Photo/Zuffa LLC via Getty ImagesHere are seven wishes for 2012 ...
More psychodrama between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen
He should have been in sales.
Chael Sonnen has peppered the reigning pound-for pound best fighter in the world with challenges, insults, ultimatums and decrees, with nothing seeming to stick. Now the former top contender is giving his Brazilian nemesis the cold shoulder, insisting that rather than a rematch of their 2010 battle, he would prefer to fight Junior dos Santos or Jon Jones, fighters he feels match his caliber of competition.
Like his prior instigations Sonnen only hopes to get Silva energized enough to make a mistake, while also creating a media storm (it worked) that will induce the UFC to give him the rematch they have promised the former University of Oregon All-American wrestler, should he defeat Mark Munoz on Jan. 28 at UFC on FOX 2 in Chicago. That might not be a given; Sonnen has not faced a wrestler of Munoz's caliber since entering the UFC.
For his part "Spider" has remained distant from the drama as he rehabs a recent injury. Should the fight take hold, and should that fight take place in Brazil, you can guarantee that Silva will have a nation on his side, and that Sonnen will hear and feel the insults of as many as 100,000 fans.
An Octagon appearance by Chuck Norris
Chuck Norris had a fever once, now we have global warming.
The man behind the roundhouse kick of justice (Walker, Texas Ranger) became an Internet sensation a few years ago when late night television host Conan O'Brien began performing a skit where he would pull a lever causing segments of the television show to air during the broadcast. People swooned, and soon an underground movement began in the hopes of accrediting the whole of ridiculous, heroic behavior to the native Oklahoman.
Opposite Norris' good humor has been the self-important career of Steven Seagal, who waxes philosophical about justice on "Steven Seagal Lawmen." The akido black belt is also the lead in On Deadly Ground, the greatest movie ever written about an eskimo war hero exacting revenge on the proprietors of a mostly legal oil platform in Alaska. Never mind that Seagal's character blows up a pipeline, likely causing incalculable environmental damage - he saves a town from the ire of a greedy oil tycoon! He then gives a speech to congress about the harmful effects of oil.
Seagal has recently been seen in the corner of Brazilians Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, leaving the door open for Norris to make an Octagon appearance of his own.
Should he reach new heights and come to the cage, it will no doubt be in the entourage of Chael Sonnen, or Mark Munoz, men who will need to fight the forces of Seagal's sensei vibes with the badass potential of the only man in the world capable of curing cancer with his tears; only he's never cried.
New York State overturning MMA ban
I live in Chicago and shouldn't care all to much about the legalization of MMA in New York. However, I do and mostly because the ridiculous ban is costing athletes their safety and some of the top moneymaking promotions an opportunity to ply their trade. Taking it a step further, according to document filed by Zuffa in New York Court, fighters are also being denied the ability to express themselves in an artistic form.
The entire resistance is centered on a few legislators in the New York State Assembly who get voter traction by having their name be associated with anti-barbarism. These politicians maintain their position in spite of that fact that boxing is potentially the deadliest of the contact sport in the world (sanctioned in New York) and that the cash-strapped state could stand to earn millions in tax revenue from the proliferation of MMA.
If the next year brings about one realistic change to the financial and legal landscape of MMA, let us hope that it means we can see a raised eight-sided fence in the middle of Madison Square Garden.
And isn't that better than a day pass to the Guggenheim?
Zuffa going worldwide
Expansion has its costs, is the highly profitable UFC willing to make the leap?
There are currently no UFC champions from outside the Americas; this despite the fact that there is no scarier place on the planet than a wrestling tournament in Dagestan, Russia. Should the UFC attempt massive global expansion and introduce regional financial incentives, and possibly a tiered belt system, fans should expect to see new talent emerge from some of the world's toughest pockets of bad-asses. In-particular the Caucuses of Russia.
A Mongolian heavyweight, an Indian middleweight and a Filipino lightweight all holding belts legitimizes the sport of MMA as a worldwide phenomenon and validates the fan's perspective that the sport is the truest and most compelling athletic contest on the planet.
Bellator offering sustained competition to Zuffa brands
Viacom purchased Bellator in October with the plan to beginning airing the promotion's content on Spike in 2013. That makes the company's 2012 fights some of the most important in promotional history.
Should Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney retain his talented pool of fighters and intrigue more fans into his tournament format, the promotion could build momentum coming into its expanded deal, something that could offer sustained competition to Zuffa brands UFC and Strikeforce and certify its place as the world's second-best promotion.
Comcast picking up FuelTV
I don't get it in Chicago. Do you?
The UFC's Mizzou prejudice
How could current Strikeforce contender Tyron Woodley and Bellator champions Ben Askren and Michael Chandler all be shunned by the UFC? As a fan of MMA and college wrestling, it is tough not to see a bias, even though they're commitment to those organizations is indicative of their managers contacts. Too much of a coincidence that three of the best fighters in the world, who all trained together in college, are left out of the biggest promotion?
Woodley, undefeated and set to face Jordan "Young Gun" Mein on Jan. 7, might be bound for the UFC if he keeps up his winning and compels audiences with finishes. Askren will likely stay in Bellator until his striking and marketability improves, or he finishes enough opponents to antagonize the UFC brand into a buyout. Chandler, ever the upstart, will certainly spend a few more years in Bellator showing ownership over his recently acquired strap.
The best/worst case scenario might be if Woodley and Askren end up in the same promotion at the same weight, it is a fight neither would be likely to take but that everyone in the wrestling community would love to see.
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