Vince Russo

UFC Fight Night 86 had some bright spots but they were few and far between. There some brutal finishes and a couple of decent fights, and Mairbek Taisumov and Derrick Lewis should be getting some much bigger opponents next time out, but this was one you could skip and not miss much. If Francis Ngannou improves his takedown defence, he could be very dangerous in the heavyweight division, because he has very big punching power. As does Jared Cannonier, but he might be moving down to light heavyweight, which is almost a shame because the heavyweight division desperately needs as many viable new names as it can get. Which is why JDS winning, whilst nice to see in a way because he does seem to be a genuinely good guy, was disappointing because Ben Rothwell being a potential title contender made the heavyweight division seem even more fresh. UFC on FOX this weekend is a pretty loaded card, even with the loss of the original main event. Teixeira vs. Evans is one of those fights that seems like it’ll either be long and boring or short and sweet. Machida vs. Henderson will hopefully be short and sweet because their first fight was terrible and I’d hate to see a repeat here. Machida would seem likely to win but Henderson still has the right hand and Machida can be knocked out. If Henderson wins, it would be the perfect time to retire, because it would be an upset given that Machida has more left in the tank and the longer he keeps going, the more likely it is that Henderson’s career ends on a downer, so going out on a high, with a big won on FOX, would be a nice way to end things. Nurmagomedov likely make short work of Horcher, but stranger things have happened. Will be hoping to see Namajunas beat Torres, hopefully finishing her, because Namajunas is exciting to watch and has a personality, qualities that Torres has been lacking for quite some time.

You haven’t understood my statement correctly. I never said Chael brought Anderson out of his shell. I said that Chael was the rival that put Anderson over the hump and turned him into the draw that was commensurate to his ability. What I said about bringing DJ out of his shell was not meant to say that that’s what Chael did to Anderson, but to say that hopefully that’s what would happen if DJ got that Chael-like rival, someone who went after him strong enough verbally that it forced him to start showing some real passion, some real emotion that people could get behind.

What DJ needs is what finally got Anderson Silva over the hump and into being a draw commensurate to his ability. He needs a proper rival, someone who is going to go after him strong enough verbally to bring DJ out of his shell, get him really fired up so that we see some kind of passion, some real emotion out of the guy, so that there is finally something for people to connect to.

It only really helps if the guy in question has such incredible charisma that people want to see him fight no matter the opponent, because Demetrious Johnson has the biggest talent-to-lack of interest ratio in history. For whatever reason, Johnson doesn’t connect with anyone outside the hardcore fans, and the flyweight division, for all the talent it has, just isn’t over beyond the hardcore fanbase. That’s why it’s imperative that Henry Cejudo beats Johnson because that division is in dire need of a champion that connects with the wider fanbase, someone who can generate interest, and while Henry Cejudo might not be that person, Demetrious Johnson definitely isn’t that person, and the flyweight division is dying on the vine without someone on top who can connect with people. Miesha Tate against Amanda Nunes at UFC 200 feels like a fight made because the UFC is showing its notorious sensitivity to the hardcore fans complaining about rematches, especially in the wake of Diaz vs. McGregor II being made so soon after the first fight. Tate against Holm or Rousey are the two biggest fights they could make for that division, Tate against Rousey likely being the bigger, and with Holm, according to most, winning the fight before she got caught, and Rousey so dominant a champion before getting caught, they’re fights you can actually justify from a sporting standpoint as well. Whilst Nunes has won three straight, none of them are over opponents that either have a big name or could be considered potential title contenders themselves. It’s a risk that the UFC didn’t need to make but they seem to be making a habit of taking such risks lately.

The biggest is that Conor is much better at the mental side of things. If things don’t go his way or he has to change things up, Conor remains calm and changes things up. He doesn’t get frustrated, he just goes with it and adapts as and when necessary. Nate Diaz, and Nick as well, don’t handle it well when things don’t go their way. They get visibly frustrated and worse, they show an inability or unwillingness to change things up and try something different, and stick with what is obviously the wrong approach. An example; In the Max Holloway fight, Conor tore his ACL early on, but you wouldn’t have known that by watching how Conor reacted; he kept calm and simply took the fight to the ground, where his injury would have a minimal effect on the fight. Conversely, in the RDA fight, Nate Diaz was getting his leg destroyed in the first round, and it was clear that whatever his gameplan was, it wasn’t working. But did Nate change things up in the second or third rounds? Did he try and take the fight to the ground? Did he try to pull guard and work for submissions? No. He kept fighting the same fight, which included barely checking leg kicks, and got dominated in rounds two and three. If the fight isn’t going well for Conor at the end of the first round, he won’t show it, and he’ll also come out in the second round with a different approach. But if things aren’t going Nate’s way, you’ll see it, and you’ll also see him come out in the second round and fight exactly the same fight he did in the first. When it comes to punching, Conor is the bigger puncher, by far. Diaz can hit hard, but he, like his brother, is more of a volume puncher; he doesn’t beat you with one punch, he beats you with several. Unless he catches Conor with the right punch, Diaz is going to need to land more than one punch to have Conor in trouble, and Conor’s footwork and head movement are going to make that very difficult. Whereas Conor has enough power that he only needs to land one good shot to have Diaz in trouble. Not necessarily because of Diaz’s chin, but because Conor hits that hard. And whilst Nate usually shows good footwork, his head movement has, at times, been lacking, and that, for me, gives Conor another big edge in this fight. And footwork another department I give Conor the edge in. Not a big edge, because Nate’s footwork is usually very good, but Conor is faster and quicker than Nate, as he is in most areas, and that gives Conor another advantage over his opponent. I’m not saying that Nate Diaz isn’t a very good fighter, because he is. But in so many areas, Conor is better. Sometimes a lot better. And with Nate already coming in it a serious disadvantage because of how late in the day he got the call, Conor really shouldn’t have a lot of problems. Would things be different with both men getting a full camp? Absolutely, and I think it would be a much closer fight as a result. I’d still pick Conor to win but I think Nate would give him more trouble than he will this time around.

If the fight goes like the press conference, Nate Diaz is going to be left looking very foolish. And it's a fight that Conor should win, not only because Nate is coming into this at such short notice, but because Conor already has several advantages over him.

How many of them bitched about being asked to undertake enhanced drug testing for a fight and ultimately refused to do so? How many of them did that and then, in their first fight in an era of more rigorous drug testing, look and fight like they were a completely different fighter? Again, and let me make it clear so that people don't continue to misunderstand, if Hendricks had not done any of that, I would be more than happy to put his performance down as being one of those things that can happen to everyone. But he did kick up a fuss and refuse enhanced drug testing and he did join the ranks of fighters to look and fight different in the era of USADA testing. You can give him the benefit of the doubt if you want. I'm just stating that I'm raising an eyebrow at how things went down and his history.

Whilst it’s true that there is no direct of evidence of anything, there’s enough circumstantial evidence, that goes beyond what happened Saturday night, that you’d have to be incredibly naive not to have at least raised an eyebrow over Hendricks’ performance Saturday night. Sure, it might be a one-off and maybe it really was down to bad training and whatever else Hendricks blamed for getting walked through, but if Hendricks looks and fights like this the next time out, you’d have to more than naive to still think something wasn’t up.

Things really are different in the post-USADA era of the UFC. Johny Hendricks looked and fought like a completely different fighter than the one who went to war with Robbie Lawler and came one judge away from taking the title from GSP. And while that isn’t in itself a sign of anything, given the fact that Hendricks kicked up a fuss and ultimately refused to take part in WADA testing ahead of his fight with GSP, it isn’t exactly a reach to say that Hendricks is likely another fighter who isn’t going to look as good as he did now that the drug testing has been ramped up. It won’t catch everyone, and no testing will, but it’s pretty clear, and has been for a while, that more active testing and the threat of a two-year suspension is causing a lot of people to taper down or completely halt their drug use. That still shouldn’t take anything away from Stephen Thompson, who showed great takedown defence against a top level wrestler, which, added to his excellent striking, makes him very dangerous in the welterweight division. It also creates an interesting dilemma because it’s exactly the kind of performance, against a top fighter as well, that should, in theory, be rewarded with a title shot, but the top of the welterweight division in the UFC is pretty stacked and more than one fighter can make claim to a title shot. I’d like to see Thompson get the next shot and I think he’s earned it with this performance. If the GSP negotiations don’t pan out, I would expect to see Lawler defend against Thompson with Condit vs. Woodley in the co-main event spot, so that if Lawler or Thompson has to pull out, either Condit or Woodley can be moved up into the main event. And as well as those four, if Demian Maia finishes Matt Brown, he’d also have a case for a title fight as he’d have won five in a row at that point. Whatever happens, whoever the champion is at welterweight will have no shortage of contenders for quite some time. Apart from the main event, there wasn’t a lot of positive to take away from the night, other than Diego Rivas delivering a highlight reel KO and the confirmation of CM Punk’s opponent in this UFC debut.

Very glad to see Bader get destroyed. An uninteresting fighter and an uninteresting personality, the prospect of having to see a PPV built around the human Mogadon tablet was worrying. Johnson against Jones is infinitely more interesting and a fight that you can actually get excited about because Johnson can finish anyone, even Jones, especially if he lands bombs, and his fights always have that drama because you know that big shot could come at any time. Rothwell tapping out Barnett was one of those “what the fuck did I just see?” moments. Rothwell is definitely in the title mix now, and I wouldn’t be shocked if the UFC get cold feet on sticking with the idea of Cain getting an instant rematch and go with a Werdum/Miocic and Cain/Rothwell II one-two. Northcutt tapping out was not entirely a shock, nor was the level of envy-filled joy from fighters at how things turned out. I get thinking Northcutt didn’t deserve the breaks he got, and he really didn’t, but he’s not the guy who anyone should hate in this scenario, because all Sage and his people did was what everyone does; negotiate the best deal for themselves they can get. It was the UFC who signed off on it. They’re the ones to hate over Sage’s deal. Sage tapping out in the manner he did said more about his training than it did about Sage, because he reacted like someone who has never trained in defending submissions off his back in his life. Sage made no attempt to defend, reverse, or look for an escape from the choke. Once it was on, he tapped out at the first opportunity. Sage had no clue what to do in that position and for any MMA fighter, even one as young as he is, that is crazy. It’s either that or Sage just lacks heart, and I’d like to not think it was that, because I really want to see Sage succeed in a big way, and not just because he seems like a genuinely nice guy, but because it would be the best success over those who took far too much joy out of his defeat.

In MMA, Josh Koscheck immediately springs to mind. From his days in TUF, Koscheck went from one-dimensional wrestler to a dangerous, all-round fighter who could give anyone fits if they weren’t at their best. Koscheck gutted his way through a five-round lopsided loss to GSP, where he couldn’t even see properly in the latter rounds, but he was still a threat to anyone who wasn’t taking him seriously, and even pushed Johny Hendricks to the limit in a controversial split-decision loss. And then Koscheck fell off a cliff. Robbie Lawler blitzed him in Lawler’s UFC return, Tyron Woodley knocked him clean out, Jake Ellenberger choked him out to where Koscheck was foaming at the mouth, and Erick Silva sent him packing with a guillotine choke. These weren’t close fought fights where Koscheck got caught with a punch or was otherwise unlucky. These were fights were Koscheck wasn’t even in the same league as his opponents. You might argue the Lawler one wasn’t that bad because of what Lawler’s gone on to do, but Koscheck wasn’t in that fight at all. The Woodley fight showed that his chin was cracked because he’s taken big shots before and stayed standing. Jake Ellenberger is one of those fighters that the old Koscheck would have outwrestled and cruised to victory over, but instead, Koscheck was left dribbling saliva and unconscious. The Silva fight may have been the worst loss of them all because Koscheck literally walked right into the guillotine choke, making a mistake that even low level fighters rarely make. And what makes them worse is that, Ellenberger loss aside, where he lost in the second round, Koscheck never made it out of the first. Koscheck went from gutting his way through fighting GSP with one eye for five rounds, to losing four in a row, with three of those loses coming inside of a round.