At UFC 139, Dan Henderson faces Mauricio Rua in the main event. It's a fight being built partly around the idea of the invading Strikeforce champion, with Henderson, the last Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champ, coming back to the UFC against Shogun Rua, the last UFC Light Heavyweight champion. It's a good story, right? Maybe, but it also ignores a key word. A word that holds special meaning to any long time MMA fan. And a word that gives a new level of depth to this fight.

Pride.

No, not each fighter's pride, I'm talking about the beloved PRIDE organization, the former home to both Henderson and Shogun. Because this fight is truly a Pride dream match. And sadly, it may be the last one. To take a look at the true history behind this fight, we have to roll back to 2005, and the 2005 Pride Middleweight Grand Prix.

Starting in 2000, Pride put a heavy emphasis on the Grand Prix format. It was a great idea - get 16 (or so) of the world's best, and have them square off over a few months to determine the true greatest. The format produced some of the all time great Pride, and indeed MMA, fights - fights like Kazushi Sakuraba vs. Royce Gracie and Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson. The greatest of these Grand Prix events was held in the Middleweight division (today's equivalent of Light Heavyweight). And heading into the 2005 GP, there was one man to beat: Wanderlei Silva.

At that time, Silva was the long reigning Pride Middleweight champion. He had held the belt for 4 years, and had not lost at Middleweight in over 20 fights (though he had suffered one loss to the much bigger Mark Hunt in a controversial decision). He was also the defending Grand Prix champion, having won the 2003 tournament with his nasty KO of Rampage. But in the opening round of the GP, a new contender emerged.

Shogun Rua was just 23 years old at the time, and 8-1 in his young career. But as part of the opening round, he made a huge impact, destroying Rampage in less than 5 minutes. Suddenly this aggressive whirlwind of a fighter was another tournament favorite. The only problem? Shogun and Wanderlei were teammates at Brazil's Chute Boxe. They were on opposite sides of the draw, but would they be willing to fight each other in the finals? This was a huge question heading into the final 4, as a Wanderlei vs. Shogun final seemed inevitable.

As it turned out, the question never was answered. In the semi-finals, Silva was defeated in a moderate upset by Ricardo Arona, while Shogun stopped Alistair Overeem to make his own way to the finals. There, it took Shogun only 3 minutes to stop Arona, avenging his teammate's loss and establishing his own role as the new top dog in Pride.

The story continues in the complete entry.

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This is a guest piece written by Tom Grant.

The UFC's historic deal with Fox Sports has cause those at Zuffa to begin reevaluated some of their production effects. One production mainstay that is getting the axe is the Gladiator Man Intro.

The video depicted a man dressing himself in a rather generic Roman Gladiator costume, preparing to enter the arena. Introduced by Zuffa in the early 2000s, the video was a clear play on the popularity of the Riddley Scott film Gladiator. The actor in the video even rubs his hands in dirt before entering the arena, similar to Russell Crowe's character in the film. Many are glad to see this intro go, seeing it as an unwelcome reminder of the sports checkered past. Critics often decried the early UFC as being akin to Gladiator combat. As a farewell to Gladiator man, this article will take an honest look at the games of Ancient Rome, and how the compare to modern sport.

First and foremost, who where these men (and sometimes women) that fought and died for entertainment?

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At this weekend's UFC on Fox 1 show, UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez faces Junior dos Santos. In this series, we look back at the complete career of the champion, and see what we can learn about Saturday's showdown. 

So far, part 1 and part 2 have taken us through the first eight fights of Cain Velasquez's career. With a perfect 8-0 record, and a crushing KO of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Cain was ready for the biggest fight of his career - a shot at the UFC Heavyweight title and Brock Lesnar. 

Fight #9: Cain Velasquez vs. Brock Lesnar
October 23, 2010, UFC 121

Simply put, this fight was huge. Lesnar was the UFC mega-star, the man who virtually guaranteed 1,000,000 PPV buys every time he stepped foot into the Octagon. Velasquez wasn't there, but the promotional push for him was big, emphasizing the idea that he could become the first ever Mexican Heavyweight champion. The two men headlined an absolutely stacked card, and they delivered on the promise of an epic clash.

Just as he did against Minotauro, Velasquez came out for this fight energized, aggressive, and with even more improvements since his last fight. Here, those improvements come primarily in his defensive wrestling. Lesnar has strong takedowns, and can use his massive frame to keep his opponents on the mat once he gets them down. But Velasquez (no slouch in the wrestling department himself) does a superb job nullifying Lesnar's wrestling through two primary tools.

First, Cain shows good takedown defense. When Brock shoots, Cain gets the underhooks and stuffs the shot, forcing Brock to work hard for the takedown and tire himself out in the process. Second, once Brock does get the takedown, Cain shows a remarkable ability to regain his feet. This is beautifully demonstrated in the 2nd Lesnar takedown - Brock slams Cain to the mat, and Velasquez instantly gets his feet beneath him and pops right back up, almost as if he had been bounced on a spring. And remember, he does this with a nearly 300 pound man on top of him.

Contrast these takedowns from Lesnar with Cain's own offensive wrestling. Once Lesnar is tired from these takedown attempts, Velasquez gets him down with relative ease. He then shows the superb ground control he is known for, trapping Lesnar and wearing him down. It's a sharp contrast to the way Cain avoids damage when Brock is doing the wrestling.

One final aspect of this fight worth noting is a continuation of something we saw in the Nogueira fight - patience. Against Nog, Velsaquez showed this patience at the end of the fight. After landing the fast combo that drops the former Pride champion, Velasquez does not just dive right in to ground and pound - he pushes Nog's legs aside to avoid getting trapped in the guard, comes around to the side, then throws the ground and pound with the same kind of accuracy he would on the feet. We see this patience come up again against Lesnar when Brock is flopping around the cage after being hurt. As Brock tumbles and flails, Cain stays close, but does not engage. He waits until Brock is no longer a wildly spinning top so that he can find the opening. Once Brock stops, Cain immediately resumes the offense. This ability to combine patience and focus with a killer instinct is very tough, but Velasquez uses it to take out two of the division's best.

In the end, Velsaquez has the superior stand-up, the superior defense, the superior wrestling, and the superior cardio. He beats Brock Lesnar down, taking away his Heavyweight crown, and leaving the former champion battered, bloody, beaten.

Fight #10: Cain Velasquez vs. Junior dos Santos
November 12, 2011, UFC on Fox 1

And now here we are, one year later, and getting ready for Cain's first defense of that title. And what a defense it is - not just because of his opponent, but also because of its historic significance as the start of the UFC on Fox deal.

So, based on our look at Cain's career, what can we expect this Saturday?

I think Velasquez will have no concerns starting the fight standing. He'll have the speed advantage over dos Santos, and will use movement and combinations to get in and out with strikes. As the fight progresses, look for Cain to start adding in wrestling by taking Cigano to the mat. There, he'll try to control using the back and, if he can, the crucifix, dropping fists on dos Santos the entire time. He'll push this pace as long as he needs to in order to break the challenger down.

Onebig aspect of this fight - this will perhaps answer the one lingering question left over from Cain's clash with Cheick Kongo. After that fight, some questioned Velasquez's power and his ability to be hit. He answered those power questions with his KO of Nogueira, but I don't think he has yet answered the striking defense question. Since Kongo, Velasquez has not fought a technical striker of any kind, and certainly not one with the punching skills of Junior dos Santos. So has Velasquez closed the gap that Kongo found repeatedly two years ago? I suspect he has, but can't say for sure. One thing I can say for sure? Junior dos Santos wants this question answered as well. And come Saturday night, expect him to answer it for us.

Thanks for reading this series. See you all on Saturday.

SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

At this weekend's UFC on Fox 1 show, UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez faces Junior dos Santos. In this series, we look back at the complete career of the champion, and see what we can learn about Saturday's showdown. 

Yesterday, part 1 took us through the first five fights of Velasquez's career. We left him undefeated at 5-0, and on the verge of becoming a serious force in the UFC Heavyweight division. No one had yet been able to threaten Velasquez, and it was time for him to start fighting the big boys. Here in part 2, we look at his journey into the upper echelon of the division and his path to the Heavyweight title. Check back later this week for the conclusion.

Fight #6: Cain Velasquez vs. Cheick Kongo
June 13, 2009, UFC 99

Just as Matt Mitrione at UFC 137, the path to the top for Cain Velasquez led him into Cheick Kongo. Kongo was just settling into his role as gatekeeper, and coming in on a 3 fight win streak. This was Cain's first semi-main event, his first fight on a PPV main card, and the fight that would show the world how dominant he could be. And then, just seconds into the fight, something surprising...

In the first real exchange of the fight, Kongo landed a punch that dropped Velasquez, following it up with a second shot that again wobbled him. And for the first time ever, Cain Velasquez was in trouble. But Kongo's glory was short-lived, as Cain immediately secured a double leg, took Kongo down, and pounded on him for the rest of the round. An abnormality then, right?

Nope. In round 2, it happened again. Cain came in throwing punches, Kongo countered and dropped him, Cain responded with a takedown and controlled the rest of the round. One more time in round 3, and the end result was a Cain Velasquez unanimous decision win, but one that was not without some questions.

Perhaps it was the unreasonably high expectations on the 5-0 fighter, but the general consensus after this fight was that Kongo has exposed Velasquez. Two holes in his game were pointed out.

First, his striking defense. Kongo connected on the feet on more than one occasion, and had Cain hurt. This success came off of counter punching when Cain pushed the action forward. Kongo, a good technical striker, used his accuracy and reach to get inside Cain's punches and land on the chin - a bad sign in the eyes of many.

Second, his inability to finish. For the first time, Velasquez failed to put his opponent away. Despite landing a tremendous amount of ground and pound, Cain never really hurt Kongo. On commentary, Joe Rogan points this out repeatedly, contrasting Cain's "ineffective" ground and pound with the far more damaging strikes of fellow Heavyweight Shane Carwin. This idea was picked up to the point that Cain, dominate win and all, began to be known as "pillow hands" in some corners, and his chances of becoming a champion were called into question.

Keep reading in the complete entry.

SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

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At this weekend's UFC on Fox 1 show, UFC Heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez faces Junior dos Santos. This marks Velasquez's long awaited first defense of the Heavyweight title he won from Brock Lesnar last year at UFC 121, as well as the highly anticipated debut of the UFC on Fox. As we gear up for this epic fight, let's look back at the complete career of the champion, and see what we can learn about Saturday's showdown.

Today, part 1 of this 3 part series looks at the earliest career of Cain Velasquez, from his debut in Strikeforce through his explosion onto the UFC scene in 2008. Check back later this week for part 2 and the conclusion.

Fight #1: Cain Velasquez vs. Jesse Fujarczyk
October 7, 2006, Strikeforce: Tank vs. Buentello

First off, can we just marvel for a moment that not only did Cain make his debut in Strikeforce, he did it on the undercard of a Tank Abbott vs. Paul Buentello card? Crazy.

Cain famously took this fight mere months after graduating from college and beginning his MMA training at American Kickboxing Academy. He came in to this debut with strong college wrestling backgrounds at NCAA Division I school Arizona State, but also with less than 6 months of full MMA training. But if you didn't know that when you watched the fight, you'd never guess he was so inexperienced. Cain comes in and just dominates, tossing Fujarczyk around with ease before finishing him off with ground and pound. 

Biggest take-away here is Cain's confidence beyond his years, and the way that allows him to integrate a complete game. He just looks so comfortable in there, blending his wrestling into MMA. Check out the way he uses that wrestling to score the takedown and control on the mat, but also throws punches at every single opening. Great debut.

Watch the fight, and keep reading in the complete entry.

SBN coverage of UFC on Fox 1: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos

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I've been meaning to start this series for a while, but certain people (I'm looking at you Mike Fagan) have held me back from getting my game on. Well, today's the day. You see, Mr. Fagan is what guys with girlfriends like to call an MMA historian. He has this huge calendar thinger in his house that chronicles everything that has ever happened in MMA, day by day. Instead of just entering the info into some internet database like a regular guy, he has it all on his wall like a serial killer. Occasionally he takes pictures of it and sends them to me (thank god that's all he sending), and I get a glimpse into the past. And today was one of those days.

I'd like to take you back, back through time. We've got two stops. One is important, the other not so much. First up, October 14th, 2004, and a Pride event that approximately three people remember. Then two years later, some UFC event where A Spider Was Born.

Seven years ago to the day, Pride Bushido 5 took place in the Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. Every fight had a name you likely remember, but this was pretty much a forgotten card due to the lopsided matchups. Names such as Mauricio Rua, Minowaman, and Igor Vovchanchyn picked up wins. Takanori Gomi defeated Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett in the main event, but likely the biggest story that came out of the card was superstar Hayato Sakurai losing to a man 30 pounds bigger than him, Crosley Gracie, by submission in the second round. Sakurai went on the next year to make the Pride Lightweight Grand Prix finals, before losing to the aforementioned Gomi via TKO.

Five years ago to the day, UFC 64 took place in Las Vegas. The card featured eight fights, and you might recognize the undercard winners - Kurt Pellegrino, Clay Guida, and Yushin Okami. Guida was making his debut in the UFC, while the other two were in their sophomore fights. On the main card, Spencer Fisher stopped Dan Lauzon in the opening bout. It still amazes me that Lauzon got a bout in the UFC when he was only 13 years old. (Fine, he was 18). Cheick Kongo lost to Carmelo Marrero, which should give you a clue as to why the Frenchman is still not main eventing today. Jon Fitch got a judge to give him a 30-25 decision over Kuniyoshi Hironaka, who is actually a solid fighter despite your yawns. And there just happened to be two title fights on top of the card.

Remember last weekend when Kenny Florian got blown out in a title fight? Yeah, that was happening five years ago too. Florian faced off with Sean Sherk for the re-imagined UFC lightweight title, and well...he lost. Bad. Two 49-46's and a 50-45. He just couldn't stop the takedown, and despite busting Sherk open with one of his vaunted elbows from the bottom in the second, he couldn't get anything else going. The main event did introduce a new face to UFC nobility though, and he's done nothing but impress since - Anderson Silva.

Redman brought Silva to the cage, and a broken nose brought Silva to the title belt. Rich Franklin never stood a chance after he got caught up in the Thai clinch. Muay Thai took the middleweight strap home to Brazil, and no one has been able to wrest it away since. It appears that Chael Sonnen will get the next chance. We'll see about that.

I'm on vacation and just happen to be writing this from a hotel business center in Tallinn, Estonia right now, so the next episode of This Day in MMA might not be tomorrow. But it will be back as soon as I get home, or when Fagan drinks enough to take more pictures of his bedroom wall.

Freak.

The days following the classic put on by Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard in their UFC 125 rematch saw a flurry of reaction from Bloody Elbow writers and community members. As we prepare for the two men to meet for a third time we have a chance to look back at some of the material Bloody Elbow ran at the time.

First, to set the stage, here is the highlight video from the day after the bout:

Mike Fagan talked about what made the fight so exceptional in his post-fight analysis piece:

I cannot understate the quality of this fight. This had everything a fight fan wants to see: the stakes of Anderson Silva vs. Chael Sonnen, the dramatic comeback of Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin, the heart of Jorge Santiago vs. Kazuo Misaki, the high-tempo of Leonard Garcia vs. Chan Sung Jung, and the technical acumen of Martin Kampmann vs. Carlos Condit. I'll have a better idea in a few months when I can drop the recency bias, but this might go down as my favorite fight of all time.

...

In addition to the excellence in the cage, we heard some world-class corner advice in the main event. After round one, Edgar's corner advised their fighter on two important points: you need to keep your eyes on Maynard when you move and you need to watch out for his left hook, which had been the punch that hurt Edgar the most during the first round. After Edgar regained his form and took round two, Randy Couture ripped into Gray Maynard during the break. He told Maynard to stop looking to knockout Edgar, and instead to focus on repeating the beating he laid out in round one. Salient points from both corners, and impressive stuff from the two fighters by making the appropriate adjustments during the fight.

When Dana White said that the UFC would stick to its plans to give Anthony Pettis the next title shot, instead of a third fight between Edgar and Maynard, Jonathan Snowden took to Bloody Elbow to advocate for the rematch:

This was what mixed martial arts is all about. This was art- a brutal artistry for certain, but art nonetheless. In the end, I didn't mind that the fight was scored a draw. I had it a draw on my own score card giving Maynard the first and third rounds (10-8 Round one) and Edgar rounds two, four, and five. It was as evenly fought as any bout I've seen. No one deserved to lose.

Unfortunately, we will all be losers because of the UFC's insistence on booking fights so far in advance. We just saw a championship fight end in a draw, not a boring fight that no one wants to see again, but an action packed extravaganza. Should Frankie Edgar really go from this to fighting the WEC's lame duck champion Anthony Pettis?

I like Pettis for his potential and think he has a bright future. But why should he be given a title shot when he's never beaten a legitimate top ten fighter? We don't need to see Edgar-Pettis. We need to see Edgar vs. Maynard III and we need to see it as soon as possible.

In the days and weeks following the event, Bloody Elbow caught up with many men involved.

Continue after the jump for more talk from Maynard, his striking coach and Frankie Edgar.

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In the wake of UFC 135: Jones vs. Rampage, there have been a number of dissenting viewpoints on the Heavyweight fight between Mark Hunt and Ben Rothwell. Some have called it an embarrassment, and a completely ridiculous fight with no business on the main card. For me, it was a highlight of the night. Why?

Two words: Mark Hunt.

The Super Samoan came into the fight on the heels of his first win in over five years. Before that, he'd been blown out of the water in four consecutive fights (five if you include his brief K-1 return in 2008). He'd shown poor ground defense, and a lack of improvement in this fundamental hole in his game. 

But when he stepped in to face Ben Rothwell, I forgot all of that and rooted for him anyway. And I was not alone in that support, as the comments here at Bloody Elbow will show you. Fans who have seen Hunt in action pre-2006 still remember what he was once capable of. For newer fans, he's just that tubby guy who doesn't seem to belong in the UFC. But let's take a look at what made Hunt great.

Hunt started his career as a kickboxer in K-1, fighting primarily in regional shows in the Australia/New Zealand area. He had good successes early, winning regional K-1 tournaments and ultimately qualifying for the 2001 K-1 World Grand Prix - the premiere event in kickboxing. Hunt came into that tournament the massive underdog, but put together three impressive wins in one night to take home the 2001 GP crown and stake his claim as the top heavyweight kickboxer in the world. He fought K-1 for two more years, finding success, but never achieving that same high point again.

In 2004, Hunt made the transition to MMA. Because of his K-1 status and popularity in Japan, he was immediately thrown into the deep end, debuting in Pride and facing no less than Wanderlei Silva just six months after his debut. Despite the significant experience gap, Hunt defeated Wanderlei, ending The Axe Murderer's 18 fight undefeated streak. Hunt went on to defeat Mirko CroCop - at the time the clear #2 Heavyweight in the world - before challenging Fedor Emelianenko in 2006. Hunt put in a good showing in the loss to Fedor, and at the close of Pride, had put together a solid 5-3 record against the highest level of Heavyweight opponents.

All of these accolades are important, but they don't paint the full picture of what makes Mark Hunt so great. That can be summarized easily: the fights. Mark Hunt has been in some all time classics, particularly in K-1 where more than one of his fights are held up as some of the best in the company's history.

If there's one fight to watch, it's Hunt's 2001 wild slugfest against Ray Sefo - who MMA fans may recognize from his recent Strikeforce fights, or his work as Vitor Belfort's trainer. The fight was under K-1 rules, but should absolutely appeal to MMA fans. At the time, Hunt was still a relative K-1 newcomer, while Sefo was already established as one of K-1's legends. The two men were both known for their knockout power, and their iron chins, and those two factors came together to create a true spectacle. 

Watch the fight in the full entry.

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