Author: Around the Felt Sports
When an athlete possesses the “intangibles”, you just know it when you see it. An artist at work. Language can be a bit too reductionist. Simply watch the person in question and you know this is a star in the making. Much the same could be said about any of the four main fighters from the Fighting Nerds camp, who have taken the sport by storm as of late. Caio Borralho at middleweight, Carlos Prates at welterweight, Mauricio Ruffy at lightweight, and finally Jean Silva at featherweight. Far from being a sport of troglodytes, combat sports at the highest level…
Spend enough time on the internet discussing mixed martial arts, and you will undoubtedly be faced with one of the premier questions in all of sports: who is the greatest of all time? In MMA, a multitude of elite candidates are discussed. Please don’t say Khabib. Typically, the names referenced are Jon Jones, Georges St-Pierre, Anderson Silva, etc. If you hang around the right circles you’ll hear Demetrious Johnson and even Fedor Emelianenko brought up. Recently, newer names like Alexander Volkanovski have been discussed. There is an argument to be made for each of the above, some better than others.…
The definition of mixed martial arts is, well, mixing the martial arts. We all know this. Every fighter in every promotion knows how to wrestle, punch, elbow and kick. Yet even in a generalist environment, these athletes all have their niches. Even the best of them. Charles Oliveira is known for his jiu jitsu. Petr Yan is known for his boxing. Islam Makhachev is known for his wrestling. Don’t misunderstand me, that does not mean they are slouches in other areas. They just clearly favor one discipline over the others. Enter Sandman, Cory Sandhagen. Sandhagen is an outlier from what…
Mixed martial arts fans often fail to appreciate the greats while they are still around. Recency bias runs rampant, and excellence is sometimes not admired until the end. The margin for error in combat is so infinitely small. One strike absorbed, one mistake made is all it takes to alter the timeline. The wolf on the hill is not as hungry as the one climbing it, and after a loss, a champion can often fall from grace, never to win a championship belt again. In such talent-rich lighter weight divisions, it is already tough enough to win undisputed gold, let…
Written by Colin Tong
It’s been said that old habits die hard. Every time I bet on a UFC event, I am reminded of that very same phrase. The sport in general is just too unpredictable, and that’s not to mention which way the judging will go. Yet, while I failed, quite a few athletes won this weekend. UFC Fight Night: Edwards vs. Brady took the promotion back to the UK on a night where hometown fighters had the opportunity to put another tally in the win column. In an uninspired night by cage fighting standards, there was still plenty to appreciate, particularly the…
In the world’s most unpredictable mainstream sport, it pays to expect the unexpected. Perhaps unfortunately, this rang especially true on Saturday night at UFC 313. The thrill of victory and the agony of defeat was on full display as Justin “The Highlight” Gaethje rematched Rafael “Ataman” Fiziev in the co-main event, while defending light heavyweight champion Alex “Poatan” Periera took on the dark horse of the division, Magomed Ankalaev. Let’s break down what happened and why.The co-main event was a bit of a crapshoot. Lightweights Gaethje and Fiziev came into this contest with little to no momentum behind them. Gaethje…
Sports have never been about solely numbers, drafts, or matchups. Those drive the game forward, of course, and they are critical, don’t get me wrong. Much of the chatter seen online is about the current events in said sport, arguments being made, etc. However, one aspect that is not discussed nearly enough is the human element behind these individuals. If I named a wide receiver, you could probably tell me how many touchdowns they have, or their average yards after catch. But you’d likely have a harder time telling me what that person had to go through, what kept them…
Mixed martial arts is arguably the most unpredictable mainstream sport. Regardless of the analytics, styles, and statistics, the octagon is, as UFC lightweight Dustin Poirier put it, “the theater of the unknown.” At the highest level, any fighter can beat another, and all it takes is one mistake or one strike to land in the right place. A fighter is only as good as his/her last fight, and momentum is every bit as much of a factor as statistics. While Sean Strickland’s brutal honesty and entertaining personality have made him a fan favorite, he did himself no favors as he…
Each year, the NFL MVP award is a heated topic of conversation, this year particularly so. What makes these debates so entertaining is that there are multiple sound arguments for many candidates, along with a variety of factors to consider. Each factor also needs context, as stat sheets or a Win/loss record alone aren’t enough to support an argument, especially in a team sport. In this opinion piece, I will explore the facts at hand while also acknowledging nuance and circumstances. I also acknowledge that the award is as much of a popularity contest as anything else. The MVP is…