“Zute” For Thought: MMA Edition

By Anthony “Zute” George

Is there a more enjoyable division in the UFC than the light heavyweight division? A more competitive one? Daniel Cormier is the current champion and puts his title on the line against Anthony Rumble Johnson on April 8th. It does not get much better than that. Or does it? The winner stands to face Jon Bones Jones in his comeback fight. Yikes!

Considering Jones is not yet ranked, a title shot for him means a huge scramble for the top five ranked light heavies.

First there is Jimi Manuawa. The number four ranked light heavy recently beat the number six ranked, Corey Anderson, in more than impressive fashion. If you ask Jimi, as well as many MMA fans and insiders, he is the most sensible option to face the DC vs. Rumble winner. With Jones back in the mix, Jimi may have to wait, and risk his top five ranking against Shogun Rua; great for the fans, maybe not so much for Manuwa.

Then you have number two ranked Alexander Gustafsson and number three ranked Glover Teixeira. These two fabulous mixed martial artists are scheduled to meet May 28th. How do you deny the winner of that fight an immediate title shot? Three words: Jon Bones Jones.

Of course, all of these fights coming off without a hitch, meaning no injuries, are terribly unlikely. With that said, all light heavyweights in the top ten should be on call, and willing to take the call if it comes. Fun, Fun, fun.

Speaking of calls, I like Bruce Buffer, but how many times is he going to botch the announcement of the Tyron Woodley Vs Stephen Thompson fight?

The first time, he erroneously called Woodley the winner when the scorecards clearly read a majority draw. In the rematch, Buffer announced the scorecards in a way where it took all of the drama out of the decision; we all new Woodley won before Bruce officially said so.

Now, boxing use to do this for years. In the fight of the century, Johnny Addie called the first two scorecards for Fraaaiza; as only he can, telling the whole world who won the fight before the official announcement was made. The difference with Buffer was he tried to keep us in suspense before announcing the winner, not realizing he already gave it away. Head in the game Mr. Buffer.

Speaking of Tyron Woodley, am I the only one who thinks Dana White would rather undergo root canal surgery than talk positive about the UFC Welterweight Champion? He would not give the guy a title shot for years, was clearly unhappy when he beat Robbie Lawler to win the title, and seems less then enthused to wrap the belt around Tyron’s waist when he defends his title. Am I the only one who sees this? I have been told I see things that are not there, hence the question.

Speaking of Dana White, remember when he said that women would never fight in the UFC? Remember when he said EA Sports would never have the rights to a UFC video game after they initially turned him down? Remember when he said… we’ll you get the point. What does this tell us about Mr. White? Well, he is human.

Despite him grossly underpaying the UFC fighters, Dana White is one of the best things that happened to mixed martial arts and the sport is much better because of him. He is also as straight a shooter as they come. There are not many people in combat sports I respect more. Despite the double talk.

One issue where Dana has stuck to his word involves the unofficial lifetime ban of Paul Daley in the UFC. Mr. President, I am a big fan, but I ask you, how can you justify letting Jon Jones back into the UFC after his heinous behavior, but plan on punishing Daley for losing his cool until the end of time?

Josh Koscheck, the recipient of Daley’s ire, has even gone on record saying a punishment of a lifetime ban does not fit the crime. That can be debated. However, the question still remains, why does Jones get another chance and not Daley? Can we not chalk both behaviors up as mistakes deserving of a second chance? Here is a possible answer, cha-ching!

Speaking of Paul Daley, who else is as excited as I am about his upcoming fight against Rory MacDonald, at Bellator 179 in May? On paper, it is one of the best main events Bellator MMA has ever produced and has the potential to be one of the best MMA fights in 2017.

Speaking of 2017, it will go down as the year Brad Pickett decided to hang up the 4 ouncers for good. While his farewell fight did not go as planned, Brad’s career is one to be proud of. His victory over Demetrius Mighty Mouse Johnson will go down in MMA lure as one of the all-time textbook performances inside the cage. Mr. Pickett, thank you again for putting your health and well-being on the line for our entertainment. Now enjoy your retirement.

Zutes Boxing Talk & Zutes MMA Talk are podcasts that bring you the world of combat sports straight up with no twists. In each episode, “Zute” calls upon the best boxing & MMA minds in the business to talk about the current state of the fight game, and interviews some of the best fighters in the world of combat sports. Carlos Palomino, Mikey Garcia Sergey Kovalev, Shonie Carter and Jeremy Horn are among the guests that have been featured on the podcast.

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