Verbal Submission: UFC on Fox 5 Review

Music to listen to:  Would? by Alice in Chains

Some quick thoughts on UFC on Fox 5:

Size does matter:  Rory MacDonald looked like a weight class above BJ Penn in his victory on Saturday night.  Alex Gustafsson most likely entered the octagon during his victory over Shogun Rua at around 225 pounds when the light heavyweight limit is 205.  Even Benson Henderson looked like a stockier fighter than Nate Diaz despite the Stockton, California native’s reach and height advantage.

With the improved sports metrics, conditioning and dietician services, mixed martial arts fighters are continually pushing the limits of weight cutting to an elite level of science never seen before in professional sports.  When a fighter has more than a month to prepare for a contest, he has the ability to develop a weight loss program that will allow him to regain as much as 20 pounds in the approximately 24 hours between the weigh-ins and the actual fight.

The days of Penn having the ability to have a walk around weight of 168 pounds for a welterweight fight contested at 170 and not being at a significant physical disadvantage are over.  While the fight is still won in the Octagon, Saturday night was a clear indicator that having a physical advantage over your opponent doesn’t hurt the cause at all.

MacDonald is your new MMA “heel:”  As I stated in my preview of UFC on Fox 5, Penn is my favorite fighter of all-time.  Seeing Macdonald dismantle him in every aspect of the fight on Saturday was tough to see, especially when several body blows left the Hawaiian in significant pain and severely limited his ability to fight.

MacDonald could have ended the fight in the second round but proceeded to play two cards that will make many MMA fans angry.  First, similar to his stablemate and training partner, Georges St. Pierre, MacDonald deployed an extremely “conservative” attack that was efficient in execution but lacked finishing potential.  Penn is a tough fighter who can take damage better than most.  However, there wasn’t a reason that MacDonald could have executed a double-leg takedown, proceeded to use some ground punches to force Herb Dean to reward a victory by TKO.  MacDonald said that he was weary of Penn’s heavy hands, which is a legitimate thought.  Personally, I didn’t take too much offense to this game plan, even though less patient fans would have surely enjoyed a stronger finish.  GSP receives criticism for letting too many of his fights go to decisions and MacDonald will receive the same critiques.

The second thing that will strike a negative nerve with some MMA fans is MacDonald’s showboat actions in the third round.  The “Ali Shuffle,” the dropping of the hands and general taunting weren’t necessary in my opinion.  MacDonald is a talented fighter with a tremendous future.  However, between his portrayal on the UFC special that aired on television to promote the fight, the disrespectful tone towards Penn’s legacy before the contest and the actions on Saturday, MacDonald has become the most polarizing figure in MMA since Brock Lesnar.

Nate Diaz is in weight purgatory:  Diaz put on a strong effort against Henderson but he lost the strength battle against the Phoenix native.  A move to welterweight would not be suitable for Diaz’s body type and Henderson looks to be a champion with a long-term title reign in sight.  There are plenty of fights at lightweight for Diaz but holding a championship in that division looks unlikely.

Jon Jones is going to hold the light heavyweight title for a long, long time:  Gustafsson looked excellent in his victory over Rua, particularly deploying solid wrestling skills to combine with an already-strong stand up attack.  Outside of Rua’s leg lock attempt in the first round, Gustaffson completely dominated the contest.  Despite all of this, Jones does everything Gustafsson excels at even better.  MMA is an unpredictable sport and the Swede may pull the upset if the potential fight materializes but it will be tough.

It’s time for BJ and Shogun to move on:  Penn and Rua have had major impacts in MMA.  I’ll pen my fighting obit to Penn at a later day when he officially retires but his combination of brilliant jiu jitsu, aggressive fighting mentality and the fact that he was an American minority correlating with my falling in love phase with MMA back in the early 2000’s made him a favorite in my fandom since the beginning.  Rua’s legendary run in Japan during the Pride days was also exhilarating to see back in the day on my computer through old highlights during this same time frame.  Both men have held multiple world titles and are the last link to an era when proclaiming to be an MMA fan wasn’t looked at as some culturally hip statement but as a sign of respecting the truest form of sport despite the ancillary insults about it being a bloody sport and “human cock fighting.”

There are plenty of fights for Penn and Rua in their respective divisions but the championship days are over, especially for Penn who has become a slightly above fighter at this stage and that may be generous.  Rua may be younger and looked “better” in his last few fights but the light heavyweight division has passed him by.

Benson Henderson vs. Gil Melendez will happen in 2013:  Strikeforce will technically no longer existing next season, let the calls for Henderson/Melendez start now.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours?