With the second World Series of Fighting in the books, with our own Jon Kirschner in attendance, three big stories seemed to come out of the event. And since none warrant anything feature length, but warrant mention, here are the three biggest takeaways from the event. You can read Jon’s coverage here and here, if you’re so inclined. I missed the entire card (save the top two fights) on the initial airing due to the NCAA Division 1 wrestling finals but thank God for DVR, right?
Paulo Filho Needs To Be Kept Away From Fighting
I’m an old school Pride guy and I really wanted Filho to rise from the ashes, taking his place among the elite middleweights in the world. For a while Filho looked like perhaps the guy who could challenge Anderson Silva for the UFC title at some point. And then his personal demons took hold, most prominently against Chael Sonnen for the WEC middleweight title, and Filho disappeared into substance abuse and mental health issues. We should’ve expected him to get trucked like he did against Branch, based on past experience and whatnot, but there comes a point when “Pride Never Die” overrules rational thought I suppose. Filho looked miserable in that cage.
Anthony “Rumble” Johnson Will be an Elite Heavyweight Someday … Just Not Now
I have no doubt that “Rumble” will end up fighting at 265 someday soon; he has the frame to carry the weight and is as big as most heavyweights already. He just looked like a light heavyweight fighting up a weight class against Andre Arlovski Saturday night. Right now he can make 205 fairly easy and he should be fighting there; he has the power to be elite sooner than later. Eventually he’ll take those skills up a weight class when 205 is something he can’t hit anymore and he’ll be elite in that division too. But that day is still a while away; right now 205 is where he should be. But 265 won’t be out of his league when that day comes; he showed against Arlovski that he has the tools to hang with guys in that division.
Marlon Moraes Would Look Like He Belongs Among the UFC’s Elite Right Now
After beating Miguel Torres pretty convincingly in the first WSOF event the Tyson Nam fight was going to be a huge test for him. Nam has one of MMA’s best scalps on his resume, Bellator Champion Eduardo Dantas, and Moraes thumping him just as badly was impressive. I’m not sure right now if Moraes could take Renan Barao’s world title away from him … but he looked like he could be a top 10 fighter in the division. He passes the eyeball test.
