MacDonald on UFC: Show half empty

What everybody’s talking about in MMA right now is the big fight on FOX this weekend. For me it just seems a little anti-climactic that they’re going to have just one fight on television. It seems like such a huge deal for them to just have one fight.

I know it’s a big opportunity for the UFC. It’s the first one on the new network, a new relationship and their starting everything. But what if, let’s just say, it’s a 20-second knock down and the referee jumps in too early and the fight’s over?

I’m the kind of guy who normally looks at the glass half full, but in this case I’m just saying isn’t it a big risk? Haven’t you put all your eggs in one basket and for it to have end with a blunder like that would be rough.

Having said that, I’m excited for the fight. It’s as good a fight as you could have in any other division in the UFC. But all I’m saying is you couldn’t go wrong by putting Ben Henderson-Clay Guida on the television broadcast. I don’t know how they couldn’t have worked it out to put that on TV as well.

I’m hoping for the best, but I just don’t see all the hype around just one fight.

Having said that I’m sure the fight is going to be great. I think Cain is going to take this one. He shows that size doesn’t matter in this division. He’s shown he’s got great wrestling skills, boxing skills and jiu-jitsu (though we haven’t seen much of his jiu-jitsu). I just think he’s slightly better everywhere than Dos Santos is.

I think Henderson-Guida is going to steal the show for everyone who’s going to be there live. I think I talked about this potential matchup a long time ago in a blog and it happened, I think it’s a great fight. Same as the main event, I think both are extremely talented but Ben is slightly better everywhere.

He’s got a little better standup; maybe equal wrestling, but Ben’s takedown defence, ground game and submission defence are a little better. I think it will be a close fight but he’ll come away with a win and be the next contender for the lightweight belt.

And I really don’t care much about the rest of the card.

Also, I don’t know why Dana says all his energy is on this one heavyweight title fight and he can’t think of anything else. I don’t really get it, the product is good as always, what are all the extra things you’re putting into this card? All we’re seeing is one fight, so is the rest of the show going to be a whole bunch of filler? You’ve had a televised fight for so many weekends in a row, so what’s different now?

And if you were putting all your eggs in one basket, you shouldn’t bring Brock Lesnar in as your analyst. This is the same guy who busted out a “screw Bud Light, give me a Coors Light” line. Bring in Kenny Florian or Stephan Bonnar, they’re good on the microphone.

On another note it was a tough to see Rory MacDonald have to pull out of his fight in Toronto with an undisclosed injury. I think Brian Ebersole is a big step up in competition for Claude Patrick, who steps in for MacDonald. In two fights in the UFC, he demolished Dennis Hallman and before that put a beatdown on Chris Lytle. Patrick is 3-0 in the UFC but hasn’t exactly faced the top-tier guys in the division.

I’m happy to see Sam Stout get scheduled for a fight, taking on Thiago Tavares in Brazil. Obviously he must be getting his life back in order and fight camp back in order after the huge loss with Shawn Tompkins’ passing. It’s a good thing for him.

Chris Horodecki is also getting back in action this Saturday at Bellator in Canada so he’s already back in the swing of things as much as you can be after that big loss. I’m excited for him.

Speaking of Bellator, Roger Hollett is fighting again, making his debut with that promotion. He’s a good friend of mine and a guy who came on the scene with a ton of hype five years ago, knocking guys out. But after a couple tough fights he kind of faded away. You didn’t hear from him and he wasn’t really fighting.

But here he is back. It’s a big fight for him on television and a good opportunity for him to fight in Canada. I’m obviously hoping he’ll come in there and knock out John Hawk and look like when he first came on the scene with a vengeance.

As for the show’s main event, Ben Saunders vs. Douglas Lima, it’s actually a pretty good fight in my books. Ever since Lima came in the MFC and beat Ryan Ford that time, I’ve been impressed with his fights. Saunders had tough fights but goes in and fights tough. I think Lima is too good on the ground and will find a way to get it down and submit Saunders.

In closing, I thought the UFC in England was entertaining. I think Mark Munoz looked good, didn’t think he looked great. And I thought Chris Leben looked horrible. I felt like he was not his typical self, then lo and behold I read later he cut 21 pounds in 24 hours leading into the weigh-ins, which reportedly left him “shattered.”

I don’t doubt he was absolutely shattered by that so there’s no wonder he looked off. Let that be a lesson to anyone who thinks cutting weight is a great idea. I’m hearing young fighters all the time walking around at 170 for example and fighting at 155 and talking about how they feel they’re undersized and thinking about dropping to 145. I always try to discourage them and let them know that’s not the solution.

It seems like many young fighters think that’s the solution to just cut more weight and drop down to another division. I’ll let Chris’s performance stand as an example as to why you don’t want to cut so much weight.