At UFC 126, during the fight between Jon Jones and Ryan Bader, Jones threw a flying kick at Bader midway through the first round. While impressive, I knew I had seen it before.
It was June 2005, and my devotion to MMA was just getting started. I had been watching Pride for a few years, mind you, but the UFC was still relatively new to me. At UFC 53, I seen a silky smooth Canadian Fighter try that same kick Jones threw, as well as escaping a early rear naked choke attempt and finishing off Charles McCarthy with a spinning roundhouse and a flying knee. I was on the edge of my chair and thought the performance was impressive. I had to find out who this dude was. Joe Rogan interviewed him and identified him as David Loiseau.
Immediately, I thought this guy was somebody who was destined for great things. Possessing speed, quickness, mental toughness and raw athleticism, I figured it was only a matter of time before this guy was on the top of the mountain.
When that title shot came at UFC 58 : USA vs Canada, I expected him to put up a good fight and possibly take the belt from then champion Rich "Ace" Franklin. Instead, I seen a one sided beating from Ace, as Loiseau was never in the fight and lost it by unanimous decision.
It seems that was a bad dream for Loiseau, who never woke up from it. Following that fight were 2 more losses to Mike Swick (and his subsequent release), and Joey Villasenor in EliteXC, Loiseau found some success on the regional circuits in Canada (going 3-1 in such places as Gatineau and Calgary, Alberta) only to come back to the UFC against Ed Herman...and subsquently not show up, as he lost by unanimous decision in UFC 97. Another win on the regional circuit brought him back to the UFC, only to see him get pummeled by Mario Miranda at UFC 115, which was Chuck Liddell's swansong.
Friday night, Loiseau makes his return to the regional circuit as he goes for the Middleweight title at "Tachi Palace Fights 8 : All or Nothing" in California, being streamed live in MMAJunkie staring at 8:30 pm EST. His fight coincides with the release of the documentary "The Striking Truth" (with Georges St. Pierre), set to debut in Toronto this month. The title of the card really defines what's on the line for Loiseau : Its really all or nothing.
Should he win, does the UFC make the call to bring him back? Even if that did happen, how good would he look in the Octagon? is it just Octagon jitters why he always seems to do well on the undercard, but fail on the big stage?
In an interview with MMAJunkie this week, he is calling for a "return to vintage days". He's only 31 years old, and I feel if he were able to figure it out, he may be able to return to the big leagues because everybody who's seen him fight back then knows he's got the tools to survive.
If not, I'll always remember that spinning back kick.
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