Mailbag: UFC 93 on readers' minds

The mailbag is once again overflowing, so let's get right to your questions and comments, the majority of which concern UFC 93.

My answers, as always, are in italics.

HARSH WORDS

Although Mauricio "Shogun" Rua's performance against Mark Coleman Saturday at UFC 93 won't go down in history as the greatest ever, don't you think that descriptors such as "pitiful" and "awful" are taking things a little too far? He's suffered through numerous injuries, hadn't fought in almost a year-and-a-half, and his opponent wasn't exactly some no-name bum. You know he did win, after all.

Ian

Honestly, Ian, I don't regret a thing I said. First, you'll never find the word "pitiful" or "awful" in my column. Coleman and Rua came into the fight in much different situations. Coleman is 44, had to cut to 205 for the first time and hadn't fought in more than two years. It should have shocked no one that he gassed quickly. The fight was one that was designed to build Rua, to allow him to score an impressive win that would help get his career going again. Yes, he hadn't fought in a long time, but he is 27, 17 years younger than Coleman. And the problem is, Rua gassed in his previous fight, a loss to Forrest Griffin. Much more should be expected of a 27-year-old with Rua's talent and to ignore it is simply wrong.

MORE DEFENSE OF SHOGUN

Your criticism of Shogun's performance was a little too harsh and also a bit dismissive of a few facts. First, only two other men have finished Coleman by TKO/KO in his entire career: Mirko "Cro Cop" and Pete Williams. Shogun is in the very elite class of a few fighters to ever finish Coleman on his feet. Coleman's freestyle wrestling background always makes him a threat for a takedown, which is why noted strikers like Mo Smith, Pedro Rizzo and even Fedor Emelianenko could not finish him on his feet. Coleman is also just tough as nails. The biggest problem with this fight is Shogun gassed out trying to KO Coleman in the first round. He should have just tried to set him up for a submission, Coleman's biggest weakness. When he finally did get Coleman in a position for an omaplata, he didn't have the gas to finish the move. But that first round was brilliant, classic Shogun. I fully expect Shogun to beat Chuck Liddell at UFC 97 unless Liddell implements more of his wrestling skills into his repertoire, which has always been Shogun's weakness.

Daniel
McLean, Va.

The problem is, Daniel, that as tough is Coleman is, he's now 44 and clearly diminished from what he once was at his peak. He tired very early in the fight and moved exceptionally slowly the rest of the way. He was there to be beaten early, but Rua didn't have the conditioning himself to do it. Rua's certainly not done as a fighter; he's 27 and, as he proved at the PRIDE Grand Prix in 2005, he's got exceptional skills. My point is that he hasn't displayed those skills in his last two outings.

GOING TO THE CARDS

You wrote a great article about Shogun and his pathetic performance against Mark Coleman. Had the fight gone to the scorecards, who do you think would have been awarded the decision?

Howard Morton
Las Vegas

Rua would have won. He had won each of the first two rounds on all three judges' cards and was on his way to winning the third when the fight was stopped.

SHOGUN BONUS

I read your article on the Shogun fight at UFC 93 and was wondering whether the co-Fight of the Night bonus was just for Mark Coleman or did it include Shogun, as well? I'm with you on what was a terrible display that was Saturday from Shogun. It sounded as if the O2 Arena was all behind Coleman? What are your thoughts?

Wes Gibson
Gastonia, N.C.

The UFC usually gives out a bonus for Fight of the Night, but at UFC 93, it gave out two. It gave bonuses to the Chris Lytle-Marcus Davis fight, as well as to the Rua-Coleman fight. Rua got paid just as Coleman did. Each man earned a bonus check of $40,000. The crowd began the night solidly behind Rua, but switched to Coleman during his valiant effort.

PENN'S PREPARATIONS AN ISSUE

Hey Kevin, I love the mailbag and appreciate that you do it every week. I'm sure a lot of people are asking about this, but how do you think B.J. Penn will do after seeing the first episode of UFC Primetime? I am a huge Penn fan, but he looks like he put weight on in the wrong places and doesn't look like he is training as hard as he should. Do you think they edited it to make it look worse than it is?

Scott
Irvine, Calif.

B.J.'s body is never sculpted even in the best of times. I have no doubt that he's in magnificent shape, despite that little skit between UFC president Dana White and Penn's brother, J.D., that you referenced in the first edition of UFC Primetime. Penn knows full well what is at stake in his bout. His conditioning has often been an issue in the past, and he knows he may have to go 25 minutes. He'll never beat St. Pierre in a bodybuilding competition, but he doesn't have to. If he loses, it won't be because he didn't train hard enough.

RIGHT ON THE MONEY

Kevin, I totally agree with your column that said Shogun Rua undeservedly received a $40,000 bonus for co-Fight of the Night. As far as I'm concerned, the best fight on the UFC 93 card, and the only one deserving of "Fight of the Night," was Chris Lytle-Marcus Davis. Those two warriors did the sport of mixed martial arts proud. I even give props to Mark Coleman. Yes, he gassed pretty quickly, but he gave everything he had. Shogun looked and fought like crap. If he repeats that performance against Chuck Liddell, look for "The Iceman" to get back on the winning track via knockout. Why do you think he performed so poorly? What do you think will be Mark Coleman's next fight?

Dutch Martin
Dulles, Va.

Perhaps he was concerned with his knee, that had two surgeries and caused him to miss 16 months, but it was clear Rua was in the kind of condition he needed to be in. If he'd fought a hard, fast pace, he would have beaten Coleman early in the first round. He just didn't have the conditioning to do that. Why, is another story and only Rua really knows that. And he wasn't saying much of anything Saturday.

GREAT COLUMN

Your post-fight article about Dan Henderson was fantastic. It captures everything about the guy that has made me such a fan over the years. It's great to see a writer acknowledge it. He's an undersized guy who is simply tough as nails and fearless. Granted, at 38 his best years may be behind him, but I'd love to see one more great run before he closes out what should be a Hall of Fame career.

Chance Hinton
Atlanta

Thanks, Chance. Henderson is the epitome of a tough guy and fearless competitor. This is a guy who has wins over Shogun Rua, Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Wanderlei Silva, Rich Franklin, Vitor Belfort, Murilo Bustamante and Renato "Babalu" Sobral, among others. He's a slam dunk for the Hall of Fame. But I'm with you: I want to see him fight a lot more. He still has plenty of fight left in him, that's for certain.

TIME ZONE WOES

How much do you think the trip overseas takes out of the fighters? Besides the miserable performance of Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Mark Coleman (what a robbery for co-fight of the night, just a joke), I think even Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson slowed down more than they usually do. Have you ever heard discussions on that, especially since they are traveling around their main weight-cutting time? Also, I was always curious how much fighters get for their sponsorship on their shorts? I figure that it mostly covers the cost of their training camps, which probably gets costly bringing in all these specialists. Could you elaborate on how much they get from sponsors and how much a typical training camp costs a fighter?

Josh
Chicago

Traveling across many time zones undoubtedly saps something from a fighter. However, the impact it has on the performance in a fight depends upon the fighter and his preparation. If a fighter gets to the country early enough and factors the time change into his training, it should have a minimal impact come fight night. The sponsorship on a fighter's shorts varies wildly. It depends upon the fighter, where he fights on the card, how popular he is, where the patch is and how big it is. A patch anywhere on, say, Chuck Liddell's shorts, is going to cost a lot more than a patch in a prominent spot on Dennis Siver's.

FIVE-ROUND FIGHTS

After watching the Henderson-Franklin fight on Saturday, I've begun to question whether main events should move to five rounds like championship bouts. It was clear that Henderson had won the first two rounds with his aggressive wrestling and ground attack, but the third was different a story. Franklin had the superior conditioning, and looked ready to go a couple of more rounds. For skilled former champs like Ace and Hendo, I just feel there was more fight left in both of them. Any thoughts on extending to five rounds?

Peter Sullivan
Buffalo, N.Y.

I hear what you're saying, Peter, but I think it's best to keep title fights at five rounds and non-title fights at three. My rationale is that it keeps a championship fight special and you have the mystique of how a fighter will perform in those championship rounds. In non-title fights, the fighters know they don't have nearly as much time and it's up to them to take that into consideration when formulating a game plan and stepping up the pace in a bout.

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