If the current landscape of UFC champions is any indicator of the future, 30 might be the new 40 in mixed martial arts. The average age of today’s UFC titleholder is just under 29 years old. That number drops significantly if you remove old man Anderson Silva, 37, from the equation.
When Melvin Guillard stepped into the Octagon against Donald Cerrone at UFC 150 in Denver, it became a night of dubious firsts, because Guillard had never missed weight before, and he had never been knocked out.
UFC on Fox 4 in Los Angeles proved that interest can be drummed up in retreads, but it was our collective imagination that became the real hero of the night. Let’s face it, we were all squinting to see the title picture the way it was being drawn up by Dana White.
LOS ANGELES -- By all accounts, even that of the pleasant man translating for Mauricio Rua during Wednesday's UFC on FOX open workouts, the last time the great Brazilian light heavyweight fought, it was downright brutal.
At the end of April, prospects Rory MacDonald and Michael McDonald did work at UFC 145 in Atlanta. MacDonald's work was a showcase fight with an outmatched Che Mills, while bantamweight McDonald's was an eye-opening win over Miguel Torres.
In a very literal underground setting in lower Manhattan, a room of men are being selected at random to fight one another. These men are co-mingling with people there to watch them fight. It’s an unnervingly casual intersection.
Yeah. That kick.Going into Thursday's final WEC event, Anthony Pettis was not the name that received the same heavy rotation as his opponent, champion Benson Henderson: It was Henderson who discussed facing the UFC champion in a unification bout, Henderson who was thought to present problems for everyone in his new home, and Henderson who had gotten preference with bookmakers.
Thursday night will be the final time Zuffa will promote fights under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner. It marks the end of a foundation built almost exclusively for 155-pound and under fighters, traditionally the most talented (and least recognized) in combat sports.
Every time a dominant champion is established, the same question comes up: Do audiences like seeing a man operating clearly above his competition, or do they grow bored if the suspense is leaking out of the bouts?
Watch mixed martial arts for any length of time and you'll discover how dizzying its effects can be on your enthusiasm. A fight like Frank Mir-Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, which dogged the weekend, can sink hearts.
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