Come on. You had to know that someone who survived getting run over by a truck at the age of 10 wasn’t going to leave the sport of mixed martial arts quietly. In fact, one of the most enduring qualities attached to former PRIDE and interim UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira is his otherworldly level of toughness.
Yet even his staunchest supporters had to wonder what his 35-year old body had left when he stepped into the Octagon in August to face up and coming knockout artist Brendan Schaub. Nogueira was coming off a layoff of over a year due to knee and hip surgeries, he had lost two of his previous three bouts, both by knockout, and in any combat sport, Father Time’s knock on the door can come at anytime once you hit your mid-30’s.
But this was a rested Nogueira feeling better than he had in years, he was fighting in front of his home fans in Brazil for the first time ever, and that was really all the motivation he needed to turn back the clock, which he did by knocking Schaub out in the first round.
“Fighting in Brazil was amazing to me,” said Nogueira. “It was the best experience of my career to fight in front of my people, my family, my closest friends. The arena is less than two miles from my gym, so I had a lot of support, energy, and motivation. Fighting is about motivation, and when you have a special case like this, you do your best and you can surprise people with how good you can do, and that’s what happened in this fight.”
Nogueira has been around this sport long enough – over 12 years to be exact – to know what the whispers were heading into the Schaub fight. To many, he was done. But he knew better, and even though he admits that he wasn’t fully operational after his last surgery in February, even the level he was at was so much better than he had been over the last few years.
“I was injured for about three years, and I couldn’t perform so well in the last fights,” he said. “After my last surgery, I took the fight (with Schaub), even though I was like 70 percent. But it was enough for me to be way better than I was before. I was faster, I was punching faster, I had my hips to throw my right hand better because the power comes from the hips, and it was great to fight in better shape and in better condition. I’m feeling good right now.”
Almost like a new man. He laughs.
“I’m feeling better. Before I was feeling like 45; now I feel like 25.”
So there’s no better time than now to revisit a loss that still eats at him, his UFC 92 defeat to Frank Mir in December of 2008. Hit with a staph infection during training camp, Nogueira recovered, but was also saddled with his other injuries, and it was the worst timing in the world for him, as Mir was on top of his game that night in Vegas. What resulted was Nogueira’s first knockout defeat. Three years later, this Saturday night in Toronto, Nogueira gets his rematch.
“He (Mir) won that day, I can’t change the story,” said Nogueira of their first bout. “That day he fought better. He was faster, he was more athletic than me, and it worked for his game. What made me sad was that I think that I can fight better than that day when I’m a hundred percent. So that’s what I’m hoping to do. A fight is a fight, but I think I can do better than the last fight.”
We’ve already documented how different Nogueira will be this time around, but Mir has not sat idly by in the last three years either. His standup and wrestling have improved, and he’s constantly tweaking the areas of his game that he thinks need adjusting. This subtle transformation hasn’t gone unnoticed by Nogueira.
“I think he’s improved his standup and his Muay Thai’s gotten better,” he said of Mir. “He’s a complete fighter, and he’s improved his endurance. I know I’m gonna face a good opponent, but I’m ready for everything.”
A win would make it two in a row for Nogueira and end the year on a high note. But as far as title aspirations go, he doesn’t have any at the moment considering one of his protégés, Junior dos Santos, is the man holding the UFC heavyweight crown.
“Right now I’m not thinking about that because of Junior,” said Nogueira. “I don’t have that goal right now to fight for the title because he’s got the title. I want to be the best I can in my weight division, but it (getting the belt) is not my goal right now.”
That’s an admirable position to take, and when you hear him talk about dos Santos’ title winning effort against Cain Velasquez last month, it’s not as if Nogueira is a mentor or training partner, but more like a brother.
“I feel happy,” said Nogueira. “He was a poor kid in Brazil and I feel great for him and how he improved. He took this very seriously and he became the heavyweight champion of the world.”
That’s a title Nogueira wore with pride for a good portion of his career. Hopefully as mixed martial arts grows bigger and more mainstream, newer fans will recognize that fact and recognize him as one of the game’s greats. But for the moment, “Minotauro” is happy to be around to see the sport he helped build finally be accepted.
“I see how great this sport became and I see how popular this sport became in Brazil,” he said. “Over 60 million people watched Junior’s last fight. It was so different back when it was illegal in a couple states in the United States, and now we have FOX TV. So this sport’s great, I love what I do, and I see how the sport improves every time. There are fighters coming up like Junior, Jon Jones, Lyoto Machida, and a lot of new guys, and I’m happy to be between them.”
32 years old. It almost requires a double take when you look at the age of Frank Mir and realize that as long as he’s been in the UFC, he’s still a young man. And as a heavyweight, he may be at a point where he hasn’t even reached his prime yet.
So when he talks about fighting in four years, it’s not really something that should baffle you.
“So far it’s not too much of an issue being 32,” said the two-time heavyweight champ. “Four years from now I’ll probably have to start increasing the fight sequence, but I’m lucky to be in the heavyweight division. One win puts you in a title shot now; it just depends on it being the right win. Look at Brock (Lesnar). He had the Shane Carwin fight and it was questionable on whether it could have been stopped. His fight with (Cain) Velasquez he completely got destroyed, and now he’s fighting (Alistair) Overeem, and already before the fight even took place, he’s one win away from being right back into a title shot. That’s just the nature of the heavyweight division. If Brock and I were to fight again and I get a good win, boom, title shot.”
Mir’s right, and if he’s learned anything in this business over the last decade, it’s that it’s not only what you can do in the Octagon that sells tickets, but what you do outside it as well. And while one chat with him or one read of an interview he does should be enough to convince you that he’s one of the fight game’s most interesting figures, he did choose a different tact when promoting fights a couple years back, one he’s opted not to take since then.
“I try to keep it as real as I possibly can about my own true personality,” he said. “So I can be a smart ass and be kinda smirky, but it’s a little bit harder for me to build up a fight because a couple fights in the past, after the Brock fight, I started seeing that with some of the turmoil I caused through interviews would sell more tickets. Of course, that came back to bite me, so I’ve really put that on the backburner. Some of the fights now, I don’t build them up the way I used to because of that. For some reason some guys can do it and get away with it; it didn’t work out for me.”
Luckily there is no need to build up his UFC 140 co-main event this Saturday in Toronto because it’s got all the elements needed for a blockbuster. In Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira, Mir is in with a fighter who he knocked out back in 2008, but one who was also dealing with some pre-fight injuries that he feels kept him from performing at his best. Three years and a couple surgeries later, Nogueira is back, he’s coming off an August knockout of Brendan Schaub, and he’s eager for revenge. No trash talk can do any better than that in getting fans amped up for the matchup. As for Mir, the idea of bettering a stellar knockout win could have left little room for motivation, but that’s not the case.
“It helps to know that he (Nogueira) feels the first time was a fluke and there’s people after the fight listening to what he’s saying about the staph infection,” said Mir. “So it isn’t like it was a clean-cut victory the first time around. So I was able to find ways to be motivated and to go out there and put a stamp on it. His excuses actually motivated me very well.”
And while the two former champions aren’t trading barbs in the media, there is plenty of heat behind this rematch, even though it’s three years since the first fight and both have had their various ups and downs. Nogueira went through two fights against Randy Couture (win) and Cain Velasquez (loss) and his surgeries before the win over Schaub, and Mir has gone 3-2, losing to Carwin and Lesnar while beating Cheick Kongo, Mirko Cro Cop, and Roy Nelson. So is Nogueira a changed fighter according to Mir?
“I still think he’s not as fluid when it comes to ground jiu-jitsu,” he said. “I think his hips and knees are still a little beat up. As far as his standup, I think it’s the same. He just stands in front of you and tries to beat you through attrition. And that’s just very difficult to do right now in the heavyweight division with the size and the power that most of the heavyweights in the UFC possess.”
As for Mir, he has not stood still behind a game that was once characterized as being one-dimensional. He is no longer just the “jiu-jitsu guy.” He can stand and bang with opponents and his wrestling is even coming along, something that can be attributed to something not too many elite fighters still have – a willingness to learn.
“It’s ambition,” said Mir. “I want to be the best I can possibly be. And anytime I sit there and I ignore an answer from somebody because I don’t feel that they don’t have the right credentials, then I might miss out on something. And I’m very orientated toward being the best I can possibly be, and that means you have to get information from everywhere. I’ve never been one to think that someone has to have a long list of credentials to be someone to listen to. I surround myself with as many people as I can that are very proficient, and I just keep an open mind and I see the benefits of doing things better.”
One of those very proficient people Mir has around these days is grappling wizard Ricky Lundell, a young man who is rapidly becoming coach to the stars, with a roster including Mir, Joe Lauzon, Roy Nelson, and Dan Hardy, among others. The way Lundell sees it, the key to Mir’s recent success is his open mind when it comes to learning new things.
“It’s flattering for me to able to work with somebody like that, and Frank is a very humble individual,” said Lundell. “Despite some people’s views of him having a cocky attitude, he is extremely humble and he’s one of the easiest guys that I’ve had the opportunity to work with. He really steps up and takes into account his entire game and he wants to get better, so he’s humble enough to step up and do those things necessary.”
For Mir, the goal is always the same – to become the perfect fighter. He knows he’ll never reach that point, but it can only make you better to try.
“It’s an unattainable goal that you just keep striving for,” he said. “I don’t think that it will ever come. Ricky’s close with Cael Sanderson and I would be curious to hear if he thinks his wrestling could get better. I’m sure he would say yes, that there are things he can do and improve upon. I’ll never be perfect and I’m never gonna completely accomplish all my goals. I’m realistic that I have a short time frame of age and injuries and hopefully I can accomplish as much as I can within that time frame before those things become too insurmountable.”
He knows that he can’t fight forever, but at the same time, Mir isn’t in any rush, so having his wins over Cro Cop and Nelson fly somewhat under the radar isn’t a cause for concern. Instead, he’s content with the slow road to glory this time around.
“I have no problems with it because the way I look at it, it just gives me more time for opponents like Cain Velasquez, or Carwin or Lesnar that have better wrestling than I do,” he said. “It gives me more time to work with Ricky and (Mike) Whitehead to try to close that gap as much as possible. Every day in the gym is another day to train and I feel like I have the right mindset about that, so if my opponent and I fight tomorrow, I feel like I’ll win; if you tell us we’re gonna fight in a week, I’ll have an even better chance of winning, and if we fight in a year, my chances will increase that much more because I’m in the gym trying to improve all the time.”
That’s not the fighter most associate with Frank Mir. He admitted himself to being kind of “smirky” as times, and his blunt “tell it like it is” style has turned off some fans. But he is a dedicated athlete, an intelligent observer of things in the fight game and outside of it, and he’s also a husband and father. He admits that as he grows older, the sacrifices to get to this level of the sport are sometimes harder to make.
“There is a battle that goes on inside my heart,” he said. “Obviously I have to be in the gym and training; it’s just part of my nature. So I can usually move practices. Then I really started noticing in this last camp that I’m four weeks out and my daughter has a recital, and you’ve got to miss it because you can’t move your training around. And I’ve never had those moments before where I’m driving to the gym and was actually pissed off about having to go. I guess it can be kind of childish in a way because most people have to work a 9 to 5 job and do things where they have to miss out on their children’s events. But then it starts coming into ‘why am I still doing this, do I need to accomplish something more? Is there something I need to prove, am I being selfish? Have I not provided a good lifestyle for my children? Can I provide a better lifestyle for my children if I continue to do this?’ So I’m weighing things out and those are the issues I’m gonna have to struggle with more in the future than the issue of injuries.”
As for now though, the training and the sacrificing for the Nogueira fight is done. Mir is in Toronto and waiting for the opportunity to show off what he’s been working on in his hometown of Las Vegas. It’s showtime, but not just for Mir, but for his camp, all of whom are eager to see their fighter test himself against one of the sport’s greats.
“This is much more exciting for me,” said Lundell. “I get to take a lot more time and effort and work on a real gameplan. It’s a lot more of a chess game against somebody like that (Nogueira). I actually get to go to war. Whereas you go up against somebody like a Kongo or a Cro Cop, I don’t have to think so much about what’s gonna happen once we get to the ground; I just have to focus on getting to the ground and keeping their stuff up to par. Now against somebody like Nogueira, I get to actually put a gameplan together and develop off of Nogueira’s ticks, the things that he does without even thinking about it. How can we catch Nogueira in his perfect movement? Not beat him when he makes a mistake; that’s not what happens at the upper level. We beat him when he moves perfectly. We beat him when he scoots the way he always scoots or when he turns on the hip he always turns on or when he tries to lock on the submission that he always tries to lock. Then we counter that appropriately and sub him. At this level, it’s exciting because you get to develop gameplans that are based on perfection, not based on the old Gracie way of ‘as soon as he makes a mistake I’m gonna relax and catch him.’ That works, but the percentages are way lower; people are too skilled now. We need to make it happen for ourselves.”
Frank Mir has been making things happen for a decade in the world’s toughest sport. And as crazy as it may sound, the best may be yet to come.
To see him fight is to be inspired. To listen to others talk about
him is to feel his dedication. To know he’s the champion is to
understand how it all comes together.
But to hear Jon Jones tell it, none of that amounts to much.
For years fighters tried in vain to solve the Lyoto Machida puzzle. Now it is Machida’s turn to try and solve his own puzzle – 205-pound wunderkind Jon Jones. This fight is a prime example of how quickly a fighter’s stock can soar or sour in the eyes of pundits and fans (Jones’ career doing the soaring and Machida’s doing the souring, relatively speaking of course). It is educational that Machida enters this contest as a heavy underdog. Only two years ago the real-life Karate Kid was UFC champ and unbeaten. People were raving about “The Machida Era” – and I didn’t object. Only the experts who had christened Machida were quickly dispelled. After a 16-0 start, the fight game’s most perplexing riddle dropped two of his past three bouts (to Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson).
So you don’t have to spend much time scratching your head about why Machida enters the UFC 140 title matchup as a sizable underdog (though not nearly as big an underdog as Matt Serra was four years ago when he knocked out Georges St-Pierre and won the welterweight world title). Jones – already crowned 2011 Fighter of the Year at the World MMA Awards – now represents an aura of untouchability and unstoppability that Machida himself exuded not too long ago. Jones is 14-1, though that single blemish is incredibly misleading (his lone loss came via disqualification for illegal elbows in a bout that saw Jones manhandling Matt Hamill. It was a beatdown so memorable it had the power to send shudders through future opponents, making them think twice about signing on to fight Jon Jones).
Jones, a New York native, has never come close to losing a fight and has never encountered even so much as a three-second slice of a fight that didn’t feature him essentially toying with his prey. In one regard, Jones’ domination reminds me of Mike Tyson before his 21st birthday: The only suspense that arises in a Jon Jones fight involves how long the other guy can survive. “Who wants it more?” and “Who’s going to win?” are NOT questions you asked yourself while watching Tyson in his short-lived prime. And they are not questions you ask yourself during a Jon Jones fight.
And yet, mindful of the landmines that lurk when you underestimate an opponent, Jones has called Machida his most dangerous foe to date. I don’t think it’s lip-service; I think the champ is sincere – and he’s absolutely right. A UFC.com online poll was recently conducted which asked visitors, “How long will Jon Jones reign as champ?” The results surprised me. 31% said at least another year. 15% said at least three more years. 11% said at least five more years.
43% of voters picked Machida to dethrone Jones this Saturday in Toronto.
Now, the polls are not scientifically conducted here, meaning one person with a computer could vote 10 times if they wanted to (not the case with a scientific poll). And I suspect that the raging nationalism and loyalty of Brazilian fans is pushing the needle a lot. But perhaps fans are also acknowledging that Machida is probably the only man in the 205-pound division who can match Jones’ unorthodox tendencies with his own equally unorthodox tendencies. Unorthodox usually means unpredictable, and unpredictable means the chances of “anything can happen” shoot way up. Make no mistake, these are the two kings of unorthodox in the UFC.
An esteemed colleague of mine, Jon Anik, also conducted an informal survey among his 25,000 or so fans on Twitter. Anik posed the question: Who is the 205er best equipped to beat Jon Jones?
The responses: Rashad Evans (34%); Lyoto Machida (24%); Dan Henderson (20%); Phil Davis (16%), etc…
And hey, just for some extra ammunition in Lyoto’s favor, Machida and Jones were pitted against each other on the UFC Undisputed 3 video game. The results: Jones triumphed 18 times, Machida won 7. But, as Chael Sonnen would say, “we’re going to find out” who the better man is. Titles aren’t won or defended on paper, or by reporter debates, or online fan posts, or polls, or video games. Lest we forget, Rashad Evans is one heck of a fighter. 21 wins. And the only man to beat Rashad Evans is …. Lyoto Machida. So Machida, a former UFC champ, has been here before. He knows what it feels like to hold the UFC light heavyweight title, which, if ever there was a hot potato among UFC belts, the 205-pound belt is it.
I’m very much looking forward to this fight. And it wouldn’t surprise me to see Machida pull the upset. But my guess is that the challenger must come into the Octagon with a few new surprises, something nobody has ever seen before (something like the front kick that TKO’d Randy Couture in his last fight, knocking out a front tooth). It will take some new tricks to overcome the superior athleticism of Jones and his massive reach advantage (Jones’ wingspan is a whopping 84.5 inches versus 74” for Lyoto. And that reach advantage is obviously key for Jones because it allows him to be in range to hit and kick – without being in range to be hit and kicked by the other guy).
MIR VS. BIG NOG
Both of these guys, both victims of serious accidents involving motor vehicles, are lucky to be alive, let alone sharing the co-main event at UFC 140. I’ve got to say that I have seen a lot of super-tough guys in this sport – Wanderlei Silva, Frankie Edgar, Donald Cerrone and BJ Penn jump to mind – but Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira is the pinnacle of toughness. He is the Gold Standard, the Bushido code personified. I’ve never seen a man time and again endure more pain and suffering and exhaustion in the pursuit of victory than the 35-year-old Brazilian. A black belt in judo and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Big Nog is unquestionably one of the great heavyweights in history, but there are lingering questions about whether all of those wars have taken their toll. His chin is granite no longer, as Cain Velasquez demonstrated, as Frank Mir proved during his first go-round with Nogueira three years ago.
I must confess, I never saw Mir beating Nogueira. I had presumed it was a bad stylistic matchup for him, presumed that if they fought 10 times, Big Nog might win all 10 of ‘em. In my mind … the better standup: Big Nog. The better ground game: Big Nog. Who wants it more: Big Nog. So I stood inside the MGM Grand Garden Arena that night literally shocked as Mir abused Big Nog, put on a boxing clinic and floored Nogueira three times. I ran into Mir a week or so later and told him to his face that I was stunned that he not only beat Big Nog, but did it in such convincing fashion.
“No disrespect, I like you Frank, but I didn’t see you winning.”
Mir was 260 pounds; I weigh 146 on a good day. This was actually my first ever meeting with Mir (before either of us would start training Brazilian jiu-jitsu under renowned black belt Robert Drysdale). So I’m standing there alone talking with Mir and being probably a lot more candid than I should (a bad habit of mine).
“Before this fight I questioned your heart, I questioned your cardio, I questioned how much you wanted it,” I told him. “I thought you were a little bit lazy in the gym. Very skilled and talented, but a little lazy as fighters go.”
I had thought of Mir as many had, particularly after the 2004 motorcycle accident that broke his femur and threatened his career. And I told him what I thought, and congratulated him for making a complete and utter liar out of me and many others. The way Mir responded spoke volumes about him. He just looked me in the eye, let me have my say, and even shared some of the techniques such as that uppercut/jab hybrid that came at a weird angle and kept rocking Big Nog. He was a gentleman the entire time, never raising his voice, never becoming defensive. I’ve spoken with Frank Mir many times since then, not always in agreement on issues, and I’ve been impressed by how thick-skinned he is to the criticisms that every fighter must endure. Mir is a very confident man, a nimble heavyweight who thinks like a lightweight, who can pull off moves most heavyweights wouldn’t dare try. And I must say, the big guy has come a long way in the gym and it shows because now he can fight three rounds hard. I learned my lesson never to count him out. In addition to being a wordsmith, Mir is a technician, and if his wrestling continues to improve, as it has, the 32-year-old BJJ black belt is going to really be able to keep opponents guessing.
I was one of the people who thought Mir’s win over Nogueira may have been a fluke, but I don’t think so any more. Mir is just that good. Big Nog has only fought three times in the past three years, but says he feels rejuvenated after three surgeries. The win over Brendan Schaub was one of those turn-back-the-clock moments for Nog and he’s going to have revenge on his mind Saturday in Toronto. He thinks it was a staph infection that weakened him against Mir. That’s what makes this rematch so intriguing. Fluke or Trend? We’ll find out Saturday.
The busy week for the men of Team Alpha Male continues: TJ Dillashaw was a finalist in Saturday’s TUF 14 Finale, Urijah Faber was announced as coach of TUF 15, and now Danny Castillo will follow up his UFC 139 win with a quick turnaround at UFC 141.
UFC president Dana White announced today that TUF 13 finalist Ramsey Nijem has been injured, forcing him to withdraw from his planned bout against Anthony Njokuani. Njokuani and Castillo have verbally agreed to the lightweight bout.
Escudero Returning to UFC December 30 updated December 7
TJ Grant has been forced to withdraw from UFC 141 due to an injury, according to UFC president Dana White. Stepping in to replace him will be TUF 8 winner Efrain Escudero, making his return to the UFC against Jacob Volkmann. Both fighters have verbally agreed to the new match.
Fan Fave Nam Phan Set for UFC 141 updated November 15
Featherweights Nam Phan and Jim Hettes have verbally agreed to fight at UFC 141 on December 30th. Phan is coming off win marked by a record-setting offensive display, while Hettes remains undefeated, finishing all opponents by submission.
Riddle vs. Ramos Added to December Card updated November 15
Verbal agreements are in for a welterweight bout between former Shooto champion Luis “Beicao” Ramos and Ultimate Fighter veteran Matt Riddle December 30th in Las Vegas at UFC 141, UFC president Dana White announced today.
Cowboy vs. Diaz plus Featherweights at 141 updated October 31
A potential fight of the year has been verbally agreed to as two of the most exciting fighters in the lightweight division will battle it out at UFC 141, UFC president Dana White confirmed today. Riding a six-fight win streak and ending his last two bouts in the first rounds, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone will take on Ultimate Fighter winner Nate Diaz, who is coming off a spectacular submission victory over Japanese legend Takanori Gomi.
The bout will be the co-main event UFC 141, which is headlined by a heavyweight battle between Brock Lesnar and Alistair Overeem.
Additionally, two featherweight bouts have been verbally agreed to for the same card.
Featherweights Manny Gamburyan and Diego Nunes have re-booked their bout, originally slated for UFC 135 in September. The fight was scrapped after both men suffered injuries leading up to the date.
Plus, another veteran with lots of firepower is entering the featherweight ranks. Ross Pearson is dropping a weight class and jumping into the division against Junior Assuncao.
Assuncao told one website that Pearson instigated a fight with him by staring him down at past events. The two called for the bout on Twitter, with Assuncao writing “I’ll give him the welcome to the 145 class” in response to a tweet announcing that Pearson had successfully made the featherweight limit on a test cut. “u may just get what u wish for, see u very soon!!” responded Pearson.
Lightweight Battle Added to UFC 141 Card updated October 26
Two of the best grapplers in the lightweight division have verbally agreed to fight December 30th at UFC 141 as Brazilian jiu-jitsu specialist TJ Grant takes on relentless wrestler Jacob “Christmas” Volkmann at the end-of-year event.
Stun Gun Returns in Dec. to Face Pierson updated October 3
A welterweight showdown is on tap for December 30th, as South Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim returns to the Octagon for what should be an exciting scrap with Canada’s Sean Pierson.
“Two talented welterweights on the comeback trail will face off at UFC 141 when Sean Pierson takes on the ‘Stun Gun’ Dong Hyun Kim.” said UFC President Dana White.
Janitor vs. Mauler Re-Set for December
Two of the toughest contenders in the light-heavyweight division have verbally agreed to fight in Las Vegas December 30th as Alexander “The Mauler” Gustafsson will take on Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko.
The two were originally slated to meet at UFC 133 in Philadelphia last month, but a late injury sidelined Matyushenko. Instead, Gustafsson fought Matt Hamill, winning via TKO in the second round.
Jon Fitch vs. Johny Hendricks at UFC 141 updated September 12
A second bout between top contenders has been added to the UFC’s year-end card, company president Dana White confirmed today. Verbal agreements are in for a matchup between top-ten welterweights as 11-1 Johny Hendricks takes on 23-3-1 Jon Fitch. Both men are standout wrestlers; the December bout will be Fitch’s first return to the cage since being sidelined by injury earlier this year.
Overeem Signs with the UFC; Faces Lesnar in December updated September 6
Former Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem has
found a new home – in the UFC. But after signing a deal with the
promotion today in Las Vegas, he’s going to get put to work immediately,
as it was also announced that he will make his Octagon debut on
December 30th at the MGM Grand Garden Arena against former UFC
heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar.
Stay tuned for more information on Overeem vs. Lesnar and the December 30th event in Las Vegas.
Fighting is and forever will be the purest form of self-discovery.
From a local amateur promotion all the way to the top tier, international competition of the UFC, all MMA fighters are universally preparing themselves to be better in all aspects of hand-to-hand combat. To be successful, one has to go through both physical transformations to be a better athletic fighter and mental transformations to be a better technically skilled fighter. In the end, the two challengers enter a ring or cage not to prove who is the fastest in 100 meters, who can lift the heaviest object or has the most accurate jump shot; MMA fighters enter a ring or cage to see who is the best.
For UFC welterweight Rich Attonito, answering the most basic, but alluring of questions, “can I beat this guy?” was what initially whet his curiosity for the sport.
“I had a lot of experience previously competing one-on-one in wrestling,” tells Attonito. “I had plenty experience, I guess you could say, fighting with people, which wasn’t always one-on-one and wasn’t always in my favor. It wasn’t by far the first time I had been in a fight before. But it was the first time fighting someone who had some training. You get into a fight in college at a bar, they don’t have wrestling and you do have wrestling – it is easy to take them down and beat them up. Now, what will it be like to fight someone who knows how to wrestle or has some jiu-jitsu or is a good striker? That’s what really drew me into fighting to begin with. What would happen against a trained person? It is easy to beat up some jabronis at a bar, but it’s not going to be so easy to fight some guy at a venue, which has been set-up beforehand, and he is preparing to fight you and he has skills.”
After seven years with an overall record of 10-4, the former NCAA Division I wrestler from Hofstra University is still training to enter the Octagon to extinguish those “what ifs” in his own mind. At the same time, it is also Attonito’s job to do so as he prepares for his fifth fight in the UFC on December 10th against the debuting Jake Hecht at UFC 140. What once was a competitor’s flight of fancy has become Attonito’s path in life to not only prove he can defeat these opponents, but that he can do so professionally with money on the line and the future of a career in the balance. Actually, the added pressure has only made “The Raging Bull” enjoy MMA even more.
“That initial curiosity is still there and now it’s like how far can I take it,” explains Attonito. “I’m in an organization where I’m competing against the elite level of the sport. I keep answering that question and I’m training harder and harder. I’m going to continue to answer that question of how will I do against someone who has been training as much as someone like Jake Hecht now? It is much different than the first guy I fought. I think it is the same scenario in a lot of ways, but the stakes have been raised. I have more chips in the pile and whoever I’m fighting has more chips in the pile because they have a lot more talent, skills and experience than the first guys I was fighting. It’s part of what makes it so much fun for me.”
The New Jersey native is having a lot of fun in the UFC nowadays, going 3-1 since his stint on the 11th season of The Ultimate Fighter. He gave arguably his best performance inside the Octagon in his last bout against Daniel Roberts at UFC Live in June. The dominant unanimous decision over Roberts also marked Attonito’s debut at welterweight after winning 2 of 3 fights at middleweight. He controlled the action of the entire fight, from the standup to the ground, which specifically displayed how well-rounded of a threat he is for his new opposition at 170 pounds.
“I think I was able to display a range of my abilities,” Attonito states. “Everything went well that night. I felt good. I was ready to go in there and compete and win. I was firing on all cylinders and I was able to have a good performance. Every time I get in there, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to continue showing people more. I still feel like I have a lot of skills that I haven’t had the opportunity to put on display. I’m feeling more comfortable every time getting in there and fighting at this level and in this arena. The more I go in there, the more I’m relaxed and the more I can let my training go and really showcase my abilities.”
The drop in weight had been a lingering possibility for the 5-10 former middleweight and even former light heavyweight. But he is no stranger to messing with his weight for competition’s sake, as Attonito began his wrestling days at Hofstra University at 167 pounds and ended them at 197 pounds. Facing bigger and, seemingly, stronger opponents was old hat to “The Raging Bull” when he began his career in MMA at 205 pounds. Attonito’s journey to fighting at his proper weight will only help him against opponents of his own size considering what he has been used to, which is bad news for the current roster of UFC welterweights.
“I felt much better,” emphasizes Attonito about life at his new weight. “As far as my own performance, I felt much faster, more athletic, much more agile and have better endurance. All around the board I feel better at this lighter weight. Fighting against Roberts, he was probably the first guy in years, I can’t remember the last guy, I fought who was my height. Height wise, size wise, I felt like I was fighting someone my size. Usually at middleweight, I’m fighting guys who are taller, longer, and a little bit bigger than me. It felt great fighting at that weight. I definitely felt like I was physically stronger. I fought at 205 and 185 and being used to those heavier and stronger guys, I feel like it is hard not to feel a strength difference in my favor at 170. But there are a lot of strong guys at 170. When I fought Dave Branch he was a big dude and could have been 25 pounds heavier than me the night of fight for all I know. Now, fighting guys that are my height, size, and weight is a real major difference in the way the fights are going to go. I’m not going to get muscled around.”
His next Octagon opponent, Hecht, will be a new name and face to UFC fans, but not to Attonito. The “Hitman” has an overall record of 10-2 with his most notable victory coming last year over TUF 13 vet Charlie Rader. The current product of Fiore MMA in Illinois previously spent time training at American Top Team in Missouri, which led to Hecht making the pilgrimage to the original ATT facility in Florida where Attonito is based out of. Hecht isn’t name recognizable to the UFC faithful, but he is bringing a wealth of international fighting experience into his Octagon debut, which Attonito is familiar with and ready for.
“I think he’s a very tough opponent,” admits Attonito. “He’s got a lot of fight in him. He’s like a zombie. If you don’t shoot him through the head he’s going to keep coming for you. He’s ready to go wherever the fight takes place, whether it is standing or the ground. I know he’s worked a lot on his wrestling and utilized that in his fights. I know he’s got a ground game. He’s going to be a well-rounded opponent who is highly motivated to come in here and get his opportunity to fight in the UFC.”
As mentioned, Attonito is preparing for Hecht at the veritable MMA factory of American Top Team in Coconut Creek. “There are great guys down here all training for big fights like Thiago Alves who had his fight a couple weeks ago and is back training, and Jorge Masvidal training for Gilbert Melendez,” says Attonito, who not only has the daily opportunity to train with some of the best fighters in the world, but to pick their brain to help out his own rise to top. “The great thing about these guys at American Top Team, they’re here to push you to get better and they also provide insight, little bits of wisdom from their experiences they can lend to get you ready to climb up the ladder to the top level of the UFC. You can see how they go about carrying themselves. Through the years they have helped me hone my own style of how I like to get prepared for my fights and I see what they do and I like to add that to my training to make me that much better.”
This Saturday, the next question on Attonito’s path of answering how good of a fighter he can be is through the “Hitman” Hecht. “Each fight, I’m trying to show people more and more of what I’m capable of and give people more of a glimpse,” asserts Attonito, who is looking to establish himself as an ever evolving presence in the welterweight division to the fans and his competitors. “I’m always trying to come out with a newer, improved and better version of myself. Let people see that I should be taken serious. I’m not a flash in the pan and I’m someone people need to look out for.”