Issue 096
December 2012
It had to happen. Bruce Buffer – he of the bouffant hair, spray-on tan, impeccable manners and boom-busting voice – has finally been forced to concede defeat. Time waits for no man, and nor do time zones. With the proliferation of UFC events, namely two TUF finales taking place within 24 hours of each other – the Carwin-Nelson coached series in Las Vegas, the UK vs Australia Smashes on the Australian Gold Coast – ‘Buff’ will not be able to be at both.
Gareth A Davies
MMA and Boxing Correspondent for The Daily Telegraph, London
“I’m devastated,” he told me recently. “The first I have missed.” His book will be out next year, under the publishing empire Random House. “Will it be warts ‘n’ all?” I asked one of the guys within MMA I consider a pal. “There’s plenty in it, but we all have stories we can never tell.” Too true. “But the sequel when we are all doddering old boys may do.”
The Buffer dilemma was the source of some mirth for UFC president Dana White, who, with matchmaker Joe Silva, will attend both. The wonder of private jets. “We’ll leave one and maybe miss a couple of fights in Las Vegas,” explained White. The Buff, meanwhile, will stay in Las Vegas. “He’ll probably demand some kind of 3-D hologram, like Tupac, so we can get him there,” said Dana White, amused by the scenario.
FLYWEIGHTS ENTERTAIN
At UFC 152, Joseph Benavidez and Demetrious Johnson battled for supremacy in an entertaining inaugural UFC flyweight championship bout. Truth is, what’s left? Outside the pairing, only Ian McCall and possibly Yasuhiro Urushitani, deserve a title shot, and we’ve already seen McCall face DJ twice – after the mistake over the draw in their first contest back in Australia earlier in the year. One of the major issues facing Sean Shelby, the UFC matchmaker for the three lightest divisions, is that the talent roster includes around a dozen 125lb’ers, yet almost half of them are still without victories in the UFC, or the WEC since Zuffa LLC bought out the company. In my view, the likes of John Dodson, Louis Gaudinot and Jussier Da Silva still have a way to go before getting title shots.
BISPING, PICKETT, HARDY SHOW BENEFITS OF USA LIVING
The edges of a jigsaw puzzle are coming together. British fighters based in the United States are beginning to demonstrate a roundedness that can only come from being based there. Dan Hardy is finally fighting smart after a year in Las Vegas. Michael Bisping displayed the same wares against Brian Stann recently, just as he had against Chael Sonnen earlier in the year in Chicago.
Against Amir Sadollah, Hardy showed the benefits of combining striking and wrestling to claim a 29-28, 29-28, 30-27 unanimous decision victory. His instinct, and he admitted as much afterwards, is to want to continue striking when he knows he has someone hurt, but smart transitions to double-leg takedowns and inside leg-trips are what also catch the judges’ eyes, and win fighters the rounds. Brad Pickett has much the same philosophy. He told me: “You’ve got to fight smart. Getting takedowns is something the judges mark up, and we don’t have that much of a culture of it in the UK. Look at Demetrious Johnson. He does it so cleverly. He knows how to win rounds. What happens when you immerse yourself in training, or in living in the US, is that it eventually rubs off on you.”
UFC NOTTINGHAM FINDS DIFFERENT FAN-PLEASERS
After butchering Kyle Kingsbury in Nottingham, at UFC on Fuel TV 5: Struve vs Miocic, South Londoner Jimi Manuwa looks to be an outstanding addition to the light heavyweight division. Heavy hands, a vicious left hook, yet still with potential for vast improvement on the ground.
Surely Manuwa, now undefeated at 12-0 – all finishes – would be a great sayonara fight for, say, ‘Rampage’ Jackson. Thoughts on a postcard to Joe Silva, c/o Zuffa, Las Vegas.
Gunnar Nelson is a name on everyone’s lips after the Nottingham show. To the MMA cognoscenti, Nelson has been a top-level shoo-in for some time. Those in the know reckon he is a world title-holder in waiting; the Icelandic fighter being a blend of many ingredients: world-class submissions, better wrestling than most Europeans and, apparently, genuine KO power. He’s also an intriguing man – part savant part silent assassin. Thoroughly pleasant around the fight hotel, he barely said a word. Personally, I’m fascinated as to the progress of the 24-year-old.
