Welcome to this week’s edition of ‘Back Talk.’ After digging into the digital mailbag of dispatches from The Underground forums, the inquiries question if will ever see another World Wrestling Entertainment to Ultimate Fighting Championship jump like CM Punk. My thoughts on Jon Jones versus Francis Ngannou, and who are the talents with superstar potential outside the UFC.
RearNakedOilCheck asks: Will we ever see another CM Punk make the jump from WWE to UFC?
CM Punk’s jump from the world leader in sports entertainment to the top dog in mixed martial arts often gets a bad rap, and it should. The man known as Phil Brooks and his gargantuan fame-led line skip to the Octagon was a slap to the face of all the fighters out there earning UFC spots the hard way.
Now I was as big a Punk fan as the next guy, and bigly respected the massive crotch melons he showed by stepping into the Octagon with little training, yet the thing that bothered me the most about his high level leap from fictional fights to real ones was him not being the best representative for such a foray. Folks that don’t follow pro wrestling won’t understand there are a lot of athletic badasses in that industry. Some with legit combat sports credentials like former UFC and WWE champion Brock Lesnar. Not the hobbyist Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills Punk entered the Octagon with.
When pondering who would be capable of following in Punk’s boots, two names come to mind. Aleister Black (Tom Budgen) and Chad Gable (Chas Betts). Black is a former NXT champion who practiced Pencak Silat and Kickboxing since an early age. If you’ve watched him perform, he actually shows his striking skills in his wrestling move set. Even in his spin kick to the head finisher dubbed the “black mass.” Gable is an easy choice because the man was on the 2012 London Olympics US wrestling team. Both have solid combat bases and would likely fair better than Punk with six to eight months in an MMA camp. Would they win? Probably not but they would be solid candidates for such a difficult undertaking.
Although, if it were completely up to me, I would much rather go with one of the many WWE talents that have already competed in MMA. Competitors like Brock Lesnar, Bobby Lashley, Matt Riddle, Shayna Baszler, Kushida, and Shinsuke Nakamura. They’ve fought for promotions like the UFC, Bellator, K-1 and were victorious. However, if we are going the route of complete MMA virgins, Black and Gable are my picks.
Crowbar asks: I`d like your opinion on who would win between Jon Jones and Francis Nguannou if they fight?
The winner of a fight between Jon Jones and Francis Ngannou has circled through forums and front pages of news sites for a couple of years and has only heated up after Ngannou relinquished Stipe Miocic of his UFC heavyweight championship. If we are talking skill for skill, Jones wins easily. That’s taking nothing away from “The Predator” but there are very few if any fighters with the sort of toolbox diversity “Bones” has for a man of his size.
Yet, size will play a big factor in a Jones and Ngannou booking. If Jones isn’t the taller man in his fights (which he often was), then he was the longer man. By longer I mean his freakish 84 and a half inch reach. That is a massive physical advantage for a fighter who expertly plays the long-range game. He fights long to stay out of danger, but he can close the distance rapidly. Making opponents think they are safe, and bam, hell-bows to the dome. It’s part of what makes him an MMA enigma. However, Ngannou has an 83-inch reach. The closest any previous Jones foe came was an 80-inch reach from Ovince St. Preux and Stephan Bonnar. Ngannou tops that by three inches and brings the sort of mayhem that could knock out a horse and daze an elephant.
Read More: Jon Jones: $8-10 million ‘way too low’ to fight Francis Ngannou
Jones is a far better wrestler than Miocic, so while Ngannou showed great improvements in his wrestling during his last outing, the former light heavyweight king offers in-fight grappling the current heavyweight king has never dealt with before. That said, trying to take down a 263 mountain of muscle that only needs a little space to knock you into your astral form is easier said than done. It’s hard to bet against Jones in any fight, and I would pick him in this, but Ngannou is one live and scary underdog.
Thai_Dye asks: Who are some up-and-comers from other organizations that have superstar potential? What is it you see that makes them special and who is a good match-up for them in the UFC top ten?
When answering a question like this I would hope my colleagues in the media, and diehard fans start their answer with Bellator featherweight AJ McKee. There are rising stars all over the sport but few seem as potential-rich as McKee. Before we even get to his accomplishments in the cage, the kid just fits the role of superstar. He’s good-looking, dresses well, talks a big game, and carries himself like the biggest star in the room. He is as UFC-ready as any fighter outside the organization. Resume-wise, the 26-year-old is undefeated over 17 fights. Has finished 12 of them early and has a grappling game that is a perfect blending of wrestling and jiu-jitsu. In addition, his stand-up game continues to grow to where he is a legit handful there too. By way of being the son of a talented MMA fighter in Antonio McKee, “Mercenary” was born for this. If he beats Patricio Friere later this year in the Bellator grand prix, some will see him as a superstar now. As far as potential matchups in the UFC, him versus Brian Ortega, Chan Sung Jung, and Calvin Kattar would be fantastic fights to see.
Similar to McKee in outright grappling dominance is ONE Championship lightweight king Christian Lee. Now, his record isn’t as sparkling as McKee’s in having lost three of 18 fights. However, Lee started his professional career in ONE Championship at 17-years-old. Let that sink in. You can’t blame him for having bumps in the road eventually fighting talented and grown men like Martin Nguyen for championships at 19-years-old. Maybe he was rushed, but it’s paying of now because at 22-years-old he has become a serious problem in the division. “The Warrior” is on a six-fight win streak and has run through the very best lightweights on ONE’s roster. Including a week’s notice bout against grand prix finalist, and scary thumper, Saygid Guseyn Arslanaliev. Most recently he showed his striking is catching up to his grappling when he knocked out Timofey Nastyukhin last month. In the UFC, fights with Tony Ferguson, Rafael Dos Anjos, and Dan Hooker would be perfect litmus tests to see if he is elite status already.
You can’t list rising stars outside the UFC without naming Professional Fighters League defending lightweight champion Kayla Harrison. She’s a two-time Olympic gold medalist in Judo, trains with elite talent at American Top Team, and hasn’t lost a round in her first eight pro fights. However, it is hard to accurately gauge the true potential of the 30-year-old because of the competition she has faced so far. Women’s featherweight is already a thin weight class throughout the sport, but Harrison is competing at lightweight in the PFL. Against opponents who may not be true 155-pounders. She did successfully test featherweight in November during her one-off appearance for Invicta Fighting Championship. Her best competition in the future will be at 145-pounds. However, the UFC’s version is almost non-existent and she is years away from being ready for someone like Amanda Nunes. With that in mind, fights against Felicia Spencer, Raquel Pennington, and Tonya Evinger would be fascinating tests for the uber-talented Judoka.
