Looking for a Fight: UFC 157

Ronda Rousey in the process of making Sarah Kauffman double-jointed. (fcfighting.com)

There's no denying it; Ronda Rousey is a star.

As soon as UFC President Dana White brought Rousey over from Strikeforce and started a women's division just for her, the swirl of media activity around her is only comparable to the swirl of one of her opponents in the midst of a Rousey judo toss.

One more Rousey simile.

To avoid the media crush (both in reference to the volume of Rousey coverage along with the attraction to her good looks) would be like trying to get out of one of her trademark armbars.

Rousey has been featured heavily through the UFC hype machine since this fight with Liz Carmouche was announced. There's been the standard conference calls, media days, open training sessions, and Countdown features. But there has also been a Primetime series - which is usually set aside for the UFC's biggest stars - along with ESPN coverage (including her pre-UFC-joining cover of the Body Issue), HBO Real Sports piece, a visit to Conan, and her constantly updating Twitter and Instagram pages.

Even the casual sports fan, let alone MMA fan would have a tough time not finding out something about Rousey's fight game, livelihood, or sex life.

No matter what critics thought about Rousey "just being handed" the UFC women's bantamweight belt, it's clear that the fans, media, and people simply cannot get enough of the golden-locked fighter.

She's every ounce promoter, personality, and entertainer as she is fighter.

The attention focused on her and Carmouche as the cage door locks Saturday night at UFC 157 for the first female fight ever in the UFC - it will be the culmination of everything Rousey has accomplished in and out of the fight game.

Her back story is compelling and intriguing. Any of the outlets I named above can fill you in if you're not aware, but there is a reason this woman above all others was able to catch the attention of the UFC.

Please don't change your hairstyle, Ronda.

Her presence is more professional wrestler than fighter. She's well spoken, entertaining, tough, and candid. She has her own walkout music (Joan Jett's "Bad Reputation") and bun hairstyle complete with finishing move (the armbar - which she's finished all of her professional fights with...in the 1st round). All of these things are why she's the champion and why she's fighting as the headliner on Saturday. She has worked extremely hard and overcome a lot to be the perfect set it and forget it star the UFC needed to even think about starting a women's division.

With all the hype leading up to Rousey's UFC debut there are two important things to focus on.

First, there has to be kudos sent out to Strikeforce. They first started showcasing women's fights on a big stage, and along with Rousey brought along other female stars like Gina Carano and Cris 'Cyborg' Santos. Without them taking a shot on women's fights, who knows how far behind things would be.

Second, and more importantly - the pressure Rousey must be facing is beyond intense. Not only is the expectation there to win, but the pressure of proving that this women's division in the UFC. Justifying the attention she's gotten. It is fair to say that this may be the most pressure any fighter has encountered going into any fight in UFC history. There might have been greater challenges, reasons to be more fearful of an opponent or less confident in oneself, but as far as outside factors completely crushing an individual - this has to be at or near the top of any list.

Of course, the reason the pressure is there is due to the fact that many expect Rousey to win and win in convincing fashion. As we all know, things don't always go according to plan in MMA. There have been numerous hyped debuts that fell flat on their faces. It's never been a death nail, but then again, these were men coming over to fight in the UFC. A whole division hasn't been reliant on them.

Ultimately, I don't expect any kind of shocking upset. Rousey can rumble, and she's fitting a formula that has made UFC potential superstars into superstars. She's young (as opposed to past one's prime), dedicated to the sport of MMA (as opposed to just picking it up because, well you look like this), and is dangerous from many different areas (not a one trick pony).

I expect Saturday night to be Rousey's rightful confirmation as a UFC fighter and a superstar. She's already done much more than anyone ever thought she could do. And from the hours of coverage I've seen about her - she's just getting started.

BREAKDOWN

No disrespect to Liz Carmouche, but for anyone to expect anything less than a Rousey finish early is stupid. I will say, I think this will be Rousey's longest fight of her career and she will not finish via her finishing move. Both for the same reason. She wants to show off her boxing skills. That's the one thing I've noticed a lot watching the gobs of media coverage is that you rarely see her working on the ground. It's a lot of striking and footwork. Unless Carmouche gets Rousey in trouble early, I'd expect 'Rowdy' Ronda to, not take Carmouche lightly, but want to put on a show and her stamp on the UFC. Rousey by 2nd Round TKO.

That's nothing too mind blowing, so a couple notes about those other fights on the card and Jon Fitch.

The co-main event has Dan Henderson going against Lyoto Machida. This is a hard fight to figure out. In a three round fight, Machida's elusiveness and point striking abilities seem to tick the arrow towards him as the favorite. Henderson has been out of action for some time, but that's never seemed to affect him in the past. He can certainly win this fight without landing the good ol' H-Bomb, but it will be difficult. Karmically, it'd be nice to see Hendo win so he can get that Jon Jones fight a knee injury took away from him, but it won't be easy against Machida. But I'm willing to bet Hendo can do it. I'll pick him in a decision.

Finally, the Jon Fitch era has temporarily come to an end in the UFC. The former #1 contender at welterweight was the most notable fighter of several cut yesterday by the UFC. Fitch appears to be a martyr for lay and prayers. A lot of people were shocked by Fitch being free to leave. His style has never won over a lot of fans, but he was still a high class fighter. Many see this as a way for Dana White to let his fighters know that you have to get out there and be exciting. Certainly, Fitch would most likely never contend for a title again, but in a world where there's a UFC event on seemingly every other week - a name like Fitch would be interesting enough to tune in to see; if only to complain about.

Typically fighters that leave the UFC can find their way back, and that might be the case for Fitch. Wherever he goes, I certainly wish him the best.

Looking for a Fight: UFC 153 - Brazilian Breakout

Come for the future stars, stay for the legend. (mmafrenzy.com)

Anderson Silva's imminent destruction of Stephan Bonnar has dominated many of the words written about UFC 153, and rightfully so. However, in the midst of wondering how Bonnar could possibly win the fight, along with some sniveling about how this main event is just a guilty pleasure since the original headliner Jose Aldo had to pull out due to injury, there hasn't been much made of the two Brazilian fighters on the co-main event and under card that are going to be a pretty big deal as we turn into 2013...and no, I don't mean Big Nog.

Glover Teixeira (no relation to Mark, because Glover can actually hit) and Erick Silva could both walk away from Rio De Janeiro with their fair share of headlines assuming Bonnar doesn't win, or Anderson doesn't finish him with something out of Mortal Kombat.

ERICK SILVA V. JON FITCH

It's actually Silva who draws the tougher fight, taking on lay and pray guru Jon Fitch. With all the complaining UFC fans have with Fitch, aside from a shock loss to Johny Hendricks at UFC 141, Fitch has long been the champion no one wants to be champion. Injuries and that loss to Hendricks have "dropped" Fitch a bit in rankings and setting him up with the still unproven Silva.

The funny thing is that no one expects this the be the start of another title run for Fitch. This is meant to be a big step up for Silva, but a step that he can assuredly make. Although Silva is only 2-1 in the Octagon (the one loss being a bogus illegal strikes call to...wait, let me sure I'm spelling his name correctly...Carlo Prater) his skills on his feet and on the mat are unquestioned. The welterweight hasn't seen the 2nd round in quite some time, and the big question mark on his resume revolves around fighting a strong wrestler. While Charlie Brenneman does wrestle, he won't offer up the elite MMA style wrestling that has propelled Fitch to the closest base camp to the peak of the welterweight mountain.

Silva is a bad man, with every intent to finish this fight in front of his home crowd and take a big leap up at 170.

BREAKDOWN

While it's always in a fight fans interest to see the flashy finish fighter win over the grind it out wrestler, this is a huge fight for both Silva and Fitch. Fitch is older and has fought through some serious injuries recently, but he's still the old Jon Fitch. I see Silva working Fitch pretty thoroughly. If his take down defense is where it needs to be, then this match has the potential to look like the Georges St-Pierre v. Fitch championship fight. If Fitch can get him down, then Silva will look to the judges for the win. I say Silva by split decision.

GLOVER TEIXEIRA V. FABIO MALDONADO

Here are some questions for the Glover Teixeira fight.

How did he end up fighting Fabio Maldonado?
Who is Glover Teixeira?

Last things first. Teixeira is the hottest property at light heavyweight since Alex Gustafsson. Ok, Gustafsson is still a hot prospect, and people were excited about him only 4 months ago, but still anytime there's a 205 pound guy out there that can knock people out, fans seem to get excited.

Now, excitement would make sense, except for the fact that in the course of finding Teixeria's next opponent the following people were rumored to trade blows with the 31 year old: 'Shogun' Rua, Lyoto Machida, and Rampage Jackson pulled out due to injury. Even Stephan Bonnar said no! So in the search for an opponent for this guy, who last triangle choked Kyle Kingsbury in his only UFC performance, Joe Silva and Dana White ran through three former light heavyweight champs and a guy that's gleefully taking on Anderson Silva. By all accounts, people view Teixeira as a bad dude in the cage. But talking about a step up, that'd be huge for Glover. Instead, after all of those people passed (for assorted true or BS reasons) he's taking on Fabio Maldonado. While Silva has a big step up to take, Teixeira's fight is more of a calling card to the upper levels of the light heavyweight community. There's already rumbles of a Jon Jones fight in late 2013, so a grand finish by Teixeira should put him right on track after maybe Dan Henderson takes a shot at the champ.

There's still a lot of mystery around Teixeira, and the proclivity in MMA to keep looking for the next big deal has led a lot of people astray and produced more disappointments than successes. This guy could be Todd Duffee or Rory MacDonald. In this time and space, I'll side more with Rory than Todd.

BREAKDOWN

While it's not the toughest test he can face, it's time to see what Glover has got. Teixeira by 1st round KO.

UFC 141: Time for Fitch to Make his Run

Jon Fitch's path to an elusive title is clear in 2012.

Jon Fitch has long been the punchline to many a jokes on message boreds boards and forums (my personal favorite is an image of Fitch simply weighing-in with the comment "I'm already bored" under it. Simply, yet, effective, but then again, so is Fitch). His style is grating on his opponents and on the fight viewers who are drawn to the spectacular rather than the methodical.

No Top 10 fighter has been more widely criticized or hated on for simply winning. Georges St-Pierre started to feel some wrath for not finishing lesser opponents in a fashion worthy of a Milan runway, but complaints for GSP can only go so far. He is the most dominant welterweight of all time, a fan favorite, ambassador of the sport, and marketing tent pole for the fastest growing sport on the planet.

Fitch, however, is not a champion. He has had as many title shots as losses (1) while with the UFC, and for a man that prides himself on the notion that hard work will get you what you want, he has grown increasingly perplexed why he has yet to receive another title shot after going 5 rounds with GSP.

While the owner of one of the cooler ring entrances, Fitch has not been considered a fan or perhaps more importantly UFC favorite. He has steadfastly rejected fighting fellow teammate Josh Koshcheck, to Dana White's dismay, and he was also involved in a dust up with UFC management several years ago regarding fighters' rights, which resulted in him being cut for about 24 hours.

He's done things his way, and it's gotten him this far. So that is why he is so stubborn. He shows up to press conferences, makes weight, and wins. There shouldn't be any more requirements to get his title.

Of course, in the UFC world there is always more. The winning, while irrefutable can be easily glossed over by style of wins. KO's and subs get bonuses. Thoroughly wearing down your opponent for 3 rounds on the mat doesn't.

Coming off a long 10-month layoff due to a shoulder injury didn't help things, but as he enters the ring to Johnny Cash's "Rusty Cage" cover to face another Jo(h)n, Johny Hendricks, tonight at UFC 141: Lesnar v. Overeem his path to a title shot and to claim that belt has never been more apparent.

A decisive win over Hendricks would put Fitch in prime position to get the winner of Diaz v. Condit on Feb. 4th. But should Fitch struggle with some rust in the cage, he should immediately get back in for another fight in early 2012. I'm going to assume that Diaz and Condit won't come out of that fight unscathed in enough time for a quick turnaround should Fitch not be given the title shot by Dana White. So with about a 90 day recovery for Diaz or Condit along with GSP being out for 4-5 months from that February fight date, Fitch's window of opportunity is right there.

Beat Hendricks and get the title shot. Or beat Hendricks and take another fight no later than March with a higher ranked opponent to give the UFC no choice but to put him in that Interim title fight some time in early Summer. That will be Fitch's opportunity.

There will be no rematches or GSP in the fold to clog things up. It's win and you're in for Fitch. No doubt, once GSP is healthy he will get a shot to get his belt back, but if Fitch can win (flashy or not) he will be the one holding court, which is where Fitch is at his best.

Fitch isn't regularly on the Top 10 P4P lists by accident. Experts acknowledge Fitch is a tough match-up for pretty much anyone. His size and excellent MMA wrestling allow him to take his opponents down and do what he does...grind them into the Muscle Pharm logo on the mat.

Death, Taxes, and Jon Fitch have been constants over the past several years, and while we may get the same old Fitch tonight, it's time for all of that hard work to pay off. He just has to do what he always has done, whether the fans and the UFC like it or not.