U Weekly. Serving The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio

This week in MMA

This natural does it again

By David McKinney

I'm sure that many of you were busy celebrating the Buckeyes' win over Iowa this past Saturday night, but I - the MMA nerd - was glued to my TV to watch the tape-delayed broadcast of UFC 105. And what I witnessed was one of the best cards of the year.

Forty-six-year-old UFC Hall of Famer Randy "The Natural" Couture bullied Brandon Vera in his return to the light heavyweight division, and he won a unanimous decision in doing so. Many people were upset with the decision, but Randy controlled the fight throughout, despite almost being knocked out by two devastating body kicks from Vera. Vera is clearly an immensely talented fighter, but Couture is one of the best ever, and he found a way to win. The win puts Couture - who surpassed 45-year-old Mark Coleman as the oldest man to win a UFC fight - in line for a title shot sometime next year, although he may have to win one more fight to get there.

Dan Hardy won the co-main event in a welterweight slugfest over the favored Mike Swick, earning him a title shot against 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre. Rumors are already circulating that the next season of "The Ultimate Fighter" could be centered on their title fight - with the two fighting for the title after the end of the season - which makes sense, seeing as the UFC wants to make the next season a "worldwide edition." St. Pierre (Canada) and Hardy (England) would certainly add some international flair to the show.

Former middleweight title contender Michael Bisping started his climb back to the top with a dominant win over experienced fighter Denis Kang, perhaps turning in the best performance of his career in the process. Bisping held his own on the ground against Kang, who holds a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Bisping also used his crisp striking to pick Kang apart on his feet, and he scored two takedowns in the second round that really allowed him to do some damage against Kang. Bisping's next step is anybody's guess, but it would make sense for the Brit to be featured on the UFC's Australian card in February.

-------

Brazilian MMA Web site Tatame.com is reporting that Zuffa, the company that owns the UFC and sister company World Extreme Cagefighting, has decided to merge its two brands into one early next year. Currently the WEC is shown on Versus and focuses on lighter weight classes. Zuffa had already dissolved the heavier WEC weight classes into the UFC at the end of 2008, leaving the WEC with just three divisions: bantamweight (135 pounds), featherweight (145) and lightweight (155). The UFC, on the other hand, currently has five weight classes: lightweight (155 pounds), welterweight (170 pounds), middleweight (185), light heavyweight (205) and heavyweight (265).

Although Zuffa has not yet made an official announcement, there have been multiple rumors about WEC fighters being called to Las Vegas for meetings.

While I enjoy watching WEC fights free on Versus, I think that this move is best for Zuffa. They are likely to keep the deal with Versus (which currently has a long-term deal with the WEC), where they could possibly show live cards and maybe even a different reality series. They'll also likely keep their Spike TV deal along with holding regular PPV cards.

This deal was necessary for a few reasons. First, the UFC needs more headliners (i.e. champions) and fighters in general in order to hold the volume of cards that they want to. And second, the lighter weight fighters in the WEC need bigger paydays. Even championship level fighters currently make around $30,000, including their win bonus, which is about the average amount for mid-level UFC fighters.

-------

Canada's TSN is reporting that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre may attempt to make the 2012 Canadian Olympic wrestling team. Although he has no amateur wrestling background, St. Pierre is widely regarded as the best wrestler in MMA. He has trained with the Canadian team on multiple occasions, with some outlets reporting that he did more than hold his own. If this happens, it will be huge for MMA and it may be the foot-in-the-door that the sport needs to become an Olympic sport in the future.

-------

What to watch for: UFC 106. I almost told you to watch out for the Strikeforce Challengers card Friday on Showtime, but it's really a subpar card with only one future star (watch out for welterweight Tyron Woodley, who faces unknown Rudy Bears in the main event).

But back to UFC 106. Despite losing the original main event that pitted Shane Carwin against Brock Lesnar for the heavyweight title (that fight is still on hiatus indefinitely due to Lesnar being "seriously ill") and losing former Ohio State wrestler Mark Coleman to injury, this card is still worthy of the 45 bucks that it'll cost you to see it. Tito Ortiz takes on Forrest Griffin in the main event, a rematch of the razor thin split decision that Ortiz took when they first fought in 2006. A very interesting welterweight fight between Josh Koscheck and top prospect Anthony Johnson serves as the co-main event, and the card also features the debut of Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (the twin brother of former UFC heavyweight champion Rodrigo Nogueira) and the return of Cincinnati submission ace Dustin Hazelett from injury. The prelims are free on Spike for the third PPV card in a row, so I think it's safe to say that we can expect much of the same in the future.

Originally Published: November 18, 2009

↑ Back to the top