FACEBOOK TWITTER RSS APP PODCAST Opinion & Analysis : Amadi's Take AMADI: What's next for the Winners and Losers after UFC 115 - Liddell, Franklin, Cro Cop, Barry, MacDonald, Condit...

Jun 13, 2010 - 12:41:01 PM

By Jason Amadi, MMATorch Columnist

Carlos Condit vs. Rory MacDonald

This was an excellent must-see contest, and certainly a contender for "Fight of the Year." Condit and MacDonald went to war early in the fight and left it all in the Octagon. The story of the fight was an even stand-up game leading to excellent takedowns by MacDonald, and Condit displaying a great bottom game to get back to his feet every time. The end came after the second round where the Yoda-like Greg Jackson delivered a war speech to Condit that seemed like something out of "Braveheart." Condit came into the third round noticeably more aggressive and with a real sense of urgency, perhaps sensing that he was down on the scorecards. Once the Condit landed on top in this fight he did an incredibly amount of damage and got the fight stopped with just a few seconds left.

For Condit: The "Natural Born Killer" won this fight, and while he is a crowd pleasing fighter, for him to move up into the elite of the division, he needs to stop having fights like these. Every single fight he’s had in the UFC has been an absolute war, and truth be told, elite fighters rarely have wars. His fighting style is incredibly similar to that of perennial WEC lightweight contender, Donald Cerrone. Condit, like Cerrone, is a dangerous striker who’s very capable off his back, but simply gets put on his back far too often and is a bit of a slow starter. Condit needs to dictate where the fight goes, and be a less willing to participate in these types of trench wars. While it’s likely not on the top of Martin Kampmann’s to-do-list, a rematch between Condit and Kampmann would be ideal for Condit as that was an incredibly close fight the first time, and a fight that many actually had Condit winning. A possible showdown with Paulo Thiago could also be in the Jackson trained fighter’s future.

For MacDonald: Rory MacDonald was taking a huge step up in competition for this fight, and knowing MMA judging, had the fight not been stopped in the last few seconds at the very worse he would have lost  a 10-8 round and the fight would have been declared a draw (the third round was probably a 10-7). MacDonald would have absolutely steamrolled a lesser fighter than Condit, and at just 20 years old, the sky is the limit for the young Canadian. MacDonald’s fight with Condit is an example of exactly why the UFC is in no rush to give someone like Jon Jones a quick step up in competition. While they show flashes of brilliance and technique beyond their years, a more experienced opponent could simply switch gears and steal a victory much like Condit did here.

MacDonald’s next opponent depends on how the UFC wants to proceed with him. If the UFC wants to give him another stiff test, Diego Sanchez is probably in need of a tough opponent with a catch (in this case MacDonald’s inexperience). Or if the UFC wants to give him a chance to gain some experience without rushing things too much, MacDonald could see competition against James Wilks who was victorious on the prelims.
 
Ben Rothwell vs. Gilbert Yvel

This was an ugly fight. Rothwell came in guns blazing and looked to dominate Yvel on the ground, like most intelligent fighters would. However, as Rothwell (and Josh Barnett before him) quickly found out, that’s not easy to do to Yvel these days while looking good in the process. Unlike against Josh Barnett, there was no quit in Yvel last night, and "The Hurricane" forced Rothwell to take him to an ugly decision where Rothwell was victorious but in actuality was probably the closest to being finished of the two.

Next For Rothwell: Cheick Kongo employed a similar strategy as Rothwell did tonight against Paul Buentello. A fight between the two of them would probably see their mediocre grappling skills cancel each other’s out and would be an entertaining stand up brawl. They could also do the Cro Cop fight that was to take place in Australia earlier this year.

Next For Yvel: It is hard to see Yvel succeeding in the UFC since there are few competitors these days who are less grappling savvy than Rothwell proved to be last night, and Yvel still could avoid his back hitting the canvas. If the UFC turns a blind eye to Yvel’s less than stellar grappling prowess, he could be matched up with someone like Pat Barry in one of those four ounce glove K-1 fights inside the Octagon that seem to be set up so often in the heavyweight division.

Paulo Thiago vs. Martin Kampmann

This was a typical fight between two fighters who are both well rounded on paper, but one of them was just more technically sound in every aspect of the game. Kampmann looked very good besting Thiago in all areas, and Thiago looked game despite being on the wrong end of a judge’s decision.

Next for Kampmann: It probably wouldn’t be in Kampmann’s best interest to rematch Condit, and the other top fighters like Josh Koscheck, Georges St. Pierre, Jon Fitch, and Thiago Alves are all paired up against each other. Kampmann could potentially face Ricardo Almeida should he defeat Matt Hughes, or depending on if he’s recovered, the Danish striker could square off against fellow Paul Daley victim, Dustin Hazelett.

Next for Thiago: Paulo Thiago needs to work on some of his technique. His striking is powerful, yet too wild to land with any certainty. He’s also a high level jiu jitsu practitioner, but needs the wrestling ability to keep from being put on his back and the ability to make sure he’s on top if fights hit the floor. Thiago shouldn’t fall too much with this loss, and a fight with Carlos Condit or Diego Sanchez would keep him in the upper echelon, but away from title contention for a bit.
 
Pat Barry vs. Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic

This was a fun fight between two kickboxers turned mixed martial artists. The problem for Barry in this fight was that Cro Cop stopped being a pure kickboxer a long time ago, and Barry needs to immerse himself in the other aspects of MMA if he is to put his crisp striking to use. Barry dominated the first round completely with his striking, dropping Cro Cop twice with hard shots. Unfortunately for Barry he showed absolutely no killer instinct and let Cro Cop back to his feet each time he dropped the usually stoic Croatian. Popular opinion on Barry’s unwillingness to swarm Cro Cop for the stoppage seems to be that he simply had too much respect for Filipovic. While that is a more intriguing idea to throw around, Barry showed similar hesitance in all of his fights, most noticeably his fight with Tim Hague where he absolutely leveled Hague with strikes, but let Hague off the hook, only to be submitted later on much like in this fight.

Next for Cro Cop: If he continues his mixed martial arts career in the UFC, Cro Cop would probably have the fight with Ben Rothwell that was to take place in Australia before Rothwell took ill, and Cro Cop was forced to bloody Anthony Perosh.

Next for Barry: Pat Barry needs to learn that being a kickboxer among mixed martial artists will almost always get him submitted. Barry dominated early on, but never went for the finish on the ground. That’s twice now that Barry has lost because his natural instinct was to return to a neutral corner instead of finishing the fight. Depending on how the UFC would like to enforce this lesson, his potential opponents vary. If the UFC wants more kickboxing from him, it would be a good move to pair him up with Gilbert Yvel. It would be a good wakeup call for Barry to meet a kickboxer who never evolved in the sport, despite having over 50 professional MMA fights under his belt.

Rich Franklin vs. Chuck Liddell

This was definitely the type of fight that made both Liddell and Franklin household names. Before the finish, Liddell definitely looked like a new man and improved in almost every area. The problem for Liddell was twofold. Liddell improved his offensive game by leaps and bounds and varied his attacks like a modern-day mixed martial artist should. However, Liddell didn’t improve his defense as he took several clean shots from Franklin flush on the chin. The bigger issue for Liddell is that the punch that put him out was not a big shot. It’s not like the beautiful hook that Liddell took from Quinton Jackson in 2007, or the brutal overhand right that he received from Rashad Evans in 2008, or even the big looping punch that Shogun put him down with in 2009. Rich Franklin put Liddell out cold with was seemed like a pretty small shot, and that is just indicative of the fact that Liddell’s chin has degenerated to Jonathan Goulet levels, thus he is no longer fit for competition.

Next for Franklin: Rich Franklin is now in the mix at 205. Franklin is a criminally underrated fighter who actually has an impressive list of career stoppages and has only been defeated by the very best competitors in the world. Franklin could meet the winner of Matyushenko-Jones, Randy Couture, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, Rogerio Nogueira, or even Quinton Jackson. 205 is a very crowded division these days.

Next for Liddell: Retirement. No doubt about it. There’s no way that Liddell can justify continuing or even convince anyone that the shot that Rich Franlin hit him with was a knockout punch. Liddell has likely made his money, made his name, is probably the greatest fighter of all time in the Light-Heavyweight Division, and is a UFC Hall of Famer. There is absolutely nothing to prove for him anymore; he just can’t take a punch like he used to. He’s given more than enough to the fans and will always be remembered as the fighter who took MMA to the next level.

MMATORCH NOTE: Check back every day this week as MMATorch editor-in-chief Jamie Penick will be writing a five-part series of Career Retrospect articles on Chuck Liddell. Relive his career if you've watched it from the start or learn more about what he accomplished in his career if you've joined in the middle or near the end.

ALERT: Every Tuesday night, listen to the MMATorch Livecast from 9-10:30 p.m. ET or listen now to the most recent shows by clicking here. Listen live this coming Tuesday as Jamie Penick, Rich Hansen, and Matt Pelkey discuss the latest MMA happenings. Online listen at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/mmatorch or call into the show at 646-716-8090 to either just listen or participate.