The Right And The Wrong In MMA For the Prime Time Television Masses
Saturday night’s Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers card from Hoffman Estates, Illinois, just outside Chicago pointed up the problem MMA will have reaching the masses with a pair of fights that demonstrated the full spectrum of possible outcomes for mixed martial arts bouts.
On the one hand, you had a fight between Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Jake Shields for the Strikeforce middleweight title that had the crowd booing loudly throughout as both fighters struggled to impose their game plans.
Shields, whose striking could best be described as “adequate” and at worst called substandard, repeatedly took the fight to the ground and neutralized Miller’s size and boxing advantage.
The crowd hated it, and it’s hard to fault them for their dissatisfaction, but the responsibility for a truly dull bout lies not with the fighters but with the referee, “Big John” McCarthy.
McCarthy is an excellent ref, but during this one, both fighters were allowed prolonged periods of inactivity, and that makes for a very, very dull affair – and a crowd who paid their ticket price to see explosive, non-stop action went howling in opposition to the pace of the fight.
Fights on the ground which feature a lack of striking and submission attempts will never be popular with fight crowds. Enjoying that type of bout requires a taste for the subtle techniques of jiu-jitsu and wrestling which the American sporting public just doesn’t possess.
 |
You can feel free to argue the point, but it was clear that Rogers won the first round and set the stage for the inevitable conclusion… |
Toe-to-toe standup fights are the crowd-pleasers, and that was clearly evident when the main event got underway.
Brett Rogers and Fedor Emelianenko gave the crowd something to cheer about with a fight that was diametrically opposed to the one which preceded it; a tactical war between skilled strikers which featured bombs from both fighters and repeated shifts of momentum.
You can feel free to argue the point, but it was clear that Rogers won the first round and set the stage for the inevitable conclusion. Rogers gained confidence from landing some shots, bloodying Emelianenko with a solid jab to the Russian legend’s nose and then taking him down and nearly ending the fight with an excellent ground-and-pound assault.
But the challenger’s hard work only served to build some suspense, not set up a Rogers’ victory.
Emelianenko took the measure of Rogers and ultimately dropped him with the kind of vicious, precision right hand no fighter has absorbed and stayed standing. It was a shot so devastating – and so singularly Fedor in it’s suddenness and explosive force – that it made the first round of the fight seem like a distant memory and the outcome a foregone conclusion from the start.
Emelianenko and Rogers gave the crowd a barnburning dustup.
Miller and Shields fought to a near stalemate, and that’s not what puts the asses in the expensive seats ringside.
Wrestling fans and aficionados will appreciate the way Shields dominated Miller and won a clear decision, but his win was, well, boring.
Emelianenko’s victory, on the other hand, achieved the kind of dramatic, fast-paced beauty that reaches to the level of artistry, and that does put asses in the seats.
It may well have finally signaled the arrival of The Last Emperor into the consciousness of the wider American sporting public, and if it did, Emelianenko’s performance was the long-awaited stateside coming out party for the man who is easily the most dangerous and entertaining mixed martial artist (if you ignore the career of Royce Gracie ) in the history of the sport.
Now bring on Emelianenko vs. Lesnar and let the fur fly…
Similar Posts:
- Mir Says Emelianenko in the Wrong League
- Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou Set For Mousasi Fight on Strikeforce Card
- Mousasi To Defend Title at Fedor Vs. Rogers
- The Brett Rogers Fight Has No Upside For Fedor Emelianenko
- Betting Odds For Strikeforce Fedor vs Rogers
- The Brett Rogers Sound System
- MMA Quote – Brett Rogers Preparing For His Next Opponent
- MMA Quote – Vadim Finkelchtein
Loading ...
