The UFC has finalized its schedule for the remainder of 2013 and, should the injury bug stay away, it promises to be an impressively prolific spell.
From now until the end of the year, all nine of the UFC's active champions will defend their belts. This remarkable period of MMA will begin at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27 with Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga and climax at UFC 168 on Dec. 28 when Anderson Silva rematches Chris Weidman. Two of the events in this time, UFC 165 and UFC 168, will even feature two title fights, the only other event in UFC history to do so was UFC 100 in 2009. During this time, there will also be some very fine UFC on Fox Sports 1 events. Examples being, Chael Sonnen vs. Shogun Rua, Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann and Michael Bisping vs. Mark Munoz.
Interestingly, Johnson vs. Moraga will be the only title bout to not headline a pay-per-view event, it will instead be shown on Fox. Johnson holds the reluctant honour of being the only champion in the UFC to have never headlined a pay-per-view event. It is, however, an understandable decision, the flyweight division is still relatively unknown and Johnson has little name recognition. At this point in his career he would struggle to carry a pay-per-view, appearances on Fox, with more viewers, should help boost his celebrity.
It has occurred purely by coincidence but as the year moves closer towards its end, the events ascend in both size and star power. Like a good opera, this period of events in the UFC appears to form a rising crescendo until it hits a peak and finishes with a big finale.
Seven events from now until the end of the year will feature title fights. The first three of these will be headlined by title fights in three of the lighter weight classes, flyweight, featherweight and lightweight. First, it will be Demetrious Johnson vs. John Moraga at UFC on Fox 8 on July 27. Then, José Aldo vs. Jung Chan-Sung at UFC 163 on Aug. 3 and Benson Henderson vs. Anthony Pettis at UFC 164 on Aug. 31.
The concluding four events will be headlined by light-heavyweight, heavyweight, welterweight and middleweight title bouts. In chronological order, these fights will be Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson and Renan Barao vs. Eddie Wineland at UFC 165 on Sept. 21, Cain Velasquez vs. Junior Dos Santos at UFC 166 on Oct. 19, Georges St-Pierre vs Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16 and Chris Weidman vs. Anderson Silva and Ronda Rousey vs. Miesha Tate at UFC 168 on Dec. 28.
Historically, events headlined by the lighter fighters are not as financially and commercially successful as their heavier counterparts. So this crescendo begins with events headlined by three of the lighter champions, it then ascends onto the two heaviest and climaxes with events headlined by the two biggest pay-per-view stars in the sport. The final event of the year, UFC 168, the big finale, even has the possibility of being the biggest in UFC history. The rest of 2013 should be a blockbuster period for both the UFC and its fans.
Daniel Cormier is in a peculiar position. The division in which his fighting future lies is still undecided.
The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion is currently in career limbo until he decides which title it is he wants to make a run at.
There are two clear paths for Cormier to take, both of which have their own respective roadblocks.
The first one is to stay at heavyweight. This seems like it would be the most logical option, it certainly makes the most sense from a purely fighting perspective. He has fought his entire career at heavyweight, he was/is the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix Champion, he hold wins over two former UFC Heavyweight Champions and he owns a knockout victory over the the man about to fight for the title. Oh yeah, he is also undefeated at the weight.
The only problem with staying at heavyweight is that, his good friend, Cain Velasquez is the current UFC Heavyweight Champion. The pair, who train together at AKA, have stated numerous times that they would be unwilling to fight one other. So, like any job, why stick around when there is no chance of progression.
Ok, so Cormier should move down to the light heavyweight division then? Well that too has its issues.
Cormier has spent his entire career at heavyweight, usually weighing between 235 and 250 pounds. Not since his wrestling days, at 211 pounds, has he weighed anywhere near the 205 pound light heavyweight limit. When you consider he has consistently made 211 pounds in the past, only 6 pounds above the light heavyweight limit, moving down a weight class seems very plausible. The issue is that the last time he attempted to make this weight, at the 2008 Olympic Games, his kidneys failed and he could not compete. If that's how your body reacts to making 211 pounds, maybe trying to make 205 pounds isn't such a good idea.
Cormier has admitted that he lost the weight incorrectly, nevertheless any future attempts to do something similar must be met with serious consideration. When participating in a sport like this, the last thing you need is an extra health risk.
A definitive decision has not been made regarding which of these paths he is going to take. Ideally this decision would have been made before his UFC debut, that way he could have focused his efforts on getting a title shot in that particular division. Instead, he is stalling slightly. Lacking purpose.
He recently fought and defeated Frank Mir, a fight that didn't really get him any closer to a title. It felt more like a stop-gap fight. In fact, because of this current indecision, he isn't really mentioned in the heavyweight title picture at all.
This is evident in the matchmaking too. Joe Silva and Sean Shelby can't second guess what Cormier's intentions are, so he is being matched up with the top gatekeepers of the division. It is difficult to put a fighter in a number one contender bout if he isn't willing to face the champion.
Following Roy Nelson's impressive TKO victory over Cheick Kongo, Dana White announced that he liked a potential match up with Cormier. A proposition that he promptly agreed to on Twitter;
Does this mean that he is staying at heavyweight? Possibly. Why else would you continue to take fights in a division that you plan to leave. Perhaps the strategy is to continue to take fights at heavyweight until Velasquez relinquishes his title. Or maybe they have decided that if the time should come, they will fight one another for the title. Logically, those are the only two reasons for sticking around at heavyweight. Otherwise, he is an undersized (at 5'10") fighter in a weight class with no real prospects.
We know Dana White's opinion on the matter, he would like to see Cormier move down to light heavyweight. He believes his power will be much more effective at 205 pounds. At this stage it is largely unclear what Cormier's intentions are, I'm not sure even he knows. It's possible he is waiting to let the chips fall where they may and then going from there. A risky strategy, he is behind a growing number of men in the queue for title shots. Until he comes out and dedicates himself to a division, his career is lacking impetus. He is a fighter without a home.
Saturday night was quite possibly the last time we will ever see Chael Sonnen compete in MMA.
After he was soundly beaten at UFC 159, Chael's rhetoric was transformed. He was now somber and reflective. Gone was the showman. All that remained was the man behind all the hyperbole. The real Chael. The Chael we saw on the Ultimate Fighter. During his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Chael stated that "I'm not going to be one of the guys to hang around, if there isn't a road to the title then this sport isn't for me. I believe that was probably my last opportunity". In my book, those are some retiring words.
As is always the case when there is a high profile retirement, we instantly begin the process of dissecting their career. Usually through rose-tinted glasses. So how will we remember Chael Sonnen the fighter? If we are to ignore the persona and simply concentrate on his fighting accolades, then Chael may be remembered as MMA's nearly man.
Chael's failure to capture the light heavyweight belt against Jon Jones meant that he has come up short in all three of his UFC title fights.
His time in the WEC yielded a similar story. In 2007, Chael fought Paulo Filho for the title and was submitted in the second round. Then, the following year he got another chance to challenge Filho. Despite winning the fight, he did not capture the title because Filho missed weight, deeming it a non-title fight. In case you aren't keeping count, that is five chances to win a world championship and five times Chael has gone home empty handed.
Unfortunately for Chael, he seems to possess that annoying knack of just falling short in all of his endeavors. That could be due to a mental fragility or maybe his talent is just not at a championship level. We can speculate all we want but ultimately it is irrelevant, he came second every time and that is all that counts.
So assuming Chael does indeed decide to retire, his career will be one of a world class fighter who narrowly failed at the final hurdle.
The Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Saturday night will be the scene of a one-sided beat down according to a large proportion of the MMA world.
Many, including the odds makers, believe that Chael Sonnen has little to no chance of dethroning Jon Jones at UFC 159.
That opinion is perfectly valid and the controversy of this fight announcement is somewhat understandable. The light heavyweight bout will be Sonnen's first since his UFC debut against Renato Sobral at UFC 55 in 2005. Which, of course, means that he is 0-1 at light heavyweight in the UFC. He is also coming off a loss in a completely different division. Chael, certainly, does not 'deserve' this fight in any conventional sense.
However, all that is now irrelevant. The fact is they will both step into the octagon and only one of them will leave as the UFC light heavyweight champion. The only real pertinent discussion now is, can he actually pull it off?
Well Jones is about as unbeatable as it gets in MMA. Ignoring the disqualification loss to Matt Hamill, he has never been beaten. Not only that, but baring a briefly deep armbar courtesy of Vitor Belfort, his MMA career has pretty much been smooth sailing. His extraordinary reach and unpredictable fighting style causes his opponents to resemble a deer caught in the headlights. He possesses that rare ability to mesmerize and remove his opposition from their game plans. It is in this area of the contest that Chael may complicate things.
One of the funnest aspects about Chael as a fighter is his go go go attitude whilst in the cage. There are no Greg Jackson-esque game plans, he simply tucks his chin in and moves forward. This, such a simple rudimentary technique, could potentially be his most useful asset.
Scared is a strong term, especially in the testosterone fueled world of MMA, so instead lets use wary. Many, if not all, of Jones's title defenses have been against challengers who seem very wary to engage. They fight prudently. Very rarely do we see the fight being taken to Jones. Yet, this is precisely what we are likely to see at UFC 159.
Chael only comes with one mode and that is attack mode. He will not stand in awe while Jones uses his length to dictate the distance at which the fight will fought. Instead, he will be constantly aggressive and will plow forward to a fault in an attempt to get inside, grab a hold of and hopefully take down the champion. After all, gangsters from Oregon have no concern for oblique kicks.
Jones doesn't possess one punch knockout power, instead he breaks you down gradually with a wide ranging assault round after round until he seizes his opportunity to finish the fight. This could be encouraging for Chael. He may be willing to eat the odd shot on the way in if it means he can complete a take down. Then what? We have never really seen Jones on the back foot or even how he reacts to adversity. There is no telling how he will respond if he cannot dictate the pace or range of the fight. He may crumble, he may rally and find a way to win.
Jones's take down defense has been impregnable, however the same was said about Anderson Silva and Chael took him down and beat him up for the majority of their seven rounds with one another. He will be hoping for similar success against Jones, minus the triangle chokes and failed spinning back fists.
The journey towards UFC 159 started back in August of last year, when the fight was announced. It has been long and it has been controversial. Eight months and one reality TV show later we are about to find out if Chael Sonnen can finally back up his rampant mouth and become a world champion.
So can a blown up middleweight who has lost on three separate occasions to Jeremy Horn beat the greatest light heavyweight of all time? Maybe. To paraphrase Chael P., he may go down, but if he does he will go down like a gangster.
