In MMA, Truth Is Often Stranger Than Fiction

Let’s face it- the sport of mixed martial arts lends itself to some unconventional personalities and strange happenings.  However, I feel pretty confident in saying that the last couple of weeks have been among the stranger periods in the sport’s short history, which would really be saying something.  This is a sport where Gilbert Yvel once assaulted a referee, one of the most respected fighters in the history of the sport, Kazushi Sakuraba, marketed his fight against Kevin Randleman as “Super Mario vs. Donkey Kong”, and Quinton Jackson once went on an energy-drink fueled…well, rampage with his SUV, only to fight a couple of months later.

And fittingly enough, our rundown of the strange recent events in the sport begins with Rampage himself.  You would have to have been far from civilization (or at least an MMA news website) to not know about Rampage’s apparent retirement from the sport that was suddenly announced via a blog entry from the man himself.  The motivation?  Not a lack of interest in competition or recurring injuries of increasing magnitude, but a perceived disrespect coming from UFC president Dana White.  That’s right, one of the brightest stars in the sport today has said he’s calling it quits because White hurt his feel-bads.

Meanwhile, a fighter who has maintained for well over a year that he is putting fighting on hold, perhaps for good, in order to pursue an acting career has suddenly decided not to do so.  Roger Huerta apparently had an epitome of some sort in his surprisingly competitive loss to future lightweight title challenger Gray Maynard, and has said that he now wants to focus on fighting, after all.

In other strange news, former NFL running back Herschel Walker has decided to step into the cage at the age of 47 years old to compete professionally as a mixed martial artist.  Walker cites years of traditional martial arts training as well as training in MMA specifically, as well as his admittedly impressive dedication to keeping in shape over the years as reasons that we should, you know, not just start laughing and/or shaking our heads.

His decision is admirable, and in a sport where Dan Severn can still be seen actively competing at a county fair or bingo hall near you, it’s hard to deny Walker his chance to test himself professionally.  However, why in the world is Strikeforce signing a 47-year old rookie?  When Dana White understandably put Strikeforce on blast for doing so, Walker took exception and did what any rational person would do- challenged White to a fight.  Apparently he didn’t follow the feud between White and former Affliction promoter Tom Atencio, who repeatedly tried to goad White into a fight, to no avail.

Say what you will about Dana, but he is smart enough to know that he has nothing to gain by dropping his vast array of daily duties for the cause of training full-time to shut up anyone who opens their mouth about him.  Meanwhile, Strikeforce needs to tread carefully here.  It’s one thing that the president of the most powerful MMA organization in the world is now trying to make you look silly whenever possible, it’s quite another to do the job for him.

Also, you surely are aware of the upcoming Couture-Vera bout in the UFC, but what about the Strikeforce installment of this emerging family rivalry?  That’s right, Couture and Vera will square off in two organizations in November, with Randy’s soon-to-be ex-wife Kim Couture taking on Brandon’s wife Kerry.  What was I saying about Strikeforce apparently trying to look like a B-level organization?  Well, this doesn’t help things.  Sure, a lot of people will tune in because of the names involved, but what does that do in the long-term for the company?  Is it more important to get a few extra eyeballs out of morbid curiosity than it is to become a respected organization that isn’t seen as a promotion desperate to do something, anything to compete with the big boys?

Throw in the fact that Kim Couture is an inexperienced fighter who has done very little thus far to show that she has earned the kind of exposure fighting in Strikeforce will give her, and things get even stinkier.  I suppose she is much more experienced in the cage than Herschel Walker though…let’s give them that much, right?

Finally, this last bit may not seem strange at first, but hear me out.  It has been said that Anderson Silva will finally agree to defending his middleweight title on January 2nd against hand-picked opponent—er, sorry… “number 1 contender” Vitor Belfort.  That’s right, after making his UFC return and defeating an opponent (Rich Franklin) who, while quite skilled, isn’t even a current UFC middleweight, Belfort will leapfrog the likes of Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt for a title shot.

The weird part of that particular story is that noted control freak Dana White has seemingly allowed one of his organization’s champions to dictate who should and should not receive a title shot.  We all remember White all but announcing that Dan Henderson would get another shot at Anderson Silva’s title after his recent string of wins, which culminated when he completely starched Michael Bisping at UFC 100.

Suddenly, things changed.  Both Silva and his manager/interpreter Ed Soares publicly noted their dissatisfaction with a rumored rematch with Henderson, and Soares seemed to draw a line in the sand, saying that they would continue fighting top light heavyweights until a “valid contender” was decided.  Soares played a little matchmaker and suggested a number one contender bout of sorts between Henderson and Marquardt in the meanwhile.

Now, when have you ever known Dana White to let fighters dictate to him who should and shouldn’t be getting title shots?  But, sure as can be, we are now going to be seeing Vitor Belfort take on Anderson Silva on January 2nd, while Henderson and Marquardt will apparently be fighting each other to move up a place in line, in the event that Silva deems the winner to be worthy of his time, I suppose.  Still…it’s very strange.  White has publicly feuded with some of the biggest stars in UFC history and even let his ill feelings towards many fighters keep him from signing them, regardless of whether they belonged in the promotion or not.  Now, he’s going to let one of his champions tell him who they will and will not fight in title defenses?  Perhaps Anderson Silva is as crafty in his business dealings as he is in the cage?

Rampage giving up on his vast earnings potential in the sport over a couple of perceived slights?  Strikeforce battling the UFC by signing a 47-year old debuting fighter and women’s versions of UFC main events?  Dana White allowing one of his fighters to essentially decide which fights will and won’t happen in his organization?  It may seem like things can’t get any stranger, but if history has shown us anything, it’s that anything can (and probably will) happen in MMA.

by Jon Hartley for Fightmania.com

Tags: Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson, Dana White, Gray Maynard, Quinton Jackson, Rich Franklin, Strikeforce, UFC, Vitor Belfort