5. Houston takes a dive to Kimbo

THEORY: UFC wants people to still come watch Kimbo so they have Houston throw the match to Kimbo at TUF 10 finale.

WHY IT’S STUPID: While Houston definitely did not look like the fighter we are used to, his actions weren’t without reason. Kimbo has the resume of being a big striker and can knock you out if you make a mistake. It’s 100% possible Houston was scared of this and wanted to play it conservative.

4. Hendo is sent to SF as a plant by UFC

THEORY: UFC has the money and will to sign Hendo if they wanted to. The point is they don’t want to because they want to plant Hendo in SF as a double agent. The theory believes that if Hendo can dismantle SF on the inside, the UFC will be back in a monopoly position at which point Hendo will make a convienient return.

WHY IT’S STUPID: While I like Hendo and think the UFC made a mistake, I do have to side with Dana on a couple facts. If Hendo was asking for as much as he reportedly was, then it’s not unreasonable at all for them to let Hendo go given Hendo’s status. Also it makes no sense for the UFC to play this shell game and risk driving more publicity to SF.

3. The Cro Cop anomaly

THEORY: Cro Cop’s sudden return and departure from the UFC left fans with a lot of questions wondering why he took the win and ran. The theory is that there was a multiple conspiracy collaboration between the UFC, Dream, and SF to let Cro Cop come in for one match so that the UFC could boost ticket sales in Germany.

WHY IT’S STUPID: Cro Cop did not fight with Dream or SF after his win against Al-turk. He also went to go and fight at UFC 103 which shows it wasn’t just a one fight deal. It is possible that UFC needed some help with sales and that Cro Cop could pull in better numbers in Germany than Duffee, but it’s not even close to the extensive inside job people made it out to be.

2. Griffin takes a dive to A. Silva

THEORY: Silva’s two lackluster matches against Leites and Cote had damaged the stars image. UFC needed to get Silva back on the map. Griffin gets fight of night pay off to lose to Silva who needs a comeback.

WHY IT’S STUPID: Anderson has always been better against fighters who push the action. Forrest is one of the most aggressive fighters in the UFC which plays 100% to Silva’s strength. Silva is simply just that good. After all was said and done it was a good match and was deserving of fight of the night. Also Forrest would never take a pay off…..ever.

1. Dana White collapses Affliction

THEORY: Dana White convinces Affliction to tamper with Barnett’s drug test to show he was positive for steroids. This gave Affliction an excuse to collapse the organization so that UFC would be able to sign all their fighters. In return Affliction would get to come back to the UFC as a sponsor.

WHY IT’S STUPID: This is the worst one of them all. There is no way that such an elaborate scheme would be pulled off. Affliction simply just didn’t know how to manage a fight club plain and simple. They put too much money in their fighters and didn’t have any back up plan for when things went down the tubes. It was no surprise that they collapsed.

The big news coming out of the MMA world recently is of course Dan Henderson’s official announcement that he has signed a four fight deal with Strikeforce, UFC’s biggest competitor on the MMA scene. When asked the reasons why Hendo decided to go over to Strikeforce he said this:

“The decision was based on a number of things. It wasn’t just a financial thing. It was the fact that I felt I wasn’t getting the fight that I wanted in the UFC. That was a big part of that — that I wasn’t and that it got yanked away from me. I think I stepped up for the UFC a number of times and had earned that right again for a title fight.”

Now that is 100% true. Many MMA fans were questioning why Vitor Belfort was able to get the title shot against Anderson Silva when he had only come back for one match inside the octagon against Rich Franklin. Now granted Vitor smashed Rich like Anderson smashed Leben back when Anderson was making his debut as well, to which Silva got the title shot. This is however different, the MW division this time around is much more stacked. You not only have Hendo in line but you also have Nate Marquardt. Given the fact that the winner of Hendo/Bisping was rumored to get the title shot against Silva many expected Hendo to have first crack. Worst case there was to be a match between Hendo and Marquardt for the title shot. Since Hendo was passed over for Vitor, it made sense why Hendo would want to move on. Dan then had this to say on the clothing line ban:

“I wasn’t mad at all. It was more funny to me than anything that they would do that. Dana has stated to me that it was nothing personal and that there were no hard feelings at all. If there were no hard feelings, why would they ban a clothing line?…Things like that aren’t necessary and for them to do that in the middle of negotiations doesn’t make me feel respected. It’s more of a strong-arm tactic and a lot of people turn the other way when that happens.”

This is also another strong point from Dan. The reference to the “strong-arm tactics” is also very interesting for one important reason. I talked about this back in one of my earlier articles UFC Starts to feel it as “Strike-farce” gains steam, that the UFC has not had any real competition for quite some time. The funny thing is as a result the UFC seems to have forgotten how to HANDLE a situation in which competition exists. Strong-arm tactics don’t work when the person you are trying to strong arm HAS alternatives. Couple that with just blatantly passing him over and the alternative becomes very appealing. The icing on the cake is that Dana says flat out he didn’t want Hendo. Fine Dana YOU may not want Hendo, but MMA fans DO. Did the UFC just decide to get rid of rule #1 in business? Remember, if you don’t take care of the customer, someone else will, and that someone else appears to be SF.

So what does this all mean? Here is the way I see it. Hendo going over to Strikeforce I believe was the right decision, but not just for him but for the sport as a whole. By Hendo doing what he did he sends a clear message to the UFC, that competition has come and will be playing a factor in the future of MMA. If the UFC wants to survive then they need to dust off the old play-book that they used during the Pride Era and get out of this monopoly mode that they seem to be stuck in and don’t want to let go of.

TUF 1. Couture and Liddell in their prime kick off the first season of a new fight based reality TV show. Fighters went home when they lost. And there was some hot blond host that we never saw again for some odd reason. Dana asks us if we want to be f***ing fighters and we all say YES! Bonnar and Griffin put on the match of the century in the finale.

TUF 2. Franklin and Hughes step up as coaches. We get our first introduction to future BFF’s Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine. Stevenson and Evans win, beat out fighters we never hear about again.

TUF 3. Shamrock wants Ortiz again so takes coaching opportunity to get it. Ortiz wipes floor with team Shamrock and exposes how awful of a coach Shamrock is. Micheal Bisping shows that guys from England can fight and win, while Matt Hamill inspires fighters everywhere.

TUF 4. No coaches, just guest trainers. Old UFC competitors come for a second shot at fame. Teams make best names ever Mojo v.s No Love. Mojo dominates the season. Edwin DeWees shows that his hair looks good in red when Gideon Ray opens a cut on Edwins head leading to buckets of blood.

TUF 5. Lightweight time, Penn and Pulver are coaches. We get to see a 6′ 4″ lightweight in Corey Hill. One fighter gets expelled for passing out trying to make weight. 3 more would join him after fighting on concrete. Dana White is determined to show UFC is not mindless brawling.

TUF 6. Rivals Serra and Hughes become coaches for the 6th season. Serra’s team dominates but Hughes fighters rally at the end to make the finale both Hughes fighters. Coaches challenge shows that Serra and Hughes can’t bowl worth crap.

TUF 7. Forrest Griffin and Rampage Jackson are coaches. For the first time, fighters have to win to get on the show in preliminary rounds. Team Rampage gets dominated by Team Forrest. We gain 100 different reasons to hate Jeremy May. The house is destroyed five times over. Rampage can’t play basketball. Jesse Taylor goes on a bender becomes first fighter to get kicked off after show is over.

TUF 8. Mir against Nogueira for interim heavyweight belt. Big Nog makes us thankful for subtitles. Phillipe Nover passes out. Junie Browning makes us all realize that we are not as crazy as we think. Mir loses a bet and shaves his head. Pranks are non-stop and disgusting.

TUF 9. UFC’s version of the Ryder cup. Bisping v.s Hendo. Home field advantage doesn’t help Team USA as the Brits take 3 of 4 finale spots. Bisping shows us a cockier side that just made it more satisfying when Hendo knocked him out.

TUF 10. Time for the heavyweights. Rampage shows his bad coaching is no fluke going 1-7 against Rashad’s fighters. Endless arguments between Page and Rashad makes every episode fun. Kimbo Slice takes his shot at making it into the UFC, stopped by Roy Nelson crucifix. However, Kimbo’s match pulls in a record 5.3 million viewers.

And that is 10 seasons in exactly 500 words.

As we near the end of the year, it is only fitting to asses UFC’s performance for ’09. All in all I do think it was a good year. There were some great cards, we got a killer UFC 100, and we have seen MMA in general gain a lot of steam in the mainstream. Of course there were some disappointments as well. We had Rampage walking out (but now he’s coming back YAY!), the Shogun/Machida decision, and injuries that seemed to hit fighters like a plague in the last 3 months of the year. That being said, let’s take a look at the 5 things that the UFC needs to work on to make sure that 2010 is even better than 2009.

5. They need to get their sh** together - I understand that injuries are unpredictable and that it is uncertain when fighters will be able to recover and be ready to fight. However if this is the case, then the UFC needs to pick better times when to try and announce fights. There were several times where matches were put on, then off, and then back on again. Take a look at Vitor and Silva. First it was confirmed, then it was called off, then it was moved, and then ultimately canceled. Fans don’t like to be yanked around, so next time asses the situation better and make cleaner decisions. This will help cut down confusion.

4. Get Fedor - I don’t know how, just do it. Fedor’s stock is going nowhere but up and as long as he stays in Strikeforce he is just going to be pulling in more and more numbers for them. More than that it would be a great way to ring in the new decade with what most sources are agreeing would be one of the best matches in MMA history, and that is putting Fedor v.s Brock. We all know that Fedor has the skill, it is now time to see if Brock is the man we make him out to be. The match would be huge and it would finally settle the debate that has been going on for years.

3. Keep promises and be consistent - If you say that a fighter is going to get the title shot. Then you give him the title shot. Plain and simple. If you are unaware of what specifically I am referring to, it would be the whole Rampage drama. They said he was going to get the title shot against Rashad, but when Rampage got injured they gave it to Machida. First of all when Mir got injured, the UFC moved the match with Brock, so this should have been done for Page as well. Then when Machida won they wouldn’t let Rampage have Machida even though they promised him the title shot. They made him go through TUF 10 first. That’s not fair and it almost drove Rampage away for good. Unless UFC wants more disgruntled fighters in their ranks they better be honest and be consistent.

2. Remove merchandise barriers - this is a big one for me. I really do not like how UFC bans merchandise lines that they don’t like because they are the sponsors of rival fighters. RVCA and Clinch Gear (Fedor’s and Hendo’s lines) were banned from the UFC stemming from the blown negotiations. I get that it’s business, but this not only hurts fighters by narrowing the field of sponsors but it also restricts uniqueness from the merchandise world. RVCA and Clinch Gear were bringing new and fresh stuff, which is needed in the UFC and MMA. To ban it only stems such growth and progress.

1. Fix the judging - Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!……..Fix it! Fix it!

It sucks when a good plan backfires on you. Especially when the backfire leaves you with less then what you started with or is worse than what you thought the worst case scenario was. Like anything else the UFC is not perfect. They have had a fair share of ideas that have bitten them in the a** before, like when Dana pumped up Chuck for the Pride Grand Prix only to get smased by Rampage Jackson. That’s right Dana we haven’t forgotten. However, nothing compares to how badly TUF 10 has bitten them this year. For the UFC, TUF 10 was freaking Murphy’s law. If it could have gone wrong it did go wrong. With the season finale coming up tonight, it seems fitting to take a look back at this season and give a play by play on how TUF 10 went from one of the most anticipated seasons of all time to complete and utter sh**.

Let down #1. It all started with Rampage’s victory over Keith Jardine which put Page in line to fight Rashad for the title. However, Rampage needed some jaw surgery so light bulb for Dana White. Use the delay to set up a TUF season with Rampage and Rashad. Seemed like a good idea, except Dana apparently forgot that Rashad was scheduled to fight Lyoto before the TUF would begin. Dana assumed that Rashad was going to beat Machida no problem keeping him as champion going into TUF. Lyoto had other plans though smashing Rashad and taking the belt away. So now Rampage is screwed over because he was under the assumption he would be fighting Rashad for the title and now that Machida has it he can’t fight Machida because the TUF 10 was already set. It’s like when someone gambles, loses, and then sticks you with the bill. So now fans are disappointed as well because they wanted it to be a championship match between TUF coaches.

Let down #2. Then literally a week or two before the new season starts, Rampage gets on up and quits. Just like that. No warning no nothing. All we know is that he is pursuing  an acting career and wants to be able to make money without getting injured. I’m sure that is PART of the reason, but when you read his blog as to why he left the message was pretty clear. He was disgruntled with the way that the UFC handled the LHW championship. Rampage was supposed to get his shot no questions asked, but the UFC decided to make him jump through fifty hoops to get to it because they wanted more money and drama. All of this contributed to Rampage leaving the UFC. So now viewers are pissed off because the match they wanted to see is not even happening now. They now have to sit through an entire TUF season with no climactic match at the end.

Let down #3. Ok so the match isn’t a championship bout and Rampage has quit the UFC. No big deal the TUF still has Kimbo right? Well yes it did work for a LITTLE bit. The first three episodes had some of the highest ratings TUF has ever had with the Kimbo/Nelson match pulling in 5.3 million viewers with 6.1 million during the match specifically. However, as the rumors had been speculating, Kimbo loses his match and is out of the tournament. Even though the UFC tried to spin it like Kimbo was coming back, it didn’t work. People weren’t buying it and the ratings began to slip. Sure they would still pull in 2 million viewers per episode, but not nearly what the UFC was hoping with all the hype that was built up.

Let down #4. I hate Australia. Like no seriously Australia I hate you. More than that, I hate the UFC. I want to know who in logistics thought it was a good idea to allow the finale to air during thanksgiving week in Australia and not allow it to air in the states. That guy needs to be found and fired, because now everyone in Australia knows the outcome, and someone from down under felt it necessary to update the Wikipedia page with the final results. Now I know what happens in the finale when I didn’t WANT to know. Oh, and guess what? So do millions of people who now know the end when they didn’t want to. Now the ratings for the finale will be way worse then what they should be. Way to go UFC.

So well done UFC for hyping up TUF only to let us down slowly and painfully over 12 uneventful weeks. I thank you. Actually no, I don’t thank you. I hate you. But don’t worry I’ll still watch the finale tonight. I have no life after all.

TUF 10 Gear Still Available

The UFC recently has been wrought with controversy and disappointment. Controversial decisions are leading to fans questioning whether UFC is going the way of boxing, injuries have been happening left and right causing us to wait for matches we were looking forward to, Rampage quit, TUF season 10 is losing gas, Hendo’s drama with management, and if I gave it some more thought I could add four or five more to this list. In all the hoopla it’s good to have a story now and then that brings us back. A fighter that refreshes us about what UFC is all about and makes us feel good to be fans, without all the overwhelming drama. So I say right here and now, thank God for you Patrick Barry. We need more of you in the UFC and here is why.

If you haven’t had a chance to read Pat’s story yet I suggest you get the full scoop. The watered down version is that when Pat had arrived for his fight at UFC 104, he was living off of ketchup and rice. He had no money in the bank. Nothing to his name. He was about to get evicted from his apartment. Then in one night Pat turned everything around. Not only did he win his match, but he won fight of the night honors and knockout of the night honors earning him a $120,000 bonus. What happens after that you can’t even write. He goes to cash his check. His car won’t start. He is flagging down people in pink shorts with a black eye trying to get a jump. Manages to get to the bank only to be met with some skepticism that this man with a black eye is really worth $120,000. Luckily he got the money in without incident.

When I read that story, I felt so good inside. I felt so happy for Pat, I can’t think of any fighter who deserves it more than him. Not only that I felt good about myself, for it inspired me to keep pursuing my dreams in life. Too many times our dreams are met with skepticism from those who can’t or don’t want to understand. I can only imagine what it must have been like for Pat. Literally to lay everything on the line for your dream. He had nothing left. Nothing. When was the last time you had nothing left? If you are having a hard time thinking of a time, good for you. Lord knows the amount of people who must have told him to abandon fighting. To stop taking a risk and get some other safe job. Well Pat decided that was not the path he was going to take. He wanted to fight. He was going to fight. No one was going to stop him. There was no time to think about defeat. Only time to think about what he worked so hard for, and it paid off.

The UFC needs more Pat Barry’s. More than that, I WANT to see more Pat Barry’s. Fighters who are hungry. Men who overcome every hurdle in front of them to pursue what they want to do. Men who know that as long as they stay focused and give it all they got, that they will be rewarded. Somehow, somewhere, they will be rewarded. For Pat that day was UFC 104, and I can’t think of any better person it could have happened to. I look forward to seeing Pat fight in the future and any other fighter coming in with a dream, a drive, and nothing else.

There is a lot of good debate in the MMA world. It can range from discussions on who the best pound for pound fighter is to what is the best style to dominate any given weight class. However, if there is one universal agreement that can be determined it would be these two things. One, Steve Mazzagatti is the worst referee in MMA and two everyone hates him. Dana White just recently went on record saying that Mazzagatti shouldn’t be allowed to watch MMA let alone ref it. With such strong words, I decided to take a look back at Steve’s record and pull out the matches that contain his top 5 worst calls ever. LET’S GET IT ON!

5. Varner v.s McCullough - Seriously Steve? A time out? This isn’t basketball, football, or any other kind of ball. Fighters don’t get to call timeout during a match especially when they are on the a** end of an a**beating. Thanks to Mazzagatti, Varner was able to stall a beating he was taking from McCullough in order to get his mouth piece back in. He not only stopped the momentum but gained a precious 30 seconds to recover which lead to him to come back and knock McCullough out.

4. Doerksen v.s Macdonald - It’s bad enough that Mazzagatti has a track record of stopping fights too early, but it’s even worse that he can’t keep THAT consistent. In a sick twist of irony Mazzagatti admitted to making a mistake when he allowed Macdonald to continue hitting Doerksen with additional hammer fists even after the match was thought to have already ended. At least when other refs mess up they err on the side of caution.

3. Burns v.s Johnson - I understand that Mazzagatti is a ref and not a police investigator but you don’t have to be Sherlock Holmes to know that Kevin Burns most likely did not take out Anthony Johnson with a legitimate strike. This is even after Mazzagatti had warned Burns not once, not twice, but FOUR times that his open hand strikes were a danger to Johnson’s eyes. Once Johnson had gone down the way he did clutching his eye, common sense would lead us to think that Burns poked him in it. But noooooo Mazzagatti instead decides to award Burns the TKO. Remind me to never let Steve on a criminal jury.

2. Velasquez v.s Rothwell - The funny thing about this stoppage was, there were 5 other times Mazzagatti could have stopped the match where it would have looked less suspect then the point where he DID stop the match at. It was like Mazzagatti was saying during the match “nah stopping it here would be too obvious I’ll wait for when it looks a lot closer”. To no one’s surprise Mazzagatti ended the match by pulling Cain off Rothwell as he was on his way to standing up. Who the heck stops a match when the fighter in trouble is on his way to a recovery? Granted Rothwell was getting his a** handed to him no doubt, but Mazzagatti’s stoppage was poor and very fitting for number 2 on this list.

1. Mir v.s Lesnar I - There have been many horrible mistakes made by all refs throughout the history of the UFC but this one has got to take the cake. I thought that Mazzagatti giving Lesnar a point deduction for back of the head strikes was bad but who knew it was about to get even worse. It has been argued that Lesnar would have won the match if Mazzagatti had not paused it but what is also pretty nutty was that Brock didn’t really get a warning. Then the piece de resistance. Mir gets Lesnar in an ankle lock and you could have literally done your taxes during the point where Lesnar started tapping and the point where Mazzagatti decided to stop the fight.