Mailbag: Broughton's perseverance paying off
Rob Broughton was born with a condition widely known as "club foot," in which the feet are rotated toward each other.
It's a fairly common condition, affecting about one in 1,000 live births, and many famous people have had it. The condition, known medically as talipes equinovarus, is a situation in which the feet essentially point toward each other instead of pointing straight ahead.
It's a big obstacle for a professional athlete to overcome, however, particularly one whose success depends upon being able to move his feet quickly.
Broughton, the UFC heavyweight who will meet hard-hitting Travis Browne on Saturday at UFC 135 at the Pepsi Center in Denver, had several corrective surgeries and took cortisone injections as a child, but nothing was successful.
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His parents, though, encouraged him to be active, and as a youngster participated in a wide range of activities despite his ailment. He was so active that doctors warned his parents that he might lose the ability to walk if they didn't curtail his activities.
But Broughton's parents also recognized that he seemed to be improving and ignored the doctors' orders. He continued to blossom and has reached the highest level of his profession.
A win over Browne, who is 11-0-1 with nine knockouts and is coming off a highlight-reel knockout of Stefan Struve, would vault Broughton into the upper echelon of UFC heavyweights.
• The UFC has an interesting dilemma: What to do with Jake Shields? Since coming to the UFC, he won a less-than-impressive decision over Martin Kampmann, was dominated and lost a one-sided decision to Georges St. Pierre and then was knocked out by Jake Ellenberger on Saturday in 50 seconds at Ultimate Fight Night 25. Shields will get another significant fight, but the pressure will really be on him to perform in that one.
• Given the chance, I don't think Alan Belcher would beat Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title, but I think he'd make a far more exciting fight of it than did Yushin Okami. Silva stopped Okami in the second round at UFC 134 in Brazil. Belcher would force the issue and pressure Silva. He'd probably get knocked out, too, but it would be more interesting to see than a guy backing off and looking intimidated, as so many of Silva's opponents have.
• Is it possible that the UFC on Fox 1 card would hit 10 million viewers? Kimbo Slice drew 6.15 million viewers to CBS for his 2008 bout with James Thompson. The UFC and Fox are promoting the heavyweight title fight between Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos exceptionally hard. MMA is bigger now than it was in 2008. It will be interesting to see.
• UFC president Dana White said Tuesday that the Shields-Ellenberger fight did 1.8 million viewers on Spike. The UFC on Fox 1 show is on Nov. 12, the same night as the boxing pay-per-view card featuring Manny Pacquiao against Juan Manuel Marquez. And just like the Shields-Ellenberger card was off the air by the time Saturday's pay-per-view bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Victor Ortiz began, so will Velasquez-dos Santos be done by the time Pacquiao-Marquez begins. "That's a great night for fight fans," White said.
• Great move by the UFC to sign Dan Henderson and pit him against Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 139. It should be a terrific fight.
• There has to be more than meets the eye to the split between UFC heavyweight Alistair Overeem and his management team, Golden Glory. Overeem was cut by Zuffa when he was under a Strikeforce contract, but then signed a few weeks later to a UFC deal to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 141. This bears watching.
Spygate may backfire on Jackson
I know Quinton "Rampage" Jackson was trying to get into UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones' head when he accused him of having a spy in his camp. I don't know whether there was a spy or not, though I doubt it. But regardless, I think Jones could email Jackson his game plan and would still come out on top. I think he's a far better and more versatile fighter than Jackson at this stage and will win no matter what. What is your opinion?
Shawn Smith
Boston
Jones is the favorite in the main event at UFC 135 and deserves to be. I think he'll win handily, but you can never discount someone who punches as hard as Jackson. Jackson has gotten too one-dimensional in his recent fights, and that's problematic against anyone, let alone a superb athlete who is skilled in all areas, like Jones. As long as Jones fights his normal fight, I think he wins, but it's not wise to totally discount a huge puncher. One punch is all it takes to end a fight, or to at least significantly change its course.
[Related: Another Strikeforce defection: Henderson vs. Rua at UFC 139]
How do new Strikeforce contracts work?
Since Dan Henderson's contract with Strikeforce is fulfilled, I am curious how the whole contract negotiating with Strikeforce and the UFC works now that the UFC owns Strikeforce. I know that he could be the face of Strikeforce, but could also be a contender in the UFC, so how do they decide what to pay him on either side?
Jeff
Chicago
When Zuffa bought Strikeforce, it inherited the contracts that the previous owners had signed. Those contracts bound the fighters specifically to Strikeforce. As the fighters sign new contracts with Zuffa, Zuffa has the ability to put into the contract that they can fight in either Strikeforce or the UFC, giving it flexibility it didn't have previously. As I'm sure you know now, Henderson signed with the UFC and will face Mauricio "Shogun" Rua at UFC 139 in November in San Jose, Calif.
GSP unable to finish
A lot of people have questioned UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre's ability to finish fights and, though I'm a longtime fan, I'm starting to become one. GSP's last three opponents have been finished by other opponents when he took them to decision. On Saturday, Jake Ellenberger destroyed Jake Shields. Carlos Condit and Chris Lytle both finished Dan Hardy recently, and Paulo Thiago knocked out Josh Koscheck when he tried a comical hopping jab. My point is that it is starting to seem like GSP is fighting like Tim Sylvia, just to keep the title. Even though he is dominating his opponents, others have finished the same opponents.
Matt Friend
Dewey, Okla.
Matt, it's odd when you look at that and see that lesser fighters than Georges are finishing those Georges couldn't finish. But there are a couple of fairly simple explanations, I think. Georges is so good that he brings the best out of his opponent. Essentially, when someone fights St. Pierre or Anderson Silva, it's the Super Bowl for them. They work harder to prepare than they do for other fights, and they're more determined when they actually fight the fight against the champion. Having said that, Georges tends to be conservative and could finish fights he doesn't, but I think mostly it's the opponents are raising their games.
"I don't want to make excuses for him, or take anything away from Jake Ellenberger, who went out there and fought a great fight and did what he had to do, but let's be honest: Jake [Shields] fought two weeks after his dad [Jack] died. That's pretty tough to ask a kid to do." – UFC president Dana White.
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