It’s been a long time in the making, nearly 16 years in fact. UFC 1 took place on November 12th, 1993. The big star on that night was an average looking man named Royce Gracie.
Gracie went on to win 11 matches by submission and was the tournament winner of UFC 1, UFC 2, and UFC 4. The only reason Gracie did not win the UFC 3 tourney was because he could not make it out for his semi-final fight due to an injury sustained during his victorious first round bout.
To this day there has been no one who can claim this type of dominance in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. However, that is because the sport has grown infinitely from where it was in the early and mid-90s. The new level of competition may never again allow for a single fighter to dominance the sport the way Gracie did.
That is fine. It is fine because the most important revelation over the past 99 UFC events is the the fact that mixed martial arts is considered a sport and MMA fighters are considered athletes.
UFC 100 brings us three fights that could headline a PPV let alone a UFC Fight Night. There are two belts on the line and history to be made.
Dan Henderson Vs. Michael Bisping
The first of the three headed monster of fights on Saturday is a battle of the coaches from the latest season of The Ultimate Fighter. It nearly always seems like one of the coaches becomes the heel and one becomes the good guy. This time was no different as Bisping is a trash taking Brit while Henderson brings the laid back Cali attitude.
This seasons TUF might have been somewhat lack luster and one sided. However, the fight between the coaches should be anything but. Bisping says he is going to be the first one to ever knock Hendo out. That’s right Henderson, who has been fighting since UFC 17, has never been KO’d. That’s an impressive stat for a man who has fought the best in the world including Rampage and Wanderlai.
Georges St-Pierre Vs. Thiago Alves
Next up for the GSP wrecking ball; Thiago Alves. Alves is, physically, the most improessive welterweight in the history of the UFC. This guy is massive. The first hurdle for Thiago will be prior to ever getting into the cage. That massive hurdle is to cut down that massive physeek from well over 190 pounds to 170 pounds.
After a December 2006 victory over Tony DeSouze, Alves tested positive for a banned substance That drug was a diuretic called Spironolactone. It is used mainly to lose weight. The drug causes a person’s kidneys to remove excess sodium and water from their body, ie to make weight for a fight. It should be noted that Spironolactone can also mask the presense of steroids in a persons body.
Remember there is no more of that 1 pound gimme in a title fight–Alves must weigh in at 170 not 171.
Here are Thiago’s last 4 fight weights:
UFC 78: Chris Lytle (170.5) vs. Thiago Alves (171)
UFC Fight Night 13: Karo Parisyan (171) vs. Thiago Alves (171)
UFC 85: Matt Hughes (170) vs. Thiago Alves (174)
UFC90: Thiago Alves (171) vs. Josh Koscheck (170)
In none of his last 4 fights did he cut down to 170. Sure, that is because he never had to. Still, if you recall, at UFC 85 Matt Hughes agreed to fight Alves after he could not even make it near 171 pounds. Alves weighed in at 174 on that night.
That is what I am watching for on Friday when the weigh-ins take place. I wish you could bet on that.
Brock Lesnar Vs. Frank Mir
The Main Event and it’s a big one; literally. Size is talked about a lot when Lesnar is in the fight. Mir’s weight nears the 265 pound limit of the heavyweight division. Lesnar actually has to cut down to make that same limit. That is incredible that you have to cut to 265. That being said, Mir is a lot bigger than a guy like Randy Couture. Take a look:
Mir has nearly 40 pounds on Couture. And Couture looked like a 12 year old in the Octagon with Lesnar, Mir at least looks like a 16 year old. Size is not AS big a hurdle when we are talking about Mir but Lesnar’s power is an ever growing threat.
The UFC has grown infinitely since it’s inception. Dana White and the Fertitta brothers bought the UFC for $2 million. They then poured nearly $50 million into operating the UFC before it finally took off. Nowadays Dana While is estimated to be worth in excess of $200 million himself and he only owns less than a quarter of the UFC.
Fight picks and analysis coming later!
Lesnar, Bisping, GSP. That is what I want. I think its gonna be Lesnar, Hendo, GSP.