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It seems like this is a good week to remember the advice we've all heard and said at some point, "Let's not rush to judgment." Here are some cases where that needs to be done.
CASE 1: Cain Velasquez took out Antonio Silva fairly easily at UFC 146. Velasquez spilled a lot of Silva's blood en route to the stoppage. Next up is a rematch against Junior dos Santos. I've actually heard a few people say that the first fight was a fluke. There was nothing flukey about JDS whomping Velasquez the first time they fought. A flukey, or lucky, occurrence was when Gabriel Gonzaga headkicked Mirko Cro-Cop. I don't say that to demean or diminish Gonzaga, he deserves credit for his victory. What made that victory flukey was the nature of the finish, a headkick. If you examine Gonzaga's victories before that fight and after, you'll see a lot of punches and submissions. The fluke is how he won, not that he did win.
Applying this to JDS vs. Velasquez 2, a knockout victory for JDS is a common occurrence for him. I'm sure some will pick Velasquez to win the rematch, even if they don't believe the first fight was a fluke. Could Velasquez win? Of course he could, this is MMA. However, I haven't seen a thing that would suggest that anything has changed since the first time they fought. I see the rematch playing out largely the same way the first fight did.
However, I don't want to rush to judgment here. It's very likely that Velasquez will change strategies in the rematch. If he tries to stand with JDS then he's playing a fool's game. Contrary to what Joe Rogan said before their first fight, Velasquez is not a perfect fighter. He doesn't have a great chin. He may have a good chin, but JDS proved that he can't take a lot of punches. Velasquez is a good wrestler with some boxing. A lot of people don't give JDS credit for his submission game, as he prefers to stand and knock opponents out. How will Velasquez react if he takes JDS down and then has to fight off submission attempts?
I still think JDS wins this fight, but I'll give Velasquez the benefit of the doubt and assume that he changes his strategy up, allowing him to avoid another early loss.
CASE 2: Arriany Celeste was arrested the other night on domestic violence charges. I don't know any of the details, but this seemed to come out of the blue. For that reason, I don't want to rush to judgment here. This could all be a misunderstanding or a technicality. However, if it comes out that the charges are real, the UFC needs to punish her accordingly. Yes, she's very beautiful, but that's no excuse. It doesn't matter if it's a woman beating a man, it's still wrong. Hopefully the facts come out soon so we can all make an informed decision.
CASE 3: This is sort of the opposite of what came before, but the next time Frank Mir shows up anywhere near the top of the food chain in the UFC, can we all not rush to judgment and proclaim him one of the most dangerous heavyweights? Kudos to Mir for making it past the first round against Junior Dos Santos at UFC 146, but people need to quit acting like this guy is for real. It's been proven time and again, and last Saturday was just the latest example. Look at Mir's track record for all the evidence you need to see that he's an illusion. He's a byproduct of the weakest division in MMA. It's true that Mir beat Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira twice, and that would have been impressive if Nog was anywhere near what he used to be in PRIDE.
Mir also beat Brock Lesnar, after catching the unawares Lesnar in a leg lock. That would have been a lot more impressive if it wasn't for the fact that most weekend-warrior jiu-jitsu guys would have been able to avoid that submission, or at least offered a little resistance. The second time Mir fought Lesnar, he was the victim of a horrendous ass-kicking. Does anyone remember the Mir vs. Cro-Cop main event from a few years ago? Me neither, I blocked that horrible memory out of my head and replaced it with something more pleasant, like a root canal.
There's more cases to be made, but they can wait for another time. It's important to not rush to judgment and to let time run its course. The passage of time often leads us to making more informed decisions. Let's all try to keep that in mind.
Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com
Stephan Bonnar Lorenzo Borgomeo Kyle Bradley Jai Bradney Ebenezer Fontes Braga
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