For those who missed part one in this editorial series, we here at MMANews.com began our look at the top ten “super fights” that can be — or should be — made in the sport of MMA.
To recap, check out the links below to read our breakdown of the following potential “super fights”:
– Brock Lesnar vs. Bobby Lashley
– Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano
– Conor McGregor vs. Anthony Pettis
Before we jump back into the list, where we will look at numbers seven, six and five, I feel the need to point out one thing — what exactly a “super fight” is.
Listen, by definition, a “super fight” is a completely opinionated issue. You can’t argue someone who feels “fighter A” vs. “fighter B” is a super fight. If a fan is jacked-up and excited to see the fight to the point that it is one that they felt they would never see in their lifetimes, that, to me, is what constitutes a “super fight.”
For example, I was listening to a recent podcast. In fact, it was the Luke Thomas “Promotional Malpractice Live Chat,” a great chat, by the way. During his discussion with the fans of his show, he was asked if he felt the upcoming Anderson Silva vs. Nick Diaz fight should be considered a “super fight.” Furthermore, he went on a giant rant about super fights in general. But in terms of Silva-Niaz, Thomas — and I’m paraphrasing here — pretty much said he doesn’t technically consider the upcoming UFC 183 main event to be a legitimate “super fight.”
I couldn’t disagree anymore. I respect Luke Thomas as a journalist. Very much, in fact. The dude knows his stuff.
I’ve been covering MMA since I founded MMANews.com in November of 2002. I was a pro wrestling writer and webmaster of a website called WrestleZone.com, a site that I ran for nearly a decade. It was the late UFC post-fight interviewer Ryan Bennett, who owned a site called MMAWeekly.com, that contacted me to try and use his website, and my pro wrestling website, to cross-promote the big UFC 40 event, a show that featured the best of both worlds.
From the MMA world, the top name at the time was “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz. And while Ken Shamrock was by no means the “top name” in WWE at the time, he was a well-known name during the peak of pro wrestling — “The Attitude Era.” He was also a guy I remembered watching in cage fights that I rented from Blockbuster. It was like the movie “Blood Sport” come to life. It was so cool. I was hooked.
I don’t have the best memory in the world, but at some point, I stopped renting the new UFC’s at Blockbuster and became further entrenched in the world of professional wrestling. Maybe it was because I was paid to cover that particular profession. Maybe it was because UFC badly lacked star power and legitimate national — and certainly international exposure.
Regardless, I “jumped on the MMA bandwagon” for Ortiz-Shamrock and have been covering the sport ever since.
The point in all of this? Ortiz vs. Shamrock was absolutely a “super fight.” With Shamrock long past his UFC prime and firmly established as a “sports entertainer,” it just didn’t seem like it was going to happen.
But it did.
And guess what? The sport hasn’t looked back yet.
Fast-forward back to this Silva vs. Diaz discussion. This fight is absolutely a “super fight” for — albeit — very different reasons altogether. Regardless, no one saw this one coming. Hell, many were questioning if Silva would ever be able to fight again after suffering a gruesome leg injury during his second fight with Chris Weidman at UFC 168 last December.
At the same time, many were wondering if Diaz would ever get his mind right and come back to the Octagon to strike while the iron is hot. To make the money that he’s capable of earning after going through hell and taking on all of the “bangers” for so many years for lackluster pay.
Forget the weight issues, forget the fact that both guys’ future were in question for a variety of different reasons. Outside of a quick comment here or there from Diaz, or “keyboard warriors” speculating about such a bout, no one really expected this fight to happen. And while I don’t want to be the jack-off that jinxes it, it absolutely is going to happen.
A fight that has fans foaming at the mouth that we thought we would never see, is finally — knock on wood — going to happen.
Thus, it’s a “super fight.”
Now, with all of that out of the way, let’s jump back into the list, starting with the seventh most-anticipated “super fight” that we here at MMANews.com would love to see one day.
Click below to advance to page two to begin the countdown …
