Brett Rogers, CBS Is Doing A Better

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on October 20, 2009

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Will Strikeforce still exist 10 years from now

• Yes and they'll run the UFC out of business!
• Yes
• No
• No and this next broadcast will be their last!

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This is an update for a prior article .

One of the biggest Mixed Martial Arts events in the history of the sport is coming up on Saturday, Nov. 7. “The Last Emperor,” Fedor Emelianenko makes his Strikeforce cage-fighting debut against undefeated Brett “The Grimm” Rogers.

Fedor Emelianenko has won 26 fights in a row. He has 30 wins in his career, and his only loss was highly controversial. He’s beaten all comers, including well known champions, a host of former UFC champions, towering giants and several fighters that you never have and never will hear of. He is effectively 30-0, a mark that no other Heavyweight has ever attained.

As Randy Couture put it, "I don't think anybody's invincible...but he's probably the closest thing."

Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers will air live on CBS. Preliminary fights start at 7:00 PM and the main card begins at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.

The card also includes:

• Strikeforce Light Heavyweight Champion Gegard “The Dreamcatcher” Mousasi vs “The African Assasin” Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

• Jake Shields vs Jason “Mayhem” Miller for the recently vacated Strikeforce Middleweight Title.

• Fabricio Werdum vs Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva

Considering that this is Strikeforce with its comparatively thin ranks of talented fighters, this card actually looks pretty amazing.

Whether you like Strikeforce or hate them; whether you love Fedor or hate him, this event represents a landmark event in Mixed Martial Arts history. This is the first time that a card this stacked with top fighters has been broadcast by one of the big four networks.

This is the first time that a top-ranked fighter of any weight class has fought on a free live broadcast on one of the big four networks.

So it’s week two of CBS promoting this event. How are they doing now?

Let's take last weeks blip:

“Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s greatest fighter comes to CBS, Saturday, November 7th.”

To this week’s lengthier clip:

"He is a man of mystery.
Who trains in the frozen tundra of Siberia.
Fedor Emelianenko is the number one Heavyweight mixed martial artist fighter in the world.
And he's taking on undefeated knockout artist Brett Rogers.
Live!
Free!
Only on CBS!
November 7th"

Much better! This promotional clip was well delivered. Dramatic pauses with a showman’s flair. It was an excellent teaser that actually gets your attention and holds it.

Unfortunately, CBS stayed true to form and only broadcast it once per football game. Yes they nailed the right target audience for the clip. Football fans enjoy watching grown men batter the hell out of each other, so Mixed Martial Arts ought to be very appealing to them.

But once again, they only ran the clip once per game, and on one game I didn’t even find it once. Compare that with the constant promotions for all of CBS’ regular shows: Repetition 'til you were sick of hearing about it...and that’s exactly the right way to do it.

You need to run the thing more than once or people will forget. One clip per game isn’t going to draw nearly as much interest because people will see it and promptly forget about it. Repetition makes it stick in people's memories.

Other suggestions for improvement:

Like I already said, Fedor Emelianenko looks about as intimidating as a newborn kitten. If you want people to realize what a badass he really is, you can't just tell them. You have to show them.

Here’s how you do it:

• Show the stare-down before the Hong-Man Choi fight to show the size difference between the combatants. Then show Fedor finishing of Choi.

• Show the stare-down before the Tim Sylvia fight. It’s the same idea: Here’s Fedor taking on yet another enormous towering brute. Then show him knocking the crap out of Sylvia. Finally show him choking out Timmy.

• Show the stare-down before the Andrei Arlovski fight. This won’t offer the same “David vs Goliath” feel, but it shows that he’s fighting all sorts. On top of that, Andrei is pretty ripped and Fedor isn’t. Then show the clip of him knocking out Arlovski.

Note: All Pride FC footage is owned by Zuffa LLC, parent company of the UFC. The UFC isn't in the business of helping out their competition, so don't expect to see any Pride FC footage of Fedor.

By taking this approach, your TV audience will begin to catch on: This Fedor guy isn’t all that scary looking, but he can beat the crap out of guys that would give most people nightmares looking at them.

CBS also added this video to their web site.

I’m beginning to get the feeling that CBS is reading the articles here and taking the suggestions offered. So if you’re reading, you’re doing a lot better CBS.

You might want to start mentioning the rest of the fight card in the next week or two. People tuning in for this Live and Free event are going to be rewarded with more than just one fight. Strikeforce is putting on five top-10 fighters into this event. There will be one title fight and one champion fighting in a non-title fight. There’s definitely some promotional material in the rest of the fight card.

Another suggestion: Most people don’t know what “Mixed Martial Arts” means. Most have heard of “Ultimate Fighting” but that’s about it. There is also a lot of bad publicity on the sport. These would actually be very compelling subjects. Remember how Don Frye was fired as both a firefighter and a High School coach for his participation in the Ultimate Fighter tournaments?

Remember John McCain’s self-righteous and misguided crusade attempting to destroy the sport altogether? I think there’s more than enough material in the trouble history of MMA for a run on 60 Minutes or The Late Show .

It would do a lot of good to show how very human Mixed Martial Artists are and demonstrate that the sport is not nearly as barbaric as some people make it out to be.

As I've pointed out so very many times: Since UFC 1, more than 71 boxers have died from injuries sustained in Professional Boxing Matches. The UFC has lost zero. All MMA promotion combined have tallied one fatality. This sport is extremely misunderstood, and far less dangerous than other well-established mainstream sports.

Hey CBS, How Fast Can You Say "Fedor Emelianenko"?

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on October 16, 2009

Vote Now! - Author Poll

How fast can you say “Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s greatest fighter comes to CBS, Saturday, November 7th.”?

• Under 10 seconds
• Under 9 seconds
• Under 8 seconds
• Under 7 seconds
• Under 6 seconds
• Under 5 seconds
• Under 4 seconds
• Under 3 seconds
• Under 2 seconds
• Under 1 second (LIAR!!)

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One of the biggest Mixed Martial Arts events in the history of the sport is coming up on Saturday, November 7th. “The Last Emperor”, Fedor Emelianenko makes his Strikeforce cage-fighting debut in a highly anticipated battle against an undefeated giant of a man, Brett “The Grimm” Rogers. Fedor, is widely considered the best Heavyweight on the planet. Many also consider him the top pound for pound fighter in the world. He has won 26 fights in a row, has 30 wins in his career, and has only one highly controversial loss on his record. He’s beaten all comers, including well known champions, a host of former UFC champions, towering giants and several fighters that you never have and never will hear of. He is effectively 30-0, a mark that no other Heavyweight has ever attained.

Strikeforce: Fedor vs Rogers will air live on CBS. Preliminary fights start at 7:00 PM and the main card begins at 9:00 PM Eastern Time.

So how does the overall card look? Considering that this is Strikeforce with its comparatively thin ranks of talented fighters, it actually looks pretty amazing. Gegard Mousasi, the Light Heavyweight Champion will face Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou, Jake Shields will face Jason Miller for the vacant Strikeforce Middleweight title, and Fabricio Werdum will fight Antonion “Bigfoot” Silva. Every fight on the main card features at least one fighter who is ranked in the top 10 in their respective weight classes. And while Gegard Mousasi, Jake Shields and Fabricio Werdum are likely to easily destroy their opponents, I have to hand it to Strikeforce for coming up with a decent opponent for all three of them.

Whether you like Strikeforce or hate them; whether you love Fedor or hate him, this event represents a landmark event in Mixed Martial Arts history. This is the first time that a card this stacked with top fighters has been broadcast by one of the big four networks.

So what is CBS doing to promote this mammoth night of fights?

Well, not much so far. I remember catching something brief, and cryptic while watching the Denver Broncos vs the New England Patriots game. It was so short I thought I might have imagined it. E Spencer Kyte received a response to his article from CBS Executive VP Kelly Kahl assuring us that CBS had already aired promotional spots during several College and NFL Football games.

Okay so I know I didn’t just imagine it. There really was a promotional clip aired on CBS. Luckily I still had both NFL games saved on my DVR. So I poured through the three-plus hours of the game and sure enough, there it was:

“Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s greatest fighter comes to CBS, Saturday, November 7th.”

Only once per game, CBS aired that clip. It took five seconds maximum. It was a brief clip telling the world that somebody named Fedor Emelianenko “the greatest fighter in the world” would be on CBS on Saturday, November 7th. I had to replay it several times to get all the words down because the guy was talking too fast for me to catch it all.

Okay, so let’s look at this from the perspective of somebody who has never heard of Mixed Martial Arts. If I listened sharply enough, I know that “the greatest fighter in the world” will be on CBS on November 7th. The greatest fighter in the world? It must be a boxer or something like that. And the clip didn’t say anything about what this Fedor person will be doing. Is it a new talk-show? Perhaps a reality television show of some sort? Surely not a fight or they would have said who he was fighting, right? And surely they got the wrong picture. The man pictured in that five second clip certainly didn’t look at all intimidating.

The truth is, Fedor Emelianenko looks about as intimidating as a newborn kitten. I showed one of my coworkers his picture and the first thing that came to his mind was Fedor saying, “I like bunnies.” Then I showed him a few clips of Fedor fighting:

Fedor submitting Hong Man-Choi in the first round.

Fedor pummeling and submitting Tim Sylvia in the first round.

Fedor surviving the ugliest slam in MMA history at the hands of Kevin Randleman, seemingly unfazed. Fedor overpowering and submitting Randleman within the next two minutes.

Then he started to realize that this unassuming, un-intimidating man was actually an incredible fighter, and that there was a lot more than meets the eye to this Fedor Emelianenko fellow.

So here’s the challenge: How fast can you say:

“Fedor Emelianenko, the world’s greatest fighter comes to CBS, Saturday, November 7th.”?

With a bit of practice I can say it intelligibly in just under three seconds. How fast can you say it?

I understand that this is how it’s done: Quick blurbs to let the world know about an upcoming event. That sort of thing is pretty standard. But the clips from this past weekend were less than useless. They did nothing to inform anyone of anything.

If anyone sees more of these stealthy little promotional clips, please post them so we all know about them. If you see something a little more serious about the event, I think we’d all love to hear about it. I do hope that CBS starts taking this Strikeforce event a lot more seriously, and that they promote the hell out of it. This event will offer great exposure for several of the best Mixed Martial Arts fighters in the world. Now if we somebody can convince CBS to go all-out promoting this thing, then we'll really get some attention!

Part Two: Thiago Silva Needs a Good Nickname

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on September 02, 2009

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What is the best nickname for Thiago Silva?

• "The Brazilian Psycho" Thiago Silva
• Thiago "The Serial Killer" Silva
• "The Sao Paulo Assassin" Thiago Silva
• "The Executioner" Thiago Silva
• Thiago "The Head Hunter" Silva
• Thiago "Demônio" Silva (Note: Demônio = Devil or Demon in Portuguese)
• "The Brazilian Butcher" Thiago Silva
• Thiago "The Mean Mistreater" Silva
• Thiago "Killa" Silva

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This is Part Two of an ongoing effort to find Thiago Silva a good nickname.

Thiago Silva just finished dispatching Keith Jardine and has proven he is what I always believed him to be: one of the best Light Heavyweights in the world. It took him one minute and 35 seconds to take out "The Dean of Mean."

In typical Thiago Silva fashion, it took less than one round. All tallied, Thiago Silva averages 229 seconds (3.8 minutes) per match. He's seen round two only once in the UFC.

Thiago Silva has proven that he does one thing very well: He destroys his opponents. Be it punches, kicks, ground and pound or submissions, Thiago Silva finishes fights. Thiago Silva is shaping up to be one of the strong contenders at 205.

With a record that is marred only by the loss to the Champion, Lyoto Machida, so far it looks like it takes a virtually unbeatable warrior to stop Thiago Silva.

Here's the problem: Thiago Silva's first and last name are about as common in Brazil as names like John Smith or Jake Jones. Thiago Rockenbach da Silva, Thiago Martinelli da Silva, Tiago Silva dos Santos, and Thiago Emiliano da Silva are all notable soccer players from Brazil. Another soccer player by the name of Thiago Jotta da Silva died in 2008.

Even in the MMA world we have Thiago Alves, Paulo Thiago, Thiago Tavares and about a billion guys in MMA with the last name of Silva. Wanderlei, Anderson, Joe, Jean, Paulo César da Silva, etc.

The trouble with Thiago Silva's name is simple: There's way too many Silvas and quite a few Thiagos besides.

MMA fans need something to help them remember Thiago Silva specifically. More than any other fighter I can think of, he needs catchy nickname that can be used to reference him in the same fashion as Rampage Jackson. Something to help set him apart and describes him. Something that is easy to remember and fits his fighting spirit.

So far, the top choices are as follows:

"The Brazilian Psycho" Thiago Silva
"The Serial Killer" Thiago Silva
"The Sao Paulo Assassin" Thiago Silva
"The Executioner" Thiago Silva
Thiago "The Head Hunter" Silva
Thiago "Demônio" Silva (Note: Demônio = Devil or Demon in Portuguese)
"The Brazilian Butcher" Thiago Silva
Thiago "The Mean Mistreater" Silva
Thiago "Killa" Silva

Note: Since "Killa" is either a current or prior nickname for Thiago, it stays in the vote even though very few people voted for it.

Thiago Silva Needs a Good Nickname, Preferably One With Some Punch To It

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on August 31, 2009

Thiago Silva just finished dispatching Keith Jardine and has proven himself against a top rated opponent. It took him one minute and 35 seconds to do so. In typical Thiago Silva fashion, it took less than one round. All tallied, Thiago Silva averages 229 seconds (3.8 minutes) per match. He's seen round two only once in the UFC.

With a record that is marred only by the loss to the Champion, Lyoto Machida, Thiago Silva has proven that he does one thing very well: He destroys his opponents. Be it punches, kicks, ground and pound or submissions, Thiago Silva finishes fights. Sure he wasn't a match for Lyoto Machida.

MMA fans are going to learn soon enough, nobody in the division today is a match for The Dragon. Losing to Lyoto Machida should be no great embarrassment, as Rich Franklin, BJ Penn, Tito Ortiz, Sokoudjou, Vernon White and Stephan Bonnar can all attest to.

The trouble with Thiago Silva's name is simple: There's way too many Silvas and quite a few Thiagos besides. Thiago Silva needs catchy nickname that can be used to reference him in the same fashion as Rampage Jackson.

Something that is memorable and fits his fighting spirit. His first and last name are about as common in Brazil as names like John Smith, Peter Jackson, Robert Simpson, etc. He needs a nickname that helps people remember him specifically.

Things like "Assassin," "Ninja," and "Samurai" are already taken and over-used. I'm inclined to call him "The Wrecking Machine" for his tendency of overwhelming and devastating opponents. His signature victory mimic of cutting the throat might offer some leads, but what? "The Executioner" or "Head Hunter" or "Guillotine" perhaps?

Maybe something particular to where he hails from like "Sao Paulo Assassin." I've learned that he likes to be referred to as "Killa" which is quaint but certainly anything but memorable, and is already drastically overused by the rap music industry.

It would be nice to have something else to call him by. If I say Thiago, people are initially thinking Alves. If I say Silva, they're thinking Wanderlei or Anderson or one of a long list of others before they're thinking of Thiago Silva.

Make a good suggestion and I'll add it to the poll. If you see another commentor with a good suggestion, please second it to make it official. From the looks of it, I'll have to repost this article with the best suggestions included in the new poll.

“Every Heavyweight Sucks!” MMA's Big Guys and Their Fans

by

Kevin Sampson

Correspondent Written on August 15, 2009

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In every combat sport, it is always the Heavyweights that capture our greatest attention. Weight classes exist to allow smaller fighters to compete. These big guys don't need a weight class.

But in the world of MMA, the Heavyweight division is a convoluted mess, more often than not. A lot of the best big men in the world scatter to the four winds, and are divvied up by all the MMA promotions out there.

So where are the best Heavyweight MMA fighters in the world, and who are they? Virtually every discussion about ANY current promotions Heavyweight fighter and Heavyweight division out there draws the same reactions from your more Hardcore MMA fans.

“They have a shallow talent pool!”

“No good Heavyweight fighters in that promotion!”

“Their Heavyweight talent pool sucks!”

“They need to do something drastic to build up their Heavyweight Division!”

We could be talking about DREAM, Strikeforce, the UFC, K-1, the recently deceased Affliction or any other MMA promotion. No matter which fighters and which promotions we’re talking about, there is always some self-proclaimed MMA expert saying that their Heavyweight division sucks.

In the humble opinion of some MMA “experts,” the missing ingredient is for any promotion to say they’re the best is Fedor Emelianenko. But there’s just as many “experts” who say that Fedor is washed up, over-rated and that he hasn’t fought anyone good since he left PRIDE.

So even at the very top of the heap, we see the same thing. The same broken record:

“Every Heavyweight sucks!!”

I wholeheartedly disagree with that assessment, but that’s where the hardcore MMA fans seem to be at. That’s what they think of the big guys of MMA.

Personally, I think there are a lot of good Heavyweights out there. And yes, most assuredly, there is more than one good Heavyweight in MMA. So why is it so hard to give a few of them the credit they are due?

We can go to the MMA ranking systems. This one is Fight Matrix, but yes there are plenty of others.

http://www.fightmatrix.com/mma-ranks/heavyweight-265-lbs/

1 Fedor Emelianenko (Strikeforce)

2 Brock Lesnar (UFC)

3 Frank Mir (UFC)

4 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC)

5 Josh Barnett (TEAM STEROIDS)

6 Randy Couture (UFC)

7 Gegard Mousasi (Strikeforce - but currently fighting at Light Heavyweight)

8 Junior dos Santos (UFC)

9 Brett Rogers (Strikeforce)

10 Shane Carwin (UFC)

11 Andrei Arlovski (Strikeforce)

12 Fabricio Werdum (Strikeforce)

13 Cain Velasquez (UFC)

14 Mirko Filipovic (UFC)

15 Jeff Monson (DREAM/independent)

16 Alistair Overeem (Strikeforce)

17 Ray Mercer (Adrenaline)

18 Heath Herring (UFC)

19 Gabriel Gonzaga (UFC)

20 Cheick Kongo (UFC)

Now throwing out Mousasi, who will be fighting for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight belt this Saturday, the best represented promotion in the top 20 is obviously the UFC with 11 of the top 20 fighters.

This shouldn’t be too surprising, since most other promotions are just too new to have had a chance to build up a strong catalogue of Heavyweight fighters.

After the UFC, we have Strikeforce with 5 of the top 20 fighters, as well as having the No. 1 Heavyweight, and all the bragging rights that go with it.

Here’s the sad part. Just about every single one of the 20 people on that list has no shortage of people saying that they suck.

Some are called “Unproven.”

Others are called “Over-Rated.”

And others are “Washed up” and “Need to Retire.”

But if everyone on that list sucks, then will somebody please point me in the direction of MMA Heavyweights that don’t suck? Perhaps they’re hiding somewhere? We don’t see the same phenomenon in other divisions.

In the end, I’d love to know this much: Why do the big guys get no respect?