Yesterday I had intentions of writing a short piece on the upcoming fight this weekend but posted my entry prematuerly by accident.It was bascially the headliner of tomorrows event that I wanted to write on,but since I'm devoting an entire blog entry I'll include a couple other things as well.
Last weekend we saw the worlds premier mixed martial arts organization make it's long awaited and much anticipated television network debut.The broadcast portion of the event was set to feature a heavyweight matchup between division champion Cain Velasquez and the number one contender Junior Dos Santos.In the end,which took only 64 seconds to reach,the hard hitting challenger proved be too much for the undefeated and hightly touted champion.A crushing right hand sent Velasquez falling to the canvas where Cigano followed up with some strategically placed punches to end the night for the once champion.
In my blog entry last week,I felt that despite the praise surrounding Cain Velasquez,Cigano was going to leave the cage that night with the belt.From my perspective the writing was on the wall.Taking nothing away from the abilities of Cain Velasquez,he's clearly an amazing athlete and will most likely compete for the title again,but he hadn't faced the level of competition to warrant the amount of hype he was recieving.His best victories included a first round stoppage of a once legendary,but now shop worn and decrepit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and another first round stoppage of an accomplished but largely untested Brock Lesnar who was also suffering from the digestive disease diverticulitis. When looked at from that point of view,Cigano was the obvious but clearly discredited pick.Cain had become a product of the UFC hype machine,largely to gain and expand the Mexican and Latino fanbase.
With Junior's victory last saturday night,he has clearly positioned himself as the number one heavyweight in the world and may be there for quite some time. When you look at his skillset,combined with his youth and ability to learn and implement new techniques,the rest of the heavyweight division,aside from a select few,seem nowhere near the level of the new divisional kingpin. The focus now shifts to the number one contenders bout in December featuring the former Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar,and UFC newcomer but longtime combat sports veteran,Alistair Overeem. The winner of that bout has the daunting task of trying to dethrone the newly crowned king at Heavyweight.
That Lesnar/Overeem bout should be a fun fight for however long it lasts.Personally I don't think it will leave the first round, but that's a whole other discussion for another time perhaps.Now I'll get to the main reason I wanted to make this post,and that's the crazy fight this weekend between Dan Henderson and fuckin' Shogun.On paper,all you can think is,holy shit this fight is going to be nuts.As a longtime fight fan I tend to get fairly excited and look forward to a good event when it is on the horizon, but there are a few select fighters that I'm a huge fan of and Mauricio Rua is one of them,and for good reason. In my opinion he is easily one of the most exciting,dynamic fighters competing in the sport today. It's going to be edge of the seat type stuff tomorrow night.
Dream fight.A phrase often thrown around but rarely do the marquee matchups themselves ever come to fruition.This Saturday, fights fans will be treated to a potentially explosive main event bout between mixed martial arts legends who are looking to once again wear gold and claim the title of number one light heavyweight in the world.Veterans Dan Henderson and Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua had taken different paths over the last several years but a collision between the two seemed destined.Both fighers competed in the now defunct,but no less legendary Pride Fighting Championship where they each earned world renowned recognition.
Tough as iron, would be a very appropriate way to describe Dan Henderson.In 2005,Henderson,who on two occassions represented the United States in the olympic games competing in greco roman wrestling,defeated opponent and former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante to win the 2005 Pride Welterweight Tournament Grand Prix.It should be noted that in Japan the weight classes were structured differently than stateside.The welterweight division would be the equivalent of the middleweight division in the states and thus the Japanese middleweight division would be the equivialnt of the light heavyweight division in the U.S.Two years later, Dan Henderson would make history by defeating then Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva to become the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously.After the demise of the Pride organization,Dan would have a short run in the UFC before heading to the San Jose based organization of Strikeforce where he would once again become light heavyweight champion.Before vacating his Strikeforce title and leaving the organization to once again take a run in the UFC,Henderson moved up a weight class to face,and ultimately defeat,the greatest heavyweight the sport has ever known,Fedor Emelianenko.That was this past July.
Welcoming him back the Octagon will be Brazilian wrecking machine Mauricio Shogun Rua.If you were to characterize Dan Henderson as tough as iron,you could characterize Mauricio Rua as a wild man.Shogun,who also rose to fame in Pride,put himself on the map when in 2005 he went through a gauntlet of fighters to become the 2005 Pride Middlewieght Grand Prix Tournament Champion. Over the span of those four months,the then 23 year old impressively dismantled four of the best two hundred and five pound fighters in the world to claim victory in the divisional tournament.Like his upcoming opponent,Rua also made his way to the UFC with the Japanese organization coming to a close.Shogun would go on to earn the UFC's light heavyweight crown by defeating then undeated and thought to be untouchable divisional champion Lyoto Machida, only to lose it in his next bout to rising star Jon Jones.
What has fight fans all around the world salivating is the thought of the stylistic matchup between these two.Both fans and the media alike seem to be at loss for words when trying to break down and envision the way this fight could ultimately play out.Both are primarily standup fighters with resumes that are decorated with a list of absolutely brutal ko's and tko's.What should be pointed out is the manner in which these two finish off their opponents.With the constant evolution of the sport, it's growing much more difficult to rely on one aspect of the game and continue to be successful.Dan Henderson has proved to be an exception to that way of thinking and continues to put his opposition on another planet with a wrecking ball also known his right hand.Time and time again,he uses his world class wrestling to keep the fighting standing in order to put that right hand through somebody's face,and does so with unbelievable consistancy.I feel compelled to quote UFC commentator Joe Rogan's UFC 139 Preview statement when describing one of Dan Henderson's ko's,'' The right hand that he hit Michael Bisping with, will be on highlight reels until the end of time.''
His opponent on the other hand, brings an equally violent fighting attack, only he delivers it in a more diverse fashion.Shogun brings a devastating aresenal which includes high level muay thai consisting of viscious knees and kicks that accompany clubbing punching power.Although they aren't allowed under the Unified Rules that govern the UFC,Shogun's highlight reel consists of just plain violent stomps and soccer kicks which give you insight into his mentality and natural killer instinct.Mauricio Rua is one of the best finishers in mixed martial arts today and you can be rest assured that he does not go into a fight looking to win on points or go the distance,he's looking to put you away,violently and decisively.
The most intriguing aspect is from the perspective of mindset and how these two warriors approach a fight,they might just be mirror images of one another. Both possess that walk forward,bite down on the mouth piece and go to war mentality.Both have chins made of granite and neither has ever been knocked out which only makes thinking about the potentialities that much more fascinating.Will they stand and bang?Will Dan Henderson use his greco roman background to empty Rua's gas tank?Will Shogun use his brazilian jiu jitsu and attempt to submit the former olympian? The recent addition of five round main event non tiltle fights and the possibilty of seeing an epic twenty five minute bout between two of the greatest mixied martial artists of all time only raises the level of anticipation.With mixed martial arts you're never guaranteed to be treated to an exciting fight and sometimes the lead up and trying to play the fight out in your head proves more exciting than the actual match.Anything's possible,but I'd be willing to bet that this will be a fight for the ages.
Hell yeah,I just psyched myself up that much more,I can't wait until tomorrow night.That was a fun write up,I could have went more in depth but that's cool.You know,with the passing of time you really come to appreciate when one of the fighters that you're a true fan of and followed for a while is going to be competing because you never know when their last fight could be.Of the few fighters that really ever got me emotionally invested,like a Yankees fan would be when their favorite team played,most of them are at the end of their careers or have already retired.They always brought edge of your seat excitement.I'll always be a fan of combat sports but I've found that,for me at least, I'll never be quite as drawn in as I was when watching certain fighters.Of my favorite fighters,Cro Cop is pretty much done,Minotauro is the same,Hughes is probably retired.Fedor fell from grace hard and who knows what his future holds,he's actually fighting this weekend as well in Russia.Shogun is the only one left who is still relevant as far as divisional standings and in title contention.Should be a great fight tomorrow.
I'll close this post with a little hype video rather than a music clip as it's more fitting,
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Last weekend we saw the worlds premier mixed martial arts organization make it's long awaited and much anticipated television network debut.The broadcast portion of the event was set to feature a heavyweight matchup between division champion Cain Velasquez and the number one contender Junior Dos Santos.In the end,which took only 64 seconds to reach,the hard hitting challenger proved be too much for the undefeated and hightly touted champion.A crushing right hand sent Velasquez falling to the canvas where Cigano followed up with some strategically placed punches to end the night for the once champion.
In my blog entry last week,I felt that despite the praise surrounding Cain Velasquez,Cigano was going to leave the cage that night with the belt.From my perspective the writing was on the wall.Taking nothing away from the abilities of Cain Velasquez,he's clearly an amazing athlete and will most likely compete for the title again,but he hadn't faced the level of competition to warrant the amount of hype he was recieving.His best victories included a first round stoppage of a once legendary,but now shop worn and decrepit Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and another first round stoppage of an accomplished but largely untested Brock Lesnar who was also suffering from the digestive disease diverticulitis. When looked at from that point of view,Cigano was the obvious but clearly discredited pick.Cain had become a product of the UFC hype machine,largely to gain and expand the Mexican and Latino fanbase.
With Junior's victory last saturday night,he has clearly positioned himself as the number one heavyweight in the world and may be there for quite some time. When you look at his skillset,combined with his youth and ability to learn and implement new techniques,the rest of the heavyweight division,aside from a select few,seem nowhere near the level of the new divisional kingpin. The focus now shifts to the number one contenders bout in December featuring the former Heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar,and UFC newcomer but longtime combat sports veteran,Alistair Overeem. The winner of that bout has the daunting task of trying to dethrone the newly crowned king at Heavyweight.
That Lesnar/Overeem bout should be a fun fight for however long it lasts.Personally I don't think it will leave the first round, but that's a whole other discussion for another time perhaps.Now I'll get to the main reason I wanted to make this post,and that's the crazy fight this weekend between Dan Henderson and fuckin' Shogun.On paper,all you can think is,holy shit this fight is going to be nuts.As a longtime fight fan I tend to get fairly excited and look forward to a good event when it is on the horizon, but there are a few select fighters that I'm a huge fan of and Mauricio Rua is one of them,and for good reason. In my opinion he is easily one of the most exciting,dynamic fighters competing in the sport today. It's going to be edge of the seat type stuff tomorrow night.
Dream fight.A phrase often thrown around but rarely do the marquee matchups themselves ever come to fruition.This Saturday, fights fans will be treated to a potentially explosive main event bout between mixed martial arts legends who are looking to once again wear gold and claim the title of number one light heavyweight in the world.Veterans Dan Henderson and Mauricio 'Shogun' Rua had taken different paths over the last several years but a collision between the two seemed destined.Both fighers competed in the now defunct,but no less legendary Pride Fighting Championship where they each earned world renowned recognition.
Tough as iron, would be a very appropriate way to describe Dan Henderson.In 2005,Henderson,who on two occassions represented the United States in the olympic games competing in greco roman wrestling,defeated opponent and former UFC Middleweight Champion Murilo Bustamante to win the 2005 Pride Welterweight Tournament Grand Prix.It should be noted that in Japan the weight classes were structured differently than stateside.The welterweight division would be the equivalent of the middleweight division in the states and thus the Japanese middleweight division would be the equivialnt of the light heavyweight division in the U.S.Two years later, Dan Henderson would make history by defeating then Pride Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva to become the first fighter to hold titles in two different weight classes simultaneously.After the demise of the Pride organization,Dan would have a short run in the UFC before heading to the San Jose based organization of Strikeforce where he would once again become light heavyweight champion.Before vacating his Strikeforce title and leaving the organization to once again take a run in the UFC,Henderson moved up a weight class to face,and ultimately defeat,the greatest heavyweight the sport has ever known,Fedor Emelianenko.That was this past July.
Welcoming him back the Octagon will be Brazilian wrecking machine Mauricio Shogun Rua.If you were to characterize Dan Henderson as tough as iron,you could characterize Mauricio Rua as a wild man.Shogun,who also rose to fame in Pride,put himself on the map when in 2005 he went through a gauntlet of fighters to become the 2005 Pride Middlewieght Grand Prix Tournament Champion. Over the span of those four months,the then 23 year old impressively dismantled four of the best two hundred and five pound fighters in the world to claim victory in the divisional tournament.Like his upcoming opponent,Rua also made his way to the UFC with the Japanese organization coming to a close.Shogun would go on to earn the UFC's light heavyweight crown by defeating then undeated and thought to be untouchable divisional champion Lyoto Machida, only to lose it in his next bout to rising star Jon Jones.
What has fight fans all around the world salivating is the thought of the stylistic matchup between these two.Both fans and the media alike seem to be at loss for words when trying to break down and envision the way this fight could ultimately play out.Both are primarily standup fighters with resumes that are decorated with a list of absolutely brutal ko's and tko's.What should be pointed out is the manner in which these two finish off their opponents.With the constant evolution of the sport, it's growing much more difficult to rely on one aspect of the game and continue to be successful.Dan Henderson has proved to be an exception to that way of thinking and continues to put his opposition on another planet with a wrecking ball also known his right hand.Time and time again,he uses his world class wrestling to keep the fighting standing in order to put that right hand through somebody's face,and does so with unbelievable consistancy.I feel compelled to quote UFC commentator Joe Rogan's UFC 139 Preview statement when describing one of Dan Henderson's ko's,'' The right hand that he hit Michael Bisping with, will be on highlight reels until the end of time.''
His opponent on the other hand, brings an equally violent fighting attack, only he delivers it in a more diverse fashion.Shogun brings a devastating aresenal which includes high level muay thai consisting of viscious knees and kicks that accompany clubbing punching power.Although they aren't allowed under the Unified Rules that govern the UFC,Shogun's highlight reel consists of just plain violent stomps and soccer kicks which give you insight into his mentality and natural killer instinct.Mauricio Rua is one of the best finishers in mixed martial arts today and you can be rest assured that he does not go into a fight looking to win on points or go the distance,he's looking to put you away,violently and decisively.
The most intriguing aspect is from the perspective of mindset and how these two warriors approach a fight,they might just be mirror images of one another. Both possess that walk forward,bite down on the mouth piece and go to war mentality.Both have chins made of granite and neither has ever been knocked out which only makes thinking about the potentialities that much more fascinating.Will they stand and bang?Will Dan Henderson use his greco roman background to empty Rua's gas tank?Will Shogun use his brazilian jiu jitsu and attempt to submit the former olympian? The recent addition of five round main event non tiltle fights and the possibilty of seeing an epic twenty five minute bout between two of the greatest mixied martial artists of all time only raises the level of anticipation.With mixed martial arts you're never guaranteed to be treated to an exciting fight and sometimes the lead up and trying to play the fight out in your head proves more exciting than the actual match.Anything's possible,but I'd be willing to bet that this will be a fight for the ages.
Hell yeah,I just psyched myself up that much more,I can't wait until tomorrow night.That was a fun write up,I could have went more in depth but that's cool.You know,with the passing of time you really come to appreciate when one of the fighters that you're a true fan of and followed for a while is going to be competing because you never know when their last fight could be.Of the few fighters that really ever got me emotionally invested,like a Yankees fan would be when their favorite team played,most of them are at the end of their careers or have already retired.They always brought edge of your seat excitement.I'll always be a fan of combat sports but I've found that,for me at least, I'll never be quite as drawn in as I was when watching certain fighters.Of my favorite fighters,Cro Cop is pretty much done,Minotauro is the same,Hughes is probably retired.Fedor fell from grace hard and who knows what his future holds,he's actually fighting this weekend as well in Russia.Shogun is the only one left who is still relevant as far as divisional standings and in title contention.Should be a great fight tomorrow.
I'll close this post with a little hype video rather than a music clip as it's more fitting,
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