Chael Sonnen pounds on Nate Marquardt at UFC 109. Photo by Dave Mandel, Sherdog.com

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Ask any hardcore mixed martial arts fan whether or not they believed Chael Sonnen had a shot against Nate Marquardt in the week leading up to UFC 109? More than likely, you'd be enlightened with answers that didn't convey a positive opinion of the outcome for Sonnen. Some fans believed Sonnen's wrestling could be the ultimate deterrent to Marquardt's style, and to those fans -- I salute you.

To many fans, out picking the experts and shaming us in our theories as to how the fight was going to play out was a bittersweet victory on a Sunday morning. Fighters, on the other hand, find comfort in knowing that they've not only beat the odds, beat the experts, and beat the consensus opinion, but they've also lined their pockets with some hard earned cash as well.

Chael Sonnen has also done something that we haven't seen masterfully done since the days in which Tito Ortiz was considered to be in his prime. He's mastered the ability to sell himself as a 'heel', but instead of coming up short -- he delivered on the promise that he would win on Saturday night and put himself in a position to potentially battle current champion Anderson Silva.

Instead of talking down his opponent, Sonnen referred to him as a "decent human being". He saved his most vile comments for Silva, bashing him for his earrings, pink t-shirts, and sideways hat. But it didn't end there. He scrutinized the notion that Silva was the top fighter in the world, and stated he would "expose him" because he's "no more real than the Loch Ness Monster". Pretty colorful, huh?

Not surprisingly, this has caused a divide in the MMA fanbase. Some fans aren't buying into Sonnen's antics as a legitimate part of his personality, and they can see that he's trying to sell himself as controversial. Those fans, however, can appreciate what Sonnen is trying to do -- he's trying to build hype around a fight in order to amass a bigger payday.

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I want to tell you about my perspective on Herschel Walker's involvement in MMA not as a fan, but as someone trying to embed themselves into the larger sports media in a top ten media market in the United States.

Initially I had little interest in any of Walker's MMA endeavors. I wasn't opposed to them per se, but adopted an insouciant attitude in anticipation of what I knew would be low-level MMA. Provided Coker treated Walker as the neophyte that he was (meaning his opponent was equally green), I didn't see any cause for acclaim or blame.

But then something strange happened.

Folks who never talk about MMA in the DC sports media establishment began to talk about it...to me. I started getting emails about Walker, reading columns about him and hearing him discussed on the radio. I started hearing them talk about it even in casual conversation. I got Twittered and Facebooked about it as well. Friends who never watch MMA even asked me about it. In fact, at a bar on a Sunday evening after the bout, I not only heard two patons talking about the fight, but one asked the other whether they had read the article about his fight on CNN.com. UFC 100, for all its acclaim, never even came close. At least not in DC.

For those like me interested in moving the needle as it relates to MMA coverage in mainstream sports media establishments, Walker is a godsend. If I am to ask myself what I can do to grab the attention of editors at The Washington Post or producers at 106.7 The Fan, Walker is by far my best option. Why? Because we are talking MMA not on MMA's terms, but on their terms. We are introducing MMA into the discussion on grounds where they feel comfortable doing so. Some of you will object to that as retreating from a true image of MMA. I don't disagree entirely, but would only respond with the following: trying to convince them about the beauty of MMA on MMA's terms is infinitely more difficult than using a little carrot with the stick.

Based on my experience, the trick to getting people of power in traditional sports media to pay attention is not to shout them down for their bias or age. It's to view them as potential allies. It's to recognize the special nature of their power that would be of tremendous benefit to us. And, most importantly, it's about understanding how they view MMA. That informs our judgment about what we must do to alter their beliefs from the position from which they begin.

The MMA community often thinks of soft-handed freakshow fights as detrimental to the sport in the eyes of the casual observer. The reality is, when handled correctly, it has precisely the opposite effect.

Jake Rossen understands this idea and proclaims the deft art of acceptable freakshow to have real value:

All of this led, inevitably, to the most grotesque geek show of them all: the idea of pitting disparate styles against one another and mopping up the blood afterward. This is what is slightly ironic about MMA’s current attitude toward the sideshow: As a sport born from a circus atmosphere, it doesn’t leave itself much room for comment.

...

Rather than bemoan the oddities of combat sport, it might be more pragmatic to see how they act as fuel. When Carnera circulated, boxing had taken a nosedive after the departure of Jack Dempsey. Lump of nothing that he was, Carnera nonetheless reignited passion for prizefighting. The UFC of the 1990s was nauseating, but it self-corrected and evolved into something special. If it weren’t for the morbid curiosities of the paying public, Frye and White wouldn’t have jobs.

Anomalies continue to intrigue us. Brock Lesnar had a decorated career as an amateur wrestler, but did the hundreds of thousands of people buying his first few fights expect to see a clinical demonstration of a pin fall -- or a grunting man-rock tossing people over the cage padding? And didn’t the athletes appearing underneath Lesnar benefit financially from his participation? As a sponsor paying an athlete to wear your brand, do you want his ass-billboard on a card headlined by Lesnar, or by Thiago Silva?

The danger in criticizing the Herschel Walkers of the combat sports world is that it ignores the basic human interest story. We watch fights because we have an emotional investment in the outcome, and that investment is tenfold if the athletes participating have endeared themselves in other endeavors. If you grew up watching Walker play football, you’re probably going to be intent on seeing him fight. If Jean-Claude Van Damme actually has a muay Thai match -- as he’s alleged to have set up for later in the year -- he will attract a sizable number of people who can quote "Bloodsport" chapter and verse.

The lesson is not that all freakshows are created equal, but that over time products can be improved and palates refined. What begins as a mess often causes enough of a spark to eventually burn away the unessential and produce something of value. As Rossen correctly underscores, MMA itself in America began as a freakshow, but the melee of circus bouts and proposed alligator pits nevertheless homed in a core concept of hand-to-hand fighting that has matured, endured and blossomed into a sophisticated, respectable version of its former self.

MMA is viewed by many members of the traditional sports media as a freakshow. They can and often do have respect for its athletes and are conceptually aware MMA is a sport, but many have yet to emotionally commit to that idea. Whether or not Strikeforce, Walker and his fight Nagy are the forces who are going to adjust those attitudes is certainly debatable (although with Walker's repeated defense of MMA, he makes a strong case for himself). What is not up for debate, however, is how celebrated figures who are historically revered by program directors, producers and editors across the sports media establishment have the unmatched ability to force aforementioned influencers to pay attention to MMA.That is not up for debate. I have witnessed it up close and personal and there isn't a Sengoku fight or fighter on the books that could even come close to matching the former Heisman Trophy winner's ability.

Will some of those influencers watch a Herschel Walker fight and leave with the impression MMA is little more than a freakshow even more reinforced in their minds? Probably. Some stalwarts cannot be budged. Most reasonable people, however, will begin to notice the differences. They'll notice some fighters are strikers, some are grapplers, some appear to be exceptional athletes and sometimes the action is riveting. And that's progress. A common mistake among hardcores is that in order to properly respect MMA one must become a hardcore fan him or herself. Not true. A little progress in the hands of the powerful is not to be scoffed at, and a little more coverage in the mainstream sports press helps MMA position itself alongside other traditional sports. And with that positioning comes more of the trimmings enjoyed by other sport's leagues that we all so desperately crave.

As we move forward, let us be mindful of our origin. We cannot surrender our standards and principles - those that have brought us closer to our self-identification as sport - for cheap entertainment that could undermine validity, but we must also be mindful of our evolution. We must be aware of how those in positions of power who can help us turn MMA into what we want it to be and where it needs to go can, over time, have their views adjusted. The recipe for change involves many ingredients, all of them both sufficient and necessary. But before we can demonstrate the potency of this dynamic sport, we have to have the most essential ingredient of them all: their attention.

Herschel Walker is no Fedor, but Fedor is no Herschel Walker.

The two UFC 109 undercard bouts, Mac Danzig vs. Justin Buchholz and Melvin Guillard vs. Ronys Torres, got the most viewers in the "UFC Prelims" series that started at UFC 103:

- UFC 109: 1.7 million viewers
- UFC 108: 1.5 million viewers
- UFC 104: 1.4 million viewers
- UFC 103: 1.4 million viewers
- UFC 106: 1.3 million viewers

Payout Perspective:

"I think it’s interesting to see the progression these Prelims have made. They’re still a work in progress in terms of content and scheduling, but the ratings are growing despite the variable presence of known commodities. The UFC is essentially leveraging its brand equity in order to build its fighters (and its own PPVs)."

HT: mmapayout.com

via www.mmafight.com

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Thirty Helens agree: Jose Aldo is the fighter of the year.  Sherdog.  MMA Weekly.  MMAFighting.com.  Fight! Magazine.  USA Today.

What's left to say about Jose Aldo?  He came, he saw, he conquered. 

At 23 years old, Aldo ran through the WEC featherweight division, stealing Mike Brown's lunch money in the process.  Aldo's power may scare you, but it's the speed that beats you.  Brown, one of the top fighters in the world, looked second rate opposite Junior.

Aldo's world will get bigger still when he fights Urijah Faber on the WEC's inaugural pay-per-view on April 24th.

Full results after the break.

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Judging from the volume and intensity of the comments on the recent Chael Sonnen/Ed Soares posts, Sonnen's brand of smack talk and grinding decision wins have struck a nerve with MMA fans.

After a long series of tedious middleweight bouts in which the champion Anderson Silva and his opponents respected each other but disrespected the fans by putting on weak fights, we now have someone in contention who knows how to get the fans to care.

Mike Chiappetta breaks it down:

The UFC middleweight who uses words as a weapon as often as he uses wrestling and ground and pound vaulted to the challenger-in-waiting spot in the UFC middleweight division by grinding down heavily favored Nate Marquardt en route to a lopsided decision win at UFC 109.

That means that if Silva can get past his next scheduled opponent in Vitor Belfort at UFC 112 in April, he will meet one of the only men who's ever badmouthed him in public. A few months ago, no one would have had any interest in that matchup, but what a difference a couple wins and few choice words can make.

"Chael came out of nowhere," UFC President Dana White admitted in the UFC 109 post-fight press conference. "He was in the WEC and came over here and has blown some people away. We have Vitor and Anderson which is interesting and exciting, and now there's another guy who is waiting in line who is interesting and exciting. He brings something different into the fight that a lot of people are going to look at. If he gets this thing to the ground, it'll be an interesting fight. He popped out of nowhere, and it's a beautiful thing."

But it's more than just Sonnen's outrageous and outspoken brand of smack-talk that has vaulted him to the top. He's also made a huge improvement in his mental game. Here's Sonnen's coach Matt Lindland talking to Kevin Iole:

"He had to learn how to get tough," Lindland said. "If there was one thing he lacked in the past, it was toughness. If he took a knee to the head, well, you can take that knee and say, ‘I’m good,’ and keep fighting through it. But nobody would have blamed him for quitting. You get knocked out with a knee to the head and everyone would say, ‘Hey, good job. You worked hard. You fought tough.’

"But you know what? That’s not good enough in this sport. It’s not good enough if you’re going to take a title. You have to fight through that [expletive]. That’s what he’s willing to do now and that’s what he’s going to do when he goes out and shocks the world and wins the world title."

To be honest, it would be a monumental feat for someone with Sonnen's style to beat Anderson Silva. With his very limited finishing options, Sonnen would need to dominate all five rounds against possibly the most dangerous KO artist in MMA history. The most comparable title shot win would be Randy Couture over Tim Sylvia. We can all laugh now, but going into that fight it seemed impossible that Couture would dominate that fight from pillar to post and avoid Sylvia's power.

Obviously Anderson Silva is a far more dangerous striker than Tim Sylvia, but the style of fight Sonnen needs to wage to win is very similar to the blueprint Couture laid out.

Unfortunately for Sonnen, that plan hinged on Couture being able to not just hang on the feet, but hurt Sylvia standing which kept Sylvia wary and set up Couture's take down attempts.

Sonnen has established that he's got the mouth to build up heat for a fight -- maybe the most talented fight builder we've seen since Tito Ortiz -- but to win the belt, he'll have to be more like Randy Couture.

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Matt Major, probably best known for the huge ego on display when he appeared on the Tapout TV show, has been announced as the latest addition to the Bellator middleweight roster.  From a press release by the promotion:

CHICAGO, Ill. (February 9, 2010) – Matt Major, the colorful and sometimes-controversial mixed martial artist known for his appearance on the TapouT reality show and his upset victory over UFC veteran Shonie Carter, has signed on to compete in Bellator Fighting Championships’ upcoming Season 2 middleweight tournament.

The 26-year-old Major—who moonlights as a fashion designer—boasts a professional record of 6-1, but says that his "actual record is closer to 20-1 when you include all the fights I’ve taken in clubs and in bars and in people’s basements." He drew big buzz throughout the MMA world with his 2008 win over Carter in a fight that Sherdog.com described by noting that Major "outclassed a man with 14 times as many professional fights" under his belt.

"Matt has a unique and bigger-than-life persona, but below the personality is a 185 pounder who can really fight," said Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney. "If Matt focuses on our upcoming tournament, he’s a very dangerous draw for anyone at 185."

Here's video of his time on the Tapout show:

Full press release after the jump

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"I was just waiting to turn 37 years of age when I first started off, but at age 51, I'm still climbing into cages. So I actually think that some where in say the next 3 to 5 years, you will see that there is this niche there, that if they were to do a master's division, of 40 plus year old guys going against other 40 plus year old guys. That look's like a very competitive match to do something along those lines and will bring a whole new demographic to the mixed martial arts world."

"It's very competitive looking, I wouldn't make that as your main event but put that as maybe third or second to last match for the night and honor these guys but I think there is a market definitely for it."

"I would love to welcome Herschel Walker to the MMA world, ...but I hope he’ll take it easy on me."