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Going back in time: How the UFC has changed in 6 years

April 23, 2011 / Drew Ellis

The UFC, and MMA in general, has evolved a great deal in a short amount of time.

If you need any proof of that, just take a short trip back to 2005.

Six years ago today, the UFC was one week removed from UFC 52: Couture vs. Liddell II. It was a milestone event for the organization as it was the first PPV event following the debut season of the Ultimate Fighter.

The card featured some of the best fighters in the UFC at the time, but when looking back, it represents just how much the sport has changed since then.

Here is a look at all the champions as of six years ago today, and how their stock has dropped since then.

Heavyweight Champion: Andrei Arlovski – Arlovski had won the interim heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia at UFC 51 and was eventually stripped of the interim label when then-champion Frank Mir couldn’t compete after a motorcycle accident. Arlovski had a dominant run, winning three-straight title fights in the first round. But, “The Pitbull” then suffered back-to-back losses to Sylvia and was never quite the same. At one time he was the most feared fighter in the UFC, but he now is currently on a four-fight losing streak, with three coming by first round knock out. Arlovski’s hands have gotten slower, his chin has gotten weaker, and he never evolved his grappling. That combo caused him to become nearly irrelevant in the MMA. In today’s world, Arlovski would get decimated by current champ, Cain Velasquez.

Light Heavyweight Champion: Chuck Liddell – Liddell was on top of the world at this time six years ago. He just knocked out Randy Couture in 2:06 to win his first UFC Championship. Liddell followed that up with four successful title defenses, all by KO. He was considered an unbeatable champion for two years, but then ran into the powerful hand of Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, who took the title from Liddell in May of 2007. That loss started the complete downfall of Liddell’s career. He would go on to lose five of his next six, four by KO, which forced his retirement. Liddell’s hands were great, but his style never evolved, and became too predictable. With that, his chin got weaker and he was an easy target for other light heavyweights. It is hard to imagine a scenario where Liddell would be able to contend with today’s champ, Jon Jones.

Events, Fighters, UFC

Anderson Silva Andrei Arlovski Cain Velasquez Chuck Liddell Evan Tanner Frankie Edgar Georges St. Pierre Jon Jones Matt Hughes UFC 129 UFC 52

“Mayhem” Miller signs with UFC

April 22, 2011 / Drew Ellis

Let the jail break begin.

The first Strikeforce fighter to defect to the UFC since Zuffa purchased the rival company is middleweight Jason “Mayhem” Miller.

The news broke earlier today from Ariel Helwani at MMAFighting.com.

The 30-year-old Miller (24-7, 1 NC) was able to sign with the UFC due to the fact that his contract with Strikeforce had expired. No word just yet on when his first fight back inside the Octagon will take place.
“Mayhem” had not competed for Strikeforce since last April when he defeated Tim Stout on the undercard of Strikeforce: Nashville. He went on to defeat one of his MMA idols, Kazushi Sakuraba, at DREAM.16 in September, which stands as his last fight to date.
“I will beat the brakes off most of the guys in the middleweight divisions in the UFC,” he said. “I guaran-damn-tee it.”

Miller fought once previously in the UFC, at UFC 52 against Georges St. Pierre. GSP dominated Miller for three rounds to earn the decision.

This move is pretty intriguing as Miller was one of Strikeforce’s biggest names. While they can say his contract had run out, it seems like some string may have been pulled to make that happen.

Now the question is, when will more strings be pulled and whose strings will they be?

Fighters, News, Strikeforce, UFC

Georges St. Pierre Jason “Mayhem” Miller Strikeforce UFC

UFC 129 Betting Odds – Both Champions Favored

April 22, 2011 / Drew Ellis

UFC 129 is just eight days away and it is set to be one of the biggest events in the history of the organization.

Outside of the record attendance with over 50,000 expected, the fight card is stacked with two championship bouts and a fight featuring a Hall of Famer.

The fine folks at Bodog.com have released their odds for selected UFC 129 bouts and here is a look at who they like.

In the main event, UFC Welterweight Champion, Georges St. Pierre, is a heavy favorite at -500 when he defends his title against Jake Shields (+300). Now GSP will tell you that he should probably be the underdog in the fight, but clearly oddsmakers see through the pandering.

In the co-main event, UFC Featherweight Champion, Jose Aldo, is also a clear favorite at

-500 in his defense against Mark Hominick (+300). Hominick has one-punch KO power, which makes him an interesting challenger. But, Aldo has been so dominant. It is hard to see him coming up short in this fight.

Another featured bout has UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture as a +250 underdog in his contest with Lyoto Machida (-325). Couture has stated that this will be his last fight unless something unexpected happens, and certainly he will want to go out on a high note. Machida, who has lost two straight, desperately needs this win to get back into title contention.

The last bout that has odds released is a lightweight contest between Canadian Mark Bocek (+115) and former WEC Lightweight Champion, Ben Henderson (-145). Bocek will have the crowd support in his favor and he also has UFC experience, while Henderson is making his first appearance in the premiere MMA organization. The WEC lightweights have performed pretty well in the UFC thus far, but Henderson’s wrestling ability could be neutralized by Bocek’s submission skills.

Events, Fighters, UFC

Ben Henderson Georges St. Pierre Jake Shields Jose Aldo Lyoto Machida Mark Bocek Mark Hominick Randy Couture UFC 129

Brock Lesnar top paid MMA star

April 21, 2011 / Drew Ellis

In the world of not surprising news, ESPN released the list of top paid athletes in 30 different sports and Brock Lesnar was the top-paid MMA star of the last year.

Lesnar brought in $5.3 million according to the report, which factors in all the money he made through the UFC as part of base salary and earnings. That total doesn’t include endorsements, appearance fees, or sponsorship money.

Needless to say, Brock Lesnar is doing pretty well.

Some may argue that Lesnar shouldn’t be the highest-paid athlete in MMA, but the numbers back up the fact that he should. Lesnar’s PPV events do over $1 million buys, which put more money in the UFC’s pocket, thus putting more money in his pocket.

Love him or hate him, he is a draw, and the UFC is paying based on who will make them the most money, not just who is the best fighter.

Jon Fitch is a great fighter, but people aren’t lining up to see him fight on the main event of a card.

Lesnar made a base salary of $400,000 for his win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116, which means that he has some hefty bonuses and gate percentages in his contract.

On a side note, Lesnar ranked 12^th on this list of highest paid athletes in each sport, just edging women’s tennis star Kim Clijsters. Essentially that means that MMA ranks about 12^th on the pay scale of all sports.

While it is unknown just how much money most fighters make these days, it is clear that you can make a healthy living in MMA if you climb your way to the top and you are a polarizing figure.

Fighters, News, UFC

Brock Lesnar ESPN Jon Fitch Shane Carwin UFC

Top 10 Middleweight Rankings

April 20, 2011 / Drew Ellis

This week I turn my rankings to the middleweight division.

Really, the field is Anderson Silva and everyone else.

Still, here is my take. If you need to go back and find my pound-for-pound, heavyweight, or light heavyweight rankings, click on the links.

1. Anderson Silva (28-4) – Silva is my top fighter in any weight class, let alone middleweight. “The Spider” is like an artist in the cage. He rarely throws a strike that doesn’t land and he doesn’t waste energy while fighting. Everything he does has a purpose and thought to it. Chael Sonnen may have found a small hole in his game with his takedown defense, but he still managed to submit Sonnen and then bounce back with a devastating front kick to Vitor Belfort in the first round of his last title defense. Up next is Yushin Okami, had poses the right skill set to give Silva problems.

2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1) – Sonnen is almost here by default. The other top guys in the group have either lost to him, or lost to someone that he has beaten. Sonnen is a grinder and a tremendous wrestler, but he has a clear weakness in his submission defense. Eight of his 11 losses have come by submission. Sonnen is also coming off a long layoff from a steroid suspension and legal issues. We will see if he can get back to being the fighter that nearly dethroned Silva.

Fighters, Strikeforce, UFC

Alan Belcher Anderson Silva Chael Sonnen Demian Maia Michael Bisping Middleweight Division Nate Marquardt Ronaldo Souza Strikeforce UFC Vitor Belfort Wanderlei Silva Yushin Okami