Is China the New Footballing Superpower?

Prior to 2012, China was not seen as a dynamic player on the world football stage. It was mostly seen as a destination for a certain breed of veteran players to see out the remainder of their careers. In fact, Chinese football was probably at its lowest ebb following a bribery scandal in 2010 which saw the vice chairman of the Chinese Football Association (CFA) and the former head of refereeing accused of corruption. As a result of this, the Chinese Government placed a nationwide ban on all football gambling and began to rebuild.

By the summer of 2012, though, many notable footballers surprisingly made the move to East Asia. Names such as Didier Drogba, Nicolas Anelka, Seydou Keita and Yakubu all signed for Chinese clubs in a relatively short period of time. In addition to this, many highly respectable and reputable names in management began to migrate to China. This included the likes of former World Cup winning manager, Marcello Lippi (who is now manager of the Chinese National Team), when he took over at Guangzhou Evergrande – reportedly earning £30million over the course of his two and a half year deal with the club. It soon became apparent that Chinese teams had what seemed to be an almost infinite amount of cash at their disposal and were not afraid to flaunt it to attract talent.

Throughout the 2015/16 Chinese Super League (CSL) season, more high-profile players were being brought in for hefty price tags. Long-time Liverpool target, Alex Teixeira, joined Jiangsu Suning for a stunning £42.5million from Shakhtar Donetsk. This was soon followed by the acquisition of Atletico Madrid forward, Jackson Martinez, who had failed to impress at Atletico during his short six-month stint with the club. However his under-performance didn't stop Guangzhou Evergrande paying an extortionate fee of £35.7million for the Colombian international. In February 2016, forgotten winger Ezequiel Lavezzi became one of the highest paid footballers in the world when he joined Hebei China Fortune from Paris Saint Germain – earning a weekly salary of £493,000. The spending did not stop there. In January 2017, Chelsea flop Oscar joined Shanghai SIPG for £60million and Shanghai Shenhua captured Carlos Tevez and made him the highest paid footballer in the world - earning a reported weekly salary of £615,000 a week. 

This outlandish spending marked a turning point in the way Chinese clubs were approaching the game. With the sudden and dramatic influx of expensive foreign players joining the CSL, a quota for non-APAC footballers was placed on teams in late January 2017. New procedures meant that only five “foreign” players could be named in any one squad, and only three were allowed to be in the starting eleven. With this new rule imposed, players like Chelsea’s Diego Costa and Dortmund’s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang quickly turned their back on offers from China and chose to remain at their current clubs.

It is widely believed that this quota was placed on teams as economists had predicted that if Chinese clubs continued to spend at this rate, they would be unable to sustain healthy economic growth in the future. With new rules and regulations in place, Chinese football teams will now have to closely monitor the ways in which they can improve their squads with strategic transfers. Perhaps this will mark the end of a “Golden Era” in Chinese football or will we start seeing uncapped foreign players being nationalized by China as a way to escape these new rulings? Only time will tell.

daniel_clemenson@outlook.com

UFC Fight Night 104: Alexa Grasso vs. Felice Herrig - A look into the Co-Main Event and Prediction.

Alexa Grasso vs Felice Herrig:

Undefeated Alexa Grasso meets experienced kickboxer Felice Herrig in the co-main event of UFC Fight Night 104 in Houston, Texas.

Grasso is fighting for the second time in the UFC following a successful stint in Invicta where she went 4 - 0. She made her UFC debut in November of last year and comfortably beat the ever-durable Heather Jo Clark via unanimous decision and in the process, put the women's strawweight division on notice. Alexa boasts a perfect professional MMA record of nine wins and zero losses with four wins coming by KO/TKO and five by decision and it will be interesting to see how the young Mexican fares against a crafty veteran like Felice Herrig in her next bout.

As mentioned above, Felice Herrig has vast experience in both kickboxing and MMA and although she does not possess an undefeated record like Grasso, she has fought a much higher caliber of fighter. This in turn will give her an advanced fight IQ that may play to her advantage as the fight progresses into the latter rounds.

An interesting point to note is that the heavy handed Grasso is only a blue belt in BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) and at this level, although it is respectable, might not be good enough when facing a more well-rounded opponent. Herrig holds a purple belt in BJJ and has a couple of submission victories to her name (including her latest win inside the octagon) and I think this will be pivotal in the fight. Although she may have to endure a tough first round against a younger and excitable fighter eager to impress, I believe Felice Herrig gets the job done on the night in what some may consider an upset.

My Pick - Felice Herrig by Submission (Round 3).

daniel_clemenson@outlook.com

UFC Fight Night 104: Bermudez vs. Korean Zombie - A look into the Main Event and Prediction.

Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez vs “The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung:

This Saturday’s main event takes place in the UFC's Featherweight division and sees the return of fan favourite, Chan Sung Jung against the always entertaining Dennis Bermudez, in what should be an action-packed contest. 

“The Korean Zombie” Chan Sung Jung will be looking to get back into the featherweight rankings after taking three years off to complete mandatory military service in his home country of South Korea. His nickname “The Korean Zombie” best describes his dogged fighting style which consists of constant high pressure and the sheer refusal to give up. His opponent, Dennis Bermudez, is currently on a two fight winning streak in the talent stacked featherweight division and will be looking to further climb the rankings himself. Both fighters are not afraid to take one to give one so this has all the ingredients to be Fight of the Night.

Chan Sung Jung has not fought since losing to Jose Aldo in August of 2013 where he challenged for the featherweight title at UFC 163. During this fight, Jung lived up to his nickname when he dislocated his shoulder in the fourth round and whilst trying to pop it back in, was pounced on by Aldo who attacked the injury to a point where the referee had to stop the fight. This was seen by many as a valiant effort by the South Korean who took the fight on relatively short notice after Anthony Pettis had to pull out due to injury. Before that, Jung had notched up three straight victories in very impressive fashion – finishing Dustin Poirier with his own patented move, the D’Arce Choke (in 2012’s Fight of the Year), then knocking out former Featherweight title challenger Mark Hominick in just seven seconds and submitting Leonard Garcia with the rarely seen Twister (2011’s Submission of the Year). It will be interesting to see if Jung can return to his old ways or if “cage rust” will play a factor in this fight given how long he has been away from the octagon.

Dennis Bermudez is currently ranked number nine in the UFC’s Featherweight division and will be looking to make a statement on Saturday night to improve on this. In his last outing, he fought to a unanimous decision victory over Rony Jason (who had just come back from a one year suspension after testing positive for a banned diuretic). In his UFC career, “The Menace”, much like "The Korean Zombie", has been involved in some very entertaining fights (most notably against Jeremy Stephens at UFC 189 where he lost via TKO in the third and final round of a back and forth thriller) and has been awarded five “… of the night” bonuses as a result. However, he has taken some damage inside the octagon and this could prove costly against a fighter who refuses to quit and swings for the fences like Chan Sung Jung.

With that said, I personally think with all of the time off this is a difficult return fight for “The Korean Zombie”, who has only been finished twice in 18 professional MMA contests. In the time Jung has been away, Bermudez has fought a total of seven times, racking up five wins and losing just twice. I think it would be unwise for Bermudez to stand and trade with “The Korean Zombie” given how durable, resilient and difficult to finish the South Korean has been in the past. Therefore, I expect Bermudez to threaten with constant take down attempts and if they’re successful, some ground and pound (whilst avoiding Jung’s submission attacks) to ware on his opponent and grind out a hard fought victory.

My Pick – Dennis Bermudez by Unanimous Decision.

daniel_clemenson@outlook.com

UFC on FOX 23 Betting Guide

UFC on FOX 23 Betting Guide:

Shevchenko vs Pena –

The winner of this main event fight is most likely next in line for a title shot against the current women’s UFC Bantamweight Champion, Amanda Nunes. The contest will feature an interesting clash of styles as an established grappler/wrestler (Julainna Pena) meets accomplished stand up practitioner (Valentina Shevchenko).  

Valentina “Bullet” Shevchenko, in my opinion, has faced better competition during her career and has notched up an impressive win over former women’s Bantamweight Champion, Holly Holm. She did, however, lose to the current champion Amanda Nunes - albeit in a closely fought match that saw Shevchenko take the third round but ultimately lose via unanimous decision to the “Lioness”. Shevchenko, though, has been quietly going about her business since and looks tough to beat at this moment in time.

Julianna “The Venezuelan Vixen” Pena on the other hand has been very vocal of late – criticizing most of the women’s Bantamweight division for being “over-rated” and “looked after” whilst stacking up wins inside the octagon. In her last outing, Pena showcased dominant wrestling skills and top game against Cat Zingano at UFC 200 and is undefeated in the UFC. If she can take Shevchenko down this could turn into a very interesting fight.

Overall though, I believe Shevchenko will get the job done on Saturday night by evading Pena’s take down attempts and using her stand up skills to keep the “Venezuelan Vixen” at bay.

My pick – Shevchenko via Unanimous Decision.

Cerrone vs Masvidal –

Two former Lightweights who have gone on to become established Welterweights are paired against each other in this co-main event for UFC on Fox 23.

Since moving up to the 170lb division, fan favourite Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone has been nothing short of impressive, finishing his last four opponents with relative ease. His latest win coming by an impressive highlight reel head kick KO of Matt “The Immortal” Brown at UFC 206 - an opponent who had never been knocked unconscious in 36 previous fights. This new weight class seems to have reinvigorated Cowboy and with a win on Saturday it would be difficult to deny him a title shot.

By contrast, Jorge “Gamebred” Masvidal has been somewhat of a mixed bag since returning to Welterweight having lost two back to back Split Decisions to Benson Henderson and Lorenz Larkin respectively. He does, however, have finishes over Cezar Ferreira and Jake Ellenberger (the latter in odd fashion admittedly) and called out “Cowboy” straight after his last win. It appears Masvidal has a personal grudge against Cerrone which may bring out the “backyard brawler” in Gamebred and make for an exciting fight.

Varying styles make for dynamic match ups and I strongly believe this will be Fight of the Night, and could even potentially be a Fight of the Year contender. If Masvidal can capitalize on Cerrone’s typical slow starts he could pick up an impressive win. However, taking all of this into consideration, and based on recent performance, I believe Cowboy will just edge “Gamebred” in this one.

My Pick – Cerrone via Split Decision.

Arlovski vs Ngannou –

This is a classic contest between a battle-worn veteran and a young, promising newcomer that takes place in the hard hitting Heavyweight division.

Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski’s career has been well publicized and not always for the right reasons. He has been the recipient of some of the most brutal finishes in MMA history with the Fedor Emelianenko KO loss being particularly spectacular. Since then his chin has always been called into question. After being brought back into the UFC in 2014, The Pitbull at first gathered some impressive victories – most noticeably the TKO stoppage victory over Travis Browne, who was highly ranked at the time. However, he has not won a fight since September 2015, failing to go the distance in his last three. These loses did come at the hands (and feet) of some very skilled opponents, however, in the form of Stipe Miocic (the current Heavyweight champion), Alistair Overeem and, another UFC veteran, Josh Barnett.

Francis Ngannou has been a welcome breath of fresh air to the Heavyweight division since his UFC debut in late 2015. Fighting out of Paris, France, the hard hitting Cameroonian (who was homeless until he found MMA) is currently undefeated in the UFC and revels in the fact that none of his victories have gone beyond the second round. What's more he has an ever developing game and is constantly adding new weapons to his arsenal. These were on display in his last fight against Anthony “Freight Train” Hamilton where he won, via submission, by way of Kimura.  However, the fact that he has never had to prove himself beyond the second round could play against him if he is dragged into the later rounds as this would be uncharted territory for him and could test his stamina as never before.

It will be interesting to see how Arlovksi performs in this latest bout and you can never rule anyone out in the Heavyweight division. However, I think youth will prevail on the night and believe Ngannou has the power and precision to test Arlovski’s questionable chin and potentially turn the lights out early for The Pitbull.

My Pick – Ngannou via TKO Round 1.

The Dimitri Payet Saga

The Dimitri Payet Saga - 

The popular phrase "From hero to zero" has never been more apt than when considering Dimitri Payet's current status at West Ham United. After all, it was only in February 2016 that the French international midfielder signed a new five year deal with the club  -  becoming its highest paid player (earning a reported £125,000 per week) in the process. However, less than a year after pledging his future to the claret and blues, Payet is now locked in dispute with the Hammers after refusing to play for them, much to the dismay of manager, Slaven Bilic, and the legion of West Ham fans .

With the club struggling to find form in the early stages of the 2016/17 EPL season, many speculated the team were experiencing teething problems at their new home ground, the London Stadium. By the beginning of the New Year, though, a surprise development went some way towards explaining their erratic form. In early January 2017, Slaven Bilic confirmed, in his weekly press conference, that the 2015/16 Hammer of the Year, Dimitri Payet, no longer wanted to play for West Ham. After a successful Euro 2016 campaign - which saw Payet score on three occasions helping his national team reach the European Championship Finals - the player's reputation was growing rapidly. Yet as the domestic season commenced, it soon became clear that Payet's club form was failing to live up to expectation. Fans asked: 'Why was he unsettled? Could it be he was saving himself for a new club?'. As the January transfer window opened amid a frenzy of unprecedented spending by the Chinese, many believed that this emerging footballing nation would be Payet's next destination. But after turning down three offers from Chinese clubs, it became clear that money was not the driving factor in Payet's desire to move on. Soon 'Family reasons'  were being cited for his desire to return to his former club Marseille. The star was even said to be willing to take a 30% pay cut in order to do so. However, there was  a major stumbling block  -  Marseille needed to buy Payet out of his newly signed mega-contract with the East London club and this would not come cheap.

Over the following weeks, meetings were held between the two clubs' officials but no fee could be agreed. At first an offer of £19 million was made by Marseille but this was quickly rejected by West Ham. There followed an 'improved' bid of £20 million which was also turned down. Now, as we reach the last week of the January transfer window, the French club have launched a final bid of £22.5 million to land their man. West Ham, however, remain adamant that the price for the mercurial midfielder is a cool £30 million and are refusing to compromise on their valuation.

With talks over a loan deal until the end of the season imminent and the January transfer window soon coming to a close, one thing is for sure … you have not heard the last of this epic power struggle between a club with big ambitions and a disgruntled yet talented player longing to return home.