...OH, ONE MORE THING - PLEASE BOOKMARK US & VISIT DAILY!
By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist
Last Wednesday night’s Fight Night ended in anything but celebration for British lightweight prospect Ross “The Real Deal” Pearson, as the winner of The Ultimate Fighter season nine was submitted by Cole Miller in Austin, Texas.
Losing to Miller by submission was not the biggest surprise in the world; it was the events that directly preceded the submission that left many slightly stunned with what had just been witnessed.
Having a clear reach advantage, Miller utilised this tool with great aplomb and just after one minute into the second round, Miller landed a right that left Pearson looking momentarily unsteady as another shot landed with similar effect.
Not giving the Brit a second to think, Miller came in with a flying knee and followed up with a barrage of crisp shots. A picture-perfect left hook landed flush on the jaw, dropping the Brit to his knees with Miller swarming in for the kill.
No attempt was made to follow up on the impressive striking that floored Pearson; instead, Miller immediately took his back and sunk in the rear naked choke leaving Pearson with little choice other than to tap and taste defeat for the first time in the UFC.
It was a very surprising run of events building up to the submission, but Miller deserves full credit for yet another highly impressive finish inside the Octagon.
====
Last week Dan “The Outlaw” Hardy kicked off an international debate when he vented his frustrations towards the "lay-and-pray" contingency that continues to spread through MMA. The saga continued to brew at last Wednesday night’s Fight Night when Cole Miller became the latest fighter to make public knowledge of his feelings on the matter.
After submitting Ross Pearson in Texas, Miller was joined in the Octagon by Joe Rogan. After discussing his win, Miller moved on to hit out at “lay and pray” fighters telling the Austin crowd: “Nobody’s trying to finish, [they] just control the clock - This ain't football ya know. People gotta come in here and fight.”
After Hardy started this topic - in defence of teammate Andre Winner - there were a few condescending snipes that suggested the real problem may be a lack of wrestling pedigree amongst UK fighters that many American fighters possess.
As an American, and more importantly as an extremely high level grappler, Cole Miller’s comments give this argument some real extra weight. As Miller stated, this isn’t football and there is potential that spectacles, such as the Nik Lentz vs. Andre Winner UFC 118 Prelims Live matchup, could see people switching off rather than on.
Winner was quite literally clung to for the full fifteen minutes. He was completely smothered, being unable to draw his opponent into a "fight" of any kind. This week the Team Rough House member spoke out on this topic and expressed the frustration he felt from that night in Boston.
“It’s very hard to explain. I really didn’t feel like I was in a fight,” Winner told MMATorch. “I came out to fight. Unfortunately my opponent obviously came out there with a game-plan to grind out a decision, but I didn’t think in any point of the fight he even thought about trying to finish it. When he found it difficult to get the takedown I think he just started stalling the fight out on the cage.
“He just kept pushing me up against the fence, never trying to threaten, just stall it out as long as he could. I thought the referee would have done more to break us after the first round. I thought he would see the fight was going nowhere so would break it up more and get some action going.”
The outcry from both fans and media has led to many suggestions that referee’s need to intervene more in circumstances like this. Such interventions would prevent fighters from running down the clock and stealing judge’s decisions in such a non competitive manner.
The problem here is not wrestlers, it is fighters who quite simply do not want to fight - who come to try to steal the decision. While Winner strongly agreed, he also defended how hugely significant wrestling is in MMA.
“Wrestling is a massive part of MMA and nobody was bashing wrestling. No-one has a problem with Randy Couture who wrestles hard, who brings it and uses that wrestling to finish fights. It’s when guys come in who use that wrestling to avoid a fight - and avoid a fight at all costs.
“[MMA is] such a complex sport with so many aspects that go into it, you have to make it fair as possible for everyone who takes part - no matter what background they are coming from. But it comes down to the referee judging.
“When someone is trying to get a takedown and not succeeding with it, just holding onto someone’s arms, not trying to advance - the referee has to do something. I was very frustrated and I don’t wanna take anything away from [Nik Lentz], he was a nice guy and I’ve watched his previous fights where he was quite active. But with me - I was like: ‘what’s this guy doing.’ He just kept pushing me against the fence and I just figured after the first or maybe the second round he would get discouraged from it. I saw it in his eyes... he didn’t want any part of the fight. When I came forward on a couple of times he went a bit square and looked at me [as if to say] ‘Oh Dear.’
“I mean everyone in the Arena was booing. They wanna see more action. Who wants to watch 5 minutes of someone getting pressed up against the cage? Then stop, then another 5 minutes - they need to break it up more.
“When I come out it’s to win the fight and to put on a show for the fans. They are the ones buying the tickets and screaming their heads off in support. I wanna come out try and win and give the fans what they want so when you have a fight like my [last] fight it is very, very frustrating.”
=====
OTHER NEWS IN BRIEF:
- Following his close decision victory over Jorge Masvidal at Shark Fights last Saturday, Paul “Semtex” Daley has been confirmed as the most recent fighter to sign on for Strikeforce.
Many felt Masvidal had done enough to edge out the win in Texas, but Daley was awarded the decision. Masvidal was then handed a contract of his own with Strikeforce with Daley hot on his heels as the Team Rough House welterweight looks to begin a charge towards Nick Diaz and his welterweight crown.
===
-Michael Bisping has backed Wolfslair teammate Aaron Wilkinson to leave his mark in the new season of The Ultimate Fighter. Wilkinson is the only Brit amongst the 28-strong lightweight line-up, and UK viewers will see his TUF debut tomorrow night as season 12 begins on Sky Sports.
Speaking to The Daily Star, Bisping said: “He’s really going to be one to watch. He’s a very tough kid with a lot of ability. When I won TUF back in 2006, I was with another Brit, but Aaron will represent the UK just fine by himself.”
===
-This Saturday BAMMA Middleweight Champion Tom “Kong” Watson will defend his title when he takes on former Cage Rage middleweight and Reality TV contestant Alex Reid. Watson is a teammate - and will likely be cornered by – Georges St. Pierre and Denis Kang.
BAMMA 4 will air live on Bravo, this Saturday from 10pm.
====
Park’s Analysis: It was great to get some insight directly from Andre Winner into what was one of the most difficult fights to watch. It is clear that something has to be done to nullify this loophole in scoring a victory.
It was a very disappointing loss for Ross Pearson and while a submission victory for Miller was one of the two more obvious outcomes (the other being a KO for Pearson) it was the events that led to the submission that were the most surprising.
Miller utilised his reach advantage very well and deserves the credit for this win.
Join me next week for another round up of The UK Scene.
====
Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at; mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!
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.
