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7 UFC Fighters That Could Fade Away in 2013

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Brock Lesnar burst onto the scene. He was the most feared man in the UFC, he was the future of pay-per-view and everyone in the world was waiting to see what would happen next. Then, he lost, got injured and faded away.

There comes a time every year where we find ourselves wondering, “What the heck happened to so-and-so?”

Were they outmatched in their fights? Did they get banged up? Or like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, was it just their time to go?

It seems like all fighters fall victim to at least one of three things at the end of their career: time, injuries or a string of bad luck. Regardless of which one of the three it is, it’s inevitable that every year we unofficially have to say goodbye to fighters who run the risk of no longer being relevant in a division. Sure, we’ll catch them on an undercard again and maybe even the first fight of a UFC PPV, but their days of headlining are over.

Here are the top seven fighters that could fade away in 2013.

7. Chris Leben
The Crippler has been anything but that in his last two fights.  With decisive losses to Derek Brunson and Mark Munoz, Leben hasn’t been able to get back to the form that made him a feared fighter in the UFC.  There is no doubt Leben had a minor career comeback winning three straight in 2010, but since his loss to Brian Stann to start 2011 fans haven’t seen the same fighter. The lights are about to go out on Leben.

6. Quentin “Rampage” Jackson

What has been impressive about Rampage since getting into a title fight against Rashad Evans? In fact, how about name the last impressive victory by the former champion? It might just be when he defeated Dan Henderson to unify the Pride and UFC Light Heavyweight championships and that was nearly five and a half years ago. His next fight is against Glover Teixeira who hasn’t lost a fight since 2006.  If Rampage doesn’t get a win he will end up losing a lot more than relevance in the UFC but could also lose any waning hope that Hollywood could be calling him for another tough guy movie roll.

5. Clay Guida
Losses to Benson Henderson and Gray Maynard have many asking what will happen with Guida.  After an impressive four fight win streak it appears that Guida is up against a wall when he takes on Hatsu Hioka in his next match.  Three losses in a row could see Guida on his way out to pasture in the UFC.

4. Forrest Griffin
Griffin is one of the more likeable people in all of the MMA.  His interviews are typically engaging and his books are hilarious. That’s where the rub begins, as Griffin needs to get back into contention in the UFC’s light heavyweight division.  Griffin will be coming off of a knee injury that forced him out of his last scheduled fight with Phil Davis.  Davis is still seen as part of the newer, younger fighters in the light heavyweight division who are making guys like Rampage and Griffin less relevant.  A few wins this year can put Forrest back on the right track, a few losses and Forrest might become the third mic on the UFC broadcasts.

3. Shane Carwin

Remember the guy with perhaps the best one-punch knockouts in the UFC? Remember the guy that looked like he had Brock Lesner dead to rights?

Remember that guy?

Well we haven’t seen him in action for a while and it’s starting to look like father time and the injury bug are in a two on one street fight against Carwin. Easily one of the most likeable stars of the UFC, Carwin has to get healthy and get some wins. After starting his career 12-0, “The Engineer” is now 0-2 and hasn’t been fully healthy in a while.

2. Josh Koscheck

With 21 fights in the UFC the idea of Koscheck being a contender again is becoming more of a novelty than a reality.  There was a time where he was thought of as one of the best Welterweights on the planet but now is just another guy in the division that new guys aim to beat on their way up and the seasoned fighters hope they can stay on top of.

1. Michael Bisping
It’s too early to grade how good of a fighter Bisping will be at middleweight after his loss to Vitor Belfort but “The Count” will need to impress his next time out in order to stay relevant.  In a weight class that is seen as Andersen Silva and then everyone else, Bisping needs to establish himself as a contender or he’ll he relegated to the undercard and Facebook bouts. The fact remains that Bisping has lost two of his last three and no fighter in the UFC wants to lose three of his last four especially with the rise in young talent. He’s in a division where everyone is working for a chance to knock off the best in the world and Bisping couldn’t get past the second best in the division.  He didn’t get it done at light heavy weight and he has to get it done at middleweight.

Lesson From Manti Te’o Situation: You Can’t Trust the Feel Good Story.

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If there is one thing that I can say I am particularly happy with myself about in my career as a sports journalist, it’s that I know my place.  I’m not a guy whose going to write analysis on the BCS Championship or Super Bowl and expect anyone to really care about what I have to say.  Most subjects in the world of sports I think actually fall into that category.  There are very few things in my professional life that I have focused on and claimed to be any sort of expert on and most of those revolve around things associated with the NAIA.

So I’m not going to claim to have any sort of new information or mesmerizing opinion on Mantai Te’o.  I’m not the sort of person that really has anything to say different than that of the experts whose stuff I’ve read and said, “Yeah! What he said!”

I will however claim that I am an expert on the subject of feel good stories.  For the last 10 years I have scoured the earth to find interesting stories in small college athletics that people outside of the school or person involved might have a fleeting interest in or at least read and go “oh hey, that’s a cool little story.”

The Te’o story got all of us and I mean EVERYBODY.  There wasn’t one person who questioned the integrity of the story he told, looked at sources or even made a phone call until Deadspin unveiled their report. I tweeted the story myself and shared the same guttural response as the rest of the country.

How can we ever look at a feel good story the same again?

This isn’t just on Te’o and those who perpetrated the hoax (and I have to believe Te’o knew) but this is also on those that for years have sensationalized stories that aren’t news to gain readers, viewers or followers.

By no means am I slamming those journalists who have done that or be asked to give a story a little more juice. After all, journalism is the art of telling a story to engage your audience. But I have to think that the American sports audience is going to be a little more leery of the next tearjerker they read online or see on E60.

How many other stories out there have been hoaxes or embellished a little bit here and there by the participants to gain national traction? Will we as journalists take a more cynical look at these stories in the future to ensure their accuracy?

My guess is yes …for a little while … until someone needs to put on a little spin to sexy things up.

I get enraged at stories like this because I’ve seen so many at the NAIA, DII and DIII level go unnoticed through the years.  Look at the play this story received when we could’ve been telling someone else’s story that deserved to have their story heard.

The stories of Te’o make the country more cynical toward real feel good stories and put doubt into our minds.  Is this guy really telling the truth? What’s the other side of the story? In five months will this still be true?

There is a side of me that wishes Deadspin would have held this, kept it from us or even extorted Te’o out of his signing bonus to prevent it from coming out (a very small side, mind you). There are people whose stories should be on the front page of USA Today or shown in a loop on Sportscenter.  The country will never fully trust the feel good story again.  There is always going to be doubt or skepticism and we will have the Mantai Te’o story to blame for the foreseeable future.

Things I Could Do Without in 2013

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Ahh yes, the inevitable end of the year reflection done by so poorly by so many. And that list now includes myself.  It seems like 2012 opened us up even more pop cultural fads which will hopefully fade as quickly as they began. 

I’m as guilty as the next person for checking out the Gangnum Style video more than once and for initially thinking it was a catchy little tune.  But PSY and several other things need to go away quicker than

Phillip Phillips: Seriously, if you like the song “Home” go ahead and stop reading the rest of this post.  You aren’t going to like what’s next.  You know why I like Mumford and Sons? They have a pretty sweet original sound that is authentic.  You know why I hate Phillip Phillips, whose parents obviously hate him more for naming him Phillip? Because he/they try to sound like a band most people are cool with. 

Anyone over the age of 26 with a non traditional streak of color in their hair.  Oh look! You have a streak of purple! And you’re 46? The only exception is if you work in the music industry or are a REAL artist. Not some guy in his moms basement making naughty Photoshops of Kate Upton. I don’t get it? You have blond hair, but decided to put one long streak of blue in it? Why? Who the heck thinks that looks good?

Nontraditional Football Uniforms and Helmets: Put on the fricken jersey and play would ya? There is no reason I should flip on any college football game and have to look three times to see who the heck is actually on the field.  I’m fine with a few different colors of jerseys, but a completely different uniform makeup and layout is idiotic.  Maybe its the radio/tv broadcaster in me that hates them? There’s nothing worse than calling a game and staring at the players for 15 seconds trying to figure out the number.

UFC Fighter That Try To Get Into A Fight. .  . at the Weigh In: Seriously, stop that. Fight is tomorrow jacko.

Conference Realignments: San Diego State is in the Big East and located in the state of California? I don’t need to say much more.  Let’s just take the big conferences and create “Super DI Football” and let them play against one another.

Hipsters: Yeah, sometimes I like popular things. I don’t need you staring disapproval through your fake glasses while adjusting your scarf to tell me that “Ted” isn’t that good of a movie or that “the best avocado dip is actually at… . blah blah blah”. If I wanted someone to constantly tell me about all of the things that actually were much cooler than the mainstream stuff I like I’d just read “Rolling Stone” magazine.

Erin Andrews: You are not a studio host. You are not a studio host.  Get back to the field and report.  Everyone has strengths, for instance in baseball there are starters and closers. You are not a studio host. Do what you do best.

YOLO: Uh huh, you only live once eh? Riveting development there, Skippy. Plus, you are offending my Hindu friends.

2012 Rimington Award Winners

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rtlogo.jpgDecember 3, 2012 – Joe Lund of North Dakota State University headlines the 2012 Rimington Trophy winners for the FCS, DII, DIII and NAIA divisions.

The award winners are selected by Jason Dannelly, founder of the Victory Sports Network, as part of the continued tradition for one of College Football’s most prestigious awards. Continue reading →

Morningside vs Marian – My Analysis of the NAIA Football Title Game

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When Marian University and Morningside College step onto the field at Barron Stadium in Rome, Ga. on Thursday night, one team will walk away with their first ever NAIA football national championship.  They will join the ranks of the NAIA’s most storied programs like Carroll College, Georgetown College and the University of Sioux Falls.

While each of those teams have won multiple titles, Thursday’s winner will no doubt be the program that fans of small college football will point to as one of the next greatest programs.  Keep in mind that since 2000, only one team outside of that list has won a title and that team, Saint Xavier, was knocking on the door again this year.

Morningside Offense
491.7 ypg of Total Offense 45.5 ppg
C  61  Josh Steinberg
FB  16  Joel McCabe
LG  58  Joe Brummer
LT 57  Byron Klauenberg
QB  10  Joel Nixon
RB  5  Josh Gaedke
RG  78  Nolan Long
RT  60  Cole Albright
TE  31  Austin Klett
WR  88  Kyle Schuck
WR  6  Trav Hantelman

Marian Offense
440.3 ypg of Total Offense 35.7 ppg
C  61  Z. Mitchell  
FB  46  Brad Naffziger  
LG  60  Steve Seculoff  
LT  78  Brody Dixon  
QB  17  Adam Wiese  
RB  10  Tevin Lake  
RG  51  Brad Knipfel  
RT  69  Zach VanDeman  
TE  8  Nathan Jones  
WR  4  John Hasty  
WR  3  Anthony Jones  
 
Morningside Defense
295.3 ypg allowed 11.9 ppg allowed
DB  3  Colby Henderson
DB  7  Ben Rickord
DL  50  Keith Chvatal
DL  96  Bret Doorenbos
DL  92  Marcus Smith
FS  22  Jared Goforth
LB  18  Sean Elliott
LB  41  Aaron Roberg
LB  11  Chris Calvillo
LB  40  Taylor Johnson
SS  20  Cole Boger

Marian Defense
261.3 ypg allowed 17.4 ppg allowed
DB 7  Nathan Toon  
DB 31  Taylor Maxey  
DL 2  Seth Vondersaar
DL  33  Garrett Pritt  
DL  52  Billy Baker  
DL  20  Dan Brunke  
FS 19  Stephen Rogers  
LB  24  Robert Palmer  
LB  44  Ryan Hartnett  
LB  41  John Keevers  
SS 9  T. Howenstine  

The @jdannelly Twitter Analysis of the game: (140 Characters or less)
Marian Offense: “Adam Wiese makes plays. 27TDs and just 7 INTs. RB Tevin Lake is a load averaging 135.8 yards rushing. Wiese is best untold story in the NAIA.”

Morningside Offense: “Joel Nixon is the most athletic QB we’ve seen in the national championship since Patrick Crayton at NWOSU. He makes this offense go.”

Marian Defense: “Faced stiffer offensive competition all year than their counterparts. Will be more seasoned to face the Mustang attack.”

Morningside Defense: “Bend but don’t break.  Whenever their backs were against the wall in the postseason, they’d find a way to get a turnover or score points.”

Marian Special Teams: “Mike Josifovski hit 51 yard field goal for a game winner to send the Knights to the championship game.  I think that says it all.”

Morningside Special Teams: “Colby Henderson has two kick returns for touchdowns, including a 98 yarder in the postseason. He’s dangerous with the ball in his hands.”

Marian Coaching: “Five years ago, Coach Karras started this football program from scratch and it has been born into one of the NAIA’s new national powers.”

Morningside Coaching: “Coach Ryan took over a program that was left for dead and instantly made them competitive. He’s one of the best in small college football.”

Why Marian Will Win: “They’ve played against athletic QBs like Nixon and will limit his ability to get loose and make things happen. Wiese has to make plays.”

Why Morningside Will Win: “Their offense always finds away.  When this team has been down in the postseason, they’ve always battled back. It’s a never say die attitude.”

Thursday night’s tweet from @jdannelly about the outcome of the game: “The Morningside Mustangs take home their first NAIA football national title with a fourth quarter comeback over Marian University, 35-31.”

Final Thoughts
Covering sports for the last 15 years of my life probably got me jaded towards the meaningful things in college athletics.  The NAIA football national championship started to become this “thing” I had to cover every December and I might have started to lose sight of what the game meant for everyone involved.  Don’t get me wrong, I thought it was pretty sweet that I got to travel the country all year and then swoop into the national championship game and have half of the fans hate me as soon as I made a prediction.

The point I am trying to make is that what is going to happen in Rome, Ga. from December 10th – 13th is really special to a couple thousand people.  The guys that get to play in this game will never get the opportunity to feel as special as they do during this event ever again. The people of Rome and the fans involved in this game will metaphorically hoist these athletes upon their shoulders all week and carry them around emotionally like the kings they deserve to be for a few days.

This is special. It’s the one time they can lay it all on the line against their peers in the NAIA and walk away knowing they were the best in the country.  They can celebrate with their friends and family who spend hundreds, sometimes thousands of dollars just to see them play 60 minutes of football.

I make a prediction on this game because that is what I am suppose to do but in no way am I trying to make either side feel any less significant coming into this game.  If anything, I just want everyone involved to know how special these couple of days are to these student athletes and we should go out of our way to let them know it.

Best of luck to Morningside and Marian! We’ll see you in Rome!

NAIA Football Chipper: The Preface 2012

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(Yeah, that’s me giving Morningside QB Joel Nixon advice after their first round win)

It’s been roughly 18 months since I last wrote anything that had any real sense of my opinion on NAIA football.  Weird to think that each week for about 10 years it was my job during the season to write something, anything, about NAIA football and help keep the conversation going.

If there is one opinion of mine that hasn’t changed in 18 months or really ever since there was a move in venues, it is that Rome, Ga. is a fantastic place to watch the NAIA national championship game and a great community to support the fan interest in the game.

Earlier this fall, I had all but succumbed to the idea that last year’s title game between Saint Xavier and Carroll College was going to be my last for a while.  But as the game has gotten closer, and the semifinals produced two teams to square off for the title there was one thought that kept banging around my head:

I cannot stay away.

My first in person NAIA football championship game was in 2004 when Carroll College played the University of Saint Francis (Ind.), however the previous two games I watched live on TV and still own the VHS tapes I recorded them on. The first year when Carroll College defeated Georgetown College I think I was one of 200 people who actually got the “Empire Sports Network” and watched the entire game with a squiggly black line through the middle of the broadcast.

The dilemma I have is whether or not to brag about this next tidbit of information: I think I have the current streak for most consecutive NAIA football championships attended with this year being my ninth. 

I thought about it the other day as to who has been to more in a row recently?  With the change from Savannah to Rome as a host site, we lost all of the regulars from Tennessee that had been coming.  Then I thought of the NAIA office staffers that were coming and every 3-4 years there had been a different person in charge of the championship taking away any consecutive attendance from the national office.  If anyone else has a longer consecutive streak in tact, shoot me an email.

So being the seasonal Rome resident that I am here is my abbreviated guide of “stuff I like to do in Rome.”

·  At some point you have to hit Jefferson’s downtown.  Either have some oysters, crawfish or whatever they have for a special.  Bring an extra dollar bill, decorate it and leave your mark on Rome. Then step outside and read the marker on the corner about the mom who saved football in Georgia.

·  Spend some time downtown, walk in and out of some of the shops.  The downtown is a throwback to what business districts in towns like Rome all over the country used to be.

·  Need a little exercise? Jog the levee and over to the football field. Again, a great little view of downtown, a good workout and a way see what’s all happening in Rome.

·  Need more idea’s?  Check out: http://romegeorgia.org/ and http://naianationalchampionship.com/

So with that said, I look forward to seeing the many, many fans of Morningside College and Marian University in Georgia next week for the championship game! It should be a great experience for the student athletes and I hope all the fans get to enjoy it too!

For anyone heading to the game, feel free to track me down via email or twitter @jdannelly

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Remember in 1999 when dying your hair blond was cool? Yeah neither do I. #throwback @MrGus32 #tbt

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Midland at Morningside. Kickoff in 30 minutes. Updates on @Midland_Sports (Taken with Instagram)

ZimTown: Steve Sabol’s NFL

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mattyzimmer:

The first thing that really — I mean, REALLY made me love the NFL and follow it religiously, was a VHS tape called “NFL’s Greatest Hits”, a highlight video that my dad received as his “free gift” for subscribing to Sports Illustrated.
In the tape, which I’m sure many of you are familiar with, two…

ZimTown: Steve Sabol’s NFL