Wednesday, January 12, 2011

The Benefits of cross pollination





Recently re-watching some knockouts from later in the year, I rekindled the thought I had maybe a month ago. With so many events, from challengers to fight night, the numbered event's to the now semi regular Strikeforce state/main event hyped cards (lord knows I love St Louis, but c'mon) my mind seemed to slip. That is until boredom and the internet, brought back a question I notice quite a few have thought, but it seems none have asked: Just why was 'The Outlaw' himself Dan Hardy cornering and so proudly parading Mac "if one of y'all touched my bird feeder heads will roll" Danzig? And is this the reason Danzig's KO resembled Paul "Semtex" Daley's recent destruction of Scott Smith?

With Dan Hardy training at PGK in LA and finally making a trip to a gym where he can pick up
some much needed mat time, does this mean we can see his wrestling improve?

The reason i ask this, is this
Possibly its my naivety or my need to romanticise everything, who knows
but the first fight "The Outlaw" corners Mac in, we see him break out what is now
an almost trademarked "Team Rough House" technique .

Throughout "Semtex" career, on either side of the border, from Cage Rage to Strikeforce
to the UFC and Back again,
He's delivered on his promise and that's KO's.

Paul has demonstrated some of the best follow through left hooks, and step out/in punches at his weight for almost his entire professional life and he did so again, pushing Scott Smith's
Homer Simpson like brain cushion, past the threshold of its liquid stitching



I'm not saying he's Anderson Silva, but arguments can be made that Daley is the most devastating one punch KO artist, at his weight (which we thought we had with Hardy due to mass hysteria and hype over Rory Markham getting starched)

Its no Secret that Hardy and Daley have and will continue to share a bond through training and being part of the recent explosion of British Sprawl'n'Brawlers - Along side other notable fighters

Ross Pearson
Andre Winner
Nick Osipzcak
Dean Amasinger
and finally Jimmy Wallhead


Hardy describes his first meetings/dealings with Paul here courtesy of sherdog

“I was fighting in amateur KSBO tournaments back in 2002-2003,” Hardy says. “We used to go to Nottingham University in the sports hall, and I remember, at those first few tournaments, I’d always see Paul Daley and Matt Howell there with their Rough House T-Shirts on. We got talking and got on really well.

“I had a disagreement with the guy I was training with at the time, so I decided to start working with Paul,” he adds. “Matt had university commitments, so it ended up being just me and Paul. When Paul started fighting professionally, I was his main training partner, and then I started fighting professionally, as well. We just sort of pick guys up along the way. A lot of guys have gravitated to us, and we’ve built a team just from working hard basically.

Although in recent times, Hardy has ventured out, and afar
training at Legends & PKG notably alongside Danzig, both of whom
have and presumably will continue to work extensively with Freddie Roach at "The Wild Card" gym

Danzig and Hardy's friendship and training regime seems to have benefited Mac's striking style
and prowess, in his last outing he would be seen making an entire arena mistake
Joe Stevenson for a DEVO song
With the push off left hook Daley so freely uses and used to welcome Scott Smith
to the face-plant club Danzig proved that indeed the mongoloid had a job.
That job being a human game of Jenga none the less its still a job


UFC 124 Mac Danzig KO Joe Stevenson

With the "Rough House" style impregnating training partners world wide as technique is shared and friendships are made is it too soon to hold our breath on hoping the world infects "Rough House" ?

lets hope not, with recent news of GSP sharing mat time along with Roger Gracie and the Sprawl'nBrawlers (It was for Roger's upcoming fight with Trevor Prangley but a guy dreams)

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by way of Nick Thomas over at Bloody elbow

Gracie assistance aside, training with GSP can't be bad especially when you look at last year alone
Ross Pearson spent time with both Ricardo Almeida and UFC Lightweight champion Frankie Edgar
Dan Hardy brought the funk the Danzig's punch along with spending mat time with Matt Serra
And Eddie Bravo.

Collectively knowledge has been passed, shared and no doubt re-learned and in some cases probably forgotten ( I'm looking at you Pearson and Hardy)
Emerging in 2011 in theory is the start of a worldwide complete mixed martial arts game


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Photo via bloodyelbow.com


this might not be a thing of the past after all..
lets just hope we get the chance to see some future "has-been's" rather than we let handfuls of "never was" fall by the wayside


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