WFA Has a Long Way to Go

In the weeks leading up to Saturday's WFA show in Los Angeles it appeared as though there was actually going to be a game competitor to a UFC dominant MMA market. After the event was over however, it became obvious that Dana White and the Zuffa gang have little to worry about; at least in the short term.

This was a card that was tailor made for the hardcore MMA fan. With names like Rutten, Machida, Rampage, and Rodriguez long time fans were afforded the opportunity to see fighters previously only seen on YouTube or scratchy bootleg MMA videos. What actually took place was an event with obvious low level production values, a somewhat uneducated play-by-play commentator and a lack of organization. This was surprising considering the amount of marketing and promotion the event received, including a well produced preview show that aired on Showtime. It certainly didn't help to have one of the fighters in the main event fail a drug test a few days before the event leading to a drastically lopsided mismatch. Appreciated though, was Bas Rutten's reaction to Kimo's drug test. Rutten took Kimo to task, calling him a pussy for having to rely on drugs rather than hard work to get in shape for a fight.

The actual fights themselves were not the blockbusters they looked to be on paper. Certainly, WFA can't be held totally responsible for the performance of the fighters but at some point they are going to have to make an effort to encourage the well paid athletes to entertain. Here's a breakdown of the fights as they took place Saturday:

Rob McCullough vs. Harris Sarmiento
This is had to be a point of concern for the WFA executives. It was obvious that the plan was to start the televised card with these two with the thinking that there would be fireworks immediately from the bell. What happened instead was a conservative slow moving kickboxing match. McCullough pelted Sarmiento's legs with low kicks. Sarmiento made the occasional attempt to brawl but McCullough wanted none of it. Rob picked his shots for 15 minutes and earned an uninspired decision.

Ricco Rodriguez vs. Ron Waterman
You'd be hard pressed to find someone who would have thought that this fight would be more action packed then McCullough vs. Sarmiento but it was. Ricco still looked overweight but is obviously trimming up. He pressed the action, listened to his corner and fought a smart fight. Despite having Ron in considerable trouble a few times in the first round, Ricco was unable to finish. As it turned out, it didn't matter. Ricco did enough damage to Waterman to cause the doctors to call the fight in between the first and second round.

Ivan Salaverry vs. Art Santore
Ivan came out looking like a completely different fighter than the guy who circled for three rounds against Nathan Marquardt a year ago. This may have been his most impressive performance to date. His striking looked calculated and powerful and he came with a high level of aggressiveness. In the second round Ivan was able to hurt Santore and jumped at the chance to finish, landing in the mount and pounding Art to a referee stoppage.

Jason Miller vs. Lodune Sincaid
Miller declared himself a pro-wrestler in his prefight interview. While this is amusing to most hardcore MMA fans, the uninitiated might have taken him seriously. It's not clear how well the joke went over considering the broadcast team bought it as "a shoot". Lodune was completely outclassed in this fight. It seemed early on Sincaid decided to stay in the turtle position and dare Miller to submit him. Jason was happy to oblige with an easy rear naked choke victory in the first round.

Ryoto Machida vs. Vernon White
Towards the end of the first round of this fight MMA fans had to be screaming the question "Is this the guy that beat Rich Franklin and B.J. Penn?". Indeed, this is the guy. Machida unimpressively stood and kickboxed with White in what was another disappointment from this card. Ryoto was able to earn the decision but certainly made no fans in the U.S. with his performance.

Bas Rutten vs. Rueben Villareal
Rutten gets the nod for ring entrance of the night. He was able to ignite the crowd and it was clear he was a huge draw for the crowd. Villareal deserves a ton of credit for taking the fight on such short notice. Clearly Bas was ready to go. His punches looked well timed and sharp. It's a testament to Ruben's chin that Rutten had to resort to leg kicks to finish him in the first, but he was way overmatched to the surprise of no one.

Quinton Jackson vs. Matt Lindland
This fight was the saving grace for WFA. Both fighters left everything in the ring in what turned into a fantastic ground war. Quentin's power was impressive was able to slam Matt almost at will. Matt on the other hand was able to show that he can compete with the strongest 205lb fighters in the world. The close split decision victory for Rampage may lead to a rematch.

If what is said about first impressions is true, then WFA has a lot of work to do to establish itself as a contender to UFC dominance in the U.S. Production values must improve for the scheduled October show. In addition, WFA should pay close attention to the style matchups that are arranges. The jury is still out on how much success WFA can have but after Saturday's event there's not much else to do but improve.

UFC 61: Bitter Rivals Preview

Although I'm looking forward to UFC 61 I have to wonder how long this pattern of rematches as main events can continue. Granted, the main event at UFC 60 wasn't a rematch, but prior to that we've had Arlovski vs. Sylvia 2 and Liddell vs. Couture 3. Looking forward, the next few events in the UFC PPV future are going to feature rematches for main events. Chuck Liddell will presumably return to the octagon in August to take on Ranato Sobral and in September Georges St. Pierre will get his much desired second crack at the UFC Welterweight Title against Matt Hughes. By the time these events are over, UFC fans will be looking for some new match-ups. Hopefully somewhere in there we'll get to see Rich Franklin defend his title against Anderson Silva. Here's my predictions for the July 8th card:

Hermes Franca vs. Joe Jordan

Hermes makes his long awaited return to the UFC along with the 155 pound division. While Joe Jordan is making his debut. Unfortunately for Joe, Hermes looks to be a better than ever and will put himself in the middle of the lightweight title mix. Jordan has experience against top competition but hasn't faired well. Look for Hermes to stop Joe early.
Franca by KO in Rd. 1

Gilbert Aldana vs. Cheick Kongo

Aldana is comming off of a brutal knockout loss to Paul Buentello back in February. Kongo makes his debut in the UFC but has one almost all of his fights by knockout. I was unimpressed with Aldana so I'm going with Kongo.
Kongo by KO in Rd. 2


Jeff Monson vs. Anthony Perosh
Monson is in the middle of a run that will likely land him a title shot against the winner of the Arlovski vs. Sylva fight. His grappling ability is world class but his stand up is a long way from being capable to capture the belt. Perosh is a BJJ blackbelt and has won almost all of his fights by submission. If Pe de Pano couldn't submit Monson, Perosh certainly won't.
Monson by decision

Drew Fickett vs. Kurt Pellegrino
Fickett was on a huge roll of beating guys named Josh before Josh Burkman choked him out at Ultimate Fight Night in January. Pellegrino's record looks good until you look closer. He's never faced anyone with the skills of Fickett. I don't expect Kurt to do well in this one.
Fickett by submission Rd. 1

Yves Edwards vs. Joe Stevenson
This is one of the more interesting fights on the card. Both fighters are coming off a loss in their last UFC outing. Yves got a win in Bushido afterwards though and that could be the difference here. Stevenson's confidence has to be a bit shaky at this point and that's not good when you're going in against one of the best lighweights on the planet. Joe could make a fight of this, but Yves will likely work to keep this standing and will get the better of Joe.
Edwards by decision

Josh Burkman vs. Josh Neer

Burkman is looking to get back on the winning track after a tough loss to Jon Fitch at the April UFN. Neer, meanwhile has been on a roll lately and is looking to further solidify his position as a welterweight contender. It will be interesting to see if his winning ways will eventually get him a shot at fellow Miletich teammate Matt Hughes in the future if Hughes gets by St. Pierre in September. Burkman has surprised people before but I don't like his odds here.
Neer by submission Rd. 2

Frank Mir vs. Dan Christison
Frank came back too early in his last fight against Pe de Pano and looked like a shadow of his former self. Hopefully the last four months have been enough to get him back into some reasonable shape. Frank must avoid Dan's attempts to control him on the ground. I'm being a fanboy here, but I think he will.
Mir by sub mission Rd. 1

Tito Ortiz vs. Ken Shamrock
I can't possibly see anything here that would give Ken a chance in this fight. Tito works harder, has more ability, better cardio, and is younger. Ken has never wised up to the fact that he needs to work with better partners in training. The dislike between these two won't play a factor when the fight starts. It's going to come down to Tito's huge skill advantage over Ken.
Ortiz by TKO Rd. 2

Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski
Despite what most say, I still believe this is a difficult fight to call. Nobody likes being the heavyweight champion more than Tim. Andrei says he wants the belt back badly but I don't think he wants to win as bad as Sylvia. Andrei clearly has the advantage in ability. The difference in the third installment of this rivalry will be Andrei's game plan. He's going to fight a much smarter fight this time by eliminating Sylvia's reach advantage. Look for Tim to spend some time on his back in this one.
Andrei by submission Rd. 2

This card looks great and will likely bring some excitement. Hopefull some of the undercard fights will establish some contenders and stars that we can look forward to seeing in some main events in the future. The way things are going we probably won't see a highly touted main event (that's not a rematch) in a UFC PPV this year.

Will