Hyden's Take
HYDEN BLOG: UFC 121 Fallout With Jake Shields, Brock Lesnar, and Tito Ortiz
Oct 27, 2010 - 9:00:15 AM HYDEN BLOG: UFC 121 Fallout With Jake Shields, Brock Lesnar, and Tito Ortiz

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By: Frank Hyden, MMATorch contributor

Jake Shields does not deserve an immediate title match after his UFC 121 victory over Martin Kampmann. There's a few reasons for that, but the first is that he doesn't deserve to leapfrog Jon Fitch. If anything, there needs to be the Ambien Bowl match up between Fitch and Shields with the winner of that getting a title shot. However, even if Jon Fitch were unable to compete for a while, Shields still wouldn't deserve a title shot right now. The reason for that is he hasn't done enough to earn it.

Now, some people will accuse me of hating on Shields the same way I hate on Fitch. That's true, but not for the reason that those people think. The reason I dislike Shields and Fitch as fighters is that they don't try to win. They fight to not lose. This is where the disconnect begins with people misunderstanding why I dislike these guys. I'm not asking Jake Shields or Jon Fitch to throw their gameplans out the window and abandon what makes them successful. I'm not asking them to take chances that they shouldn't, wanting them to stand and fight against strikers or get into a submission war with ground experts. I'm not asking them to do high-risk actions inside the cage. I'm just asking them to try to win.

I often use other sports to make an analogy, and here's another one. In the NFL you can have a great defense, one that smothers the other team and doesn't allow them to score at all. The problem lies in the fact that you must be able to score a touchdown or field goal of your own if you want to win. Otherwise, the game ends in a tie. A tie is a half-win, half-loss. That's basically what I consider a decision to be in MMA. The way fights are judged, sometimes it seems like it's a toss-up, especially in close fights.

If Shields and Fitch (and others like them) were to actually try to win by finishing their opponents, we wouldn't have much to complain about. Even if they weren't able to finish an opponent, at least they would be trying. As I've stated before, effort is all we're asking for. It's generally pretty obvious when a guy is trying to win, or when a guy is just riding out the clock trying to coasting to a decision. All we want is a little effort.

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I was one of the ones who thought Brock Lesnar would win against Cain Velasquez. Perhaps I was overestimating Brock's continued evolution as a fighter. More likely, though, is that I was underestimating Cain's punching power. Cain also exhibited superior technique. I'm certainly not going to act as though the world is over just because Brock lost. This is MMA, everyone loses eventually. I believe Brock will bounce back from this and make his way back to a title shot. I'm not going to assume that Cain will still be the champion at that time, as Junior Dos Santos is a very good fighter in his own right, but that would be a very interesting rematch.

There are actually a lot of great fights that could happen in the coming months and/or years. Cain vs JDS, Cain vs. Shane Carwin, Cain vs. Brock. JDS vs. Carwin, JDS vs. Brock. Carwin vs. Brock. This is all assuming, of course, that Cain, Dos Santos, Brock, and Carwin remain the top 4 guys in the Heavyweight division. I'm sure Roy Nelson would love to insert himself into that mix. And who knows who else might jump into the fray. The only thing we know for certain is that the Heavyweight division in the UFC has never been this good or as exciting.

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I think Tito Ortiz is done. I'd like to see him keep coaching, but there's not much left for him in the UFC. If Tito were to fight Chuck Liddell one final time, it would have to be on free TV. You could sell this fight as the main event on one of UFC's Fight Night events, but no one's going to buy this as a pay-per-view fight. It would actually be smart for UFC and Spike to do this, if the fight is going to happen. I would rather see both guys retire and ride off into the sunset, but if they're bound and determined to fight, might as well make it a TV fight.


Comments and suggestions can be e-mailed to me at hydenfrank@gmail.com