MMA Views

The Top 6 Career Saving MMA Victories

It’s become common knowledge that losing three straight fights often means getting released from the organization. With so many great fighters out there winning equates to keeping your job. Below is list of recent fights that may have decided the careers of the winners.

6. UFC 98 – Matt Hughes vs Matt Serra

Prior to this fight former Welterweight champion Matt Hughes was on the first losing streak of his career. Georges St-Pierre beat him for the second time with an armbar submission to win the interim Welterweight championship and six months later Thiago Alves annihilated Hughes with a flying knee in the second round. Hughes proceeded to run a clinic on Serra and take a “Fight of the Night” unanimous decision victory. Hughes went on to win his next two fights in exciting fashion reinvigorating his long standing career.

5. Dream 1 – Mirko Cro-Cop vs Tatsuya Mizuno

Mirko Cro-cop dropped two fights in row in the UFC prior to his Dream battle with Tatsuya Mizuno. One was a jaw-dropping headkick knockout heard round the world to Gabriel Gonzaga and the other a decision to Cheick Kongo. Cro-Cop managed to look like his old self in this fight and earned a TKO stoppage against Mizuno with a barrage of punches. After two more bouts outside of the UFC, Cro-Cop returned with a win against Mostapha Al-turk.

4. UFC Fight Night – Nate Diaz vs Melvin Guillard

Nate Diaz’s UFC career has been a rollercoaster ride but he always comes to fight. Prior to this battle with the ‘Young Assassin’ Melvin Guillard, Diaz lost back to back fights against Joe Stevenson and Clay Guida. In the beginning of the fight it looked like Guillard was well on his way to a dominant victory dropping Diaz with strikes in the first round. Diaz maintained his composure and pounced on a routine mistake by Guillard. Catching Guillard in a beautiful guillotine choke to win the fight. Diaz went on to loss him next fight but win the following two.

3. UFC 123 – BJ Penn vs Matt Hughes II

After losing his Lightweight belt and the subsequent rematch to Frankie Edgar, Penn was facing the potential of going 0-3 for the second time on his career. The first time he dropped back to back losses to Georges St-Pierre and Matt Hughes. Penn came into this fight crisp and motivated and knocked out Matt Hughes quickly in the first round. This fight earned him a Welterweight title eliminator match against Jon Fitch at UFC 127.

2. UFC 129 – Lyoto Machida vs Randy Couture

The once unstoppable Lyoto ‘The Dragon’ Machida found himself coming off the first two losses of his career. His first came at the dangerous hands of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua. Rua took Machida’s Light Heavyweight title with a vicious striking combination leaving Machida unconscious on the mat. Machida then went on to battle Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson at UFC 123 losing a controversial split decision. Randy Couture came into this fight on a three fight win streak looking to test himself against the elusive former champion. In the second round Machida landed an Anderson Silva-esque jumping front kick knocking Couture out cold. Machida is now considered back in Light Heavyweight title contention.

1. UFC 132 – Tito Ortiz vs Ryan Bader

The once dominant Light Heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz has had it rough for the past decade. Being plagued by injuries and lapses in motivation, Ortiz hadn’t won a fight in six years. His prior losses came against Chuck Liddell, Lyoto Machida, Forrest Griffin, and Matt Hamill. He also fought to a draw with Rashad Evans. UFC President Dana White was very vocal saying that if Tito lost this fight his UFC career was over. Tito dropped Bader with a short right hand and latched onto a guillotine choke securing an upset victory in the first round. Tito is now slated to face off against Rashad Evans again at UFC 133 in a fight with serious title contention consequences.

Fedor vs Henderson: 48 Hour Post Mortem

Its been two days since Dan Henderson pulled off an amazing first round TKO victory over the once “most feared fighter in the world” Fedor Emelianenko and there are many questions regarding the future for both of these fighters. Fedor has now lost three fights in a row, two of them in the first round, and hasn’t looked particularly great doing it. On the other hand, Dan Henderson just fought the last fight on his Strikeforce contract and is hinting at returning to the UFC for yet another title unification bout. There are several possible scenarios that can now play out.

Fedor’s Retirement

In most top level MMA organizations three losses is enough to earn you your walking papers. There are rumors that Strikeforce might be releasing Fedor in which case he should retire from MMA. The UFC will certainly not pick him up and it would just be unsettling to watch him fighter in lesser organizations. Fedor’s body of work speaks for itself and he will still go down as a true legend of MMA.

Fedor Continues in Strikeforce

This seems like a very unlikely option on many levels. Fedor’s marketability has dropped significantly after three straight losses. The Heavyweight division’s elite are all tangled up in the Grand Prix which Fedor was eliminated from not too long ago. The once anticipated super fight between Fedor and Overeem has no chance of happening now that Overeem was released from Strikeforce last week.
This only leaves a group of no-name heavyweights left to fight an aging and slumping Fedor.

Henderson gets new Strikeforce contract

If Henderson were to resign with Strikeforce there would be a few potentially interesting bouts. The first that comes to mind would be against Gegard Mousasi. Mousasi, the current Dream Light Heavyweight champion and former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion, has been on a winning streak lately barring his draw against Keith Jardine. Mousasi could pose a significant threat to Henderson on his feet but Mousasi’s achilles heel (wrestling) is Henderson’s strength. Another interesting fight would be against another former Strikeforce Light Heavyweight champion ‘King Mo’ Muhammed Lawal. Lawal, a seasoned wrestler, was on a seven fight professional win streak until losing his belt to Rafael Cavalcante.

Henderson gets a UFC contract

This would be an extremely interesting change of events that could lead to some potentially great fights. Henderson said in his post-fight interview that he wants a Light Heavyweight title unification bout which would be his third attempt. He lost his first title unification bout against Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson and his second against Anderson Silva. Current Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is slated to defend his belt against Quinton Jackson in September. This spells for a potential Jones vs Henderson or Jackson vs Henderson unification battle. If Henderson were to resign with the UFC there are also a few interesting non-title fights that could come to fruition including Lyoto Machida, Rashad Evans, or Phil Davis.

Conclusion

Both fighters have some important decisions to make with their management and organizations. Fedor should strongly consider retirement if he doesn’t have to desire to fight anymore. If he does still have the desire he may have some serious roadblocks ahead of him getting another big fight in Strikeforce. Dan Henderson needs to consider what may lie ahead for him after two or three fights. If he resigns with Strikeforce is there anything left for him after a fight with Mousasi or Lawal? The time to sign with the UFC is now. His stock is high after his past three performances and he would be thrown immediately into the mix in the UFC. Henderson and Dana White may have their differences but Dana knows what the fans want and does what he can to give it to them. And that is Dan Henderson in the UFC.