December 11, 2011 - Last Word On Sports

UFC 140 turned out to be a night that saw the fall of legends and the making of new ones. We saw fighters breaking, in both a literal and proverbial fashion.

For Jon Jones, last night was a chance for him to start to cement a young legacy as potentially one of the greatest the sport has ever seen. Before last night’s fight, Jones had dispatched two former UFC champions with the greatest of ease. Naturally, his fight against Machida should have been no different, right?

For Jones, however, Machida turned out to be the biggest test of his young career. After Machida landed a number of short flurries in the first round, the champion had his chin tested, and looked visibly rattled between rounds – for the first time, Bones looked like he was breaking a little (mentally, that is). However, that wouldn’t stop Bones. Jon came back in the second round to slice up Machida with some patented ground and pound, and then finish the fight off in typical unexpected Jones fashion, with a spectacular standing guillotine.

For Jones, he left people wondering what was next for him, for another legend, however, it was a different kind of breaking on Saturday night. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira was on something of a comeback after defeating Brendan Schaub after his last fight – however, Frank Mir put an end to that in devastating fashion at the Air Canada Centre. After being nearly finished early in the first round, Mir worked his way out of a guillotine choke and ended up locking in a kimura on the Brazillian legend, literally snapping his arm in two in a fashion that was eerily reminiscent of his win over Tim Sylvia all those years ago.

Nogueira wasn’t the only legend to fall on Saturday night. Tito Ortiz finally came to terms with the fact that he no longer has a place in the UFC in its current form. After having tasted some of his own medicine at UFC 140 via vicious ground-and-pound at the hands of Lil’Nog, Tito looked dejected and embarrassed. He could barely speak after the fight; mind you this was more likely the result of the broken ribs that he suffered. If there is one thing Tito is never at a loss for, it’s words.

The Korean Zombie started to break into the big time last night. After being positioned as fodder for hometown hero Mark Hominick, the Korean fighter came out and tied the record for fastest KO (seven seconds)in UFC history. Chan now finds himself positioned in the top 10 in the division.

Overall it was a great night for the new generation of fighters, and a sad one for the legends. I think the lesson we should take away from this event, is that we are seeing the last of the old guard fade out into the night and make way for the new generation.

…and that is the last word,

Every weekend my head shakes more furiously than the one before as I contemplate how FIFA could ignore the outstanding accomplishments of Robin Van Persie. As I am a huge Gunners fan I will acknowledge a bias, however in this case I think most of you will agree with my frustration when you get up to date on some facts.

FIFA narrowed its search for this year’s recipient of the Ballon D’or award recognizing the world’s best player to 25 players in November, and recently down to the top three: Xavi and Messi (Barca) and Ronaldo (Real Madrid). Startlingly, Van Persie was not even amongst the 25 candidates despite sizzling for Arsenal all year.

Only Ronaldo has netted a better goal:game ratio than the Dutchman’s 1.04 goals/game. Not even Messi has better than a goal per game. Also, consider that Persie is playing for a decimated Arsenal team that suffered the exits of his two set-up men, Fabregas (to Barcelona) and Nasri (to Manchester City). Compare his supporting cast to that of the Barcelona and Real Madrid players – I wouldn’t mind letting Xavi, Fabregas and Iniesta passing me the ball! How about you? Not to take anything away from the Gunners’ mids, but they just aren’t in the same category as the three mentioned. Further, really compare the EPL and Liga beyond the top two teams. After you take away Barca and Madrid, what competition are you left with? Let’s subtract Manchester United and Chelsea from the EPL and you still have Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle. Even compare Liga to other leagues like Serie A and Bundesliga. I would argue that both are deeper in talent as well, just maybe not in the top two.

I am going to stop myself because my intent is/was not to compare Robin Van Persie to Messi, or even Ronaldo, and certainly was not to get in a “Which league is the best” debate. Whether RvP is better than either is open to debate and only time will tell. I can tell you that any player who can sustain a better than one goal per game ratio for an entire year is joining ELITE company. I think that alone should have propelled Persie into the top 25 at least.

Sit back and watch Van Persie break the record for the best goalscoring calendar year in modern Premier League history – breaking records held by Alan Shearer and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry.

…and that is the last word.

Sports. Honestly. Since 2011

Day: December 11, 2011

UFC 140: Breaking Bones!

No Respect: Van Persie Not Considered for Ballon d'Or