The death of grappling?

Neither UFC 92 or 94 featured any fighters winning by submission. With only one fight on UFC 93 ending by way of tap out, this begs the question, is grappling in MMA on it’s way out? We’d say no, but the stats are certainly worrying.

Pro Elite back from the grave

When the company behind EliteXC folded, dozens of fighters were left without a job. After a few uncertain months the smoke has cleared, with Californian MMA promotion Strikeforce acquiring the contracts for some of the top talent outside of the UFC. Their first announcement? Frank Shamrock vs Nick Diaz. Holy crap!

Joe Silva loved Jon Jones’s spinning elbow

Jones’s unorthodox attack was an audacious move. Holding one of Stephan Bonnar’s legs off the ground, Jones spun around and clobbered him with an elbow to the side of the head. Bonnar went down like a sack of potatoes, while UFC match maker Joe Silva could be seen outside the Octagon jumping up and down like he had won the lottery. Silva’s job isn’t to pick sides, he just wants to put on the best fights possible, and in this one he had found a winner.

There are no easy fights

UFC 94 raised an interesting debate. Of the ten contests on the card eight went to a decision, with five of those eight fights returned by the judges as split decisions. Obviously there are no easy fights at the top level of the UFC, but does this prove the matches made are more even than at first glance, or that judges just can’t agree?

...

Already Subscribed? | Login