What's That Coming Into The Ring, Is It A Monster?
Posted by RB, 30 Jan 2007
When Pride recently announced the introduction of a super heavyweight division for 2007, the MMA scene reacted as if Sakakibara had just told a bad joke.
'Why would Pride want to desecrate our sport by turning their penchant for occasional freak fights into the focus of an entire division?' Seemed to be the prevailing sentiment. It only made matters worse as he went on to mention the possibility of bringing in WWE stars to help flesh out the ranks. Bemusement turned into unbridled disgust among many hardcore fans.
It’s understandable: many of these fans have been fighting for some time to put MMA across with the respectability and air of legitimacy boxing enjoys in many circles -- and freak shows and pro wrestling crossovers do not have chapters in the book of 'how to make people take your sport seriously'.
But if we can put aside preconceived notions of the quality of fighter at above 265 pounds, and accept that certain amounts of showmanship and visceral excitement (like those involved in watching any two 300 pound men square off) form a key part of what attracts people to mixed martial arts in the first place, we might be able to overcome our knee-jerk reactions and even get a little excited about Pride’s upcoming +265 pound division -- because it does have the potential to be much more than a platform for ‘big man spectacles’.
I’d go as far to say that it's about time an MMA promotion made a proper attempt at pulling the super heavyweight fighters together in a legitimate division: you know, something with basic amenities such as a reasonable depth of established fighters, and yes, its own title.
Historically, MMA has seen a good deal of talent in the upper 200 pound region, and there are easily enough fighters out there today to sustain one good division in one promotion at that weight.
The big question for now is whether Pride can pull the cheque book out and make the right signings in the right places … and yes, that is a pretty big ‘if’ at this point for Pride. But if they take the venture into this weight class seriously, they could form a compelling division.
Let's momentarily put aside the fact that different big men are tied in with different promotions, some even outside of MMA, and simply take a look at the current talent at super heavyweight that could compete in the sport.
First there are veterans like Mark Hunt, Ricco Rodriguez, Tim Sylvia and Semmy Schilt. These guys are world class competitors, having held titles at heavyweight in the UFC and K1, and they would fit in the super heavyweight weight bracket comfortably as it stands.
Hot on their heels are a handful of up-and-coming ‘monsters’ that look to have big potential in the sport: Antonio Silva, Rob Broughton, Hong Man Choi, and Brock Lesnar round out the best of them.
After that, there’s a long list of competitive big men who have been involved in some great fights: Bob Sapp, James Thompson, Rulon Gardner, Ron Waterman, Tom Erikson, Eric Pele, Dan Bobish, Wesley ‘Cabbage’ Correira, Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch, and even Gan McGee.
So at least we know that if we were putting together a Fantasy Fighter Superheavyweight Division, an eye-watering top ten could be assembled: Hunt, Schilt, Sylvia, Rodriguez, Silva, Sapp, Gardner, Broughton, Choi, and Lesnar.
There may be little chance of Pride bringing all these fighters together under the same division, for a long list of reasons (the first being the question of whether they could afford to), but the fact remains that the long term potential for the super heavyweight division is quite staggering.
Having said that, let’s look at the short term and what Pride can actually deliver this year before the ‘Monster Grand Prix’ they have tentatively scheduled for 2008.
First off, many of the aforementioned fighters are not going to be available to them. Semmy Schilt and Tim Sylvia are heavyweight champions in K1 and the UFC respectively, and it is unlikely Pride could snatch either away -- especially in the case of Schilt, who would have to first make the flip back to MMA, where he enjoyed much less success than he does now as kickboxing heavyweight champion in K1.
Further weakening Pride’s short-term potential at super heavyweight, Antonio Silva is currently fighting for EXC, and Hong Man Choi and Brock Lesnar are both also under contract to K1, a promotion who consider their big men valuable commodities (look no further than their Dynamite!! 2006 card, featuring no less than Hong Man Choi, Giant Silva, and Akebono all on their biggest card of the year). Additionally, Rulon Gardner has previously announced intentions not to fight again.
All in all, that knocks six of our Fantasy Top Ten fighters out the picture. Ouch.
Then again, new divisions don’t just pop into existence fully formed. Even with the six aforementioned fighters out the picture, Pride can still put together a good starting lineup upon which to build. Here are five men they can use to kick things off:
Mark Hunt
Mark Hunt prove to everyone on New Year’s Eve that he is one of the top heavyweights out there, putting up quite a fight against Fedor and even getting a submission attempt of his own. In his post fight interview he talked of losing weight as a goal, which may mean he is intent on remaining a heavyweight once the 265 pound limit is introduced -- he currently hovers around this weight. If, however, he does compete above 265 pounds, he would be the division’s crown jewel, giving it instant credibility. For fans, the issue will be whether Hunt’s talent is wasted at super heavyweight when he could be mixing it up in the already established and deep heavyweight division. However, since he has already fought three of the top five heavyweights in the world, we may not be missing as much as we think if he moves up in division.
Bob Sapp
Bob Sapp is a major draw in Japan, and although his style of fighting isn’t pretty (with heavy use of the bullrush and the flailing hammerfist), he has to be given respect -- his war with Rodrigo Nogueira in 2002 is an all-time classic, and he has shown himself at times to be an extremely dangerous force in the ring. Sapp has been having contract disputes with K1 lately, so a return to Pride this year in not at all unfeasible. Pride should be aggressively trying to sign this fighter back with them.
Rob Broughton
Broughton is currently the Cage Rage heavyweight champion and has went on a three fight win streak since being brought in against James Thompson as a massive underdog and pulling out all the stops to win via TKO. He has since stopped Robert Berry and Butterbean in decisive fashion. ‘The Bear’ seems like one of the most obvious fighters Pride will be looking to sign, seeing as two of his last three wins come over fighters that will be participating in the super heavyweight division themselves. Add to this the working relationship between Cage Rage and Pride as of late, and you can put money on Broughton fighting as a Pride super heavyweight this year.
Ricco Rodriguez
Rodriguez has beaten Couture, Arlovski, and Monson, and lost one of the sport’s most controversial decisions against Nogueira. He is world class material, but the four fight slide he went on in 2003 saw him dropped from the UFC, and subsequently he has gained a terrific amount of weight. He was down to 300 pounds in his last appearance, and would probably have to drop another 30 before we see the real Ricco back in the ring. At around the 265 pound mark he could be right up there with Hunt -- who he matches up against well. If Rodriguez is interested in fighting as a super heavyweight in Pride, he could be a force.
James Thompson
‘The Colossus’ is one fighter we know has a certain place in Pride’s super heavyweight division -- his bout with Yoshida on the New Year’s Eve show is credited as providing ‘inspiration’ for forming this new division (i.e. they saw him using brute strength to clobber one of their Japanese poster boys to the brink of long term injury, and decided it was time to draw a formal distinction between 265 pound giants and bulked up 205’ers).
Thompson may not be the most technical fighter (in fact, it is incredible just how non technical he can get), and he may not always win either – but he does have a knack for making his fights good to watch. I was in attendance for his fight against Broughton last year, and the crowd almost blew the roof off as the bout swung back and forth for three rounds before Broughton stopped him with strikes. His recent fights with Yoshida and Fujita have been equally entertaining. There are few who can slug like Thompson slugs, and coming off a good win against Yoshida will have put him in good stead in Pride’s books.
Butterbean
Eric ‘Butterbean’ Esch had a few fights in Pride during 2006, and they are likely to make further use of him this year for their upcoming U.S. shows. Like Thompson, Esch is not the most well rounded mixed martial artist, with major holes in his game (namely, anything that happens on the ground). On the feet is a different story – he has a chin of granite, and few will be able to withstand a full assault by this big man. The scheduled bout between him and Hunt last year would have made for an interesting match-up between two similarly styled strikers, and it would be good to see the bout rescheduled during this year.
If Pride can secure these five fighters for its new division, it will have made a decent start. Of course, we have only considered known fighters so far. As Pride have said, they are currently “flying around the world looking for yet-to-be-known monsters” – and so we could see them turning up some new talent in their search. Then we have the questionable pleasure of seeing WWE stars stepping into the Pride ring to try their hand at MMA.
… In any case, Pride should have no problem finding enough talent to start the ball rolling for their new division. Longer term, we may come to see a truly deep and exciting super heavyweight division in Pride. Stranger things, as they say, have happened.
