UFC 82: Gurgel Sells Tickets, Still Has Much To Prove as a Fighter
Over the weekend I noticed that Jorge Gurgel (11-3 MMA, 2-2 UFC) was announced to be taking on John Halverson (16-5 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC 82 in Columbus, Ohio. Next on the plate for mixed martial arts fans was more rambling about how much Jorge Gurgel’s performance against Alvin Robinson proved that he does not belong in the UFC. Come on, has the fanbase really begun to not see the business side of the sport? Let’s take a look.
Jorge Gurgel’s performances
First off, I’m not on the Gurgel bandwagon. I think Gurgel has some huge training problems that he needs to look at. I can, however, look through his history and come to some conclusions from his latter fights. Looking through his past performances, he came up through the MMA scene from March of 2002 to August of 2003 with 5 straight wins by submission. If anyone has followed Gurgel, he’s a Brazilian ju-jitsu black belt who is most well-known for being the head trainer for his own camp in Ohio and the main ju-jitsu trainer for Rich Franklin. His ju-jitsu skills definitely looked great in his early bouts against lower level competition. Once Gurgel ran into Masakazu Imanari (13-5-1), one of the better lightweights in the world, he was submitted easily inside :35 seconds due to a classic tactic of countering the aggressive nature that Gurgel imposed on his opponents early in his career. As Gurgel bullcharged Imanari, Imanari dropped down and as Gurgel ran through, he grabbed his legs and began working the heel hook. A great tactic that completely caught Gurgel off guard.
Rattling off four more wins after his defeat at the hands of Imanari, he hit the UFC with an impressive 9-1 record and sported a Midwest following with his camp, key selling points for the UFC’s success in Ohio. In the UFC, Gurgel went 2-2 with wins over Diego Saraiva and Danny Abbadi, not exactly world class competition, but nonetheless, decent tests for a fighter who relies mainly on his submission skills.
The most notable fights that show Gurgel’s main weaknesses have been his last two bouts. Notably, Diego Saraiva showed some glimmers of hope that he could pull out the win in their war at UFC 73. Saraiva’s standup was good enough to crush Gurgel’s face into near mutilation. Gurgel sustained a broken jaw and some internal bleeding from the fight. No doubt, Gurgel has showed his tough chin in the past, but his defense in the standup has always been criticized as being fairly poor. I would tend to agree. Gurgel’s defensive tactics clearly are earning him debilitating injuries that will not help him in the long run of his mixed martial arts career.
In his latest turn for the worst, Gurgel was absolutely demolished by lightweight prospect Alvin Robinson at UFC 77. Gurgel did exactly what he has done in the past, came out in a flurry of activity and lost his gas. He was fairly impressive in the first round with his ground tactics and submission attempts, but Robinson outlasted the storm and proceeded to beat Gurgel down in the second and third rounds. Robinson’s strength, which wasn’t shown during his loss to Kenny Florian, had the biggest impact late. Gurgel’s cardio and endurance was horribly lacking. He continued for submissions, but with no endurance in his muscles, he simply could not maintain his grip. What can the UFC do with a guy who has some poor cardio, horrible endurance, and is questionable as to whether his head could be wrecked in the cage? They can still use him to sell tickets.
Gurgel’s following
Why is it that the UFC sells some of their biggest events in Columbus, Ohio? Gurgel and company run their very successful MMA camp out of Ohio. Rich Franklin, one of the UFC’s greatest fighters, also trains at that camp and Gurgel is his regular ju-jitsu trainer. Are you getting the connection? Gurgel and company basically sell tickets for the Ohio events. It’s safe to say that they may have a lot of pull as to gaining fans in the area and probably do a lot of promoting for the UFC in the area as well. It also allows for those fans to come out and cheer on the local boys.
The Correlation?
Gurgel may not have the best mixed martial arts skills, but he can sell tickets along with his camp and is high profile with some of the best fighters in the business. I think that Gurgel’s mixed martial arts career is at a crossroads. His training needs to improve considerably, especially in his cardio and endurance. As a MMA fighter, he has hit the point where the cliche “Separate the men from the boys” comes into play. Although Gurgel has lasted through his matches, it was evident against Robinson that his cardio was lacking. Endurance is just as important. With some endurance, Gurgel may have been able to submit Robinson late in the match. Instead, Robinson simply moved Gurgel’s arms away and continued to beat him.
As fans complain about his performances, you must still think about the business side of mixed martial arts. Gurgel and his camp sell tickets, promote the UFC, and have the high profile names that draw people to that arena in Columbus. With that said, we’ll see Gurgel for the remainder of his contract and with another win, we may see him re-signed for the pure fact that the UFC is successful in Ohio. Get over it.
Tags: John Halverson, Jorge Gurgel
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I think the Robinson fight showed Gurgel lacks the physical tools or the size to compete in the 155lbs division. Business issues aside, he’s more suited to the WEC
Many times we have seen good teachers become average fighters.Gurgel should focus on one or the other, he needs a lot of teaching himself.
I think that his is lacking in the octagon, but he does have something that a lot of fighters don’t-HEART. I am not a big fan of his (I actually disliked his attitude on TUF) but he refuses to give up, even when he is “gassed out” and beaten to a bloody pulp. If he can get the stand up, and cardio problems added to his big heart, he still is young, and could pose a threat later in his career. I agree a move to the WEC would be a good step for Jorgie, and a good business move for ZUFFA. It would add more fans to the WEC market, and that never hurts.
I agree with a lot of this article. Gurgel is an entertaining guy and has exceptional jiu jitsu. But having said that there are some obvious holes in his game, one of which is his stand-up but more importantly I think he lacks the ability to change a gameplan during a fight and adapt to how it’s progressing. Mentally, he can be his own worst enemy.
I don’t think he’s particularly suited to Mixed Martial Arts, and I actually think he’s in somewhat of a similar situation to Eddie Bravo, who never really competed in mixed martial arts and understands that his limitations who inhibit any aspirations that he may have to succeed in the UFC.
But hey, I hope Gurgel proves me wrong. As I said, I do find him very entertaining.
Good points on the business of UFC. The question remains is are we witnessing the rise of MMA, or the rise of UFC as a brand? Is there a large population that recognizes UFC names because they catch an commerical on Spike, or are people looking at MMA differently?
I think it would be a good idea for him to go fight in wec,as he may sell tickets for ufc events but it shows they could only put hom against second rate opposition and fans will start to ask more questions,he cannot keep taking major beatings like he did his last two fights,i agree with will
His fights interest me alot because he absolutely crushed his early competition much in the same way he went after Alvin Robinson. He goes out there in the first round and tries to overwhelm his opponent with a quick submission. Robinson had the strength to outlast the onslaught and then the bug that has hindered Gurgel in the past came about his endurance and cardio. I think that fight showed a lot about Robinson that most people haven’t seen. Imanari exposed the weakness in being a recklessly aggressive fighter, and I think at times, Gurgel remembers that. It was a fight that I think to the untrained eye looked like a beatdown, but to people paying attention, showed a lot from both fighters.
One of the main things I find with Gurgel in training fighters of bigger size and stature as himself are that his trainings may not aid his own fighters as much as a lenghty ju-jitsu expert. I always found it odd how Franklin continued to train with guys that seemed to be unlike his opponents. It seemed to succeed until Anderson Silva.
I do agree with Scotchy, his heart is big and he can withstand great punishment, but I think Gurgel needs to rethink a gameplan where he doesn’t sustain such debilitating injuries.
As for the questions Eric presented, I think the UFC as a brand is on the rise, but I wish they would move over to promoting MMA as a sport. I do see their business positive out of promoting the UFC brand though. Obviously, they want people seeing MMA as the UFC. Unfortunately for the casual MMA fans who don’t follow MMA religiously or the UFC fan who loves MMA but doesn’t know where else to find MMA, they will miss out on some spectacular stuff.
When is UFC coming to Chicago, IL?
Joyce,
UFC isn’t coming soon enough to the windy city. I’ve heard rumors, but they have events planned into March, but nothing in Chicago.
I thought I read something earlier this year that the UFC was looking at a card in Chicago in 2008. I would hope Arlovski is resigned and on any card they may have there.
Personally, I’ve never liked Gurgel that much and I don’t really think he can hack it in the UFC long term. However I do agree that he deserves his shot to prove us doubters wrong, since he obviously has enough talent and courage to survive against decent competition. Gurgel may enjoy some further success in the UFC, but ultimately I think we’ll probably find him back in the smaller promotions where he can reign in a more big fish- small pond atmosphere.
#4 John, I agree that he needs to learn to adapt his game plan. The problem as I see it is that he only has one strength (his jiu jitsu) so he doesn’t have much of a plan B to fall back on.
As far as the business side goes, he’s a pretty good draw. Either he pulls off an exciting submission early or he gets beaten up for 15 minutes. I’d rather watch that than 15 minutes of lay’n'pray.
I believe when a fighter is so entrenched in teaching and coaching he really limits himself and streches himself too thin as a fighter who should be growing and learning new things in his trade, George
should be out there learning from mentors with fresh perspectives and new approaches and training.