Fightmania Mailbag: Ranallo’s Hair, Michael Bisping

In this week’s mailbag, we’ll talk about only the most important topics in the MMA world. What fights should have happened, but didn’t? Why am I always hating on Michael Bisping? And what in the world is going on with Mauro Ranallo’s hair? For the answers to this hard-hitting questions, look no further.

Are you feeling well? I know it’s been a few weeks, but how did we get through Strikeforce without you saying anything about Mauro Ranallo’s hair? What do you think about the slicked back look?
–KC from Toronto

I know! It’s almost as if Ranallo looked at himself and thought, “Mauro, you classy son of a bitch, you, how can you get anyone to take you less seriously?” Then, I imagine him looking around his living room as his eyes pass by rows of leather-bound books, his framed Dennis Miller autograph, and the pile of dead hookers in the corner before resting on a industrial-sized vat of hair goo. Just then, I imagine his eyes widening, then quickly narrowing, as he nods knowingly.

And thus, Slick Mauro was born.

Seriously, between Mauro’s new look and Frank Shamrock’s braces, what commentary team in any sport can even come close to the unintentional hilarity presented whenever Strikeforce’s commentators are shown on screen?

So, Zoila Frausto “beat” Megumi Fujii after “advancing” past Jessica Aguilar in the Bellator women’s tournament. Who do you see winning in a rematch? Would Fujii be foolish enough to stand with her the whole time again?
–Nathan from Chicago

That’s the thing…there’s a chance Frausto will never even defend that particular title. She has already said that the weight cut was way too hard on her, and that she thinks she’ll fight at 125 lbs. instead in the future. For Fujii, who was already undersized in the Frausto fight, it’s clear that a move up of even ten pounds is too tall an order.

Then there’s the lack of takedown attempts, which traces back to that very issue. Fujii admitted after the fight that she was hesitant to work for takedowns because of Frausto’s strength advantage. Personally, I’d have liked to see her go for them, anyway. What’s the worst that can happen? She’d burn some energy going for unsuccessful takedowns, but she’d also force Frausto to expend energy. Furthermore, we’ve seen that judges will favor a fighter who spends literally all round clinching and working for takedowns, even if they never succeed with any of them.

Now, here’s a question: Why not just move Frausto up and make her the 125 lb. women’s champ, and have Jessica Aguilar and Fujii fight for the 115 lb. title? Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney has already said that there will be no women’s tournament in season four, but you could still do Aguilar-Fujii next season and then do women’s tourneys for one or both divisions in season five.

To put it lightly, you seem to be skeptical about Michael Bisping. Why is it that you don’t want to give him his due? He should be a top ten middleweight. I also don’t remember ever seeing you pick him to win a fight. What gives?
–James from Stockport

Let’s look at this as a two-fold thing. First there are my comments regarding Bisping, or, if you prefer, my tendency to rip on him whenever given half a chance. This just has to do with overall dislike for his persona. I’m not going to say dislike for him as a person, because I don’t know him personally. As much as I feel like I have a pretty good idea of what the dude is probably like, I know that for some reason, some MMA fighters think it’s a good idea to act like douchebags as if it will help their careers somehow (see: Koscheck, Josh). Maybe that’s what Bisping’s doing. Regardless, I’m not digging it.

Then, there’s the aspect of Bisping as a fighter. He does everything pretty well. Some things, like standing up after being taken down, he does very well. However, it’s sometimes hard to pick him to win fights because he doesn’t have a lot of finishing skills when it comes to pure power or the technique to submit top guys. Furthermore, even things that are supposed to be his strengths have been exposed occasionally in the past (i.e. his striking in the Matt Hamill fight). And hey, the middleweight division isn’t the easiest one to compete in. His opponents over the last couple of years have been fairly tough, which also leads me to pick him to lose.

As far as why he’s not ranked, well, I pretty much went into that in the last rankings post. He lost to Wanderlei Silva (Bisping fans: he did lose) not too far back, and Silva’s not ranked. That’s reason enough, isn’t it? If he keeps surpassing expectations, he’ll be in there in the future.

It seems like there are always superfights that either don’t happen or that do happen, but only after they just aren’t as exciting anymore. What are some fights that you wished would have happened in the past?
–Carter from Pennsylvania

Hmmm, good question. In no particular order and off the top of my head, here’s a few that come to mind:

–Wanderlei Silva vs. Chuck Liddell, circa 2005. Yeah, the fight eventually happened, but at least two years too late. This needed to happen when both were just about at their respective apexes. Pride rules would have been nice, too. There’s also Wandy-Couture back in 2004, Wandy-Bas Rutten in the early Pride days (Rutten said he’d be interested from the commentary booth, but it was never pursued), even rematches between Silva and Tito Ortiz or Vitor Belfort would have been nice to see at some point. I could write a whole column of fights I would have like to seen including Wanderlei Silva, really.

–Fedor Emelianenko vs. Randy Couture, circa 2007-08. This is another one that lost its luster anyway, since both fighters have lost since this fight should have happened, and Couture is mulling retirement. I almost said Fedor vs. Brock, but I think the tactical side of Couture’s game and the similar sizes of the two makes this one a more interesting matchup.

–Urijah Faber vs. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto, circa 2006-07. Yeah, there’s a slight weight difference, but a catch weight could have solved that, and these two were absolutely tearing through everybody back in 2006 and 2007. This is a fight many hoped to see, but then Yamamoto decided to take a year off and train for the Olympics. Since coming back, he’s had a tough run of things, and Faber has lost his “invincible” tag, as well.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: Bellator Fighting Championships, Chuck Liddell, Fedor Emelianenko, Frank Shamrock, Jessica Aguilar, Kid Yamamoto, Mauro Ranallo, Megumi Fujii, Michael Bisping, Pride, Randy Couture, Strikeforce, UFC, Urijah Faber, Wanderlei Silva, Zoila Frausto