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Wednesday, June 14, 2006
Taneo: You be the judge
By Paul J. Taneo
Free-for-all
MMA has reached a point that it is only second to western boxing in terms of popularity. Time was when the troika of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships lorded it over the mixed martial arts/kickboxing world. Now, King of the Cage, Shooto and ZST crowd out the Big 3 for revenues and print space. Not that the Big 3 will be dislodged from their aeries in the near future. The peripheral promotions, at least for now, are only able to scramble for tidbits falling from the high table of UFC, K-1 and Pride.
MMA has reached a point that it is only second to western boxing in terms of popularity. Time was when the troika of the Ultimate Fighting Championships, K-1 and Pride Fighting Championships lorded it over the mixed martial arts/kickboxing world. Now, King of the Cage, Shooto and ZST crowd out the Big 3 for revenues and print space. Not that the Big 3 will be dislodged from their aeries in the near future. The peripheral promotions, at least for now, are only able to scramble for tidbits falling from the high table of UFC, K-1 and Pride.
But when name fighters usually associated with the aforementioned three make the easy jump from the Big 3 to the paltry, it gives pause to the majors and fans. Take for example Alistair Overeem and Vitor Belfort, who usually ply their trade in K-1, Pride and UFC, fought in last Saturday’s Strikeforce: Revenge.
Overeem defeated Belfort in April 2005 in Pride Grand Prix with a tight as a boa constrictor’s coils guillotine choke. This time, fans may have expected to see a striking match from these two but it wasn’t the case. In the second round until the third, Belfort kept on falling on his back on his own and trying to pull Overeem into his guard.
In his post-fight interview, he revealed the reason for his strange strategy. Belfort said that he hurt his left hamstring and felt it safer to fight a ground game than stay on his feet where his mobility was impeded by injury. Belfort was quite impressive in the first round, slamming Overeem to the canvas and getting the Dutch’s back for a moment. Then Belfort’s left quadriceps hurt in the second when he got Overeem on the ground and he was pushing him and he felt his leg cramp. From then on, Belfort’s aggressiveness considerably lessened, only looking to survive the three-round 15-minute fight but staying active with sweeps and attempts to bring down Overeem with him to the ground.
The three judges assigned by the California State Athletic Commission saw this as a minus for Belfort and gave the decision to Overeem unanimously. Susan Thomas Gitlin gave all three rounds to Overeem, while Steve Morrow and Dan Stell had it two rounds for Overeem and one to Belfort. All three judges are relative novelties in MMA judging.
“This is the second time I got robbed in the States,” Belfort said. “The first time was with Tito (Ortiz) and now the second time here with Alistair. Maybe they don’t like Brazilians…I am very upset…Maybe she (Gitlin) is Dutch or whatever (laughter). Maybe because we are gonna win the World Cup of soccer.”
Perilously lost in the shuffle of Belfort’s complaints is Overeem, the flying knee and guillotine choke master. Asked whether he was surprised that Belfort was reluctant to engage in striking, Overeem had this to say: “He did that in the first fight. I didn’t expect him to do that in this fight…I think he was a little bit afraid of my knees that’s why he shrunk back into the guard.”
Like the booing portion of the crowd that was unaware of Belfort’s injury, Overeem thought it illogical for a striking specialist like Belfort, who earned the moniker “The Phenom” for taking out opponents in the early part of his MMA career in less than a round with fast and furious punching. Consider The Phenom’s early victims: Tra Telligman, Scott Ferrozo (who defeated Tank Abbot in a striking contest) and Wanderlei Silva (KOed in 44 seconds flat).
Vitor kept on raising the issue of unqualified judges in MMA in his eight-minute and 40-second interview. Local MMA promotions can (and should) learn a lesson from this. Last November, local fight fans witnessed one of the most embarrassing moments in the short history of Cebu MMA: Policemen masquerading as referees made a total mess of several fights at the Cebu Coliseum. One of the promoters of that MMA/kickboxing card has promised to use only qualified refs next time around. Everybody hopes so. For MMA to survive and perhaps prosper here, it’s not only the quality of matches we have to be concerned of – officiating and judging are just as important.
(paulotaneo@yahoo.com)
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (June 14, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here.
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