ProphetFighting

Tommy Morrison to make MMA debut tonight…

Well, sort of…he’s fighting a guy named John Stover (more on him in a moment) in a fight with “modified MMA rules” where neither fighter is permitted to take the fight to the ground, nor continue the fight should it end up on the ground. In other words, its essentially boxing with smaller gloves and nothing like real MMA. I’ve received a few comments that I’m underestimating Tommy Morrison’s potential as a MMA fighter, and this basically validates my position that his chances of doing anything in the sport are slim and none. If he was serious about fighting MMA he’d do what Brock Lesnar did–take a real MMA fight. Obviously as things worked out for Lesnar he was in against a vastly overmatched opponent in Min Soo Kim but when he signed to make his MMA debut he was supposed to fight a much more formidable foe (in terms of skill and physical stature) in Hong Man-Choi. In other words, he put himself at risk by signing on for a real MMA match against a guy who was a) a tough physical matchup and b) brought a skill set to the table as a kickboxer that tested his “liabilities” as a fighter–his standup game and ability to take a punch or kick. Morrison, meanwhile, talks a good game in calling out former UFC light heavyweight champion Chuck Liddell but based on his apparent hesitancy to take a “real” MMA match–as opposed to an exhibition with rules tailored specifically to give him the best chance of winning–makes me question just how serious he is about really embracing the challenge of taking on a new sport.

The pro-Morrison commenters have rightfully pointed out that “back in the day” he had decent punching power. Fair enough, but he also had a number of liabilities as a fighter as well including a questionable work ethic and dedication to training, focus issues, and most problematic, perhaps, a weak chin. He’s also been virtually inactive as a professional fighter for over a decade. His last fight against a significant opponent was a 6th round TKO loss to Lennox Lewis in October of 1995. Since then he beat an overmatched guy by the name of Marcus Rhode in a “non sanctioned fight” in Tokyo in November of 1996. He didn’t fight again until February of this year when he beat another substandard opponent (John Castle) in a 4 round bout. That’s not exactly anything to make me think that he’s back in “fighting shape” for boxing, let alone for learning a new sport requiring an entirely new set of skills.

For all of his vaunted punching power Morrison’s best performance inside a boxing ring was his unanimous decision victory against George Foreman where he outboxed the big man. Perhaps his training team was able to convince him that he couldn’t stand in a trade punches with the hard hitting, granite jawed former champ and that the only way he *could* win was to box. That fight was bookended by a number of questionable performances. To his credit, he knocked out a long list of second and third tier opponents but in the process displayed a profusion of the liabilities I noted above. The Foreman fight notwithstanding, he was a stoppage loser every time he stepped up in class (against Ray Mercer and Lennox Lewis). He also lost by a shocking first round stoppage to a foe he should have beat easily in Michael Bentt–in fact, this fight was designed to be a simple showcase for Morrison in front of his hometown fans in Oklahoma but sure didn’t work out that way. It was evident that Morrison didn’t take the fight or his opponent seriously (much like he’s not taking Liddell seriously) and in under three minutes saw his career go from the penthouse to the outhouse.

Even when he wasn’t losing, he was getting knocked down a lot. He went down twice in a TKO win over Carl “The Truth” Williams (I won’t call this stoppage questionable, but Williams was standing against the ropes getting hit when the ref stepped in. I wasn’t of the opinion that Williams was badly hurt). He was down twice in a very questionable draw against journeyman Ross Purity (8-8 pro record at the time of the fight), and down against Razor Ruddock. Throughout his career (the Foreman fight notwithstanding) Morrison was a plodding headhunter who’s fight plan typically consisted of knocking the other guy out before he got knocked out. In other words, he was a “poor man’s” Earnie Shavers with less speed and KO power.

Another question I have about Morrison’s “comeback” is this–if he’s still got something left as a fighter why not prove it in boxing where the heavyweight scene is wide open? My guess is that Morrison isn’t willing to pay his dues to get back into title contention and has the mistaken notion that MMA will be “easier”. As long as he’s able to fight by rules specifically designed to tilt the playing field in his favor he could be right. Maybe he’s thinking that his name recognition alone will convince Dana White or Calvin Ayre or other MMA impresario into making a deal. Or maybe he’s just milking the current popularity of MMA and the “boxing vs. MMA” meme fabricated by the know-nothing mainstream sports media to keep his C-list celebrity status intact. Regardless, I’m of the opinion that he’s underestimating the challenge that awaits him at the elite level of mixed martial arts competition. He’s essentially a boxing version of Tim Robbins’ character in “Bull Durham”–wild throwing fireballer Ebbie Calvin “Nuke” LaLouche. Morrison wants to bring “the heat” and “announce his presence with authority” with the mistaken notion that MMA fighters have “never seen his heat”. If this is his mindset, he’ll meet with the same result that LaLouche did when he didn’t listen to the sage advice of catcher Crash (Kevin Costner) Davis. He’ll get jacked out of the yard, only instead of a baseball getting turned around by a batter it’ll his head getting pulverized by a kick or a punch.

For all of my tirade against Eric “Butterbean” Esch I have to give him some credit–he quickly realized that power punching alone wasn’t enough to compete at a serious level in mixed martial arts. It could get him victories against bums like Sean O’Haire and Zuluzhino, but that’s about it. Esch is far from being a training maniac like Rich Franklin, but he has been working with American Top Team to improve his groundfighting and submission skills. Since Morrison is of the mistaken impression that the ‘bean is running roughshod over the MMA world, he might want to take note of this fact.

As far as Morrison’s opponent tonight, I know very little about him other than the fact he’s a “cage fighter” named John Stover and he weighs 325 lbs. Not only do I not know anything about Stover, I couldn’t find anything about him through a Google search. Most significantly, he’s not listed in the Sherdog Fight Finder, despite supposedly having 8 professional fights to his credit.

Great post at KO Corner by blogger John Chandler was as dismissive of Morrison’s MMA prospects as we’ve been and for many of the same reasons…

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