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This is the Writers' Roundtable here at MMATorch.com. In this feature our own Matt Pelkey will be providing our questions each week, and then we'll provide the answers from members of our staff here at MMATorch.com. This week, we've got Torch Contributors Alex Williams and Frank Hyden, along with Torch Columnist Matt Pelkey and Torch Editor Jamie Penick. We've got three questions this week, and today we present questions two and three:
Who deserves first shot at Rashad; Rampage or Machida/Silva winner?
Was Big Nog's loss at UFC 92 the result of a once-in-a-lifetime performance by Frank Mir, or is this the beginning of the end for the legend?
Alex Williams, MMATorch Contributor:
- Rampage. He barely lost to Griffin and blew out Silva. Machida has never defeated a fighter of Silva's caliber. Some might point to Tito Ortiz, but I believe that due to back injuries, Tito has not been the Tito of old in years. Others may argue that Tito beat Forrest, to whom Rampage lost. Aside from the fact that many observers had Forrest ahead, the Forrest Griffin of two-and-a-half years ago is not the Forrest Griffin of today. Based on their performances to date, I think Lyoto deserves a title shot, but not ahead of Rampage. As a disclaimer, I should note that I find Lyoto's style of fighting horribly boring.
- Beginning of the end for Minotauro. Mino has not demonstrated in his UFC bouts the vintage skills of his Pride days. While Tim Sylvia was always going to be a difficult bout for him stylistically, Heath Herring was not and should not have been. While I admit again that I have typically viewed Frank Mir as a "right time, right place" sort of fighter, I only attribute part of his victory to improvements he has made to his own fighting skills.
Frank Hyden, MMATorch Contributor:
- Without question, it's Rampage. The controversial manner in which he lost the Light Heavyweight belt is more than enough reason for him to receive the first shot at Rashad. Machida vs. Silva might be a good fight but I think Rashad can and would handle either one of them. I think Rampage is the best challenger and has the best chance of beating Rashad.
- I think this was more a case of Frank Mir reaching a new level rather than Nogueira faltering and being old. Nogueira's only 32 years old so I think he's got a good 4 or 5 years of quality fighting left in him. I'm certainly not going to try to diminish what Mir accomplished; he did what no one else before him had been able to do when he stopped Nogueira early. Mir showed what he's capable of and I think he can do it again.
Matt Pelkey, MMATorch Contributor:
- This is a tricky one. At first glance, I'd say its a no-brainer that Rampage gets the first shot at Rashad. He lost his title in a razor close decision and then came back with a brutal first round KO of a top tier fighter. Machida and Thiago Silva, while having pretty won-loss records, lack the name recognition and elite competition on their resumes (ok Machida has wins over Rich Franklin and BJ Penn, but I want to see him get a win over a top 10 light-heavyweight inside the Octagon before I'm completely sold) that a Rampage possesses. Where this whole situation gets dicey is with Rampage's legal issues. They're not just gonna go away. At some point he has to be held accountable for his hit and run spree from earlier this year. Rampage has expressed interest in avenging his loss to Forrest next. Perhaps that's for the best. It'll keep 'Page out of the title picture until everything is resolved, and it gets some new blood at the top of the card. Just like in wrestling, its all about building new stars. Machida or Silva? No, not them. They'll just provide a nice notch on Rashad's belt while on his quest to being one of the best fighters in the world, along with one of the biggest stars.
- Can I say both? Frank Mir looked fantastic, plain and simple, but Big Nog just didn't seem himself. Maybe it was the long layoff? He couldn't get his timing down, and his boxing, which was supposed to be his big advantage (along with the gas tank) in this fight, looked rudimentary compared to Mir's. Regardless of what the answer is, Nog has at least one mega-fight left for him in the Octagon against Randy Couture. I think this fight was an abberation, but I don't think Nog has many years left in fighting. Fighters are like running backs in football. It doesn't matter how old they are. It matters how many miles have been put on the tires, and Big Nog has more than probably anyone else still fighting (except for Travis Fulton?). I don't know his contract situation, but I hope Nog fights out the remaining bouts, redeems himself well, and hangs it up on a positive note.
Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief:
- I think it will end up being Rampage getting the first shot at Rashad. That being said, if Machida beats Thiago Silva I think he'd be making a very good case for deserving that shot at Rashad. All he does is win, and while his style does not endear himself to everyone, the results cannot be argued. He deserves to get himself a shot at the belt in 2009, especially if he continues his winning ways against Thiago Silva this month. On the other side, Quinton Jackson rebounded in perhaps the best way he could have by knocking out the man that brutalized him twice in PRIDE in Wanderlei Silva. He barely lost his title in the first place to Forrest Griffin, and while I think those two should face off against each other next, it's hard to argue from a fighter standpoint that Rampage should get a crack at Rashad Evans.
- It's really hard to say with this one, as it could for sure be for both reasons. Frank Mir looked better than he ever has, and as we've talked about here if he can train for every fight the way he did for the fight against Minotauro there aren't going to be many fighters he can't match up against. He was more prepared than ever and showed off the stand up skill that no one knew he possessed. That being said, there was something very off for Antonio Nogueira at UFC 92. The stand up game that he was expected to show off against what most considered an over-matched Frank Mir was nonexistent, and he was outclassed in an area he was supposed to have the advantage. The beatings that he has endured over his years in both the cage and the ring are showing more and more every day and every fight, and even though he is one of the best heavyweight fighters to ever compete in the sport, the fight against Mir truly may have been the beginning of the end. It's not the very end, of course, and as has been suggested a fight with Randy Couture would be a great match up for both; but the years have not been kind to the man's body, and he can't continue to take the kind of beatings in his late thirties that he did in his late twenties, so there may not be many years left for Minotauro.
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Jamie Penick, editor-in-chief
(mmatorcheditor@gmail.com)
STAFF COLUMNISTS: Shawn Ennis - Jason Amadi
Frank Hyden - Rich Hansen
Chris Park - Matt Pelkey
Interested in joining MMATorch's writing team? Send idea for a theme to your column (for Specialist section) or area of interest (i.e. TV Reporter) along with a sample of writing to mmatorch@gmail.com.
