Countdown to UFC 100: How We Got Here

Through all the doubts and criticism, mixed martial arts has finally made it.

Ladies and gentlemen, it is upon us. The biggest event in mixed martial arts history happens this Saturday night. Two title fights and a handful of what look to be very competitive matchups. Everyone is talking about the Frank Mir/Brock Lesnar rematch and Georges St. Pierre's biggest test against Thiago Alves. 

But UFC 100 isn't about the fights. It is about the sport and how it has outlasted the media backlash and political opposition to not only survive, but prosper. No matter the outcomes of the fights Saturday, every mixed martial arts fan should celebrate. 

On Saturday, mixed martial arts has officially arrived. It's legitimate. It's a successful business and a growing sport. It's been a long, tough road for the sport so it's time to look back on 10 crucial components that allowed the sport to reach the success it is enjoying. 

1. Dana White: Say what you will about the brash UFC president, but without Dana White, the UFC would have failed. Like White has stated many times, this was his destiny. He is unconventional, ruthless and often offensive, but for some reason the style worked. 

He viewed the UFC as a league just like the NFL. In order to grow, he had to bring in the best and most charismatic fighters. You don't see top football players in the CFL and Dana White is working everyday to make sure fans don't see top fighters outside the UFC. Is it cutthroat the way he bans clothing companies and locks fighters up to iron-clad contracts? Maybe. Is it effective? Yes.

The next president of the UFC will surely be a hotshot business school graduate, and that person should do just fine. But White has laid the entire foundation and turned a no-holds barred "human cockfight," into a legitimate and thrilling sport in the eye's of the public. 

2. State athletic commissions: Yeah, they can be difficult to deal with, but they reinvented the sport into an actual sport. There's not much skill involved when there are no weight classes and people can take cheap shots below the belt. That bloodsport mentality is stupid and classless. But throw in five weight classes, strict rules and time limits for each round and you have a sport. Without the regulations, MMA would have faded a long time ago. 

3. The Ultimate Fighter: I hate watching grown men act like children as they are locked in a house and denied any form of communication, but the show put the UFC on the map. It brought the best fighters no one had ever heard of into one place and let them compete in a tournament while expressing their personalities. It's been said time and time again, but Forrest Griffin vs Stephan Bonner was the most important fight in UFC history. Griffin has gone on to be one of the most popular UFC fighters and paved the way for future TUF alumni. 

4. Gracie Ju Jitsu: The first time fans saw Royce Gracie take down opponents 50 pounds bigger than he was it left them in amazement. The amazement turned into a fascination for many and jujitsu became all the rage. The submission style grappling seemed fool proof and leveled the playing field. No matter how big, strong or fast an opponent was, Gracie jujitsu could always win a fight. 

5. Tito Ortiz: UFC's first true crossover star. He was in commercials, TV shows and movies. He dated celebrities, talked plenty of trash and made people interested in the sport. He was a walking, talking billboard for UFC. People either wanted to see him smash his opponent or get smashed by his opponent, but either way, people cared when Tito Ortiz walked into the octagon. 

6. The fans: Without the fans, clearly the sport would not succeed. But the main quality these fans have that is crucial to the sport is the way they accepted the lighter weight classes. Boxing fans seem to want to watch heavyweights and are still searching for an exciting heavyweight to get them interested in the sport. But MMA fans immediately took a liking to the "little" guys which has allowed the UFC to have stars in every division.

7. TapOut: I'm not a huge fan of their clothes, but it took the sport to the people. Fans would see TapOut on Tito Ortiz's shorts, then they would be able to buy a shirt. That fan would show their friends the new shirt, and all the sudden non-MMA fans buy a shirt and get interested. It's an unusual for a sponsor to mean so much to a sport, but the UFC and TapOut is a marriage that needed to happen for the sport to go mainstream. 

8. Globalization: The first time UFC stepped out of Las Vegas after it established itself, there were a lot of concerns. 60 or so shows later, the whole world wants to host a UFC event. By taking the show on the road, more people took a liking to the sport and even started training. Now fighters can come from England, Mexico, Japan, Russia, Australia or wherever. It's not just Brazilians against Americans. 

9. PRIDE: That's right, without PRIDE making waves in Japan, UFC wouldn't be half the product it is today. Competition always forces the best out of one another, and PRIDE made sure the UFC worked to put the best fights on each and every time out. Without PRIDE, UFC would not have moved with the urgency and efficiency it showed the last few years. 

10. Joe Silva: He is not as famous as Dana White, but just as important. Card after card, Joe Silva puts together the best matches possible as the UFC's booker. He has a great sense of finding the best prospects and matching them up with someone who can provide a challenge. He has done a great job overall when it comes to making title fights and is great at persuading fighters to take chances (ie Anderson Silva's move to 205 and Wanderli Silva to 185). His matchmaking is top notch and much harder than people give him credit for. 

There you have it. The top-10 reasons UFC has made it to magic number 100. Check back tomorrow for another UFC 100 special.   

A Chance for Holiday Greatness

Philadelphia native and heavyweight standout "Fast" Eddie Chambers will head to Germany July 4th to fight. To bad boxing won't take advantage of the situation to recapture an audience.

Some of the toughest times for sports fans is during the summer months. In the fall, there is baseball, football, basketball and hockey. Once baseball ends, the other three continue until February and when football ends, baseball starts up again to keep the trifecta in tact. 

But in the summer, baseball is in the middle of a 162-game season and that doesn't make for much excitement or drama. Fans clamor for the beginning of football season and just want baseball to get to the end of August to see if their team is still in the playoff hunt. 

This little July dry spell of sports action offers the perfect opportunity for boxing to try to capture the attention of mainstream sports fans. 

Browsing through the weekly boxing schedule as I often do, I found there was virtually no big fights happening on the July 4 weekend. The one "big" is taking place in Germany. But the fight does feature American heavyweight prospect "Fast" Eddie Chambers taking on undefeated European prospect Alexander Dimitrenko. 

This match isn't going to be a classic by any stretch of the imagination, but why not try to secure a deal with a network and broadcast it to an American audience. If the now-defunct mixed martial arts organization, Elite XC, can secure a deal with CBS, then there is no reason boxing promoters can't get it done either. 

Sure, it might require them to pony up some money and they wont make nearly as much on pay-per-view, but the long-term benefits of occasionally broadcasting on a network channel would pay huge dividends. 

Chambers vs Dimitrenko isn't necessarily going to be a great showcase of boxing, but you don't always need massive pay-per-view quality fights. Broadcasting this fight would be a classic American story on America's most patriotic day. 

An American heavyweight from Philadelphia travels to Germany to face an undefeated European prospect. Sounds a lot like a real-life Rocky Balboa story and it would be an easy way to market the fight and get the public interested. 

A lot of mixed martial arts booming growth and success among sports fans can be attributed to how accessible the UFC has been. Season after season, the UFC produces the show "The Ultimate Fighter." It's an easy way for sports fans to slowly understand MMA and get to know some of the potential future stars. 

I think the reason boxing is so hesitant to go back to network TV is because of the stronghold it has established on HBO and Showtime as well as pay-per-view. The gambling industry will always support boxing, but many boxing fans are not high rollers and many sports fans just want to see a good, old-fashioned fight now and then. 

Broadcast the fights of the Eddie Chambers of the world, or Sergio Mora who is already somewhat known by the public from his run on The Contender and is itching to get back in the ring. 

Get "The Latin Snake" an opponent and show the fight on NBC. Or take a second-generation star, like George Foreman's son, and let him get some national exposure. It would definitely draw some interest. 

There is not a whole lot of exciting sports happening around the 4th of July weekend and boxing has a great opportunity to get back in the public eye. I hope come next year this time, I will be able to see a real firework show for free, on network TV. 

Another legend lost

Alexis Arguello meant as much to boxing as Michael Jackson did to music. His legacy in the ring and for Nicaragua will be remembered for years to come.

For some reason, I get into pretty bad spells about updating this blog. It does not seem like it should be difficult, yet I fail at it more than I would like. 

But at least I'm not Drew Fickett. 

The once highly regarded and very talented UFC fighter continues to struggle with just living a successful and respectful life. Back in 2005, MMA fans believed Fickett could be one of the top fighters in the welterweight division for years to come. His record was a sterling 34-5 and he had victories over top names such as Josh Koscheck and Kenny Florian. 

Now Fickett can't even beat a Breathalizer test (or his opponents since he has lost seven of his last nine fights). But the latest downfall in his embarrassing career came recently after he failed a pre-fight physical when he showed up drunk. That's right, Fickett thought it would be OK to fight drunk. 

I wonder why people scoff at the sport and compare it to bar fights. Maybe it's cause a fighter like Fickett is probably more drunk than people in an actual bar fight before he gets ready for competition. It could also explain why he has lost seven of his last nine fights. 

I hope Fickett walks away from the sport, gets his life back on track and is able to find some happiness. But he really needs to leave the sport because it's embarrassing to the other fighters, promoters and fans who go to bat to try to defend the purity and sportsmanship of MMA. 

But that opening rant was just meant to make me feel better about missing out on updating this blog about some big things that happened in the world of combat sports. I will just touch on two of the bigger stories. 

The Ultimate Finale: Fight of the Year

Two big stories came out of the June 20 finale of season 9. One was that mixed martial arts in England is alive and well. Two members from Team UK took home the title of Ultimate Fighter. 

Ross Pearson pulled off an upset against Andre Winner and looked tough, but I don't think he is talented enough to ever be a serious contender in the UFC. Likewise, James Wilks really shocked me with his dominant performance over DaMarques Johnson. Wilks displayed very good boxing and composure. He has the chance to keep improving into a fighter who could be tough to beat. 

The real story was the classic fight between Diego Sanchez and Clay Guida in the main event. If you have never seen Guida fight, you need to. His cardio is out of this world and he never quits or slows down for anything. Sanchez ran right at Guida at the opening of the round and threw devastating combinations that rocked Guida and had him covering up. 

As the round progressed, the fight moved to the center of the cage, where Sanchez landed one of the hardest kicks to the head I have seen and it dropped Guida, but in a moment that could only be described as a miracle, Guida bounced to his feet and kept going like nothing happened. 

From then on, the fight was a war. Both men were bloody and bruised and pushed the pace for 15 minutes. At the end of the fight, Guida bounced up to his feet and ran around the cage with energy to burn. Sanchez took the split decision. 

It was one of those special fights that only happen once or twice a year, so if you get the chance, check it out. It's what makes the sport so great. Look for Sanchez to challenge for the lightweight championship after the Kenny Florian/BJ Penn title fight. 

The Loss of a Legend

The music world lost its biggest legend in Michael Jackson and boxing lost one of the greatest of all-time in Alexis Arguello. Unfortunately, I was too young to see Arguello in his prime when he boxed in the early '80s, but the stories and vinatge videos are legendary. 

His fights against Ray Mancini and Aaron Pryor are some of the best ever. His fight against Pryor in Miami could very well be the best match ever. He was a champion in three different weight classes and was one round away from being the first man to be a champion in four. 

Technically, he was brilliant. And what Muhammad Ali meant for Americans, Arguello meant for Nicaraguans. He was so politically active in fact, that assassination threats were a common occurrence for Arguello. He even became mayor of Managua.

He was a great ambassador for boxing and was best friends with Pryor, his bitter in-ring rival. A true class act in a violent sport. But like Michael Jackson, he had his demons. He struggled with drug addiction and went bankrupt, forcing him to come back for two matches in the early '90s. 

The death is believed to be a suicide. He may never had conquered those demons, and its a tragic and sad end to an important life. But what he meant for boxing and Nicaragua will live on for years to come. 

I am going to try to update this blog as often as I can, once again. I hope to succeed ... but if I fail ... well at least I'm not Drew Fickett.