par·i·ty - Pronunciation[par-i-tee] –noun
1. equality, as in amount, status, or character.
The talk of the MMA world so far in 2007 has, of course, been the many “upsets” we have witnessed so far. We have already labeled 2007 as “The Year of the Upset” and pretty much every month that trend continues.
Whether each of the following fight results truly was an upset is a matter of discussion; but the following fights are the fights that have contributed most to this resurgance in the victory going to the “underdog.”
- Nick Diaz defeats Takanori Gomiin (Feb 24)
- Rameau Sokoudjou defeats Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Feb 24)
- Dan Henderson defeats Wanderlei Silva (Feb 24)
- Randy Couture defeats Tim Sylvia (March 3)
- Matt Serra defeats Georges St. Pierre (April 7)
- Gabriel Gonzaga defeats Mirko Filipovic (April 21)
As I said, we can debate whether each and every one of those fights truly was an “upset” but that isn’t really the point I want to discuss. The question is this: “Will all these upsets and quick changing of the title belts hurt MMA as a sport?”
On the one hand, that aspect of uncertainty is what makes the sport of MMA so exciting. You honestly never truly know what is going to happen in any given fight. All it takes is one small lapse in concentration or one minor misstep and a whole fight can be lost in an instant. MMA, more than boxing or any other team sport, is truly a man-vs-man battle with no outside influence to distract the final outcome.
On the other hand, it could be very dangerous to enter a period where we don’t have successful, long-reigning champions in MMA. If there is a constant turnaround where a fighter gains the championship belt, only to hold it for one or two fights, that could turn off some of the “mainstream” casual audience that the sport is trying to attract. Fans like stability in there champions to a certain extent. If fans see that fighters only win the belt to immediately lose it to someone else, I think it ultimately lessens that “value” or “prestige” of being a title-holder. Being a title-holder and a champion is somewhat watered down if the audience in general thinks that the champ can easily be beaten at any time by any other fighter.
The way I look at it is this; parity in MMA is ultimately a VERY GOOD thing. For right now, the “year of the upset” shows us just how truly great those past and current champions like Chuck Liddell, Matt Hughes, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and even a younger Tito Ortiz. These guys held the belt and defended their titles time after time against the cream-of-the-crop and stood tall as champions.
However, the sport of MMA is evolving quickly to a point where the old cliche of “styles make fights” won’t hold up much longer. No longer will we see a strong grappler fight an excellent striker and see who can impose their will on the other. We are going to start seeing fighters who are strong in all aspects of grappling, boxing, jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai, etc… It is no longer going to be one style vs. another style; it’s going to be fighter against fighter where both combatants are skilled in all areas. We are just now starting to see fighters who have been training all aspects of MMA since they were young. No longer will it be just kick-boxers who learn grappling, or college wrestlers who learn striking; it’s going to be fighters who have been training in everything since they were eight years old.
And when that happens, that is the time when having parity will be good. That is the time when the next generation of truly standout MMA fighters will rise to the top. Then we will see the Matt Hughes’ and Wanderlei Silva’s of the next generation who dominant a weight class for years at a time. There are young fighters in the smaller shows and just coming into the UFC and PrideFC right now who will be those champions. And that is why, in my opionion,
The greatest fighters are still yet to come…
DOC
I TOTALLY AGREE… SINSE GSP LOST AND CRO COP… I WAS THINKING THE SAME THING I WAS LIKE… MAN THIS IS *** I DONT KNOW IF I CAN KEEP WATCHING THIS IF GSP OR CRO COP WELL NAMED GUYS GETTING BEET BY UNDERDOG **** BAGS… ITS KIND OF A TURN OFF TO BE HONEST
@DOC
Great article, very articulate and well thought out.. I only have to disagree with one statement.
“a man-vs-man battle with no outside influence to distract the final outcome.”
.. HERB DEAN..
enough said.
hahaha,
true true. How could I forget Herb…
HERB DEAN IS THE BEST REF IN THE UFC BEHIND BIG JOHN
HELL YEA HERB
I wish I could petition Herb Dean right out of MMA, he is the WORST poor excuse for a ref. I have ever seen. If he want’s to be a terrible ref. I hear boxing is looking for some new talent, and judging by the way the Superbowl went 2 years ago, the NFL would be a great fit for him as well, but there is just no room for a ref. who stands fighters up while they are actively engaged in combat so as to give one fighter an advantage over the other, I am just glad Gonzaga landed that high kick, it should teach Herb to just do his job and stop trying to stop fights too fast, or determine the direction of a fight.
OH KANSAS
COME ON DUDE HERB DEAN IS THE SHIZ …
Back on par, the article is very accurate, I do believe that the best fighters are yet to come because MMA is becoming a household phrase and soon you will see more MMA schools rather than just Taekwondo Schools or Ju-Jitsu schools. When the pool of fighters gets better, the sport will be more consistant, but hey, the sport is not UFC, it is MMA, and Wand held his belt for gosh 6 YEARS. That’s pretty darn consistant, and fact is I wouldn’t count him out just yet, he has a few years left, and the fact that he does train BJJ and Muay Thai would say he might move into the next gen fighter column ahead of his class, or he may not, but I think again that this column is very good.
@Patrick
You mean full of shiz….?
Looks like shiz…?
Smells like shiz…?
or
Refs like shiz….?
KANSAS
WHAT ABOUT THE STOP HE DID WITH TIM SYLVIA… SEEIN THAT ARM BREAK THAT WAS EXCELANT REFING
LOL!
Yeah gotta give him love there.. BUT!!!!!
What about the Ortiz / Shamrock fight #2 .. super fast stop!
What about Arlovski / Cruz - stopped the ground game and then when Arlovski regained his composure, boom he sz go and Arlovski knocks out Cruz, that was a crock stoppage, and pure chaos, terrible job!
What about Cro Cop / Gonzaga - Gonzaga is dropping bombs on the ground against Cro Cop and then for absolutely no good reason at all Herb stands them up to give Cro Cop a chance to fight back! What the heck is he doing trying to give a fighter a chance to fight back or give one fighter the advantage over the other?!
Herb has a laundry list of crappy reffing… he couldn’t ref his way out of a wet paper bag, and he looks stoned all the time, like he is related to Bob Marley or something!
there is probably another 20 or so controversial calls made by Herb Dean over the years, i dont think we have to rehash them all.. Simply hes a terrible ref.. i dont think hes a victim of bad luck so much as.. hes a victim of his own incompetance.. They should keep him Reffing the smaller shows but not in the UFC.. and for MAJOR bouts? like title matches NO WAY IN HELL!!!
Herb may smoke the Herb, but i wouldnt put him in the same boat as Bob Marley, thats an insult to Bob!
EVERYONE MAKES MISTAKES GENTS
yea everyone makes mistakes.. but why is it that anytime Herb is announced as the Ref, everyone i know automatically says “oh sht! Herb Dean!”
LETS ASK THE DOC….
DOC WHAT ARE UR THOUGHTS ON HERB DEAN
@Pat
Why does Big John have such a good reputation, the guys name is synonymous with MMA, he was there when Royce won the first tournament..
HIS ENTEGRITY has stood the test of time, it’s not his good looks, or how long he has been there, it’s the fact that he is an impeccable ref, who by the way is also doing shows outside the UFC, and I believe because he WONT do what Herb does is why he is finding work outside the octagon occasionally.
@bvrsp
“yea everyone makes mistakes.. but why is it that anytime Herb is announced as the Ref, everyone i know automatically says “oh sht! Herb Dean”
LMAO! It’s true man! The whole restaurant erupts with that comment!
Yes i agree, this indeed is the year of the upsets, but i guess that is what the fighters and audience must realize when your dealing with a sport as diverse in fighting styles as this. I mean everyone knows that GSP could beat serra on any day, so i dont think just because we are having upsets, i think it will some what sway the audience, i think they will be more like” oh hell no” and come into believing that anything can happen rather than putting all your money on a fighter. Now, rather than them saying “i put all my money on so&so” they are going to have to start thinking “well i like so&so”but let me not forget we are watching mma and lets remember gsp did get knocked in the back of the damn head and lost his title…….., oh lord!! But that’s what makes this stuff soooooooo exciting because i didnt hear any boo’s when serra won or certainly not even when coutour won. So i believe this is what makes this sport so wonderful. Every fighter has a level of skill beyond normal and mma is no fake. But as of the actuall matches: Diaz-gomi, ok i knew this one was going to end with a knock out but once i REALLY saw that he has no takedown defense or cardio, i knew it was a matter of time before diaz got him, so no i didnt think that one was a upset, lets just hope to the lord on all this off time gomi and his camp hit the gym and take the checklist as well.
Dan Henderson-Wandy– well……hell yea this was and upset but like ive been talking to the boys about after seeing him the last fights and the last year he did not look RIGHT, for some reason and i just knew that is was a matter of time before something happens when your in a messed up mental state.
Randy Coutoure-Tim Silvia— Well i had three words in going into this fight for OL timmy, “matter of time”
Serra-Gsp- Yea tw0 words for this one to after the fight-What the f&*^?!!!
Last but not least gonzaga-cro cop- You know i really didnt know about this one, the only thing i DID know was that this was a big boy and he could pose some problems if he got mirko down on the ground, and he did and that resulted in a knock out!!! WOW, yea that was an upset but…….geez i didnt expect for that to happen!!!!!!
@Todd
About the Diaz - Gomi, it was definately an underdog situation in my opinion. If you watch any of Gomis other fights, you will see that he has GREAT take down defense AND stamina.. thats why it was so shocking what happened. When i saw that Gomi was gassed out in the first round, honestly i was pissed man.. what kind of sht is that?? thats not how a champ performs, how can you be that dominant of a champion and you come out and cant even fight 1 round? Diaz is a good fighter and hes a monster at that division, but i think the result of that fight was more because of Gomi’s pathetic performance rather than Diaz doing something amazing.. i dunno what happened, if he was sick or jetlagged or whatever.. but it felt it was really embarassing and Diaz should have the Pride Lightweight Belt for that.
@Kansas
I think when they announce fights, they should also announce whos gonna be the ref for the match, it would certainly help the gamblers spread. Is there any way to account for the Herbie factor??
“Herbie Factor” lol that if funny man I don’t care if you like him or not!
I don’t think all these upsets are good for MMA. It leaves a shocked and sour taste in your mouth after something like Cro Cop/Gonzaga happens. When Serra beat GSP all I could say was that was so dumb, why did GSP train so hard and win so many fights all in culmination of him being the future of the sport and beating Matt Hughes, and then lose it in his first title defense to what many considered a nobody? The other thing is when you have Dana White in an interview describing Cro Cop to UFC audiences as a Heavy Weight Chuck Liddell and hyping the guy up to be the greatest in the world, the next champ, superman if you will, then he gets knocked out in his 2nd fight in the UFC against a largely unknown fighter in such a way that he makes the all time best knockouts list for MMA, and he is on the receiving end!.. Not good people.. sorry, it discredits anything that Dana says and it steals the thunder of the UFC gaining big name fighters when those fighters all turn out to be mediocre or duds all together.
@BRVSAP, Yea brother i see what your saying but to me that looked like he been hitting the punching bag non stop and not giving a hell about anything else. I mean the first round he was gassed. Maybe because we are so used to him dictating where his past fights went and setting the tempo. I dont think he was used to anything like Diaz who constantly pressured him and pressured him. I think that and the accuracy that diaz had also helped with the determing factor in this fight. But i guess it was a upset underdog situation especially over there overseas because they worship the man!!!! But yea i see what your saying. I think im going to watch that fight real quick because that was a good one!!!!!!!!!!
@Todd
well that event was in Vegas, so it was Gomi coming overseas, thats why some people speculated that it could be the jetlag in combination with the food, etc.. you know what, lemme go check that fight out real quick too heh
ok i just watched it..
Round 1
Gomi owned Diaz for the first 3 min, on the feet and on the ground.. He couldnt finish him after that bomb and then Gomi was done.. the last 2 min diaz started tagging him on the feet at will because Gomi couldnt even hold his hands up lol. The fight looked over at this point..
Round 2
Gomi gets a little steam back which he totally burns out throwing a few more bombs and cutting diaz. With nothing left in the tank, Gomi tackles Diaz and lays on top of him for a a few seconds, then Diaz drops the gogoplata on him an put him to sleep.
Gomi looked like the one who was stoned in this fight LOL
Yea that fight was TOO crazy!!! lol lol yea gomi owned him in the beginnig of the first then i dont know what the hell i thought he was playing possum at first until he was getting hit with rabbit punches, then the beginning of the second it was a draw gomi was hanging for a minute then he tried to take me down and straight got choked out!!!!!!1
gomi must have gotten ahold of some of that california weed in vegas or something, but he looked ok i guess, but he kept throwing punches like around diazes rib cage, he wasnt throwing those bombs at nicks head, but a couple of good hooks did land to open that second cut up, dang did you see nicks face after that fight, he looked like a toxic avenger or something!! lol
lol yea, i think Diaz was outclassed in that match-up, in the standup atleast. It looked just like everyone thought it would go, until Gomi couldnt finish Diaz when he got him down. Then everything went wrong, especially when Gomi had his hands down at his waist lol whats that about? how can you get that tired in 3 min as a pro fighter? and a dominant champ comparable to matt hughes reign over the UFC welter division..
Sad… Very sad..
lol lol lol, yea i donno how you get that damn tired that quick either, you know it WAS in vegas, he prolly had one of them escorts come to his lockerroom before the fight to give him a massage and a little somethin,somethin els went down instead, cuz you know THEY come to your room now!!!!!! lol lol,
But b did you see that last interview with rampage, he said it is gonna be a STANDUP war!!!!!!! Im so excited to see this fight!!!!!!!!!!!!!
yea Todd, with all the unpsets so far, i cant wait to see the chuck rampage happen! sht its 50/50 now as far as im concerned. lol
on the gomi fight it was straight up gomi not respecting diaz at all nothing zilch natha thats why he lost he probably didnt even train i was watching a kinda gomi bio and hes a co*cky SOB thats why he lost even though i still think that diaz will hand gomi another azzzz whoopin if he can only stay away from the reefer to keep the win on his record the stripped the win away and took him of mmaweeklys top ten but mma weekly is *** anyways
DR J
this was an awesome article but all these upsets are really starting to get to me dont get me wrong i love the underdog but if the underdogs start to win then what?
may be u missed and upset
sokodijou vs arona wasnt that an upset?
alright i just watched tuf and i know where ive seen the anorexic black guy at he got knocked the fu*ck out on world combat league if u havent seen it the show it during the commercials for the events its on the small infomercial chuck norris does for the ab lounge he trains like an animal but doesnt have a chin like one
alright guys i fu*cked u guys its a different anorexic black guy that gets koed not the guy from tuf SORRY
[...] MMA HQ: Is parity good for MMA? [...]
i loved the cro cop vs. gonzaga fight. as an mma fan how could you not love a huge knock out like that who cares who it happen to. but at work on monday a bunch of people were like “f*ck that sh*t cro cop sucks” and “f*ck the ufc i’m sick of these sh*tty fighter getting lucky” i dont worry a whole lot about who wins a fight just that its a good fight. the fans that are going to go away are the ones that watch cuz its “cool” and yes most of these people suck but they help pay for good fights to happen. i went to a muay thai event a few months ago and there were two drunkin f*ck heads sitting in front of me booing and commenting on a 14 year old female fighters t*ts and asss i wanted to give both of these guy a savage elbow in the back of the head. but guess what these two fools payed just as much as i did to get in so they helped in a small way to let me see those fights so suck it up because we have to cater to them a bit in order to help ourselves see better fights.
KANSAS
UR COMMENT IN #21 I TOTALLY AGREE… WTF YA KNOW?
@Patrick
Thanks, it’s really what I think….
KANSAS
U KNOW…. IM KINDA STARTING TO LOSE INTEREST… LIKE IF THE PITBULL WOULD HAVE LOST I WOULD HAVE BEEN LIKE **** IT.. GSP CRO COP ARE MY FAVS AND TO SEE THEM LOSE TO **** BAGS… TURNS ME OFF
Yea i totally agree with you pat, but i think we would all be mad if this became a trend i dont think we would turn away from it because it so mind blowing. But i do agree with you after seeing your fav fighter lose does suck. But this is totally off the subject but WAS pitbull sporting the mullet?!!!! lol
@Patrick
I understand, but hey not even Vanna, (oops I meant Dana) White can do anything to keep this crap from happening. I mean if Cro Cop doesn’t have the heart to go in and win a fight, he is going to get beaten everytime.
I think all these upsets are coming at a time when the spotlight is starting to shine on MMA, and the big boys know it, and they are choking because they realize that millions of people are watching them. They are losing focus, (GSP/WAND) and they are focusing more on PR and all the crap that goes along with being a champion rather than what they are there to do.
I hope Chuck has trained adequately for Jackson, I know the UFC has had him doing radio shows, tv shows, sponsors ads, ect and I wonder how much focus that has taken off of what he has to do on May 26th? I hope that is not another upset, they might want Herb Dean in there for that fight, to kind of steer it in the “right” direction. LOL. kidding.
KANSAS
CHUCK IS A TRUE FIGHTER…. BTW I SAW THAT MORNING SHOW WHEN HE FALLS ASLEEP LOL… WHAT WAS HE ON ??
@Pat
Chuck had Pnemonia and was on heavy doses of Nyquil and sleep aids. He had taken them only 3-4 hours before that show from what I understand so he was like totally out of it.. I cannot believe he even showed up for that interview, I would kill my handlers if they put me in a spot like that.
Your right Chuck has the one thing that not enough fighters have today.. thats ATTITUDE. He has a fighters attitude and he doesn’t talk a bunch of BS he just fights, lets his skills do the talking for him. I like that.
LOL LOL @ pat@kansas, did you hear the news guy,he was like”chuck..chuck are you alright”!!!!?
There is a difference between being full of crap and having a big mouth … and having a fighters attitude.
Tito is full of crap with a big mouth…
Chuck has attitude but isn’t full of crap.. lol
LOL TODD
HE FELL ASLEEP… LOL
@Todd
Yeah, I saw that. I was actually worried for Chuck at first and a little mad. It’ll teach me not to pass judgement too quickly, after my initial viewing I went back and saw it again.. funny crap man!
lol
U KNOW WHAT ELSE IS GOOD IS THE UFC 71 TRAILER
RAMPAGE IS LIKE “IMA WHOOP CHUCKS ***” LOL
Yea i think the previous fight they had kinda got to his head and he thinks he is gonna do it ALL over again, and i remember in one of his previous interviews i think he said chuck doesnt hit hard!!! WTF is HE on?
CHUCK HITS JUST LIKE THE PITBULL SUPER HARD
UFC 72: Victory (6/16/07)
Rich Franklin vs Martin Kampmann
Forrest Griffin vs Hector Ramirez
Tyson Griffin vs Clay Guida
Eddie Sanchez vs Colin Robinson
Jason MacDonald vs Rory Singer
Marcus Davis vs TBA
MAN THIS CARD SUCKS LOL…. I WILL NOT BE BUYING THIS PPV EVENT
UFC 74 (8/25/07)
Randy Couture vs Gabriel Gonzaga - UFC Heavyweight Title
Georges St. Pierre vs Josh Koscheck
Diego Sanchez vs TBA
Mike Swick vs TBA
NO THIS CARD IS GONNA ROCK THIS ****… ID BE ALL OVER THIS ONE….
@PATRICK,
You won’t have to buy UFC 72. It’s in Ireland and free on SpikeTV again, not on PPV
LOL FIGURES PUT A ***** CARD TOGETHER FOR THAT
DOC
WHO DO U THINK BARONI OR THE NEW YORK WACK JOB BAD ***
I’m going with Baroni over Shamrock by KO
DOC
DID U CATCH PHILS INTERVIEW… HES FOOKIN NUTS?
@Doc
I am going for Shamrock over Baroni, but I understand why you would pick Baroni, he is the underdog, he is hungry, and Shamrock isn’t that hungry, he has had his best days and he has been playing with the IFL lately so not really focused on his fighting I don’t think.
My reason for picking Shamrock is, he is a great fighter, I think he is STILL one of the best in the world. He has pride, and that Shamrock toughness and pride won’t let him quit or give up too easily. Last, I think he needs to prove to his brother, and himself that the Shamrocks are still a force in the MMA world and with that being the case, I think he will come out fighting with somewhat of a purpose, and if he has purpose, I think he will fight with intensity, which will lead to victory. The reason he screwed up his last fight was because he was just being a jerk. He is a jerk and he wanted to hurt a Gracie so he did because he can. But this time I think he will come in to actually win.
I just flat-out hate Frank Shamrock. I don’t think he’s hungry at all and is only in MMA for the money at this point. I wouldn’t be surprised if this fight doesn’t happend and is called off/postponed yet again.
@Doc
WOW! I have never seen you post in such a “all cards on the table” manner! LOL! Well, I understand, like I said he is a jerk. BUT he is a PROUD jerk, and I don’t think he is going to squander what could be one of his last fights and impressions on MMA.
KANSAS
I AGREE HAVE TO GO WITH SHAMMROCK EVEN THOUGH HES A COMPLETE ****
BARONI IS AS NUTS AS THE GIRL IM SEEING
@MMAK,
Yeah, I just have a certain level of bile in my system for Frank Shamrock.
heh well, id have to go with Shamrock too, though his skills arent what they once were, as we saw Renzo controlled him the entire fight. The thing is I dont think Baroni is a smart enough fighter to beat Frank, hes too much of a dumb thug, he will probably gas after the 1st round then Frank will submit him in the second. BUT!! Hopefully the year of the underdogs will come into play and let Baroni connect with Shamrocks chin in the first round! teach him some humility which was never instilled into him during training
Does anyone agree that the next UFC fight cards are not that great?
As many of you know, I will be attending UFC 71 and I was checking the website every day to see which fights were added and I’m sorry to say that I am very dissapointed. I could care less about watching Sean Salmon, Din Thomas or many of the other guys on this card. I don’t mind Burkman/Parisian but cmo’n, that is not a lead in to a main event…maybe an Ultimate Fight Night Main event but not on a PPV. And the Ireland card is just as bad…it’s like all of the TUF flunkies fighting. I really hope Dana White sticks to his word and puts the TUF guys on HBO and Spike and keeps them OFF of the PPVs.
yeah i hope they add a few more good fights to the card. i think i the case of ufc 71 dana and the boys know that liddell should sell this one all by him self and make it a grudge match like the one w