Clark Kent
<B>News Bot</B>
- Joined
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12-07-2009 09:55 AM:
Watching mixed martial arts objectively must be a matter of experience or patience. Cagewriter came away from the season 10 "Ultimate Fighter Finale" thinking it was one of the better cards of the year. It had everything. Young fighters showing off solid potential, another bad body fighter proving looks aren't everything, the sports' best prospect learning a valuable lesson and casual fans got to see that MMA isn't easy for a one-dimensional street fighter.
Watching at home on television, the folks over at AOL Fanhouse called the card a disappointment. There was certainly a different impression if you were in the arena on the floor. The crowd was amped throughout, and for the most part pretty educated. It wasn't a surprise that Roy Nelson, he of the portly 6-foot, 264-pound build, beat Brendan Schaub. The boxing and power he showed, was and should have you excited to see him matched up against top 15 heavyweights.
Nelson, who was once called a bloated truck driver by his local paper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, was tabbed "morbidly obese" by MDS over at Fanhouse. To imply that the guy is going to die anytime soon because he has a big stomach is either mean or ignorant. If that's the case, I'm shocked that Warren Sapp, David Ortiz, Courtney Paris or Khalid El Amin hasn't or didn't die on their respective playing field or court. Hell, the fact that heavyweight boxer James Toney isn't in a body bag is shocking.
It's the heavyweight division in fighting. Not everyone is going to look like Batista or Scott Steiner from the world of wrestling. Let's be frank, the majority of fighters who go 5-11 to 6-2 and fight in the 240-265 range are technically overweight or "morbidly obese." They could make light heavyweight if they chose to slim down. Some fighters can carry the weight, look mushy and still flash good speed, technique and cardio. Nelson is one of those guys.
Kimbo Slice is the other guy getting skewered. Why? What were the expectations? He's a 35-year-old with one thing in his corner and that's some decent boxing with power in his right hand. He fell victim to what lots of fighters do against an opponent who doesn't want to engage. Kimbo laid back a little too much and gassed himself trying to chase Houston Alexander around the cage. On the positive side, if he chooses to go down to light heavyweight, he's got freakish power and showed he's not a clown on the ground. He's also got drawing power and the "it" factor to be put on a couple of pay-per-view cards in the right matchups.
Sure Jon Jones was disqualified but anyone not excited about the 22-year-old's potential is nuts. He overpowered one of the strongest light heavyweight's in the world. Frank Edgar showed he's ready for a title shot against B.J. Penn and the thought of him down at featherweight to face guys like Urijah Faber, Mike Brown and Jose Aldo Jr. is still incredibly tantalizing.
Every fight is not going to be Rocky versus Apollo Creed and there are bady body fighters who are going to star in MMA. As folks who cover the sport, let's try to avoid sounding like the majority of commenters on message boards and show a little perspective.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
Watching at home on television, the folks over at AOL Fanhouse called the card a disappointment. There was certainly a different impression if you were in the arena on the floor. The crowd was amped throughout, and for the most part pretty educated. It wasn't a surprise that Roy Nelson, he of the portly 6-foot, 264-pound build, beat Brendan Schaub. The boxing and power he showed, was and should have you excited to see him matched up against top 15 heavyweights.
Nelson, who was once called a bloated truck driver by his local paper, The Las Vegas Review-Journal, was tabbed "morbidly obese" by MDS over at Fanhouse. To imply that the guy is going to die anytime soon because he has a big stomach is either mean or ignorant. If that's the case, I'm shocked that Warren Sapp, David Ortiz, Courtney Paris or Khalid El Amin hasn't or didn't die on their respective playing field or court. Hell, the fact that heavyweight boxer James Toney isn't in a body bag is shocking.
It's the heavyweight division in fighting. Not everyone is going to look like Batista or Scott Steiner from the world of wrestling. Let's be frank, the majority of fighters who go 5-11 to 6-2 and fight in the 240-265 range are technically overweight or "morbidly obese." They could make light heavyweight if they chose to slim down. Some fighters can carry the weight, look mushy and still flash good speed, technique and cardio. Nelson is one of those guys.
Kimbo Slice is the other guy getting skewered. Why? What were the expectations? He's a 35-year-old with one thing in his corner and that's some decent boxing with power in his right hand. He fell victim to what lots of fighters do against an opponent who doesn't want to engage. Kimbo laid back a little too much and gassed himself trying to chase Houston Alexander around the cage. On the positive side, if he chooses to go down to light heavyweight, he's got freakish power and showed he's not a clown on the ground. He's also got drawing power and the "it" factor to be put on a couple of pay-per-view cards in the right matchups.
Sure Jon Jones was disqualified but anyone not excited about the 22-year-old's potential is nuts. He overpowered one of the strongest light heavyweight's in the world. Frank Edgar showed he's ready for a title shot against B.J. Penn and the thought of him down at featherweight to face guys like Urijah Faber, Mike Brown and Jose Aldo Jr. is still incredibly tantalizing.
Every fight is not going to be Rocky versus Apollo Creed and there are bady body fighters who are going to star in MMA. As folks who cover the sport, let's try to avoid sounding like the majority of commenters on message boards and show a little perspective.
More...
Yahoo! Sports.
Cagewriter is an MMA blog edited by Steve Cofield.
