Unintelligent Defense

We are coming back! Thanks for the support

2012-02-20T17:02:00.002-05:00

Hello all!

First of all, I want to say thanks and apologies to Matt Roth who gave me this wonderful opportunity to write for this blog. The fact is I got tied up with other things and let this blog slip. I dont care who else is or isnt going to write for unintelligent defense..I LOVE MMA and fight sports of all kinds (Especially Muay Thai) so im going to personally keep this blog updated with fresh opinions, commentary and knowledge on MMA, pop culture and other stuff. Get on board now because this week, we will begin CONSISTENT WEEKLY ARTICLES here at unintelligent defense. Looking forward to talking to you all

Da Genius

The Unintelligent Breakdown: Week 1

2011-04-02T23:54:00.000-04:00

Putting a DUMB argument to rest..YES MMA should have a cruiserweight Division!

2011-03-17T16:21:00.003-04:00

You wouldnt want guys our size competing in MMA? Are you Crazy!!!

Happy Daylight Savings Time Yall!

Its been a while since Ive had the time to set the record straight and inform people on whats factual and important in the world of MMA. I am DaGenius afterall :). Anyhow, theres a lot of focus on Shogun v Jones and thats fair. Should be the MMA fight of the year. Instead of that, I am going to FINALLY put to rest one of the dumbest and silliest things MMA fans say (yes, disrespect intended).."MMA doesnt need a division between Light and Heavyweight" . Are you F****g Crazy?!?! MMA would be EVEN BETTER with this division. Read on!

For the sake of this discussion i will call this weight class "Cruiser Weight" (although I think a better name can be found) and the limit will be 230lbs which is 25 above light heavyweight and 35 below heavyweight. Sound interesting? Yup.

I believe the LHW is the absolute best division in MMA. Its the most glamorous, the most exciting and is the division that keeps fans on the edge of its collective seat. The overall reason is because LHW is the best combination of technique, size and cardio we see in MMA. You get guys who are strong and in great shape but also have excellent skills in their grappling and striking disciplines of choice. When you get guys that big, you also have the fear factor working for them. When you see a 205lb MMA fighter around town, you know he could whoop your ass! (unless you happen to be a HW). Dont get me wrong, i dont hate the significantly lighter weight classes (125-145) but I would take any LHW match over an equal stature match in those very light classes. They obviously dont have the same level of fear factor involved either. Ive been to fight after parties and believe me, its a different feeling when Dominick Cruz walks into the club as opposed to Rampage hitting the party. Cruz is an excellent and skillful fighter and has had some exciting fights but frankly I like my chances in a street or mma fight against Dom. Against Rampage....ehhhh..not so much. For me that adds to the mystique of a fighter. Fedors mystique was so large, in part, because he didnt have a ripped frame but you sure wouldnt run up on him talking trash. Of all the reasons you might like the LHW division, those same reasons would be present at the "Cruiser" Division and then some.

At 230lbs you would have the cardio to fight 5 hard rounds, unlike the heavyweights. Imagine the type of athletes that would be climbing into the cage at that weight. Not that he would give up his career in the lockout halted NFL, but why wouldnt you want to see more athletes the size of Clay Matthews (6-3, 237) compete in MMA? Size, strength, quickness, technique, the constant spectre of a one strike knockout punch. Heavyweights are awesome, but they just cant go hard for a full 3 rounds at 265lbs, let alone 5. Instead of a 240lb guy having to give up weight or cut a tremendous amount of weight, he could fight another athlete close to his size to see who is the best at that weight. Nothing wrong with that. It wont dilute MMA like some fans say which is another point i dont get. Not long ago 155 was the lightest weight in "big time" mma. Now there are many more belts in the lighter classes and has that hurt MMA? Not at all. It gives athletes a chance to compete. One more belt at 230 would do NOTHING to hurt mma. It would only help add another glamorous division to the ultimate combat sport.

Hey MMA fans, you all screamed for more light divisions so that we could watch two little guys fight it out. Now its time to scream so that we can get two full sized studs fighting in the cage to see who is the better fighter. And if youre reading Dana (cause I know you do) I would DEFINITELY plunk down $49.99 to see the UFC crown a 230lb MMA champion!

Unintelligent Predictions: UFC 128 Style

2011-03-17T11:49:00.002-04:00

Considering I'm the only one still writing over here, I figured I'd take the time to go ahead and give the predictions for this particular showdown. Couple of things first:

1. Yes, I do plan on trying to provide this place with some more content, mostly because the only other place I write MMA stuff for is a newspaper.

2. Since I'm given free reign here, I'm going to embarass someone. You've probably noticed a dipshit named ColdHardPhilly posting here quite a bit, calling me names like a ten year old on a playground. Ignore him. He's just someone I banned from Blistered Thumbs for using homophobic slurs because I didn't mention Brazil in my review of EA Sports MMA. No, chuckles, I'm not removing the IP ban.

So, let's get started, shall we?

Heavyweight Bout: Mirko Cro Cop vs Brendan Schaub

I love Cro Cop. What self respecting fan of the Pride days doesn't? However, we're going through the same motions this time as we did last time. Cro Cop is saying he's in the same form as when he destroyed Barnett for the third time. We're gonna see a finish. He's just a rookie, I'm gonna finish him. Blah blah blah. We've heard it all before, and I honestly can't see this ending well for Mirko. I would love to see the old Cemetary Kick, just so it gives Seanbaby another excuse to talk about it, but it's not going to happen. I expect Schaub to unload on him with the hands, and finish Cro Cop via TKO.

Schaub by TKO, Round 2

Middleweight Bout: Dan Miller vs Nate Marquardt

Dan Miller is thankfully stepping in for Yoshihiro Akiyama on short notice for this bout. To be quite honest with you, I think that this is a much more entertaining fight. When I saw Nate matched up against Yoshihiro, I figured that Dana had given up on the Akiyama investment and planned on putting him away rather than building him up. I think that Dan Miller is a much tougher fight. Now, though Miller isn't as talented as his brother, he's a tough guy that doesn't have an ounce of quit in him. I expect Dan to make this a tough one for Marquardt, but I see Nate as being a little too strong, and a little too technical here.

Marquardt by Decision

Lightweight Bout: Kamal Shalorus vs Jim Miller

I.....don't know what to really say about this bout. Shalorus is a legit fighter, but Jim Miller is a guy who is right outside of the title picture. In all honesty, I think that he should probably be fighting someone higher up the ladder than Shalorus. Then again, Kamal has the grappling skills to potentially make this a tough fight for Miller. Still, I expect Jim to come out with the same fire that he had against Oliviera. Fact of the matter is that Jim feels like he's got to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that he deserves a shot at the 155lb title. So, I'm seeing a choke in Kamal's future.

Miller via Rear Naked Choke, Round 3

Bantamweight Bout: Urijah Faber vs Eddie Wineland

I don't want to count Wineland out. I really, really don't want to, but the fact of the matter is that I think he's outmatched here. Eddie Wineland is a guy with concrete for knuckles, and he has a lot of drive, but he's fighting someone who beat the Bantamweight champion. What it boils down to is that Faber has the experience in fighting in main events, fighting tougher competition, and have a much more well rounded skillset. Though the potential of Wineland KOing Faber is there (considering I wouldn't say that Urijah's chin is iron), I just don't see it happening. What I see is Urijah taking this fight down, and controlling it without ease. Hopefully we'll see him and Cruz coach the next season of TUF.

Faber via Decision

Light Heavyweight Championship: Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs Jon "Bones" Jones

I hate this fight. I really do. First and foremost, I hate the fact that everyone is counting Shogun out. We're counting the guy who just flattened Lyoto Machida not however long ago out. You know, Machida? The guy who everyone thought was going to have a Liddell style run? Second thing that I hate is that everyone is focusing more on Shogun's layoff rather than Jones' lack of time to prepare for Shogun. As for the actual prediction, I think it's fairly even. Jones is riding quite the wave at the moment, but almost all of his wins have been over wrestleboxers. Frankly, he's never faced someone like Shogun. Then again, Shogun's faced guys with long reaches (Overeem, Diabate) and he's got more experience, but Jones is a one of a kind athlete. Well, whatever. I can't really pick a favorite here, mostly because I'm biased due to Shogun being my favorite fighter ever.

Toss Up

Well, that's all I've got to say about this one. It should be an exciting card, but you never know with MMA. That's both the best and worst things about the sport.

Just remember, kids: Following someone from site to site makes you a stalker.

-Micah C

Make This Fight: 5 reasons why Bisping vs Belfort makes sense

2011-02-27T21:09:00.002-05:00

After Bisping's controversial win over Jorge Rivera, it seems to be that there's some clamoring for Vitor Belfort to face off against the cocky Brit. Though some may think that it's almost too big of a step up in competition for Bisping (considering his last two outings against top name opponents ended with him either unconscious or close to it), I think that this fight makes quite a bit of sense. Here's five reasons why:

1. Major PPV sales.

Though I don't think that this could carry a card, I think that this would help aid sales as a co-main event fight. Vitor's a popular fighter, as is Bisping. On top of that, there would be quite a few words between the two. Vitor, as many know, is a "face" type person along with being very big on respect. Bisping is one of the biggest heels in the sport, and loves to run his mouth, even when he's outmatched. So, it wouldn't be difficult for the two of them get get people interested. In fact, I'd love to see this as the co-main of the possible GSP vs Anderson Silva superfight.

2. A great test for Bisping

Bisping hasn't beaten anyone who has held a world title as of yet. It's the one notch that he hasn't carried under his belt yet. However, he put up a solid performance against Wanderlei (even though he wasn't the better fighter) so there's a chance that he wouldn't be out of the fight. I can't really say that this would be his toughest test to date (Hendo was that test, and Bisping failed) but it would certainly be a solid one to see where Bisping is going to fit in the division from here on in.

3. A solid comeback fight for Vitor

Though Vitor's a great fighter, he didn't exactly come out of his fight with Anderson looking good. It's one thing to be on the end of a highlight reel KO, but it's another to be on the end of a highlight reel KO from a rare kick. However, if Vitor can beat Bisping, it gives him a good win on the record, and moves him a couple of notches closer to a title shot. After a devastating loss like he just had, it's a good match for him to be in, provided he wins it.

4. A standing fight

Though both men are good on the ground (Vitor holding an advantage there) the tendencies of both fighters show that they're going to want to keep this fight standing. MMA fans love a stand-up fight, and Bisping at the very least keeps going from bell to bell. He's not the most powerful striker out there, but he's also nowhere near the slowest. The same can be said of Vitor Belfort. Though one of them may shoot in (my money being on Mike because he's not a big fan of being hit) I don't see this one being a ground war.

5. PRIDE fans will love it if Bisping loses.

Let's be honest. We Pride fans love watching a UFC grown superstar get destroyed by someone who fought in Pride. It keeps that "Pride never die" spirit alive. Vitor wasn't the biggest star in Pride, but it's still more than can be said of Bisping. It was gratifying to see Bisping get flattened by a former two time champ of Pride, and get beat by the former Pride middleweight champion. In fact, we would have all loved to see Bisping get soccer kicked by Wanderlei for old time's sake, but such is the price of the unified rules.

So, with all of that said, don't just sit here and agree with me! Tweet the following to Dana White:

@DanaWhite You need to have @VitorBelfort teach Bisping some respect! #vitorvsbisping

Also, follow me on Twitter @TheCynicsCorner

Let's do this.

-Micah C

Undisputed Facts!!..5 things from UFC 127

2011-02-27T20:47:00.003-05:00

Will Lebron Fitch take his talents to another promotion???

Happy Sunday, everyone! Dagenius of MMA is back to share with you some important facts from the latest UFC event. For those reading this column for the first time, these are 1000% factual statements (of opinion) from the most recent MMA big show

1. ION tv rocks for prelim viewing. This has been a stroke of genius by UFC brass to show these undercard fights for free. This isnt a news flash. The news flash is that the Ion HD feed is much better than spike at least here in LA.

2. John Fitch, I ALMOST feel sorry for you. You are now stuck in limbo in the WW division. Sure you are at the top, but I would favor GSP or Shields over you in a fight 8-9 times out of 10. The worst part is you arent marketable enough to offset your limitations as a wrestler who happens to fight MMA. My advice for you, ask out of your contract and go be a big dog in strikeforce. Time for you to take you takedown talents elsewhere. Why only almost sorry? You sir are not a FIGHTER. You are an outpointer.

3. BJ I DO feel sorry for you. It was narrow but I feel you won rounds 1 and 2 and lost round 3. Didnt look like a 10-8 to me but I thought you would be rewarded for fighting up and get the split decision. A rematch doesnt do much for you or fitch honestly. That was small level robbery..not like Fukada but I do think you won a fight that you had no business winning. Most of all, you sir ARE A FIGHTER! Thank you for showing that spirit

4.Bisping..where to begin. Class has a place in everything you do or as my father says, "Son, no matter what the situation, you can always choose the classy option". Bisping continues to choose to be his unclassy self. Im not concerned about the spitting or the trash talk etc. Simply put, he sure didnt act like a fighter who accidentally hit his opponnent with an illegal strike that decided the fight. Cheating has no place in sport. Save that for street fighting. Paging Dan Henderson please.

5.Brian Ebersole!! You are the wiliest fighter that I have seen in the octagon in a while. Cartwheel kicks..sauntering back to your corner with 7 seconds to go. AWESOME!! I applaud you sir.

You're kidding me, right? Part 2 – UFC 127

2011-02-27T17:26:00.002-05:00

The reason I titled this series the way I did is because the phrase is just a general phrase of bewilderment. So, with that said, let me go through the shockers of the evening.

Nick Ring vs Riki Fukuda

I like Nick Ring. He's a good fighter, and his bout against Court McGee was a lot of fun to watch. However, Riki Fukuda won the fight against Ring. Not only did he win it, but I'm pretty sure that there isn't a logical argument for Ring winning that fight. Not to mention, the shock of the decision came in two parts. At first, when you hear the 29-28 score, you think “Oh, I guess they gave Ring the first round.” After that, you hear Nick Ring, and wonder if Buffer forgot what words are.

Mark Hunt won

Honestly, this was the biggest shock of the night for me. When this fight was first announced, I don't know if anyone really gave Hunt a chance to win it. Heck, I'm not completely sure if Mark Hunt gave himself a chance to win it. But, a few things should have been kept in mind. The first was that Tuchsherer really hasn't shined inside the Octagon. He was 1-2 coming into the fight, and should have been 0-3. Still, when Luke Thomas said on my Twitter feed that Hunt had knocked him out, I was in quite a bit of disbelief. Then, when I saw the KO, it was probably one of the coolest ones I had seen in a while. So, Hunt's still got a job with the UFC. I'm kinda curious who he'll fight next. Only kind of, though.

Michael Bisping in general

First off, if you say that Bisping's actions shouldn't be brought up, you're wrong. Any time that a fighter acts with such poor sportsmanship, he deserves any negative criticism coming toward him. Second, Bisping has now solidified that any pay per view he's involved in now will gain a lot of viewers. What Bisping did in the octagon put a foul taste in my mouth. First, he blatantly knees a downed opponent (which is an understandable rule, and this comes from a Pride fan). Second, he's happy about it. Third, he celebrates a win over someone that he beat by cheating. What's really funny is that Bisping didn't look that impressive. The first round was competitive, but Bisping had the edge until the knee. Then, Bisping got planted by Rivera's right hand while Rivera was still hurt in the second round. With all that said, Bisping's attitude and actions have probably gained him a better opponent, and probably an opponent that won't like him. I wish Hendo were still in the UFC to show this guy a lesson again, but I'd settle for Nate Marquardt or Vitor Belfort

People making a fuss over the Penn/Fitch decision

B.J. Penn won the first two rounds. He mounted no offense in the third. A 10-8 was justified. Deal with it.

Being a douchebag isn't nation specific, so stop the xenophobic claim before you start.

-Micah C

How Does Mark Hunt Still Have A Job?

2011-02-24T05:21:00.006-05:00

I love Rulon Gardner. That guy was, and will remain, one of the most phenomenal American athletes ever. His 2000 Olympic match against Karelin was a nail-biter from the outset. But while he's never been a slender fella, he's spent the last 10 years getting FAT. Fat enough to embarrass himself on national TV.

Mark Hunt is, to me, MMA's Rulon Gardner. Never a slim guy, since his last win against Tsuyoshi Kosaka (who?) in 2006, he's basically just gotten FAT. Cruising around at well over 300 lbs, when he's not fighting he resembles a 5'10" Tim Sylvia. And that's not a good thing.

I mean, seriously - when you're weighing in AFTER CUTTING WEIGHT TO MAKE 265, if your muffin-top is still comfortably spilling out over the top of your shorts... you may need to re-examine your height-to-weight ratio.

But weight aside, if the guy had the skills to hang in the UFC's heavyweight division, it wouldn't be that big a deal. But he doesn't. Not anymore.

I want to be clear - Mark Hunt started off his career in FANTASTIC style, and even decisioned Mirko and Wanderlei before they both had their brains rattled a couple too many times. He's a hard puncher, and.... well, that's about it.

And let's be fair - yes, he's lost his last 6 fights. But other than Sean McCorkle (who?), he lost to Fedor, Alistair Overeem, Josh Barnett, Mousasi, and Manhoef. That's a pretty significant list. In fact, I don't know of too many guys who can say they've fought at that level of competition over the last several years, considering some of those names are bandied about on Greatest-Of-All-Time lists.

But what does it mean that Hunt showed up for the fight with Sean McCorkle fat, uninspired (although he did give us the Tito Ortiz "I promise it'll be different this time, guys"), and still without a shred of submission defense.

How is Mark Hunt still employed by the UFC with a 5-7 record, and with no win in the last 6 years? MAYBE you could argue he's a "fan favorite," that his presence on the card is supposed to drive up buys. If that's the case, though, why is this one of the only fights on the card NOT being shown on the PPV, Ion, OR Facebook?

It's a damn conspiracy, I tell you. I want to believe that Mark Hunt, Brandon Vera, and Tito Ortiz all have some super-secret information on Dana White, and it's got to be the only thing keeping them in the UFC. Of course, it's much simpler than that with Hunt.

Dana's got to be thankful THAT deal's about done. On a positive note, Hunt's opponent, Chris Tuchscherer, appears to have been given this fight simply to mangle Hunt. In fact, Tuch has 2 wins by legit submission, including an arm bar. Which makes him look like a jiu jitsu black belt compared to Hunt.

So here's hoping we see a big bear hug takedown and a merciful quick finish, so I can go back to remembering the guy that liver-kicked Dan Bobish (WAR BAS RUTTEN!) into submission (despite an AWESOME beer gut). Because that's how Mark Hunt should be remembered. Not as the muffin-top guy.

You're kidding me, right? Part 1 - Nick Diaz

2011-02-18T14:15:00.003-05:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. I promised this article a long time ago under a different title, but Blistered Thumbs has kept me busy. So, I simply wanted to present a condensed version of my thoughts on Nick Diaz as of late, and what has me so frustrated about this guy. Trust me, there's plenty to keep me frustrated, that's for damn sure.

The first thing I wanted to discuss was his inability to keep his story straight. We've all heard Nick Diaz's claims, and they're pretty funny. "I won the fight against Sean Sherk!" No, you didn't, but you're adorable. "GSP isn't down to fight me." That's not the case either, but you're a funny guy, you know that? A lot of these claims are very entertaining, to the point where I question how Ariel Helwani can keep a straight face when he interviews this guy. What puts the dunce cap on Diaz's head here is his consistent calling out of UFC fighters, and he signs a multi-year deal with Strikeforce. So, you'd figure he'd stop with the call outs, right? Wrong. First thing he does in the conference call for the Cyborg fight is talk about GSP.

Second thing that needs to be discussed has a bit more to do with the call-outs, but mostly because someone finally caught him in the lie. We all know about Mayhem getting jumped, the Don't Be Scared Homie website, and so forth, so let me just get down to the significance. On October 9th of 2010, Nick was quoted as saying that he'd fight at 185, and just wants someone to step up and fight him. So, with a smile and a laugh, in walks Mayhem Miller, and the fight makes a lot of sense. Neither has beaten the best in the world, but they're both experienced fighters that are fun to watch. Not to mention the fact that they'd more than likely nullify each other on the ground, so they'd end up trying to murder each other in the cage. But, no. Instead, we saw Nick Diaz exposed for who he really is: someone who gets to pick and choose his fights.

This brings me to issue number three: being a paper champion. Fact of the matter is that Nick's belt literally means nothing in terms of value. Granted, this is partially the fault of the promotion, but Nick willingly ducked a fight with Jay Hieron, and was later given a much easier fight in the one dimensional Marius Zaromskis (and anyone who says different is wrong). Then, he faced down a bloated lightweight in K.J. Noons, and had a good fight. However, the fact of the matter is that he couldn't put away an unranked lightweight. After that bout, Nick played a little more Duck Hunt and took a fight with Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos, who isn't much more than a career journeyman. Despite the thunderous claims of "FUN FIGHT OMG ROFL" from people, the fight was pointless. It's like watching the Titanic film. The boat's gonna sink. Part of what gives belts their worth is the quality of people challenging for them, and right now I think that a WAMMA belt holds more value. At least Aoki beat someone credible for his.

In conclusion, I think that homie is a scared fraud. Nick Diaz hasn't beaten anyone of note since 2007, which was a win over a bloated lightweight in Takanori Gomi. He doesn't want to fight Jason Miller or Jay Hieron, but he'll call out people from other promotions (who would absolutely crush him) all damn day. Yes, Nick Diaz is a fun fighter. Here's the thing: So is Cain Velasquez, Junior Dos Santos, Thiago Alves, Thiago Silva, Rampage Jackson, etc.

Nick Diaz isn't worth defending until he does something worth defending.

How can a guy who makes six figures plus a year be driving a Honda?

-Micah C

My Thoughts On Strikeforce: Fedor vs Silva

2011-02-14T21:08:00.003-05:00

This past weekend gave us another impressive, action-packed Strikeforce card. We saw a legend, a god amongst mere mortals, beaten to a pulp. We saw a former champion fall to defeat via KO for the 7th time in his career. We saw exciting action but, to me at least,the sadness of those events completely overshadowed the exciting night of fights. Fedor Emelianenko, a man widely regarded as the greatest Heavyweight of all time or fighter for that matter, was barraged with punches from Antonio Silva, a man who practically just made a serious name and contendership for himself. A hotly contested first round, which I gave to The Last Emperor, gave way to a one sided beatdown of a round with Silva swinging the hammer. After taking an immense amount of punishment and pressure, Fedor survived, and almost pulled off another stunning come from behind win. Sadly, it was not to be and Fedor was stopped because of a severely swollen eye. Afterwards, we lamented and said that it might be time for him to hang up the gloves. If that was the last time I had the privilege of seeing The Last Emperor fight, I must say I will miss the aura he carried every time he fought. It has been a great ride, Fedor, and if this is the end, thanks for all the memories.

The Co-Main Event also presented a possible last fight for another great fighter. Andrei Arlovski, a former UFC Heavyweight Champion, was stopped for the 7th time in his career by KO. After starting out very well by sticking and moving, Arlovski got in a close quarters battle and ended up unconscious. I honestly think it is time for Andrei to hang them up, not because I do not think he is a great fighter or I do not like watching him fight, it is because I want the best for the rest of his life post-mma, but that is up to him. Once again, if it is the end of the Pitbull's mma career, thanks for the memories.

The rest of the card was quite enjoyable, the Griggs/Villante fight was an absolute war. I just don't understand why Yves Lavigne decided to stop the action to rinse out Villante's mouthpiece after he just landed a headkick on Griggs... somethings I cannot understand.

These are my highlights and my thoughts. They are completely opinion based.

~Stay Thirsty My Friends~,

Zack

fedora the explorer, swipers just swiped him

2011-02-13T10:15:00.002-05:00

Fedor defending a takedown from Mark Coleman

While im disappointed he lost, its not directed at Fedor himself, or Pezao for taking full control of his destiny

im disappointed in myself for letting my inner child take control of my emotions, and put all the chips on Red-Devil

for a while now, i've had the opportunity taken from me for various reason's to watch my beloved sport

see the up and comers, and see the greats get greater...

i didn't find out Fedor lost to Werdum till almost a month and a half later

i fell out of the loop, and i spent the last 2 months getting back into the loop

not only did i get back in it, i ran it, upside down and all around every side

like Sonic The Hedgehog i traversed and got my rings/hit my springs and i balled up..

to take on all obstacles

Everybody has a childhood, and everybody has that one hero, superman, spiderman, batman

in my case it was Joe Strummer, to me he was the greatest musician ever to live, and i was lucky enough to hear him speak, sing, and meet him (he signed my record) and throughout my early teens he was the greatest thing ever...

Until one night late in my mom's dinning room ( we had cable set up in the dining room i know its strange we didnt have it in the living room till like 2 years later)

i sat straddling my chair, coffee mug in hand, almost dangling from my fingers

it was my 16th birthday, 3rd of November and i watched what i thought was the next level of pro wrestling.

Two men in a ring, tackling, grappling and striking each other, i had no clue what the commentary team was saying, but it never mattered my brother and i had watched pro wrestling in almost every language on the planet, just to see the 'sport' itself

Those two men were Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Heath Herring.

Not knowing anything about the sport i would come to love

i immediately gravitated to Herring spurring him on to defeat the Brazillian

to my disappointment Big Nog took Herring the distance and became the first

Heavyweight champion of PRIDE FC, i wouldnt watch it live again for a few years

but in-between i learned, read and watched some of the previous PRIDE events, earlier UFC tournaments and any type of "vale tudo" i could find

The next time i would see Nog, he was standing across the ring from the man i now know

simply as Fedor

a small package put together by the sports announcer's informed me this was the second time the men had met, and the first was ruled a no contest..

i sat again, cup in hand in awe, going against the Brazilian.. and i was not disappointed

Fedor bombarded, and rained blows that looked as ferocious as they sounded

over and over drilling Nog, in amongst the back and forth grappling that ensued

and he prevailed, what i thought was pro wrestling, was something more

a brutal, and beautiful display of skill, heart and absolute dominating power is what i had witnessed, and it would continue for almost a decade

fast forward to 2011 and i've witnessed what had become the focal point of my MMA fanaticism

destroyed, with all his offence quashed, or countered before my eyes and the fight called off, for fears he could not continue.

Calls of "he was just too big" or "how can anyone overcome a size advantage like that" rung out among sports blog's - but what everyone's seemed to throw to the side, was this was Fedor

the man that made freakshow's seem almost reasonable, when he dismantled gigantic Korean kickboxer Hong Man Choi and arm barred him in the first round, the size and weight advantage didn't matter when he won, but now he's finally suffered not one, but 2 back to back defeats

(regardless of what some may say, due to the stoppage, last night was a defeat)

all the variables that made his myth and legend seem all the more fierce and his career tha tmuch more special

are thrown out as negatives, and exscuses as to why he lost.

Size

Height

Weight

Reach

Power

Fedor had conquered them all in the race for MMA supremacy as the greatest fighter who ever lived - Until last night they finally caught back up, and overtook him in the race

BJJ has run a muck on Fedor in his last two outings, once via straight submission when he was forced to surrender his hope via tapout

and now a second time where regardless of his opponents size in the past

transitional guard play coupled with a deeper skill set than past opponents who towered over top

exhausted, and wore down fedor, while ground and pound rendered him unable to continue the fight in the eyes of medical staff

Fedor's downhill race has already begun, will he fight again?

Coker says yes

but many say he clearly stated its done, an dusted and his reign has ended with a retirement in the cage

with news of coker considering Fedor being an "alternate" in the tournament, its already become what many feared it might

a joke, even the consideration of putting a fighter back in, who lost int he first round renders the idea that the "best man" will prevail a complete void statement and makes any hope strikeforce had of keeping the tourny legit null, not enough coker has stated who knows we may still see Fedor vs Overeem anyway...

which means yet again strikeforce would put a fighter coming off a loss into the title picture, instead of the winner of the tournament...

because at this stage, fedor won't wait, his clock is already ticking out, and i don't think the fans want to wait.. its now or never, and when ever it is

it makes a fool out of fans for buying into the idea we would witness the best man prevail and gain what he rightfully deserves (a title shot against their HW strap holder The Reem)

and it puts all their money on Red, as mine was

and its a bet that cannot be won

Unintelligent Matchmaking: UFC 126

2011-02-12T14:38:00.003-05:00

Apologies this took so long but I have had a busy week

Kenny Robertson:
Already Cut

Mike Pierce:
Winner of Diaz/Macdonald

Ricardo Romero:
Fabio Maldonaldo

Kyle Kingsbury;
Tim Boestch

Gabe Ruedinger:
Unemployment Line

Paul Taylor:
Loser of Siver/Sotiropoulos

Kid Yamamoto:
Chris Carisio

Demetrious Johnson:
Scott Jorgensen

Michihiro Omigawa:
Mike Brown

Chad Mendes:
Contender fight with Dustin Poirer

Paul Kelly:
Already Cut

Donald Cerrone:
Cole Miller

Antonio Banuelous:
Renan Brao

Miguel Torres:
Signed to fight Pickett

Carlos Rocha:
Charlie Brennaman

Jake Ellenberger:
Loser of Penn/Fitch

Ryan Bader:
Rich Franklin

Jon Jones:
Set for Title Shot against Shogun

Rich Franklin:
Already suggested Bader

Forrest Griffin:
Winner of Lil Nog/Ortiz

Vitor Belfort:
Wanderlei Silva

Anderson Silva:
Georges St. Pierre

See you after 127!!!

5 Things..from UFC 126..Undisputed facts

2011-02-06T20:33:00.006-05:00

What has two thumbs and is the best p4p fighter on earth?? THIS guy

Hello readers and happy super bowl Sunday! One of my usual and favorite columns to write about are my 100% factual statements (of opinion) that become apparent after the latest MMA event. In the interest of brevity, im going to limit it to 5 things going forward. This is a blog after all, not an e-version of War and Peace. That said here are 5 factual statements that you can take to the MMA bank...

1. Anderson Silva is the best fighter in the game. He has been dominant in the UFC since his first outstanding performance against Chris Leben. Silva has haters like all champions in all sports but when you look at what he has actually done in the cage, not any what-if scenarios, its pretty impressive. Hes tapped good grapplers and now he KOs a good mma striker in spectacular fashion. There really isnt any ones resume in the cage over the last 3 years that you can look at and place ahead of Silva.

2. Muay Thai is "back" as the BEST standup discipline for mma. Sure, it never left but it seems that a majority of casual fans have started questioning something that was frankly a given from the beginning of MMA. In the area that is stand up, you are best served to know how to strike with the greatest number of weapons possible. Muay Thai gives Anderson, Shogun, Cain (close to MT), and Aldo those weapons and they put em to use.

3. Jon Jones is the truth. He absolutely dominated a very solid Ryan Bader. Rather than talk about the fight against Shogun, lets give Bones some major credit for coming up big in a BIG fight for him. He made a statement!

4. Your ball, GSP. The mega fight that everyone is expecting just had the ante upped. The pressure is firmly on GSP to look excellent in his next fight against Jake Shields. Shields is a very tough opponent and will definitely test George on the ground. George cant turn in a jab happy performance in this case. We need to see his best.

5. Peace WEC. Your fighters are fighting well as they acclimate into the UFC talent pool. I certainly enjoyed watching the WEC over the years, but if these are the kind of cards we can can expect going forward, I say good bye WEC, respect but we MMA fans are better off without you!

Jon Jones To Learn Portuguese In Preparation For UFC 128 Title Bout

2011-02-06T12:04:00.003-05:00

(photo via sherdog.com)

Most everyone in the MMA blogosphere is familiar with Jonny "Bones" Jones' use of Twitter to help himself prepare for his fights. Prior to his UFC 126 fight with Ryan Bader, he would read the tweets of Bader himself, his training partners, coaches, and probably his parents. Now it looks like he'll be taking it to the next level to prepare for UFC light-heavyweight champ, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua.

"I really feel I had a lot of success using Twitter to prepare myself for Bader, but Shogun presents a lot of problems, and one of them is that English is not his native language. So to help get myself ready I'm going to learn Portuguese. As soon as I got done with the Bader fight, I got on my laptop and ordered Rosetta Stone from Amazon, rush-delivery. Hopefully it gets here by Monday and Coach Jackson and I can begin. No down-time for me."

Jones went into further detail. "I know a month and a half is a short amount of time to learn a new language, but everyone here at Team Jackson says I learn new things so fast that I don't foresee a problem." Jones also says he plans on flying to Curitiba, Brazil (the hometown of "Shogun" Rua) to talk with Rua's friends and family, saying "You can only learn so much from Twitter posts" and that he "needs to go straight to the source." Jones went on to compare his preparation methods to actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, who are proponents of method acting. "Those method guys totally immerse themselves in their characters, and that's kind of what I do pre-fight. I draw a lot of inspiration from that."

Jones declined any further questions, saying "From now on until after the fight, I'm not going to speak any more English. Obrigado. Gracas a Deus."

Note: Not a real interview. Totally fictional.

UFC 126 Unintelligent Predictions - Micah C's take

2011-02-05T14:55:00.002-05:00

After the downright epic staredown yesterday, I don't know a single MMA fan that isn't completely and totally psyched for tomorrow's card. It's going to be an intense night of fights, to say the least, so let's go ahead and get to my predictions, eh?

Torres vs Banuelos

Vegas Odds: -300 Torres, +400 Banuelos

What I think: To be quite honest with you, I'm not one hundred percent convinced that Miguel is completely out of his slump. He's a great fighter, but Banuelos has looked a little bit better as of late. I expect this one to be a scrap, but I've got this feeling that Banuelos is a pretty safe underdog pick in this one. So, I'm going to take Banuelos by Decision. I could be wrong, but I don't care.

Jon Jones vs Ryan Bader

Vegas Odds: -350 Jones, +250 Bader

What I think: First, I think whoever thought up those odds in Vegas is an idiot. Second, I think that this is a really tough test for Jon Jones. First and foremost, Bader has quite a bit more credentials than Jones does, both inside and outside the octagon. Bader has been fighting longer, in actuality has three more fights than Jones (his three bouts in the TUF house against Lawlor, Kingsbury, and Marshall), and is also a much more experienced wrestler. On top of that, he's arguably fought tougher competition. So far, the logic I've seen from most people is "Jon Jones spins a lot, so he wins, herp derp." I'm taking Bader by decision here.

Jake Ellenburger vs Carlos Eduardo Rocha

Vegas Odds: -350 Ellenburger, +250 Rocha

What I think: Popcorn break. Why is this on the main card and Yamamoto is on Facebook? WTF Joe Silva? Ellenburger by whatever.

Rich Franklin vs Forrest Griffin

Vegas Odds: -150 Franklin, +155 Griffin

What I think: More than likely going to be fight of the night, in my estimation. Both of these guys are well rounded. Forrest is bigger, but Rich is faster. Forrest is a BJJ black belt under Drysdale, and Franklin has great submission defense. All of these facts are true. However, I think the one thing people have understated in this bout is that Rich has a lot more power in his hands than Forrest does. I expect these two to beat the ever loving crap out of one another, but I'm betting that Rich's ability to deal out punishment on the feet will put Forrest away. I'm saying Rick Franklin by KO, round 3.

Main Event: Anderson Silva vs Vitor Belfort

Vegas Odds: -280 Anderson, +210 Vitor

What I think: Truthfully, I think that Vitor is a fairly safe bet if you're a betting man. He does have a solid toolset to beat Anderson. However, the same can be said of Dan Henderson, Fael Sonnen, Forrest Griffin, Rich Franklin, and others. At the end of the day, I think that it boils down to the fact that Vitor is an aggressive striker, and Anderson is one of the best counter-punchers in the business. As the fight goes on, it will favor Anderson, and we'll see Vitor's second (or is it third?) comeback put to rest by the Spider. So, I say Anderson Silva by TKO, Round 2. Fun fact: Both the main event and co-main event feature a 205 pound champion facing a person to hold the 185 strap.

Shawn Tompkins is a glorious bastard.

-Micah C

Can Vitor Win?

2011-02-05T11:59:00.002-05:00

I am an admitted Anderson Silva fanboy. I love watching him fight. His phenomenal destruction of Forrest Griffin was one of my favorite fights ever to watch. Like most everyone, I’ve been a little frustrated at the up-and-down nature of his seeming interest in his fights. He SAYS he’s happy, ready to fight, and trained for Vitor tonight. I have to believe him, although he said roughly the same thing prior to the Demian Maia fight… while I’m sure he was properly trained, he definitely wasn’t happy about it, and we all know how that went.

So I’ve been pondering the fight tonight. Assuming the REAL Anderson Silva shows up, does Vitor stand a chance? How can he win this fight?

Let’s look at this objectively… what are Vitor’s strengths?

Swarming: In terms of standup, he’s got some crazy swarming attacks. He’s calmed down a little in his old age, but especially early on, he looked like a prime Wanderlei (and even beat Wanderlei at his own game).

Anderson Silva hasn’t really had to deal with this style since maybe Chris Leben, but Leben was psyched out before he even stepped in the cage. Forrest Griffin tried some combos, but that stopped once he got punched in the face by a Matrix-esque Silva.

More importantly, Vitor knows WHEN to turn it on. He’s got that killer instinct to finish a fight when his opponent is wounded. He did it with Wanderlei, with Lindland, with Terry Martin. If he wobbles Anderson, he'll be able to finish him, something Chael Sonnen could have learned from.

Boxing technique: While in my opinion Vitor’s strength is more Chute Boxe than Duke Roufus (I know he didn’t train with CB, but it’s that style), he’s got solid boxing technique. However: Anderson Silva is no Josemario Neves.

Silva’s boxing is just as good as Vitor’s, if not better, and I just can’t see accuracy being Vitor’s golden egg in this one. That’s not how he rolls.

Hard punches: Vitor hits hard. Just ask Tank Abbott. And Marvin Eastman. And dear God, ask Matt Lindland, who I don’t think has woken up yet from Vitor’s 39-second ass-kicking in 2009.

On the other hand, Dan Henderson hits way harder than Vitor. Forrest Griffin hits pretty hard. Patrick Cote hits hard. Granted, none of those guys is known for any degree of accuracy with that power, like Vitor is. But if hitting really hard is a variable, none of those guys even touched Anderson Silva. You have to pin Silva up against something before that hard-hitting can work.

Good (but not world class) wrestling: Vitor typically uses his wrestling defensively, but if he gets close, he’s got the ability to clinch and take people to the ground. But while he couldn’t keep a Greco-Roman superhero like Randy Couture from taking him down, he’s kept mid-level wrestlers like Tito from doing anything he didn’t want to do. But let’s be fair – we’re not in danger of seeing Anderson try to take Vitor down. Will Vitor try to take down Anderson? Possibly – but he won’t do it by shooting, it’ll be from a clinch; Vitor likes to move to one side and use an outside trip, which is how Dan Henderson got Silva to the mat as well.

Jits: Vitor’s got his black belt from Carlson Gracie. In BJJ terms that’s a step higher than the Nogueiras, which is where Silva got his. However, Vitor hasn’t tended to display what I’d call wizardry on the mat. Not to say he doesn't have the ability, but he's no Demian Maia, Shinya Aoki, or Roger Gracie. On the other hand, neither has Anderson shown that level of jits, although both of them have shown that they’ve got the chops to take advantage of a situation. Just ask Chael Sonnen and Joe Charles. I just don’t think we’ll end up seeing a flying scissor heel hook.

Ground-and-Pound: If you combine strong punches with pinning Anderson on the floor, you've got a real problem for Silva. Belfort may not have the best wrestling or even the best jiu jitsu, but all he needs is to be able to hold Silva down for a couple seconds. This is where I think he's got the best chance to win the fight. Can Silva recover? Yeah, Dan Henderson beat him up on the ground but Silva defended well enough to get it stood back up. If he can do that against Belfort, that neutralizes what I think is Belfort's only real advantage.

My prediction? If it stays standing, Silva’s got the edge by a lot. If Belfort can close and take down Silva, then I think he’s got a slight edge with G-n-P. I hope Anderson trained to stay away from a swarming Vitor, since that’s the only way I see him getting close. When I first thought about this fight, I really wanted to believe that Vitor didn’t stand a chance. But with a little analysis, I think it’s a lot closer than I initially believed. We’ll see, won’t we?

Vitor Highlight Reel (turn off the sound, it’s better)

Anderson Silva Highlight Reel (turn off the sound, it’s better)

Strike Force..Long live?

2011-02-03T12:41:00.003-05:00

(One of these girls is the next big thing in strikeforce..hint.its the hot one)

Happy superbowl week, readers! There are a couple of big sporting events to happen this weekend (Pack v Steelers and Anderson-Vitor, Duh) so me being the blogger with his finger on the pulse of the sports pop culture world, im going to write about an old second tier mma event?? WHAT?

I am openly rooting for Strikeforce and have been since the beginning. (Bellator also) I spent some time in the Bay Area and have some good memories of a lot of their fighters working in smaller events. I root for them primarily because I think more large scale MMA promotions are better for the fighters and the fans. The UFC is the big dog so they dont need my encouragement anymore like they had in the early days. They get the ultimate from me which is my PPV dollars on a regular basis. Strike force is the first promotion that is actually nearing that level!

Looking at Strikeforce, Diaz v Cyborg (you know, the less famous one), you saw Strikeforce put on an even better card than their last one. The main event fight was worthy. Some back and forth action. Both fighters putting their strikes on the other and one mistake lead to Diaz pulling out his now rarely used A level BJJ to get the submission. I could have done without the shots of the more famous Cyborg crying as her hubby tapped but hey, MMA is about showing stars in the audience and she might be the most bankable Strikeforce athlete. Notice how much softer her image is these days :)

Production was excellent. The pace of the card went well and Pat Miletech continues to work towards the title of best commentator in MMA. Pat is so good he balances how terrible Mauro "its all about me" Ranallo is. Frank Shamrock?? Hes just wily so ill leave it at that. All that said, the commentating team cant take away from good fights. We all watch UFC and Mike Goldberg says some of the stupidest things ever on TV. If we can get more Pat and good fights, that will be a pretty compelling package. Strikeforce as a product is getting better and now with the prospect of the Heavyweight Tournament, the spotlight is actually going to be on Strikeforce! Dont mess it up guys. If you produce these type of shows and better, by the end of the HW tourney, Strikeforce will officially be over the hump and very viable long term!!

Big up to Jenna Castillo (photo) winning in her MMA debut. Shes trains at my old gym and we all remember her face a few years ago when people asked her if she was going to fight mma. Glad to see she is going for it!!

Lights Out Confuses The Crap Out Of Me

2011-02-02T00:27:00.007-05:00

Duckfaces are everywhere these days.

This article has some spoilers about the latest episode of "Lights Out" on FX, so don't read this if you haven't seen it yet.

For those of you who don't know, FX airs a drama series about a fictional retired boxing HW champ named Patrick "Lights" Leary, every Tuesday at 10 p.m. EST. Also, as I'm sure most of you know, during a recent episode, two of the characters were discussing the issue of a boxer cutting weight (eight pounds in two weeks) and mentioned how he may have to start using crystal meth "like those MMA guys do." The clip from the show has gotten around the interwebs, but for the life of me I can't find it anywhere. Anyway, I'm sure this little blurb kind of annoyed a lot of you, and for a couple reasons. A) I'm pretty sure 99.9% of MMA fighters don't use crystal meth, or any type of drugs for that matter, and B) Eight pounds in two weeks is not a huge deal. If you only have to cut that much, you're probably going to be out-sized come fight time.

About halfway through this week's show, Leary and his father go to the bar to watch some boxing. When they get there, they see that the bar is playing a Bellator event instead. They talk to the waitress and are told they can watch it but only with the sound down. While they're watching, the two characters complain about how they used to be able to watch great boxing matches every Friday, but are now lucky to see them once or twice a year. Nice little jab at the boxing world there.

Also featured this week was other than El Guapo himself, Bas Rutten. This was interesting. The writers, or producers, or casting director, or whoever, showed enough wherewithal to cast an "MMA guy" to play an actual mixed martial artist for the series. That's about where they stopped though. Bas' character works for a criminal as a debt collector/goon, pretty much beating the crap out of whoever this guy wants him to, like the main character's brother. But, the character is also described as a "former MMA fighter, world-class." I guess that's the best job former world-class mixed martial artists can get after they retire.

Eventually, the main character Patrick Leary agrees to fight Bas' character (I think it was something like Dochage) in an underground cage match to make some money. "Lights" lands some boxing combinations, Dochage takes him down and armbars him, Leary escapes and lands in full guard, and the fight pretty much goes on that way for a couple more minutes. It was actually well-choreographed, and I understand that the whole point of that scene was to have Leary win. I really do. And I guess they have to show Dochage using some MMA techniques, to prove that he was "world-class." But, you know, James Toney and everything. Old boxers would lose MMA fights. Boxers in their prime would lose to MMA fighters 99 out of 100 times. Yet, Leary escapes three submissions and a mount to eventually knock Dochage out with an uppercut to the throat and a punch to the back of the head. Frankly, I'm surprised they even showed the ground game in the scene. I'll bet Bas had something to do with that.

I guess one of the messages of this little scene was that Leary is still a tough SOB and could make a comeback in boxing, which is a central theme to the series, but it's not really doing MMA any favors. In the world of the show, MMA fighters are criminal crystal meth tweekers who would still be beaten by old, retired boxers. This isn't a big deal to me, because I know it's not true. I'll bet a lot of the viewers of the show know this isn't true as well. It's the little things that bother me, I guess. In the long run it's not going to hurt the "legitimacy of MMA" at all. It's already legitimate, and it's not going anywhere. But to me it seems like the writers kind of half-assed their research and took a bit too much poetic license when they wrote the scripts for this season. Just my two cents. At least they wore MMA gloves during the fight. That's a step up from the norm.

Post Fight For The Troops 2 cuts

2011-01-27T17:13:00.002-05:00

Tim Hague and Amilcar Alves have been cut from the UFC as a result of losses at Fort Hood last weekend according to Bloody Elbow and TheGarv expect more in the coming days and weeks.

My 10! Ten 100% factual statements (of opinion) on the recent UFC Event

2011-01-25T16:33:00.003-05:00

(Future UFC Champion?? Nah..but)

Ten things that are 100% truthful factual accurate beliefs.. after watching UFC fight for the troops

1. The Evan Dunham hype train needs to stay in the station for a while. The Sherk fight was close, could have been a minor robbery but he got absolutely SMASHED by El Assassin de Nino. He looked slow, unaggressive and generally speaking didnt look like the top 10 LW that people tried to convince me that he was. Keep working dude and try not to get hit by a perfect knee to the face again. That knee was the only thing that made my legendary Thai trainer clap while we watched the fights!

2. Pat Barry ALMOST deserved to lose that decision to Beltran. I am not saying that he lost the fight, although the judge that scored it 30-27 wasnt watching the same fight I was, but seeing as how he could have finished Beltran in the third with a few more leg kicks it would have learned him to finish the guy when the finish is there. Theres a lot of talk about fighters who go in looking for the decision (I talked about it too :)) but a worse sin in all sports is not finishing your opponent when they are ripe for the finishing. Somewhere in Jersey, Pete Sell is probably cursing at the screen...if he's reading this.

3. During every MMA event, a fighter says something very profound. This is probably due to what they do for a living. The award for this event goes to Vitor who said "The biggest moment of our lives is what is next". Thanks Phenom and words to live by.

4. Yeah hes a weird guy, but Matt Mitrione can actually fight! His ground game is pretty unknown so if you want to call him just a striker thats fine. But he did stuff take downs and when he lays his hands on people, people fall down. His huge advantage is being lefty as most guys cant defend that inside leg kick coming from his power side. (another thing that made my trainer laugh) It is time for him to face a guy where he is supposed to get beat to really see what hes made of.

5. Good bye Mike Guymon! Its kinda sad because i remember you fighting in shows around the greater Los Angeles area. Maybe your UFC shot came too late

6. Mike Brown is who i thought he was. His first win over Uriah was fluky but i give him props for capitalizing on Fabers silly elbow attempt. The second fight would have been different if not for the broken hand. Manny smashed him and thats who he is...a good solid fighter but should have NEVER been confused with a great/all world fighter

7. Cody Mckenzie its time to join a real gym/camp. I remember during tuf you talking about not having any trainers and we all train each other. YEAH...Thats why your standup looks like that. The reason you need to get some real training is because you definitely seem to have legit fighting spirit...and thats something no trainer can give you!

8. Greg Jackson does NOT get credit for the finish that Melvin executed. They are still a camp that emphasizes fighting as safe as possible and getting decisions. Melvin finished (and got finished) fights before working with them. Is he better? for one fight yes. Lets see what happens in his next couple before we crown New Mexico as the center of MMA.

9. Handsome Matt Wiman finally earned his nickname because that was a beautiful performance against Cole Miller. Anytime you can appear to be on a different level than a fighter who is or should be on your same level, youve earned kudos from me.

10.I do not always agree with the political reasons that send them into harms way but i always respect soldiers and the fact that they lay it on the line for everyone. This is a great thing UFC does and although i am certainly no Dana fan, he and the entire UFC get props for this event! I salute all the men and women in uniform! I have something more for the women in uniform but thats for another website :)

Has Mike Brown Been A Victim Of Hype, Or Something Else?

2011-01-24T17:12:00.004-05:00

(PicProps: Jeff Sherwood at sherdog.com)

Fun fact. Mike Brown has been the betting favorite for seven of his past eight fights, even over current 145 champion Jose Aldo. Less fun fact, he's lost half of them in fairly convincing fashion. So what happened? Is the former 145 lb. kingpin just experiencing a string of bad luck, or has the division simply passed him by? Will be be able to muster up another title run, or will be be relegated to gatekeeper status in the division he once ruled?

Brown burst onto the scene after a stunning first round KO of former featherweight champion Urijah Faber in November of 2008. Many fans and pundits probably considered this a fluke victory for the ATT product. After all, Faber had been undefeated at 145 up to that point, and was seemingly caught by a "lucky" punch while throwing a no-look back elbow. Regardless, Brown won the fight and the WEC now had a new champion.

His next test would be against Leonard Garcia, a former UFC lightweight who seemed to be reborn in the 145 lb. weight class with two consecutive first round KOs. Some thought he posed a significant standup threat to the champ due to his significant knockout power, but Brown knocked him flat with his signature right hand early on and managed to lock up an arm-triangle choke and get the submission victory in under two minutes. At the time, this was viewed as a pretty significant win for the champion. Garcia had never been stopped in any of his fights before, and was riding a pretty big wave of momentum coming into his title shot.

Up next for Brown was a rematch with the man he had beaten seven months prior, Urijah Faber. Even though Brown had emerged victorious the first time these two had clashed, the champ was the betting underdog coming into the bout. Faber won the first round but due to a broken hand, the champ was able to mount a comeback and win the fight with scores of 48-47 and 49-46 twice. Brown seemed poised to reign over the division for a very long time to come. Jose Aldo had different thoughts, though. The champ was dominated by the Brazilian both on the ground and standing, and lost via TKO in the second round. Since then, he has gone 2-3 in his past five fights, with those wins being a questionable stoppage over Cole Province and a first round submission victory over a guy nicknamed after a sandwich. His latest performance saw him get out-grappled by Rani Yahya for three straight rounds, whom he had significant advantages over in the size, strength, and standup departments, and even though he had fought (and lost to) Diego Nunes only three weeks prior, most expected him to knock the former bantamweight out before the final bell.

Why has this happened? After his WEC 48 KO loss to Manny Gamburyan, rumors circulated that he was having personal problems, and that these negatively affected his training for the fight. Are they still plaguing him today? Is the quality of fighters in the UFC featherweight division evolving too fast for him to keep up? The win over Leonard Garcia has lost a lot of luster in my eyes due to his recent performances, and who knows what would have happened if Faber hadn't broken his hand early on in the rematch at WEC 41. Has he lost the desire to train at the elite level, or did he not take Gamburyan, Nunes, and Yahya seriously? Or was he even champion material to begin with? No one knows the answers to these questions, and no one likely ever will.

I think an appropriate matchup for Brown at this point would be against former contender Josh Grispi. Both fighters have something to prove at this point, and since Grispi will be on the shelf until the June-July timeframe, this would give Brown a good amount of time to recover from the hectic pace he has put himself through. I am a huge fan of his, and I hope he can mount another title run in the future, but with new contenders such as Mark Hominick, Chad Mendes, Diego Nunes, and Michihiro Omigawa, the road back to the top isn't going to be an easy one.

Is Supremacy MMA bad for the sport?

2011-01-24T04:22:00.004-05:00

For those of you who don't know, doing some blogging here at Unintelligent Defense isn't the only thing I do. Part of my little hobby is my little MMA Mondays diddy on Youtube, and the rest of any online efforts are devoted to video games. Yes, I'm an editor for a video games website, and I'm a complete nerd. As if the glasses didn't tip you off. Anywho, being both an MMA fanatic and video game critic, it shouldn't surprise anyone that I reviewed both UFC Undisputed 2010 and EA Sports MMA for the site I work for, and both games were as expected. Though I think one is better than the other (and you'll have to read the articles to find out why) both games are solid representations of the fact that MMA is a sport, and not some sort of underground movement you'd see in a Jean Claude Van Damme film. Well, it seems like Supremacy MMA doesn't want to share that portrayal.

Now, I wrote the preview for the game on Blistered Thumbs, and I've read all the press releases that they've sent out to us game writers. Truthfully, I don't agree with what they're advertising. One thing that frustrates me is the producer, 505 Games, is claiming that this type of game is a reflection of the amateur scene. Not true at all. As someone who covers amateur MMA, I can attest that the amateur scene isn't nearly as organized as the professional (which is to be expected) but it's improving rapidly. However, many fans of MMA have been claiming that this game will be bad for the sport that we love so much. Though football and other sports have had “extreme” games in the past, they're not looking to get legalized anywhere, right? That fact is very true, but let's have an objective look as to whether or not this one game is going to harm the sport of Mixed Martial Arts.

First and foremost, it's obvious to anyone who reads further into the game that the game is only looking for brutal realism in the damage department. Most of these scenes in the game look like they were set pieces for an unmade Jet Li movie. The character designs are borderline cartoon, with the penciled on tattoos, or the hilarious hairstyles. Whether people realize it or not, an MMA video game will always be a fighting game thrown in a blender with a sports game. With that said, it seems that the developers would much rather take out the sports aspect altogether, and just make a strict fighting game with the concept of MMA as a base. Aside from Jens Pulver and Jerome Lebanner, there are no real fighters. Truthfully, this game looks about as “real” as Def Jam: Fight for NY.

Second, does the game really say anything about the sport? In a word, no. Anyone who says otherwise is simply overreacting. Are there detractors out there that, when they hear MMA, they get this sort of mental picture? Yes, and I've encountered them before. However, the reason for this isn't really that threatening toward the legitimacy of the sport. The reasoning for this is, with any sort of new sport or idea, that there will be cultural resistance from people who simply fear new things. Any person who is half intelligent can see the arguments of the detractors and pick them apart with relative ease. For those who take the time to walk outside of their niche and get the general idea of the public, America is not opposed to MMA. America is simply trying to gather all the information. In this case, does the game help? No. Does it do any damage? Not really.

Truthfully, what I feel is going to be most damaging to the sport is the idea that the fighters are these kinds of street fighting punks people think they are. At the end of the day, Supremacy MMA is a fictional game that will always be capable of being written off as pure fiction. Video Games are simply entertainment, and most sensible folk realize that. It's hard to argue when the biggest debut in entertainment history now belongs to Call of Duty: Black Ops. What I would argue is that some fighters do more damage to the sport than anything. Look at someone like a Nick Diaz or Chael Sonnen and try to tell me that billing either as one of the bigger personalities reflects well on martial arts. I'd think that Chael's cheating or Nick's “thug” mentality will do more damage in the long run than a video game ever could. When arguments are presented in states looking to legalize, the fact of the matter is they'll look at the fighters quicker than they will any sort of attached entertainment.

To conclude, I think that it's obvious that the game really does nothing for the sport in any way, shape or form. There's nothing positive that the sport will gain from it, because it's a brutal fighting game. There's nothing negative that the sport is going to gain from it, because it's pure fantasy. Fact of the matter is that I completely agree with what the developers told Kaleb over at Cageside Seats. The legitimacy of the sport is not based on a video game, and anyone who bases their judgment of the sport on a clearly fictional game like this is a fool. So, MMA fans, let's not jump to conclusions as our first reactions, okay?

Boy, am I going to love calling my stepmom a twit at Christmas for thinking this game is a realistic interpretation!

-Micah C

Next week: Was Homie Scared? A look back at Mayhem vs Diaz

Did Jay Cutler quit on the Bears?

2011-01-23T19:59:00.005-05:00

Every time I give you another chance Jay, you do this to me.

I donno, I hear Urlacker vehemently defending him post game, but it seemed to be he quit. His body language spoke loudly. I could see it in his eyes I thought. I also drunk, as per Unintelligent policy. If it comes out his knee is seriously injured, then maybe I'll ease off, but the feeling I got was Jay Cutler abandoned his team once the going got rough. Once they fell behind and the pressure was getting to him he began to force the issue and attempting throws he had no business attempting.

The Packers look great. Despite bad numbers and a stiff defense in the second half, Aaron Rodgers was money tonight. He is the best QB left, with a nod to Big Ben. But can they run the ball against the Steelers? I think not. Starks is overrated as shit, and one good game against an Eagles team famous for choking in big games doesn't convince me.

I'd really like to see Clay Mathews treat Big Ben the way he treats girls. Maybe that can be the Silver Lining to an otherwise terrible* championship Sunday.

Anyway, off to bail my buddy out of jail now.

*for a Bears fan:(

Terrible MMA T-Shirts

2011-01-23T19:31:00.003-05:00

Fashion and MMA have never made for good bedfellows. Whether it is the wearing of pink t-shirts in hypothetical neighbourhoods (looking at you Silva) or bearing garish skull and tribal designs in an extra-medium, it would seem the MMA community have taken it upon themselves to confuse a sporting event with a Slayer concert. Though competitors walking out to 'Enter Sandman' at the velodrome during the Olympics would make it a lot funner. But the reason I am posting is because I believe I have found possibly the worst and best of all the MMA t-shirts. It combines war, fantasy, an aggressive maxim and a discernible stroking of a fighters ego. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the new Josh Barnett tee:

(Courtesy of the indie merch store)

Now I'm actually a fan of Barnett, steroids aside. I enjoy his embracing of pro-wrestling and his desire to put on a show, coupled with his excellent grappling abilities. But surely even for him this is outrageous. And who would feel comfortable wearing this that wasn't also playing Warcraft alone, inside, away from other people? Yet the worst thing is, I would buy this t-shirt. You can keep your Britney Spears, your stamp collection and your 50-Cent doll. My guilty pleasure is Josh Barnett.

Unintelligent Matchmaking: Fight For The Troops 2

2011-01-23T09:07:00.003-05:00

Welcome to an idea I thought of while watching the fights last night at around 3:30am. I Matthew Parker the self-proclaimed Unintelligent Matchmaker will attempt to suggest what should be next for the winners and losers at UFC events.

Will Campuzano:
A trip to the unemployment line he clearly isn't UFC caliber.

Chris Carisio:
Kind of hard to judge where a guy's at having never seen him fight and knowing so little about the Bantamweight division. That however doesn't stop me from suggesting the loser of the Kid/Mighty Mouse fight as a potential opponent.

Amilcar Alves:
Same with Campuzano a trip to the unemployment line, the loss to Brenneman was his second straight in the UFC.

Charlie Brenneman:
A rematch with John Howard makes a good deal of sense.

Willamy Friere:
First of all he should drop to featherweight as he clearly doesn't have the strength to compete at lightweight in the US. Once he does that a fight against either George Roop or Mike Brown should happen.

Waylon Lowe:
Nik Lentz that way we can be rid of one lay and pray guy.

Mike Brown:
I've already suggested Friere should the brazillian decide to drop to 145 otherwise a fight with Roop in a "loser leaves town" bout or possibly the unemployment line await the former champion.

Rani Yahya:
Josh Grispi

Mike Guymon:
Will either be cut or retire either way I think he's done in the UFC.

Damarques Johnson:
Pascal Krauss

Cody Mckenzie:
A battle of the one trick ponies with Paul Sass. Someone will go to sleep!

Yves Edwards:
Him and Jeremy Stephens would be a fun fight.

Cole Miller:
Winner of the Cerrone/Kelly fight for obvious reasons.

Matt Wiman:
Evan Dunham or Kenny Florian.

Joey Beltran:
Announced the fight was "loser leaves town" a few months ago in which case so long Joey.

Pat Barry:
The winner of the Mccorkle/Morecraft fight.

George Roop:
Either Mike Brown or WIllamy Friere if Friere drops to 145. Either way it's the last chance saloon for Roop.

Mark Hominick:
Title shot in his home province is already secure.

Tim Hague:
Should go away and never darken the octagon again.

Matt Mitrione:
Loser of Cro Cop/Schaub

Evan Dunham:
Either Matt Wiman or Takanori Gomi.

Melvin Guillard:
Clay Guida is the go to answer in this situation but as they are teammates the answer in this situation is the winner of Jim Miller/Kamal Shalrous.

So concludes the first edition of Unintelligent Matchmaking I will see you after UFC 126.

Post Event Thoughts : Fight for the Troops

2011-01-23T06:29:00.003-05:00

Pre warning i hit bulleted list and even with a refresh it wont come off :/ irl sad panda

While the event as a whole was just 'ok'.

Some things gelled and some things just did not

from media, to actual event

the finishes and the fights themselves imo were exactly the kinda fight you need
on the UFN or FFTT cards, the free prelims on facebook were a nice addition from the UFC team
Rani was victorious :D :D :D
Matt Mitrione has shown vast improvement and the Roofusport team are outstanding atm
all top tier fighters coming out of the camp are chomping at the bit, and showing tremendous striking and foot work for the level they all respectively compete at
Greg Jackson's camp is still boring, Why? : Yes Melvin blistered Dunham worse than Brazilian sun on pasty New England skin
Yes he has improved greatly, and shown the maturity to put what he has to offer from 60 fights of experience together
and even YES, he most likely developed the mental stability to ascend up to the upper echelon of the division from the wisdom and guidance of Greg Jackson, but Greg's camp is still boring.
One good orange thrown onto a bowl of mouldy fruit doesn't make the bowl fresh fruit
it makes the orange stand out, and last night Melvin showed up just how to syphon all the bad fruits out
Pat Barry stupidly got into exchanges with Beltran, letting him control and dictate where and how the fight progressed as numerous stages, while he has the ability and the confidence to be a player in the division, i think he needs to be thrown into sea, see if he can swim back to shore
give him a mid level fighter, shit even a gate-keeper, someone who can challenge him further
sure he can tee off, on anyone in the division, but i wanna see him tee off on something that can hit back just as fast, and maybe harder.. Kongo/Nelson vs Barry would be worth monies to watch
Deadliest Catch went live last night as Cody tried his hardest to wrangle the season's definitive catch, but hey sometimes the crab bites back right?
Kudos to Yves Edwards for displaying some wonderful stand-up, beautiful combinations
and a reminder as to just why he does belong in the UFC
Despite hoo-hah from blogging sites around, i didn't find the commentary during the Barry/Beltran fight as bias/unsatisfactory as some
i thought it was the same as it always was, and upon second listen to the audio alone, some of the claims were just nit picking, Rogan called the action from both sides, and when he said Beltran was wobbling/limping, he was
and perhaps some people should just look for other things to make up the word count
I dunno what though
Rogan's feet warmer rant/comments, anyone who seen the prelims knows what im talking about
its moments like this that make me feel a tad lucky to be a fan of the sport of MMA
and not just the competitive side, the times i feel like i can't be arsed to watch a prelim or wanna skip a fight i get rewarded for it, the now infamous bag of ice commentary, and last nights feet warmers shtick were outstanding
Mike Thomas Brown aggrivates the shit out of me, and I can't quite put my finger on why
maybe it was th ehype and constant talk of him being the future after a handful of wins only to see him flail around the matt like a spastic when he should've been swinging for the fence
The belly-aching about Strikeforce's match making versus the UFC'S gets so far under my skin i'm going to need an antibiotic to get rid of the itch
sure strikeforce gave us a card with 3 knockouts and we went batshit for it
but when the UFC gives us a card with 3 first round stoppages we don't wtf we're so biased!!11oneone
Sure if you wanna look at it like that, but you could also look at it in this way.
When people see you as the lower tier, the second rate MMA promotion and everything you do is second best, of course when you put on an exciting night of fights
with a card full of names and it comes out great people will be in awe
praise it to high heaven and rant on about it, thats because so many people see you as the second rate.. the second best, and when you do it right, it sticks out
the UFC puts on so many exciting cards, so many exciting finishes what they have is Consistency when strikeforce finally gets consistency this whole "what about this card, why aren't you talking about this card the same way" can get lost, because its childish as shit
why don't we just ask Dana White and Coker who's dick is bigger and get it over with
Cole Miller.. god damn boy, what a heart.
Hominick has me hyped for the Aldo fight, stalking, and throwing few but furious strikes
his accuracy and power was outstanding, Roop looked lost and amateurish
but god damn, Mark knocked his dick in the dirt,
Finally
The crowd at the Fight for the Troops card last night were, on-fucking-point
cheering for transitions, stomping, hooting and yelling, the arena sounded hot as shit
as they chanted for Pat Barry as he started yet another assault, it felt different
it felt pro wrestling, it felt familiar, it felt alive and it felt right
can we finally get some production money spend on some fighter showcase IN arena
stage, lights
I don't want pride, I don't want dream, I want excitement and i want it more and more

All round i thought the card itself went off well, it brought the finishes, and it brought entertainment

i still think thats one of the loudest crowds i've heard during fights

if thats what bringing the soldier's in does, we need more fight for the troops, and less UFN

Unintelligent Play-by-Play and Analysis: UFC Fight For The Troops 2 Edition

2011-01-22T18:40:00.042-05:00

Reporting live from my couch at 7:00 PM EST, I'll be providing somewhat up to date play-by-play and analysis on UFC Fight For The Troops 2. Leave your thoughts and insults in the comments section. Just hit refresh every once in a while, I guess.

Charlie Brenneman vs. Amilcar Alves

Round 1

Apparently Brenneman won this one with complete ground control. He even achieved full mount at one point in the end.

Round 2

Brenneman again with complete control on the ground. Way to represent New Jersey sir.

Round 3

Your faithful analyst (hehe) tunes to the fight with a minute and a half left. Brennaman on top in Alves' full guard. Rogan name-drops the rubber guard again. How did that work out for Hardy against GSP? Brenneman takes the back as the fight ends. Alves looks super sad as he realizes he's getting pink slipped tomorrow. Joe Rogan drops a couple F bombs whilst making fun of Mike Goldberg wearing leg warmers in 60 degree weather. Well done Joe.

Mike Goldberg interviews Sgt. Wade of the U.S. Army. I gotta say, as an Iraq War veteran, I really appreciate what the UFC does with these Fight For The Troops events. Now if we could get other sports to do something similiar we could probably figure this traumatic brain injury thing out. Funny story about the UFC supporting the troops. When I was in R&R on my deployment to the Middle East, Chris Leben, Kyle Kingsbury, Ed Herman, and Mike Swick came out to NSA Bahrain to do a little PR stuff with us. I met Chris, Mike, Ed, and Kyle while they were doing a grappling demo. They asked me what I was doing that night and I told them that since it was my 25th birthday I would be at the bar getting hammered (a very routine theme in my life). They told me that they would show up, and in my head I thought "Suuure you guys will." But guess what, they totally did, and i have pictures. Suck it everyone else. Just goes to show you how much more personable mixed martial artists are than most other athletes from other fights. This has absolutely nothing to do with a play-by-play but I feel it's relevant to the general theme of the event in Texas.

Waylon Lowe vs. Willamy "Chiquerim" Freire

Round 1

Apparently Freire is pronounced "Frey-dee" and Joe takes the opportunity to make fun of this. Freire looks like a Brazilian Anthony Pettis with Kurt Pellegrino's hair, and he's fired up. Waylon Lowe looks like the guy who stuffed nerds into lockers in high school. Both good fighters though. Touch of the gloves and we're off. Freire pumps the jab, Lowe responds. Big double leg by Lowe. Just plowed right through Freire's hips. Freire controlling the head, Lowe just kind of laying there. Looks like Freire is going for a kimura on the right arm of Lowe. Lowe still just laying there. Mirogliotta warns the fighters to get something going. A little ground and pound from Lowe but nothing serious. Has Lowe been training with Nik Lentz or something? He's not doing anything. Punches from the bottom from Freire. Three minutes left in the round. Another kimura attempt. Hands are locked but Lowe is defending. He's about to pop Lowe's out. Holy shit, the fighters get stood up with Lowe stuck in a kimura attempt. Head kick from Lowe and Lowe drops Freire with a right hand, Lowe is in the full guard again. Looks like another kimura attempt coming up. Lowe steps over and tries to get in half guard but is stuck in butterfly. Full guard. Elbow from Lowe. Dan Miragliotta is an idiot. 10-9 Lowe.

Round 2

Power punches fron Lowe to start the round, then a takedown attempt that is stuffed. Back to their feet. Fighters are clinched against the fence and Freire pushes away. Kick from Freire. Big double leg from Lowe (again). Looks like another kimura attempt. All of a sudden Freire puts up a triangle but Lowe tries to slam out of it. Lowe back into the open guard of Freire. Still in full guard. Lowe appears to just be stalling for this. Half butterfly for Freire. Good stand up from Dan the ref. Lowe appears to be gassed. No foot movement at all from the American wrestler. Leg kick from Freire. He's bouncing around the cage. Another leg kick. Right hand from Lowe and another takedown. Superior wrestling from the American. Not superior guard passing though. Another round for Lowe, I have it 20-18 at this point.

Round 3

Freire needs to end this fight soon if he wants to win. Lowe is DEFINITELY tired at this point. Good counter right cross from Lowe. Freire finding his reach. Lowe's hands are starting to drop. Thudding leg kick from Freire followed bya right. Head kick attempt from Freire. Takedown attempt from Lowe that is avoided. Body kick from Freire, and stuffs another takedown. Lowe mocks Freire from his knees, tries to takedown Freire and gets mounted. Lowe recovers half guard. Freire needs to capitalize if he wants to win this fight. Lowe isn't offering anything from his back, he's just holding on. Freire attempting to pass and feeds Lowe some elbows. Rogan drops the old "wrestlers don't like being on their back" gem. Punches from Freire. Lowe grabs a whizzer and gets back to his feet. Double leg takedown from Lowe. Freire rolls for another kimura attempt. Thirty seconds on the clock and it looks like Lowe is just going to ride this fight out until the end. 10-9 Freire for a 29-28 victory by Lowe.

All three judges score the fight 29-28 for Waylon Lowe.

Rani Yahya vs. Mike Thomas Brown

Round 1

Crowd boos Yahya during the introductions. Classy. Leg kick from Yahya and Brown is putting the pressure on. Another leg kick frmo Yahya. And again. Yahya showing improved standup here. Brown is up in Yahya's face and Yahya shoots for a single. Rani flirts with a guillotine attempt. Yahya rolls and grabs a double. Brown snatches a guillotine. Ballsy move by the ex-champ. Yahya clears the legs of Brown and gets put right back into open full guard. Brown is holding on, looks like he's trying to get a standup. Yahya grabs an arm-in guillotine and drops for it. Brown attempting to get back to his feet. Yahya takes it back down and almost has Brown's back. Superior grappling from the Brazilian. Yahya has one hook in. 10-9 Yahya.

Round 2

Brown rocks Yahya with a left almost off the bat. Yahya threatening with a guillotine as Mike Brown hoists the Brazilian into the air. Brown dumps him to the ground. Yahya snakes his right hand under Brown's neck but I don't think his hands are clasped together. Brown postures up but can't land anything of significance. Brown passes to side control but sweeps Brown and the fighters are back on their feet. Clinched against the fence. Fighters disengage. Brown looks a little lean for this fight, anybody else think so? Leg kicks from Yahya and he appears to be tiring. As usual. Brown looks for a right uppercut and they clinch. Knee from Yahya in the clinch and the fighters disengage. Jab from Rani. Exchange of jabs. Weak takedown attempt and Brown has sprawl control. Looking for a Darce? No it's that Matt Hughes farmboy headlock choke. He lets go. Close round, but it's 20-18 Yahya at this point.

Round 3

TD attempt from Rani right off the bat but Brown has head and arm control. Weak head punches in the clinch from Brown. Yahya takes brown down and lands in half guard. Not good for the ex-champ. Yahya is elbowing the left thigh of Brown and Brown turtles up against the cage. Yahya has one hook in. Two hooks for Rani but Brown is attempting to take top control. Back mount with body triangle from Yahya and he is attempting the rear naked choke. Brown is now on his belly and is taking punches in bunches from the Brazilian. Yamasaki separates them and now they're on their feet. Another terrible call from a licensed-ass referee. The state of referee'ing in MMA is absolutely terrible. Yahya hits the switch on Brown and is on top. 10-9 Yahya, which makes it 30-27 on my scorecards. Way to make me look like an idiot, Rani.

The judges score the fight 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 for the winner by unanimous decision, Rani Yahya.

Mike Guymon vs. DaMarques Johnson

Round 1

Touch of the gloves and we're off. Leg kick from Guymon, followed by a quick double leg shot that's stuffed. Why do they mention Jeremy Horn every time Johnson fights? Nice hip toss from Damarques and he lands in side control. Johnson looking for the crucifix and is denied. Guymon claims half guard, then open full guard. Elbows from Johnson, and he passes to full mount, then grabs back mount. Not good for Guymon, but he's showing good hand control to prevent the RNC. Johnson is now on top and Guymon taps to the body triangle? Guymon is definitely injured here. I think he broke a rib. Ow.

DaMarques Johnson def. Mike Guymon by submission (verbal).

What the shit is going on here? They're playing the Jim Miller/Matt Wiman fight? Then they move to the Edwards/McKenzie fight. Weird.

Yves Edwards vs. Cody McKenzie

Round 1

McKenzie presses the action from the start and goes for the takedown that is stuffed. Cody grabs and ankle and almost gets Yves to the ground. The fighters are now clinched against they separate.

Another shot from McKenzie and he grabs an ankle. Good takedown defense from Yves Edwards. 1-2 from McKenzie. McKenzie keeps whiffing on his overhand rights and Edwards is winning the striking

exchanges. Cody appears to be tired. Head kick from McKenzie and he slips but Yves doesn't capitalize. Double leg from McKenzie that is stuffed. Edwards throws a knee that misses. Another knee

that doesn't miss. Good leg kick from Edwards. Cody grabs the clinch, tries to pull guard and ends up mounted. McKenzie sneaks out the back door is trying to grab a rear body triangle. Funky grappling

from the TUF veteran. They're back to their feet. Almost one full round and not a single guillotine attempt. McKenzie shoots and almost gets Edwards down.

Damn hard round to score, but if I'm giving it to McKenzie for aggressiveness. 10-9.

Round 2

Edwards starts the round off with some good combos. Almost connects with a head kick that has bad intentions written all over it. Flying knee from Edwards. Another knee from the Muay Thai clinch. Spinning backfist from McKenzie that's answered with a body kick from Edwards. Cody manages to take Edwards down and takes the back. Cody is threatening a back body triangle here and is rolling for mount. Mini-scramble and Cody McKenzie is now in side control. Edwards almost gets to his feet but is dragged down again. Full back mount with body triangle from Cody McKenzie. Very surprising here. Punches from McKenzie and Edwards rolls to his belly. Edwards gets to his feet and AGAIN gets dragged down from the back clinch. Wow. One hook in for McKenzie but Edwards reverses into side control, then mount. McKenzie rolls and Edwards grabs the rear naked choke. McKenzie fights the choke for a good ten seconds but eventually goes out. Come from behind victory for the wily veteran. Great fight.

Yves Edwards def. Cody McKenzie by submission (rear naked choke).

It now looks like the Miller/Wiman fight will be shown live on Spike TV instead of streamed on the UFC Facebook page. Good stuff.

Cole Miller vs. Matt Wiman

Round 1

Wiman and Miller are talking to each other from across the ring during the introductions by Buffer. Miller looks fired up as usual. Dan Miragliotta is the ref so be prepared for stupidity. No glove touch and Wiman takes the center of the ring. Leg kick from wiman. Flurry from Wiman and they clinch on the cage. Wiman looks like he got hurt from a Miller punch but clinches immediately. Flurry followed by a head kick from Wiman and Miller pushes him into the cage. Reversal by wiman and they separate. Head kicked blocked by Miller so Wiman throws two leg kicks. Another flurry followed by a head kick from the Handsome one. The fighters clinch. Three minutes left in the round. Knee to the guts from Cole in the Thai clinch. They separate. Wiman's offense seems centered around flurries of punches. Most of them are being blocked by Miller though. Another knee from Miller, who tries to pull guard and gets thrown to the ground by Wiman. Wiman now standing in Miller's guard and throws a punch followed by an attempt to pass to side control that is stopped. Short elbows from Wiman. Wiman almost throws a Pride knee to the face but looks like it was just a crucifix attempt. Wiman again standing in the guard of Miller and Cole pushes him off. Full guard for Cole Miller. The round ends with Wiman in the full guard of cole Miller. Easy 10-9 for Matt Wiman.

Round 2

More flurries from Wiman, Miller pulls guard but the fighters quickly go to their feet. Wiman trips Miller to the mat off of a kick and is on top again. Wiman is stacking Miller here. Miller flirts with a leglock attempt that is reversed. Wiman now in half guard. Miller with a beautiful escape and the fighters are on their feet. Jab to the body by Cole. The fight is halfway through and it has FOTN written all over it. Knee to the forehead by Wiman and Cole goes down. Half guard here. Now full guard. Wiman trying to pass to side control but ends up in full guard. Big elbow from Wiman and he's teeing off. Another Sakuraba double-slap and my heart is happy. Full guard with Wiman on top and the pace is starting to slow with less than a minute left. More shots from Wiman and it looks like Cole Miller is just trying to survive the round? Strange activity from the ATT fighter. Another round in the books for Matt Wiman, it's now 20-18 on my card.

Round 3

More chit-chat from Miller and another flurry from Wiman. Cole looks frustrated and Wiman lands a nice right to the chin. Clinched on the fence and they separate. Miller dives in and Wiman has a mounted guillotine but he lets it go. Half guard with Wiman on top. Wiman stacks Miller and drops punches. Again he passes to half guard. Miller is being out jiu-jitsu'd here. Miller flirts with a leg lock again but Wiman sees it coming. Elbows from Wiman. Cole Miller needs a stoppage here with two minutes left in the fight. Miller has a body triangle from his back. How much offense can you generate from that position? More punches from Matt Wiman. A diving guard pass attempt from wiman and he hops onto Miller's back with both hooks in. Miller tries to turn into guard but Wiman takes the back. The round ends, and I have Wiman 30-27. Domination from Wiman.

The judges score the bout 29-28, 30-27, and 30-27 for the winner by unanimous decision, Matt Wiman.

Pat Barry vs. Joey Beltran

Round 1

The fighters touch gloves. Both fighters are taking their time here. Thirty seconds go by and not a single strike thrown. Beltran comes in and clinches. Barry pushes his opponent into the fence. Beltran reverses. Two minutes have gone by. Beltran drops for a double from the clinch and comes up with nothing. Switches to a single. Foot stomps and knees to the thigh from Beltran and the fighters are separated. Jab from Barry and Beltran flurries but misses every on every punch. Leg kick from Barry. Whiffs on a high kick. Beltran grabs a single collar tie and wings some punches to Barry's ribs. Beltran groin-shots Barry and he tries to appeal to the ref for no avail. Under a minute left in the round. Another knee to the nuts and Barry says "You got that one man." Beltran agrees. Pat Barry taking his time to recover. Barry looks pissed. Barry is stalking Beltran here. The round ends. 10-10 on my card.

Round 2

Barry starts the round with a high kick that misses. Beltran tries for a leg kick that misses. Another high kick that Beltran takes on the forearm. Another Barry leg kick. Pat Barry starting to pour it on here. Another leg kick from Barry. Beltran is smiling at pat Barry here and eats another leg kick to his left leg. Beltran starts with the foot stomps again. Beltran almost muscles his opponent to the ground from the bodylock position but to no avail. Yamasaki separates the fighters with a little more than two minutes left in the round. Another high kick from Barry and Beltran whiffs on a left. Another leg kick from Barry and Beltran is limping. Head kick and a punch from Barry and Joey Beltran might be hurt here. Inside leg kick from Barry. Barry starting to get comfortable here and is picking his opponent apart. Another leg kick. Beltran is definitely limping, who tries for a knee as they separate. Barry sees every strike Beltran is about to throw from a mile away. Knee to the guts from Beltran. The round ends 10-9 for Pat Barry.

Round 3

Barry starts the round off with a semi-blocked high kick. Right straight from Barry followed by a good head kick. Beltran has a damn good chin. Leg kick to Beltran's right leg. Barry whiffs on a left head kick. Leg kick from Barry. Pat Barry seems to be treating this as more of a kickboxing match than an MMA fight. Beltran pushes Pat Barry into the cage and lands some knees to the thigh. The crowd starts to boo. Beltran lands some punches as the fighters separate. Two minutes left and the fight is up for grabs at this point. Leg kick from Barry again. And again and again and again. Barry might have poked Beltran in the eye and the replay shows he did. The doctor is saying that Beltran can't see, and is asking him if he can continue. Beltran says yes. Big heart from the Mexicutioner. Leg kick from Barry. Another one and Beltran tries to scoop him up but fails. Pat Barry lands a leg kick while Beltran is on all fours and mounts Joey Beltran. He opts to stand. Head kick from Barry that full connects. Joey Beltran can barely stand here and eats a body shot followed by a leg kick. Two more leg kicks and the round ends. Beltran falls to the ground. Great fight again. 10-9 Pat Barry.

The judges score the bout 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28 for Pat Barry.

Mark Hominick vs. George Roop

Round 1

Both fighters exchange with the most significant strike a leg kick from Roop. Jab from Hominick and an overhand right that drops Roop. Hominick lets him off the hook though. Roop throws a flying knee that misses and he falls to the mat. Roop may be out on his feet here. Hominick lands a hard right and a hard left. Hominick drops Roop again, lands a left on the ground and the ref stops the fight. Wow. Roop stumbles over to Hominick to congratulate him and I laugh out loud.

Mark Hominick def. George Roop (TKO)

Matt Mitrione vs. Tim Hague

Round 1

Mitrione declines to touch gloves as the fight begins. Mitrione lands a glancing right and pushes off Hague. Two big left kicks from Mitrione, and another inside leg kick. Mitrione dodges a head kick from Hague but eats an inside leg kick. Meathead throws a leg kick that is grabbed by Hague and pushes the former NFL player into the fence. Mitrione grabs an underhook. Mitrione grabs the head and reverses Hague into the fence but opts to separate. Big inside leg kick from Meathead and Hague answers with a not-quite-as-effective kick. Mitrione drops Hague but lets him back up. Left hook and right straight land for Mitrione. Hague shoots and is denied. Mitrione barely misses on a head kick attempt. Straight left lands for Mitrione and Hague drops to the mat. Mitrione follows with some big punches and the ref pulls him off. Pretty damn impressive performance by Matt Mitrione.

Matt Mitrione def. Tim Hague (TKO)

Evan Dunham vs. Melvin Guillard

Round 1

Cecil Peoples is one our of judges tonight. Not a great sign for Dunham, who gets screwed on decisions. The fighters touch gloves and we're off. Body kick from Dunham connects. Right hand from Guillard and Dunham shoots. Dunham has a back body lock and Guillard goes down. Melvin scoots to the cage to try to get up. Dunham trying to suck Melvin's legs out from the cage but now they're up. 1-2 from Guillard. Jumping roundhouse from Guillard gets answered with a 1-2 from Dunham. Counter left hook lands over the jab of Dunham. Body kick from Dunham misses and Guillard drops Dunham with a right hand. Dunham shoots a desperation takedown. A big knee from the clinch from Guillard wobbles Dunham and two more seal the deal. The last one was illegal but I'm pretty sure the fight was over at that point. Impressive performance from Melvin Guillard.

UFC - Free Prelims Update

2011-01-22T12:38:00.001-05:00

According to the UFC Facebook account they shall now be showing FOUR free prelims:

"Forget what we said before about two live free prelims on Facebook - we're giving you FOUR. Starting at 7 pm ET/4 pm PT, click the 'free prelims' tab to see Waylon Lowe vs. Willamy Freire and Mike Brown vs. Rani Yahya in addition to DaMarques Johnson vs. Mike Guymon and Cody McKenzie vs. Yves Edwards."

Great stuff from the UFC, kudos!

Unintelligent Predictions

2011-01-21T18:37:00.002-05:00

Main Event ; Melvin Guillard vs. Evan Dunham

As his last fight demonstrated, Melvin is still in a process of retooling and reinventing himself under Greg Jackson. With his physical tools, he is the type of fighter who could make dramatic improvements overnight. Look at the improvements in other lightweights such as Stevenson, and Guida, who have half the physical gifts of Guillard under the tutelage of Jackson. That said, his mental lapses are well publicized and Evan Dunham has soul-destroyer talent. Melvin is dangerous and strong, but I think this will be another brick in the wall Evan Dunham is climbing toward the title.

Dunham by submission.

Tim Hague vs Matt Mitrione

Tim isn't as bad as his 1-3 record in the UFC seems to suggest, but Meathead is going to be a force in the UFC. His athleticism and explosive power is belied by his average appearance. Tim will have to try get this fight to the ground and seek that choke quickly, because he does not need to get into a slugfest with anyone named Meathead. The question is, can he do this? Doubtful. Mitrione is going to blast Hague out with grown man punches.

Meat via KO.

Geoege Roop vs Mark Hominick

Roop's striking looked abysmal at 135 against Eddie Wineland, a fighter with similar technical acumen in terms of movement and footwork. I think he took that spanking to heart and has made an effort to change his game. At a better weight, he looked much improved against the stalking style of the Zombie. How much of that was the Zombie style inflating Roop's performance and how much of that is a serious upgrade is debatable. What isn't debatable is Hominick should still carry an advantage in a big way.

Hominick via decision.

Pat Barry

It's hard to say if Barry is being truthful with some of his statements or if he is trying to bait Beltran into a slugfest and play mind games. I tend to think the latter, and I believe he is good enough to keep from being laid on or finished by Beltran.

Barry via KO.

Hold up ; Actually, you know what, maybe I don't know if he is playing mind games, he seems like an open guy who speaks from the heart, and that has made me a huge fan of his. He's a genuine guy. Unless he is mind gaming dude. I unno.

Still, Barry KO.

Matt Wiman vs Cole Miller

This has fight of the night plastered all over it. Miller has stepped his boxing game up in recent times and I think this may prove to be the difference. I see Cole Miller as still some what of a prospect with more upside than Wiman and I expect him to engage Wiman in such a way to attempt to permanently challenge the "Handsome" Moniker. I think Miller looks for the finish and he either finds it or finds himself giving the fight away.

Miller via Submission

DaMarques Johnson vs Mike Guymon

Neither of these fighters belongs in the UFC. If Johnson can keep it standing he can edge it out. This is a pickem fight.

Johnson via TKO.

Yves Edwards vs Cody McKenzie

Edwards should own advantages across the board in all things except fighting spirit. He is old and fights old and is just the type of fighter who could fall into a choke he otherwise shouldn't. Cody fights well above his potential but regardless of his heart, and the lack of urgency from Yves, I just don't see him getting past the veteran. I think Yves could turn Cody into an old school highlight. That said, it wouldn't be a major shock to see Yves sitting on his knees with dejection smeared across his face as Cody runs around the cage celebrating a submission he had no business getting.

Edwards via TKO

Mike Brown vs Rani Yahya

Brown always seems to fight better off a loss with his career dangling in front of him, and being on short notice has never bothered him before. Roni Yahya couldn't ask for a worst match up. Brown will smash him.

Brown via KTFO.

Unintelligent Play-by-Play and Analysis: UFC Fight For The Troops 2 Edition at 7:00 EST

2011-01-21T13:25:00.004-05:00

Tired of the same old boring play-by-play of your favorite MMA events? Ready to mix things up? Then come join us at Unintelligent Defense on Jan. 22 at 1900 hours EST (that's 7:00 PM for you civilians) and get up to date information on the event, and feel free to share your thoughts and insults in the comments section.

Jose Aldo To Compete At UFC 129

2011-01-20T21:40:00.002-05:00

Mike Chiappetta at MMA Fighting reports that Jose Aldo is scheduled to compete at UFC 129, which is being headlined by the much anticipated welterweight title fight between champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Jake Shields. Contender Mark Hominick is slated to be Jose Aldo's opponent if he beats George Roop at UFC Fight Night 23, but his shot is far from guaranteed. Who will be most likely to face Jose Aldo at UFC 129?

Cesar Gracie, Player Hater?

2011-01-20T14:20:00.004-05:00

"You're a great guy though, Greg."

In a recent interview with Ariel Helwani from MMA Fighting, Cesar Gracie had this to say on fellow "coach" Greg Jackson:

"He's more of a coordinator where he puts things in perspective," he said. "And he's great at what he does. Training's at this time, let's go run the mountain or something. Let's go train with this guy. He's more of a motivational speaker possibly, but as a true sense of the word 'coach,' he's not on the same page as great coaches of the world. He's not."

Gracie also went on to contrast Jackson to Dan Lambert from American Top Team, saying "He (Dan Lambert) doesn't get in the limelight" and that "great coaches are in the background."

Not too surprising to hear this from the gentlemen over in Stockton. but Cesar Gracie does have a pretty valid point here, at least as it pertains to the career of GSP. St. Pierre himself said that he only spends the tail end of his camp at Jackson's, "putting it all together". Is Cesar right, and is Jackson getting too much credit here? He doesn't train his striking with Jackson, he trains it with Phil Nurse. He doesn't train his grappling in New Mexico, he trains it with Roger and Renzo Gracie. So why does Jackson get so much credit for this? It's most likely a matter of public perception. When the camera pans to GSP in the introductions for UFC welterweight title fights, who is in his corner? Greg Jackson is pretty much a brand at this point, and is without a doubt the most well-known coach among casual fans of MMA. It's understandable he would get more credit than he should. Jackson himself never hesitates to mention that he doesn't oversee the technical aspects of GSP's training.

This might also be perceived as an attempt to hype the future GSP/Shields fight coming up at the end of April, but I'm not sure this is the case. This is probably just Gracie speaking his mind. However, I would not be surprised to see this issue mentioned in one of the UFC's title fight hype attempts, such as a Joe Rogan analysis or something along those lines. And don't be surprised to see Helwani bring this up with Greg Jackson the next time those two speak. That's why he's my hero. I love that guy.

Screw Styles..Fighters make fights!

2011-01-20T12:17:00.003-05:00

THUMBS DOWN to just going for the "W"-Kimo

Since its an old adage of combat sports, Styles Make Fights, we (un)intelligent folks have to hear people constantly repeat this nonsense. Well maybe im the only guy that feels its such nonsense but IT IS!

Announcers would have you believe that a BJJ specialist vs a Muay Thai legend, as opposing styles, is a great fight in the making. WRONG! Or a Counterpuncher vs an aggressive banger is a great fight waiting to happen. WRONG again! The thing that makes a fight is the fighter. Specifically if the guy is there to fight and not just to "win". Look, MMA is NOT football or basketball or any of our other great sports. Its not all or only about the "W". The sooner we stop pretending that it is, the better all of MMA will be. Mixed martial arts is about a fight. The martial arts aspect is about skill, respect, self mastery, and spiritual connection with your inner warrior etc but MMA is not point karate either. If you were fortunate/unfortunate enough to get into a fight or two in middle school think back to your mentality..do you say to yourself.. "i want to get the W" or "I want to kick this kids ass?" The second one? Exactly!!

The athletes who are just going in there for the W are a major problem for MMA. Since fighter bashing is so passe, ill let you come up with the names of those W hunters on your own. Those guys dont make fights just because they are in there for a different objective than kicking your opponent's ass. The style of the fighters is irrelevant to making a fight. Give me two guys that are in there to fight and decision or not, it will be one to remember!

For those of you about to say im a tattooed, affliction wearing, guy that looks for blood and not art 1, youre wrong and 2, shut up or ill kick your ass!! :)

Brett Favre ; What should I do?

2011-01-19T23:49:00.001-05:00

They Should Have Never Gave You Niggas Twitter!

2011-01-19T17:21:00.011-05:00

What do you want? Do you even know what you want? If not, did you know that you don't know what you thought you knew? Are you now at an Inception level of not knowing what the hell is going on? Well than allow me to explain. People always like to go on and on about how they don't like a phony. They don't want a person playing up some contrived character, they want the real deal. They want genuine emotion, they want genuine opinion! That's what they want, right? The answer to that question is no, they don't. What some people want is for others to fill their ears with the acceptable sequence of words deemed appropriate by their standards. Then, when some don't like the opinions of others they paint them as playing some sort of character (apparently he's playing a guy that nobody agrees with, cause that's really helping him to catch on) instead of just excepting that perhaps two people can't exactly see eye to eye on a number of different issues.
Jonathan "Moral Bones" Jones had the audacity recently to post (brace yourselves) HIS PERSONAL OPINION! I'll give you a few moments to collect yourselves.........okay now back to the story. He actually had the nerve to come out and claim that mock playing the bongos on someone's back is disrespectful. Now I know what you're thinking "Who is this guy, and why has his mouth yet to be sewn to the anus of John Goodman in some sort of human centipede-ish form of capitol punishment for speaking such blasphemy?" Well I'll tell you why, because it isn't a big deal. To illustrate my point, here's is a brief comparison between my reaction to the story, followed by everyone elses:

Me-"Meh. I can see his point, but whatever."

Other People-"Whaaaaat? Howdarehesaysuchathingonhismoralhighhorse...
sillynaivehighschoolpotsnitch...RandyCoutureRashadEvanshypocrite...nogoodoverratedvarmint!"

Now this isn't to imply that this was the majority of fan response, but it is to imply that it was an irritatingly large amount of fan response.

"Oh, he's a hypocrite cause he champions Randy Couture as a good role model!" So what? Randy Couture outside of one isolated incident HAS been a decent role model and spokesperson for the sport. For people to continue on playing up something that happened years ago and trying to call out Jones as a hypocrite for him not bringing up an 8 year old incident is beyond silly (the spanking of Tito not being something Jones ever specifically stated he agreed with anyway). Jones was specifically referring to RECENT actions of Thiago "Cool Guy" Silva (Mommy, I can't seem to change the channel off of this Everybody Loves Thiago marathon) which was no more over the top than what Jones described it as. And it's not like Jones has been going on some moral parade ever since, he simply said his piece (on his PERSONAL twitter account where he's allowed to post whatever he wants) then responded to a few quick complains and that was it. Other people are the ones that are making such a huge deal out of this and dragging this story on (like we care what you have to say Jon Jones, we're just going to post it on numerous sites with endless debates for weeks on end is all). Plus, it's not like Tito Ortiz was completely undeserving of a spanking, all things considered.

"But he knows Rashad Evans!" So what? Oh wait that's right, Rashad did that thing against Forrest Griffin 3 years ago and since then he...but after that he...I remember he...oh yeah, he hasn't done a single thing to "disrespect" an opponent since then (during a fight, Uncle Tom accusations excluded). First of all, the worst of what Rashad has done in the past was well before Jones even knew him. Secondly, are we all going to sit here and act like when you criticize someone for doing something it doesn't mean that you wouldn't still be bothered by the same behavior in those you're friendly with? I guess Jon should come out and say "And do you remember that thing Rashad did...like three years ago? FOR SHAME!" While he's at it, why doesn't he just search completely through the catacombs of MMA history to now comment on every shading thing that's taken place? "And another thing, who does Mark Coleman think he is when on February 26th, 2006..." I guess Jones should now be forced to add a brief history of every questionable thing anyone has ever done before he can talk about them now(because I'm sure something like that would endear him more to the rest of you)

"Thiago Silva is a BJJ black belt, who is Jones to comment against him/He should have kept his mouth shut?!" This one (as deliciously silly as it is) Still get's a SO WHAT. Jones voiced his opinion on a social network designed solely for the purposes of expressing one's opinions. Jon Jones doesn't force people to follow his comments, people follow him because they claim to want to have a more personal connection to the fighter.Who is anyone to tell anyone what they can and cannot say? What ever in life gave you that kind of gall? "Oh noes, he's voicing an opinion I don't really agree with. How is he getting away with this?" And Jones hasn't accomplished anything in his lifetime? And even so, are we supposed to bite our tongues based on someone having higher credentials than us? Do you need to officially achieve a black belt in something or other to be able to fully comprehend or comment on honor (I mean it's not like Jones trains in martial arts everyday or something). Oh yeah, I'm sure Sir "points aggressively towards knocked out opponents" knows a lot more about honor and fighting spirit just because he has a black belt.

"Don't you make that face at me, or I'll give you something to stare half-consciously at...mister!"

And while you're all busy riding on Thiago's gloriously bronzed Brazilian back muscles how about we keep something in mind. Let's all remember that THIAGO turned down a fight with JONES now didn't he? What was his excuse again, that Jones wasn't ready for him (apparently top ranked nothing in particular Tim Boetsch and a guy who's last fight was a one-sided brutal loss to Jones were deemed worthy). So how dare Jones speak out against Thiago when the very fact that Jones is still breathing is due to such an gracious act of mercy granted to him by way of Thiago ~~ducking him~~ sparing his young life. So anyway, back to admiring everything about him while we eat our plate of fries.

(Honestly, if it doesn't frighten you when women make the duckface why should it when Thiago does?)

"If you thought this look was Blue Steel instead of Magnum than you are A-hole jerk."

Is it perhaps a long predicted backlash? Just another example of a popular figure being shoved down the throats of others to the point where they begin to actively search out minor details to obsess over and justify their growing despise for someone? I can't say for sure, all I know is that Jon Jones is a professional Mixed Martial Artist fighting for the UFC, and at 23 years old is already a light heavyweight contender that trained hard to get where he is today at such a young age. So it would be appreciated if you stopped talking about him as if he's some spoiled child that's had everything handed to him and had the nerve to shape uninformed opinions about subjects that don't apply to his very own living, or that he doesn't have the right to speak his mind if it doesn't jive with your world view.

I have a dream, that one day fans will stop taking things so personally and let a fighter be who they are without everything they do or say being forced under some unnecessary magnifying glass for the sake of hypocritical finger wagging (then in the dream me and Al Bundy teamed up to fight vampires with a washing machine that shot bowling balls, true story).

P.S. He snitched on potheads, get over it you weirdos. It's illegal and you shouldn't be doing it on school grounds anyway, what do you want special exemption from the law? (But it like, totally should be legal though man!) Whether you like it or not you can't call what he did technically a wrong thing to do.

"Am I going to have to stick this frying pan where the sun don't shine before you to get the message?"

2011-01-18T23:51:00.001-05:00

The steady and disgusting pattern of age discrimination by the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been apparent by their public castration of Chuck Liddell and the firing of Mark Coleman. And who can forget their discrimination shown to the mentally disabled community by their handling of the Ken Shamrock situation, but this time, the UFC has gone too far.

Unintelligent Defense is calling for an immediate boycott of the Ultimate Fighting Championship until Jax or whatever the fuck this dude's name is allowed to compete at the highest level.

(and thanks to I. M. P. for reporting on this earlier in a fan shot, and of course the Onion, for doing the real work)

The personas of MMA fighters

2011-01-18T17:06:00.001-05:00

Mixed Martial Arts is a combat sport quite unlike others. While sports and martial arts like boxing, judo and wrestling are subject to the nuances of relatively different styles and backgrounds within the forms, these sports and martial arts are still governed by enough perimeters, philosophies and directives to funnel most of their participants into similar molds. MMA is quite different. Since the backgrounds that lead to MMA are so disparate, the identities and personas of MMA fighters have a variance by an order of magnitude beyond what is found in the various root forms.

The reasons for this is quite obvious ; even while MMA is developing a separate identity as its own unique sport, and with the existence of born-bred first gen MMA fighters who begin their journey with MMA as their direct starting point in an MMA gym, ultimately the sport is an amalgamation of most of the various combat lineages found in most of the developed world. Most of the major players in the sport still found their starting point in an independent style and as such, their identity as a mixed martial artist is often predicated on the mentality of their art-form(or, maybe it isn't, as we will find 0ut).

When it comes to Mixed Martial Artists, I have found there are three distinct types of identities, or "profiles" MMA competitors tend to cultivate or gravitate towards ;

The first profile is The Fighter - This is one of the most common profiles for Mixed Martial Artists. Competitors like Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Nick Diaz typify this urban, street tough image. They're not into to "compete" or "for honor" they're quite literally in there looking for "gangster fucking warfare" as Nick Diaz once put it, or simply to "whoop somebody ass" as Rampage and Nate Diaz are oft quoted saying. BJ, another mixed martial arts competitor who could easily be classified as a fighter. He noted this difference once by stating "there are too many athletes and not enough fighters...". Competition is immaterial, the belt is an accessory, it's about the fighting spirit. These types of MMAists are often the most beloved. The fans love the blood thirsty malice of a Wanderlei Silva stomping his opponent's head in. And once maturity comes and takes that hatred(and maybe some ability) away, Fighters often then become "entertainers" where winning and losing is second to the quality of the show. Wandy and Rampage echo these sentiments.

(You know what you're getting with Rampage. Whomp or be whomped)

The second profile is that of an Athlete - No one better represents this style more than Randy Couture. As someone who came into the sport of MMA already in his 30s, Couture's main drive has always been a love of competition. It would have to be for him to continue to compete at the international level in wrestling long after his college days. Unlike Diaz, there is no risk of Couture entering the cage to face his challenger eye to eye as he did with Gonzaga. Instead of taunting his opponent, Couture treats them with with the up most respect. For every nasty word or utterance of "homie" from Rampage or Diaz, Randy Couture's buzz word is "compete". This attitude is reflected in Xtreme Couture's outlook on fighting team mates. It's a competition, nothing more. As such, fighting never takes on the deadly serious nature it does in the gyms of martial artists or Fighters.

(Couture ; "Have I ever mentioned that I love to compete before?"

The third profile is one of a martial artist - The names that best exemplify best are Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida and GSP. It is no surprise that these two come from Karate, and that background deeply shapes the way they approach martial arts. The martial way they approach MMA is further reflected in both of their camps - Blackhouse and Jackson's. The training there is more intimate and secretive, and the bonds between these martial artists run deeper. It is no surprise that, AKA not withstanding, these are the two gyms that drive Dana White the most nuts by their refusal to fight each other. It is also no surprise that again Fitch and AKA not withstanding that their gyms have been known to produce fights that can be considered boring with game plans and mentalities that adhere to the idea that a martial artist take the least amount of damage as possible.

(From the time he was very young, Machida has been trained in traditional Karate)

Often times, there is resentment between athletes and martial artists, and their so called "fighter" counterparts. In recent memory, there was the disconnect between Rampage and Lyoto Machida. And then there is the interesting case of GSP and Dan Hardy. Hardy presents himself as A Fighter first and foremost, echoing BJ Penn's statements ;

"The biggest difference between myself and GSP is I am a fighter, GSP is an athlete"

GSP took it a step further ;

"I am a martial artist. He is not. He probably doesn't understand the meaning of this. After the fight, I guarantee he will."

Problem is Dan Hardy is a martial artist and had actually spent significant time training many forms of martial arts, including Kung Fu at a Shaolin Temple in Northern China. But GSP without doing his diligence couldn't see that.

But in the end, these profiles and identities are often aesthetic. Whether imposed for marketability or simply for the fighter's own mental benefit in preparation or to hype themselves up for a fight all the people under contract to the UFC or Strikeforce are professional athletes who use martial arts in competitive fighting. They're all fighters who compete athletically with martial arts. Take Nick Diaz for instance. In his spare time, he runs triathlons and in-spite of his admitted marijauana use, maintains a very strict diet that any responsible athlete would. On top of that, he began his MMA training in TMA's at the age of four. He has also recently said he'd rather run triathlons if he could make money doing that than fight at all. But for him, adopting the mentality of A Fighter, is what gets him up. You could say it's his socio-economic class, poor from Stockton and bullied as a child, and maybe that's true, but GSP was also poor and also bullied. Yet he is a polar opposite of Diaz. And while Rampage grew up in a rough neighborhood, BJ Penn is often criticized for being born with a silver spoon in his mouth.

Many may fit none of these profiles cleanly, or two or all of these at once. Take Chuck Liddell; He started in Kempo Karate, who wrestled in college, but as he told Mike Straka took up kickboxing to continue competing in athletics, but above all that, the one category he fits more than anything else, is that of The Fighter. Would it feel right to call him anything else? Looking back into history there was Tank Abbott, who portrayed himself as a pure fighter, with a contempt for martial arts and athletics. But look deeper and you'll find someone who wrestled in college and who had trained boxing significantly. Some competitors I think struggle with their identity. No one doubts Lesnar is an athlete and competitor, but he just has never felt truly comfortable in his role as a fighter. I remember getting that sense in the build up to UFC 121 with some of the things he was said in promotional materials. It didn't feel genuine. I juxtapose that against another long time athlete and competitor in Chael Sonnen who often equates what he does to a fist fight on a Saturday night. Where as Chael embraces the role, Brock appears conflicted.

(not every athlete can be a fighter)

There have been pure examples of each in the history of our sport. Athletes like Jose Canseco and Johnnie Morton who attempt competition but soon find out that there is more to the sport than simply lifting weights and training and that being punched hurts. They tend not to last. There are pure fighters, like Kimbo, who soon find out there is more than simply showing up and punching guys in the face for a stack of rolled up 20s, who have trouble with everything that comes with being an athlete, and we all remember the days of the old fashioned, one dimensional McDojo blackbelts, who while they've learned plenty of "martial arts" have never trained athletically, nor done much actual real fight, eating elbows to the side of the face with nothing to show for it but a crushed eye socket. Although, an "advanced status blackbelt" in the art of "American Ninjitsu" probably doesn't do martial artists justice properly.

For discussion ; for fun, what are some fighters that may fit the various profiles, or hybrid profile types?

(note - I tried to minimize the usage of "fighter" in this when not referring to the profile type as much as possible, and capitalize and italicize the profile as best I could)

UFC to stream two Fight For The Troops 2 prelims over Facebook

2011-01-18T13:48:00.005-05:00

Image from Tinypic:

Bloody Elbow reports that the UFC will stream two prelimenary fights from this Saturday's Fight For The Troops 2 card on it's Facebook page. A lightweight contest between TUF 12 alum Cody Mckenzie taking on Yves Edwards and a welterweight fight between TUF 9 contestant Damarques Johnson and former KOTC champion Mike "Joker" Guymon will be the featured bouts.

Out Jiu Jitsu-ing the Jiu Jitsu Guy

2011-01-18T05:51:00.004-05:00

The grappling world is currently atwitter with some recently released pictures of Georges St.-Pierre training a little jits with current world champion Roger Gracie and fellow demigod Braulio Estima (photos liberated from Bloodyelbow.com, thanks guys!)

As we all know, GSP is a karate expert, first and foremost. I'm sure he got his black belt just like every 8-year-old, at some McDojo in Montreal. Except he didn’t stop there. He actually put that sucker to use, and has laid waste to some guys in the octagon with an impressive array of spinning kicks and flashy forms (for the record, I don’t know shit about karate).

Anyone who’s ever had a one-on-one conversation with Zane Frazier knows that karate alone just doesn’t cut it. So at some point, little Georgie started working on other aspects of his game. Wrestling comes to mind. Sure, it’s pretty useful in getting a fight to the ground and allowing you to control a guy there – for God’s sake, look at Jon Fitch’s success.

There’s all kinds of analysis about wrestling being the be-all-end-all martial base for a complete MMA fighter. And there’s tons of merit to that, I can’t deny it. So when you match a karateka against an NCAA Division I wrestler who’s been wrestling for virtually his entire life, the outcome is pretty predictable, right?

Ask Jon Fitch.

He got HANDLED by a guy who speaks French, and who obviously isn’t an NCAA anything.

But okay, you’re saying, Fitch was the team captain at Purdue, but he doesn’t have NEAR the credentials of his buddy Josh Koscheck, who was a 4-time All-American AND Division I champ.

Yeah, BOTH those fights saw Koscheck taken down almost at will by the same NCAA nobody. The same guy that people were speculating might try out for the Canadian Olympic wrestling squad.

At any rate, here’s my point. This guy learned wrestling AS AN ADULT. He didn’t start when he was 4, like Fitch or Koscheck. But he learned it so well he destroyed them.

And that’s why I think we’re going to see GSP out-jiu-jitsu Jake Shields at UFC 129. GSP very obviously knows a little jits. Ask Dan Hardy, who almost had his gumby-like arm broken in half by the man.

Yeah, anyone can train with anyone. Roger Gracie trains white belts, too. But I don’t get the impression that Roger is showing Georges St. Pierre basic mount defense so he can just hang on against Shields.

With Shields, you know where the fight is going to go. GSP has made a career out of going the least intuitive route and striking with theoretically (well, debatably, anyway) better strikers and wrestling with (theoretically) better wrestlers. I am CONFIDENT we’re going to see him out-grapple the grappler. Mark my words.

It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day Charlie Brown!

2011-01-17T16:03:00.010-05:00

"I sho likes to boogie!"

Linus: Say Charlie Brown, did you know that today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day?

Charlie Brown: Martin Luther King Jr., who's that?

Lucy: Charlie Brown, you ignorant blockhead! Martin Luther King Jr. is that "uppity" color fellow on the TV that my dad is always throwing his shoes at.

Charlie Brown: ???

Linus: Seriously Charlie, you're killing me here. Do you even have a TV in your house?

Charlie Brown: We're not allowed to watch much TV in between praying, doing our homework, and hiding from Dad when he tries to get in bed with us at night.

Linus: Uh, what? I don't...I don't even know what to say to...you know what, let's just get back to Martin Luther King Jr.

Lucy: My Dad says that you shouldn't let the color man have too much freedom cause they're prone to get "rapey." He also says it's just another example of the color man being ungrateful for...hold on. Oh, hi Franklin.

Franklin: (Waves briefly before leaving frame)

Lucy: (under her breath) And my Dad says it's just the color man being ungrateful as usual, cause at least since they get their own bathrooms and water fountains they get to wait in shorter lines.

Linus: Yeah, well my Dad says that your Dad works at the train yard cause he's an uneducated hick that huffs gasoline.

Lucy: Well my Dad says your Mom does a poor job of tucking her penis between her legs.

Linus: Well my Dad says your Dad would know how to tuck his penis properly since he used to bend over for Chinese businessmen in dark alleys...

Franklin: Guys, guys, guys hold on now. Look, I heard everything you guys have been saying. And Yeah Lucy your dad does sound a like an uneducated hillbilly, and Charlie Brown you do need to read a book or something cause seriously brother you come off as borderline mentally challenged, and Linus your mother does have an unusual sized bulge for a person of her gender (plus that five o' clock shadow), but you shouldn't hold any of that against each other. The message behind Dr. King's words is to love and except each other despite all of your varied differences. After all, If you can't love each other than how can you learn to love yourselves?

Linus: You're right. I guess I'm sorry guys

Lucy: Yeah, me too. I guess my Dad can be pretty wrong sometimes.

Charlie Brown: Well gee Franklin, this Martin Luther King Jr. sure does sound like a swell guy. Maybe someday he might even live to be the President of the United States!

Franklin: Pfft, I doubt that as long as you still got all the power whitey. I'm sure that nigga's got a few bullets with his name on it ready to be pumped into his black behind as we speak. Now see me personally, I'm more of a Malcolm X man myself. So we can be friends for now but if you ever try that "pulling the football away at the last minute" stunt on me I'll shank you, and that's keeping it 100 (urban dictionary) honky. Deuces! (raises fist and departs)

Linus: Wow Lucy, I think I'm starting to see what your Dad means when he says "uppity" now.

Charlie Brown: Borderline mentally challenged? Those are big words from a guy who's hair looks like he's wearing a bath rug on the top of his head.

Linus: Good grief Charlie Brown.

MMA Mondays - Effective Grappling

2011-01-17T15:27:00.000-05:00

My personal blog: http://cynics--corner.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheCynicsCorner

Ask me anything: http://formspring.me/BTMicahC

Believe In The Power of One

2011-01-17T09:55:00.003-05:00

With the news hitting news sites/tv channels world wide that Christian Bale took "best supporting actor" for his role in "the fighter" can MMA fan's get high hopes for finally a motion picture taking their sport out of underground clubs and into the arms of waiting ticket buyers in theatres across the globe?

My answer is, YES

2011 has little started, and already the MMA turntable has its needling wearing thin, over and over tournament's and pound4pound lists are discussed and elaborated, I myself am guilty of diving head first into the hype and striking when the iron is colder than Brittany Murphy.

This morning it hit me, i need to write something and i was well on my way to writing yet another drawn out over elaborate verse to keep myself by when the television in-front of me

lit up the room, and my ears.

Immediately I ignored Bale's shit eating grin, having seen the movie and enjoyed it (although its not exactly a fair representation of exactly how things went down) the only thing i heard was the SKY News reporter asking if maybe its time for some of the same.

Sure maybe it was in reference to something else, but all i could think about

was Evan Tanner.

Evan Tanner best known for his tenure in the UFC, where he held the Middleweight Title

was a multi-weight champion holding the USWF Heavyweight title he won from PRIDE and UFC veteran Heath Hearing, Tanner would successfully defend the title 7 times, also being the first American to win the Neo-Blood tournament in Pancrase.

When Tanner entered the UFC he did so riding a 10 fight win streak and boasting a 16-1 record including wins over Justin Mcully and Ikuhisa Minowa, the afore mentioned Hearing and Paul Buentello

During his career Evan would fight for the UFC light heavyweight title against Tito Ortiz, and lose the Middleweight title during his first defence facing Rich Franklin.

But to me Tanner will always be associated with Phil Baroni, the two squared off in two back to back bouts and UFC 45 & 48 respectively and i still have to sit up in my seat to watch them now.

Victories aside, Evan Tanner had a professional mixed martial arts career spanning over a decade, filled with personal issues, alcoholism, miscommunication, a longing for a "real world education" and the desire to help and teach others

in 2006 Evan set up a charitable foundation/year round training camp for young men at risk and disadvantaged athletes, a house remodelled and set up so the athletes could live in it, featuring 12 fighters from 6 weight classes (in theory), sadly the foundation was put on hold shortly after it began, Tanner cited "his own training and a bad experience with the first fighter invited into the house"

Continuing his battle with alcoholism Tanner got his mind on track, and found his body willing

and again on November 8th Tanner signed a deal with the UFC, along with confirming the signing Evan would notably he would accept no corporate sponsoring and instead set up "Team Tanner" as a fan club represented by, and promoting his upcoming fights

His first fight back, on his 4 fight deal, Evan was knocked out by Yushin Okami.

Braving his own storm Tanner would once more step inside the octagon

this time against Kendall Grove, in what was his last fight.

After the loss to Grove, Evan stated he felt "flat" and seemed discouraged explaining he thought the years of alcohol abuse he put his body through were past the point where he felt he could compete at this level any more

While many can speculate his reasoning, the events that unfolded just months later were as unexpected as anyone could think, on September 8th 2008, news broke that Evan's body had been found.

Days previous his friends had become worried, amd shown concern that he wanted to "go out into the desert, go camping, ride my bike and shoot some guns"

One MMA website in what now is a cruel jolt of irony wrote "perhaps it will be his greatest opponent yet" speculating Tanner may never return from his trip.

And he never did

I can't help but think Evan should be on screen, in minds, in stories, everywhere

and i thought long and hard, and remembered, there is a project int he works, detailing his life,

going where he went, doing what he did, talking to who he did and tyring to understand what he felt.

If anyone deserves the spotlight to be theirs, one last time, its Evan Tanner, the sport is reaching the greatest height it ever has, and i know its not only I that hopes Evan goes right up there with it, which is why i urge you to read, support, follow, do anything possible to make sure to us, he's as coveted as the title itself

the films facebook page

Aand finally

From the TapouT film's website Once i was a champion

Evan Tanner: adventure seeker, fighter, philosopher, writer and alcoholic died on September 8th, 2008 in the desert region north of Brawley, California. He was on a quest to find buried treasure. "Treasure" does not necessarily refer to something material.
There was a huge hole in the MMA community the day that former UFC Champion, Evan Tanner was pronounced dead, a hole that needs to be filled. More so than his actions in the ring, his antics out where followed by many. The man lived several lives within his thirty-seven years.
He poured his heart out in his blogs and remained honest through the harsh times, as well as the good. When he made mistakes, it wasn’t just him that learned from them, but a community of over thirty thousand. He walked his own path, but became a leader. When Evan made it public that he was an alcoholic and that he wanted to change himself, the amount of people he inspired was tremendous.
The more you get to know Evan Tanner, the more you want to know. The details of his adventures are always interesting, and never predictable. The purpose of this documentary is to learn more about him, his stories and his philosophy on being a better person.
Evan’s blogs inspired a lot of people, but in particular they inspired this film's course. We want to go to the places he went, meet the people he talked about - the people who were important to him, and learn more about his message.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

College dropout, adventurer, seeker, traveler, ditch digger, dishwasher, cable tech, concrete worker, steel worker, salad prep, busboy, ski resort security, ski resort rental shop technician. I've worked in a slaughterhouse. I've been a landscaper. I've done drywall, tile, countertops, wood flooring, roofing. I have been a plumber, worked as a bottle collector at a bar, a bouncer, a doorman, a head of a security team. I have been a basket room clerk, a carpenter, a framer building beach houses, a truss builder. I've lived on a farm. I've lived in the city. I've earned money mowing lawns, selling on ebay, and fighting. A teacher, a trainer, and a coach sometimes. There was a time when I was younger that I didn't know any better than to be a liar, a cheater, and a thief. I have since learned to despise those things. I have had great friendships. I have had great loves. I have been a lover, I have been a son, a brother, and a friend. And I was once
A WORLD CHAMPION.
Evan Tanner : February 1971 - September 2008

Why for you hate Brock Lesnar?

2011-01-16T23:45:00.005-05:00

According to the MMA Consensus rankings, Brock Lesnar is the number two heavyweight in the world. Oddly enough, though, you wouldn't think that he's deserving of such a position by some of the hate that gets spewed his way. After getting TKOed in his last fight against Cain Velasquez, Brock has become the victim of a hate train. In fact, most people think that he's been “exposed” and should simply hang up the gloves. Seems that it's the “in” thing to hate the guy. Well, now we're going to get him for thirteen episodes of The Ultimate Fighter, and I've decided to take a look at Brock's MMA career, and get to the hate to see if it's warranted.

First, let's take a look at Brock's credentials. He's been an athlete for most of his life, having wrestled for years on end, with his major success coming in his college years. He was an NJCAA All-American, Heavyweight Champion, NCAA national champion in 2000, and was also a two time Big Ten champion, and held a record of 106-5. It's an impeccable record. Afterward, he was a huge success in professional wrestling, and then moved on to football, and then back to wrestling in Japan. In MMA, said amateur wrestling credentials are invaluable, and I don't believe he would have received as much flak as he had if he had not been a professional wrestler.

Next, let's have a closer look at Brock Lesnar's record. His first MMA fight was pretty simple: he beat the holy hell out of Minh Soo Kim, which was more or less a can crush (despite Kim's Judo credentials). Coming to the UFC, he was matched up with Frank Mir, which was a bout that will eternally have a question mark over it. Should Brock have lost a point without warning? Would Frank Mir have armbarred him? Either way, Brock made a rookie mistake and was caught in a kneebar from a person with a nasty guard. So, from the outset, he was 1-1, but his only loss was to a former champion.

Next, we found Brock fighting the veteran Heath Herring in Minnesota. This bout saw Brock completely dominate Herring from bell to bell. More impressive was that Brock was able to do this against someone with over forty fights, which was completely unexpected. Now, did this necessarily mean that Brock should have been given a title shot? No, not really, but it happened anyway. When Brock Lesnar fought Randy Couture at UFC 91, we saw an incredibly competitive bout, but it was finished when Brock dropped Randy with a straight right, and then pounced on him like a starving man on a ham sandwich. Brock Lesnar, a former WWE superstar had just become the UFC Heavyweight Champion.

However, Brock's legitimacy was still in question, due to the fact that he had a first round loss to Frank Mir, who (after defeating Big Nog) pointed him out in the crowd saying “You've got my belt.” What followed was a myriad of personal attacks and nasty trash talk from the cocky Mir that took Lesnar's rage to the next level. What followed was a beatdown that shocked some old-school MMA fans. At UFC 100, Brock Lesnar took a Frank Mir who was in the best shape of his life, and outsmarted him in the grappling game. Brock beat Mir so badly that you'd think Frank was hitting on Sable beforehand.

So, before I talk about Brock's fight with Carwin, let me just put this in perspective. In the course of six fights, Brock had one loss to a former UFC Champion, and had dominated a skilled vet in Herring, TKOed Randy Couture, and then destroyed Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Frank Mir in a ground fight. Whether people admit it or not, Brock Lesnar looked like a steamroller at this point. Unfortunately, diverticulitis struck.

When Brock fought Shane Carwin at UFC 116, he was headed into a gigantic test. Not only was he headed into a bout against someone with a similar build, but he was headed into a bout with a fighter who was a good enough wrestler to stop Brock's takedowns, and had some of the nastiest power punches in the division. Was it really surprising that Brock's biggest fears came to fruition in the first round? Not really. Shane Carwin beat Brock from pillar to post, landing sixty punches on Brock in that first round. Unfortunately for Carwin, Brock survived the beating, Carwin adrenaline dumped (and really, who wouldn't in that situation), and Brock sunk in the arm triangle. It was an awesome comeback, and a huge victory for someone whose career was in jeopardy not six months beforehand. It was the type of bout that you told everyone at work about. Yet, for some reason, now we find that most people only want to remember round one. More on that in a bit.

So, now we find ourselves at UFC 121, where Brock Lesnar was defeated by Cain Velasquez. What I want to pose at this point in the article is two questions:

Who can take a flush power punch from an MMA heavyweight?
Did Brock come into the fight with the correct strategy?

To answer the first question, let's look at Cain's punching power.

As you saw, Cain's punch registered at over 2230 pounds of force. To put that in perspective, that's 500 more pounds of force than what Rampage Jackson can deliver. Who can take that shot on the chin? The answer is: No one. If you look at a lot of heavyweight fights, you're not really going to see a lot of fighters taking those kind of shots flush and staying awake. I think that the records of the top 3 power punchers in the UFC's heavyweight division speaks for that fact. If you can't take Cain Velasquez, Shane Carwin, or Junior Dos Santos down, you're in for a world of hurt no matter who you are.

Second question was about Brock's strategy, and I believe that this played a big factor in the fight. Truthfully, I believe that Brock was taking Cain very lightly, and it's not hard to understand why. You just took a beating from Shane Carwin and didn't die of a brain hemorrhage, so who is going to put you away, right? Well, Brock learned the lesson the hard way. He spent far too much time rushing Cain, rather than reintroducing people to the patient Brock that manhandled Herring, beat Randy, and destoryed Frank Mir. The poor strategy of striking with a superior striker on top of trying to bully Cain was more Brock's undoing than the quality of his chin (though he could certainly stand to simply continue to train more stand up with Peter Welch and Pat Barry).

So, looking at Brock's record and accomplishments, does he deserve the hate? If you're Hispanic, a little bit because of the burrito and Corona comment, but by that logic you should hold Chael Sonnen to the same measure. Beyond that, I don't believe he's some sort of a fraud. At this point, Brock is still an incredibly lethal ground and pound fighter, which is a mold that has been incredibly successful in the UFC. In the same way that you're in trouble if you stand with Cain Velasquez or Junior dos Santos, you're in deep water in Brock Lesnar takes you to the ground. Does he have a weakness? Yes, but so do most fighters.

Also, where does the logic come from that Brock is a fraud? So, if a wrestler loses to a better striker, then he's a terrible fighter? Well, if that's the case, then Matt Hughes stinks for losing to Thiago Alves. Oh, I guess Mark Coleman and Josh Barnett deserve no success in the business for being demolished by Mirko Cro Cop. Though I hate Rashad Evans, I don't think he stinks because Machida knocked him out. Fact of the matter is that there is no logic in the Brock Lesnar hate, and the fight between he and Junior Dos Santos has the potential to be the fight that Brock uses to get back on the horse. Either way, I'm hoping he sticks around for a while longer.

Maybe he should F-5 someone on TUF?

-Micah C

Next Article: Is Supremacy MMA bad for the sport?

RISK

2011-01-15T19:31:00.004-05:00

As we all know, recently Strikeforce announced a HeavyWeight 'GP' to entice the heart and mind of every MMA fan on the planet with access to media of any sort.

It's impossible to go anywhere near websites, blogs, youtube pages without being reminded

just what's ins tore over the course of the next year and I'm sure I'm not alone when i say i'm past excitement and I'm starting to romanticise the whole event in my head

but are Scott Coker and Rich Chou taking a risk?

the potential for this tournament to peak interest in strikefoce, let alone MMA as a whole

is tremendous, within the brackets of the tournament lay some of the best fighters on the planet

but as we all know, in a GP this can mean everything, but it can also mean nothing.. at this second the Strikeforce heavyweight roster contains :

The current Strikeforce, DREAM and K1 2010 HW GP champion - Alistair Overeem
Current WAMMA (lol) HW champion, last PRIDE Heavyweight champion - Fedor
Former M1 Global MFC European HW and UFC HW champion - Andre Arloski
Former UF HW champion, Open-weight King Of Pancrase - Josh Barnett
Current world submission wresling champion (ADCC) - Fabricio Werdum
2 time HW title contender and perennial sam's club employee of the month - Brett Rogers
6 time russian airborn troops hand-t0-hand combat champion - Sergei Kharitonov
Cage Rage/Elite XC HW champion and Cage Warriors Super HW champion - Antonio Silva
Undefeated Olympic team captain, XMMA & King of the Cage HW champion - Daniel Cormier
XMMA and King of the Cage Light-Heavyweight champion - Mike Kyle
WBC Muay Thai Heavyweight champion - Shane Del Rosario
Forced Buttsex Champion and courtroom semi finalist (guilty plea charges reduced) - Devin Cole
One Time Frag Vest - Lavar Johnson
2 Time Armed Forces Champion, WWE unied states and 2 time ECW champion - Bobby Lashley
Chad Griggs.

and while I'm unsure the addition is permanent, the addition of tournament alternate

Former WKBA Super heavyweight world champion and constant K1 battler Ray Sefo who is a veteran of over 80 fights branching across MMA, kick boxing and boxing

with the tournament panning out over the year, the brackets set and designed to give us the exciting fights first I've started to worry, what of the aftermath?

When all is said and done, and we have our GP champion... who comes next?

Strikeforce currently runs the risk of having their current champion win a tournament initially designed to present us with/whittle down a top contender for their HW strap

if Alistair wins or looses, the roster looks meaningless in terms of challengers

all note able fighters with any sort of name, will be coming off a loss due to the seeding and arrangement of the tournament, leaving the "challengers" series to provide some sort of gore fodder for the casual fan

The questions it leaves Strikeforce are - "out of all the challengers, who is the most ready?"

and "what do we do now?"

Is Cormier ready to ready to take on an Overeem?

can Del Rosario handle Antonio Silva?

is Kharitonov gonna repeat his feat?..Can he be the last, and next man to best Overeem?

Can Fedor stop Silva?

one way or another, in the year/year and a half we're about to find out.

Maquiel Falcao Out of Fight vs Alessio Sakara; Rafael Natal steps in

2011-01-14T22:33:00.002-05:00

Well folks, it seems my 10th pick for fights to watch has been scrapped. Maquiel Falcao has pulled out of his fight with Alessio Sakara due to an unknown injury. Rafael Natal has agreed to fight in his stead.

Damn, dude. Sorry Rani.

2011-01-14T17:33:00.011-05:00

"What's that, Dana? What's a Bellator?"

This is the fight game, right? Fighters should fight whoever is put in front of them. After all, every fighter's eventual goal should be a championship of some kind, and being champion means fighting all worthy contenders. That outlook does not bother me in the least. Maybe I'm just a really nice guy at heart. Most of the time I don't like seeing fighters get cut, especially ones that don't really deserve it, like Gerald Harris. Now, some fighters get signed to the UFC who are clearly not ready for that level of competition. For sure, cut them and give them a chance to get their skills up. We can't all be astronauts. But there are some fighters who really are UFC caliber, but for whatever reason they're very, very unlucky. Rani Yahya may be one of those fighters.

In my opinion, Rani Yahya definitely fits the previously described mold of unlucky, UFC-worthy fighters. Is he ever likely to contend for the bantamweight title again? Nah, probably not. But he does possess the skills to give any fighter in his weight class pause, simply because of his grappling ability. I sort of equate him to a Demian Maia early in his UFC career. The dude is a former ADCC champion at 65 kg. He even showed some improved standup in his bouts against Mizugaki and Benavidez, and I personally think the stoppage against the latter was a tad premature. The fight probably would have ended in a similiar fashion had it continued on, but we'll never know.

So why do I feel sorry for the guy? Back in November is was announced that Yahya would be facing the Korean Zombie, Chang Sung Jung at 145 lbs, not at his usual 135. I felt that this was a very winnable fight for Yahya. He would be facing a size disadvantage, but he would have the upper hand on the mat and would most likely be able to hold his own against Jung's chin-up, hands-down kickboxing strategy. However, a week ago Jung pulled out of the fight due to an undisclosed injury. Shortly after, it was announced that be would be replaced by none other than Mike Brown, the former WEC featherweight champion and universally recognized top-10 145 pounder. This is not an easy fight for Rani at all. Brown will probably outweigh him by about twenty pounds come fight time, and he has the boxing ability to put Yahya to sleep fairly easily. Rani's conditioning issues have also been fairly self-evident. How long is he going to last with Brown on top of him on the ground or clinched against the fence? Against a fighter who went five rounds against Urijah Faber, his odds don't look so great.

Rani's UFC debut fight is likely to be his last, sad to say. With the recent UFC/WEC merger, fighters are getting cut left and right. Come January 23, Rani's going to be looking for a new job. A fighter on a three-fight losing streak isn't likely to be sticking around.

Most of the time, at least.

(Pics from sherdog.com)

Brock Lesnar vs MMA Fans...the ironic personification of a bully

2011-01-14T17:25:00.002-05:00

Greetings MMA fans! Hello to all you fans of obscure pop culture. I am DaGenius and I am very excited to get the chance to blog with the guys at unintelligentdefense/headkicklegend (thanks MRoth). So lets start this thing with a bang and talk about the most polarizing fighter in MMA. Brocky Brock Lesnar. I was going to call him the most polarizing figure, but Dana White has both hands firmly around that belt. That's another story ill address later. That said...

No fighter gets the MMA needle moving Brock. Although it often seems like his haters greatly outnumber his fans, Lesnar is the rare MMA fighter that gets so much attention that even casual to non-mma fans know who he is and has an opinion on his tattoos, striking, persona and the overall Brock. Instead of cliches lets look at his fact sheet. 5 wins 2 losses, won and defended the UFC heavyweight belt. Not bad to start your career. From a business side his PPV "numbers" are astronomical and that's why Dana pays him all that money (*for an MMA fighter, cause those guys still get screwed). He's been brash and to some degree cocky but he has walked the talk in the cage up until he got dismantled by Cain Velasquez. In his fights previous to this his style has given his haters reason to call him just a big bully and not a martial artist. This championship level fighter was viewed in some circles as just wrestling and mauling on the floor and how can this guy bully his way to UFC gold. It was a quick and easy leap forward to retirement predictions after his defeat. He is now slated to face Junior Dos Santos during the ultimate fighter 13 and soon to follow in the octagon. For those that didn't get that memo, Brock Lesnar did not retire. He didn't go back to WWE. He is continuing his fighting career. I thought that this might be the first full degree of props he could earn from the hard core mma community. WRONG! Surprisingly the haters that want to bully Lesnar out of MMA got louder and more exasperated at the thought of him not putting his tail between his legs and heading home to Minnesota. Why? Why do the majority of hard core fans want to wish this guy out of the sport? Hey MMA fans who hate Lesnar, this guy can help this sport be much bigger than it is!!! He probably doesn't have a long shelf for MMA but if the price of MMA getting bigger and more mainstream, which i believe to be a good thing for all fighters and fans long term, is Brock Lesnar fighting, i say long live Brock! Another few fights equals more MMA attention, more fighters, more money, more everything that we all love. Does it make me sick to see Dana get richer? Yeah a little. It makes me HAPPIER that more gyms will open up and more people will be pouring their hearts into fighting.

Fans want to bully and hate a fighter just because he keeps to himself and doesn't run around with all the cool kids in the big team camps. He looks little different than most of the kids and hes a little bit country. Now I personally hate bullies :) Its one of the reasons I train. If I saw a big group of kids bullying a a kid who fit that description, I would tell them the same thing I am telling you "STOP BULLYING THAT KID JUST LET HIM DO HIS THING". :) Maybe that kids fighting skill can grow up just a bit and he can put this sport on his back for 1-2 years.

Dominick Cruz's hand after surgery

2011-01-14T16:28:00.005-05:00

Dominick Cruz grosses us out via Twitter with a photo of his hand fifteen hours after surgery on a broken finger. (SB Nation provides the photo)

Anderson Silva Still Capable Of Causing Aneurysms

2011-01-14T16:10:00.004-05:00

The title of an article on www.ESPN.co.uk posted on January 14 reads: "Anderson Silva 'would like to fight Bisping in the UK'". Yes, you're reading that right. Silva has potentially called out Michael Bisping. A man with a 13 fight win streak would like to face an opponent who is still at this time a gatekeeper. This is odd for a number of reasons. It was widely assumed by the MMA community that the reason Silva has recently been rather lackadaisical in recent title outings was due largely to the fact he has faced competition that he felt was sub-par. Against Patrick Cote he seemed unwilling to pull the trigger early on (though some have speculated as well he felt under pressure to take the fight into the championship rounds to provide more entertainment). To be fair to Cote though, he had put together a healthy win streak of 5 including 3 wins via TKO. Then there was the Leites fight, a man some felt had been gifted a split decision win over Marquardt en route to his title shot. But Anderson bobbed and weaved his way to a decision, showing a distinct air of contempt throughout the fight. The fact that many believed Leites should never have gotten a title shot at all seemed vindicated by his UFC release just one fight after.

A trip down to light-heavy weight against the sacrificial offering of Griffin helped to reignite the hype. His striking was so damn good no one even cared that he embarassed one of the most popular fighters in the UFC.

Then the Maia fight. And it all seemed to be going so well. There were many reasons bandied about for Silva's behaviour, but ultimately the result left such a sour taste in so many of the fan's mouths that even Dana White couldn't bring himself to be in the same Octagon as Silva.

The Republican Renegade, Chael Sonnen, was posted as the next challenger and even before his fantastic showing of imperious wrestling against Silva, many bought into the hype. However, Sonnen's unwillingness to learn even the basics of bjj defence was revealed as he was caught in a triangle-armbar.

So what have we learnt from all of this? It would seem that unless you have the striking to threaten Silva, he does not seem interested. Unless you have the wrestling to threaten Silva, he does not seem interested. But then, even if you do have the striking and/or the wrestling to test him, he is still probably going to win! This brings me back to the beginning of this post: Bisping. Bisping literally offers none of these things. He is well rounded, but not well rounded enough, or skilled enough in one area to prove a legitimate threat. What's more, his mental state is far from rock solid. For example, in his fight against Dan Henderson he looked nervous, constantly turning into Hendo's power shots and failed to implement any sort of game plan. Yet in his comeback fight against Denis Kang, a man he knew he could beat, he was fluid, confident, aggressive, listen to his corner and the fight ended with a finish. I cannot believe he will show any of this against Silva were he to face him. He would literally crumble during the 8 week training camp. Then there is the problem of Silva. If he Silva appeared disinterested against Leites and Thales, two competent MMA fighters who both contain supreme bjj skills, how is he going to treat a fighter of Bispings caliber. The ultimate Jack-of-all-trades. I think a fight against Marquardt would be more beneficial as to seeing where he really stands in the Middleweight picture.

Brock Lesnar's striking techniques influencing American youth?

2011-01-14T15:49:00.003-05:00

Ladies(yea right loooool) and Gentlemen, this is no laughing matter. The UFC's Brock Lesnar is ruining America's youth. The performances Lesnar has turned in have made a provable, palpable impact into the street fighting techniques of the impressionable, and likely fatherless children of the suburbian wasteland. Unlike Kidz Bop and other entirely harmless influences, this is much more serious than children simply suggestively grinding while singing along to sexually explicit Lady Gaga, Katy Perry, Usher or lyrics at a Chuck E Cheese. The implementation of these techniques is putting these children(who unfortunately are likely developmentally disabled based on this video) in serious danger of concussions, low self esteem, future ass kickings or all of these at once. Note in the video throughout the Lesnarian punching technique. But the most damning evidence is at the beginning in the defensive techniques Lesnar employed in both his bouts against Cain Velasquez and Shane Carwin.

Is Lesnar ruining our youth? You be the judge...

Shout out to the posters at Ninjasplace.com for bringing this to my attention. Pourin' out a redbull in memory of our children.

Muay Thai Plastic Surgeon

2011-01-14T15:36:00.001-05:00

I bring a gift:

Debunking the major criticisms of the Strikeforce tournament.

2011-01-14T04:47:00.004-05:00

Before anyone labels me Zuffa hater or Strikeforce Shill, I want to compare our PPV bills.

(Scott Coker has hit promotional gold with the planning of the Strikeforce tournament)

While it was originally reported that the Strikeforce HW title will be on the line throughout the tournament, in the last 24 hours a (micro)media storm has been unleashed regarding the announcement that there will be a separate tournament title apart from Promotional HW title owned by Alistair Overeem. While a lot of fans initial reaction to this will be negative, as was mine, this actually makes business sense for the promotion in the long run. There is a lot of flack saying this tournament makes no sense now. This is unfounded. It puts the tournament in line with K1, UFC and Pride tradition where there was a tournament title and a GP belt that is independent and separate. It also makes the tournament more fair and uniform, as five round fights take longer to prepare and recover from possibly.

It still gives is the fights people want to see, the lineal title can still change hands(save it - lineal title complaint box), and it creates essentially another tournament final after the final. I really doubt anyone who would have turned into see the tournament now won't because of this(though negative press from may cause a small dip, any issue along that is more than justified by a second major fight after the final being created, generating an overall net gain in eyes on Strikeforce even with the worst case scenario PR damage this move causes, if it causes any at all.)

(the way this tournament is being promoted is nothing new to MMA, or the Last Emperor)

Those who watched MMA before the TUF recent era or those who have taken the time to learn the sport remember that the then-number 1 promotion Pride had a situation like this develop when Ricardo Arona defeated Wanderlei Silva during the tournament, setting up a rematch which Wanderlei won a contentious decision. It creates storylines, controversy and intrigue with things like this. If Strikeforce's goals are to either get back on CBS, or launch on PPV, the more buzz and the more fights this tournament can create, the better in the long run.

"So what if Alistair wins?" some ask, well then, nothing. The tournament would have gone like it would have anyway if the title was on the line anyway, and a new challenger would have to be created either way as it stood before.

I hear a constant banging on the M-1 renegotiation self distruct mode argument. That M-1 is destined to renegotiate regardless of what happened. That negotiating after the Werdum loss proves how they'll operate in the future. What is entirely missed in this line of thinking is that Strikeforce and Showtime both had a mutual interest in renegotiating before his next fight as well. Fedor was on the last fight of his deal, and was interested in either fighting Werdum or Overeem. With Fedor comes intense interest from hardcore fans and ergo the mma blogsphere and media, and the legitimacy of the greatest HW fighter of all time. Strikeforce and Showtime, regardless of what some fans believe, need Fedor, win or lose. There was no way Fedor would have entered into his final bout in Strikeforce without fighting either Overeem or Werdum None. Neither the network nor the promotion could risk their cornerstone winning his final bout and regaining all or most of his draw and then become a free agent. If M-1 is hard to deal with now, they'd be tenfold then. Further, this would allow the UFC back into the fray to either A. steal Fedor away finally or B. drive his value even higher. M-1 and Strikeforce couldn't let Fedor's team complete the contract with that many chips on the table. Doing so would be promotional malpractice 101. The signals out of all parties since the new deal has been struck is that this deal is solid and will hold. And if not and M-1 pulls a fresh round of crap from their arse? Showtime can simply threaten to continue with the tournament without him. With this many aces in play it becomes much harder for M-1 to play that card once again. The fail safe device is mutually assured destruction for M-1. The tournament could continue on, but if their cashcow bows out what would that do to his legacy, reputation and future marketability? M-1 has Fedor locked up for the length of this tournament at least. You can bank on it.

(yo, it's a real tournament, I promise)

Then there is the assertion that this somehow isn't a tournament. In the strictest terms, that is absurd because Merriam Webster defines a tournament as simply ;

: a series of games or contests that make up a single unit of competition (as on a professional golf tour), the championship play-offs of a league or conference, or an invitational event

But the nuance of the argument is structured around the seeding. That the seeding makes no sense because the brackets are not arranged like a playoff or March Madness. However, as BloodyElbow's Luke Thomas explained on MMAnation this is impossible in MMA because the nature of fight sport. Long term fight booking never works for promotions, and always blows up in their faces. The best course of action is to make the money fights people actually want to see now, while still providing a legitimate challenger from the other side of the bracket. Everyone has separate rankings, much less promotions, so who is to say who should be ranked 1, 2, 3 and so on, but say Strikeforce attempted to do this, not only would they be making fights no one wants to see to start the tournament off, but their HW's would also be facing a lot of criticism for facing inferior competition. The way it's structured now is genius.

Tomas Rios takes the criticism a notch further in his new blog. The dissection and immolation of his arguments can be seen in the comments here.

While not everything has been smooth since the announcement of the tournament, Stikeforce, a company who has never attempted something close to this scale deserves to be cut a little bit of slack. Would it be rational or realistic to assume everything would be perfect? Would the UFC conceivably do every thing perfect if they abandoned their contender-today-non-contender tomorrow approach(see LW division and the jobbing of Jim Miller, George Sotiropoulos for more details) for a rigid tournament structure that provided a road map that allowed the fighters to determine who deserves to fight for the title? Has a tournament of this scale been attempted in memory under the Unified Rules?

And oh yea, what was the storyline a day ago? That the reality show featuring dethroned Brock Lesnar would suck the air from this room and dwarf this story. What happened with that?

Strikeforce Tournament - Immediate Thoughts From An Englishman

2011-01-13T17:34:00.005-05:00

So the Strikeforce tournament has been announced and verified. This is potentially as exciting as it gets within North American unified MMA rules. Sure, a fighter cannot fight more than 3 rounds in one night (non-championship), and they were unable to secure 5 rounds for each fight (despite the fact Coker didn't even approach the relevant state commissions). But we can ignore that considering the two MMA legends fighting:

Fedor Emelianenko: The best fighter your room mate has never heard of. A man who sat inside Nogueria's guard and showed to him why lying on your back works only for hookers and the lazy. A man who took one look at a k-1 fighter well schooled in MMA and decided that the head kick was his safest option. A man with a 28 win streak upset by a relatively small heavy weight Brazilian who was uppercutted out of the UFC. A man who hadn't been defeated in so long he had forgotten how to tap. Yet he is the favourite. Personally I don't see how this can be. By all means consider him a favourite (taking into account he has beaten both Rogers and Arlovski) but surely not the favourite. Especially when we look to...

Alistair Overeem: What hyperbole can I use to describe this man that hasn't been used before? Overeem, the Demolition Man, Ubereem...the Horse Smasher, the Minotaur (the Centaur!), GOD ALMIGHTY HIMSELF. He holds both the Strikeforce and Dream heavy weight titles, as well as the K-1 title, a completely different, yet no less dangerous sport. But still he is not the absolute favourite! Yes, he has lost both to Werdum and Kharitonov, but this was before his heavy weight renaissance. He has been unstoppable since. I believe, (and this is entirely wrong) that K-1 changed the rules on two handed clinching literally to preserve the brain cells, memories and bladder control of its other competitors. Look at Fujita. He took a knee to the head so hard that he decided a quick, cross-eyed sit down on the ropes before crying outside the ring was a completely sensible option.

However, what the bookies says goes. We can all look forward to several months of top quality MMA heavy weight action, something that even the UFC has struggled to produce. The worse case scenario for Strikeforce? The man who beats Overeem doesn't win the title. The worse case scenario for the viewer? The beer runs out. So please, sit back, relax, and try not to let Overeems He-Man genetics turn you into the girlfriend he is currently stealing.

Food for thought - Philosophy of Fighting

2011-01-13T12:11:00.006-05:00

This post is based on some earlier ramblings that I had written down in the wake of the Silva/Leites bought which, I'm sure we all remember (unless you were able to supress it with alcohol and punches to head). The debate which occured on the internet was "Is Silva justified in winning a fight when commits less than all of his skills but stays within the rules?", or words to that effect. I hope one day to expand these and try to form what would, if written in a book, form at least the introduction. These were my thoughts:

I think there are two issues at contention here:

1: Whether it is the duty of the UFC to provide what is generally perceived as as entertainment, in that it consists of fast, exciting actions, trading on the feet and on the ground, or a dominant showing by one competitor who pushed the pace constantly (whether on the feet or on the ground) and actively looks to finish the fight. Whilst at the same time present a sport in which the nuances of the fighters and fights have to be taken into account as well as the ability to 'win within the rules', in this case meaning 'to win without a perceived dominant showing'.

2: Whether it is a mixed martial artists duty to and obligation to do all they can to finish fights, even if they put themselves at more risk than necessarily required (for example giving up top control for a leg lock).

For this post I will not discuss number one. I believe number two comes down to what it means to be a mixed martial artist and by extension, a fighter. I do not think it wrong of us to label mixed martial artists as fighters because they have to fight to finish and win, not just put on a display of aesthetically pleasing technical displays that have no intention of hurting the opponent (such as this). The key to fighting, whether it be in a cage, ring, or full-scale war, is to defeat the opponent. As Clausewitz puts it 'War is nothing but a duel on an extensive scale. If we would conceive as a unit the countless number of duels which make up a War, we shall do so best by supposing to ourselves two wrestlers. Each strives by physical force to compel the other to submit to his will: each endeavours to throw his adversary, and thus render him incapable of further resistance.'

Silva and Thales are those two wrestlers. I conceed that Silva did enough to win the fight within the rules, yet he failed to not only submit Thales to his will (sure, he didn't fight him on the ground, but then didn't inflict significant damage upon Thales for me to consider it imposing his will). Furthermore, Silva did not render Thales incapable of further resistance. The proof of this? It went to decision. A TKO win would have displayed Thales incapable of resistance.

As such, since Silva was able to win despite not doing the two things required to win a duel, I lay the fault at the unified rules. By changing the rules, introducing details such as yellow cards, and expanding the rules to allow for a greater arsenal of attacks will help to prevent fights of timidity and limitation. Ultimately I am contending that fighters will more often than not look to take the easier route when winning a fight, especially when fighting for a championship belt. Allowing the referee to force the action with yellow cards and the like should ensure for more fights with finishes.

Excuse me if these still appear rambling and perhaps without point, they are more here to inspire debate as well as potentially some helpful and constructive feedback. My next post lined up is to take a closer look at the UK MMA scene, focusing on lesser well known MMA stars who are currently making waves.

10 Fights to Watch This Spring - Summer

2011-01-12T23:04:00.006-05:00

#10 - Maiquel Falcão vs Alessio Sakara - UFC Live: Sanchez vs. Kampmann

This fight is an excellent addition to the UFC on Versus televised card. It features two excellent strikers, Alessio Sakara and Maiquel Falcão. Falcão, coming off his impressive yet controversial defeat of Gerald Harris, is most likely looking to put Sakara away quickly to raise his stock. I, myself, was impressed with his hand speed, power, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Sakara, on the other hand, hasn't fought since March of 2010 when he stopped James Irvin. I want to see how he looks after a long layoff, but I believe his boxing can be the difference.

#9 Phil Davis vs Matt Hamill - UFC 129

This fight features two highly-regarded wrestlers, who have been on recent winning streaks. Phil Davis, an All American wrestler from Penn State, has been on a tear in his campaign in the Octagon. Davis impressively shut down Brian Stann, submitted Alexander Gustaffson, decisioned Rodney Wallace, and recently submitted Tim Boetsch for his first submission of the night. His opponent, Matt Hamill, has winning streak going in his favor dating back to UFC 92 when he defeated Reese Andy by tko, Mark Munoz by a vicious headkick, defeating Jon Jones by DQ, beating Keith Jardine by Majority Decision, and finally beating down Tito Ortiz to a unanimous Decision. Will this fight be determined by who has the better wrestling, or will that wrestling cancel out and we will be delighted with a standup battle? Only Time will tell.

#8 Mark Bocek vs Ben Henderson - UFC 129

This fight is an underrated gem, a diamond in the rough, if you will. Mark Bocek recently proclaimed that he has the best Jiu Jitsu in the Lightweight Division and wanted to face George Sotiropolous to test that title. In my opinion, he has his hands full with the former WEC champion Ben "Smooth" Henderson, who is coming off the second defeat of his career to Anthony "Showtime" Pettis. I think this fight has the capability of being Fight Of The Night.

#7 Thiago Alves vs Rick Story - UFC 130

This fight has the potential for major fireworks. Rick Story, an explosive wrestler with Dynamite in his hands, looks to keep his five fight winning streak intact at UFC 130 when he faces the always Dangerous Muay Thai wrecking Machine, Thiago Alves. This fight has much meaning to it, in that the winner solidifies himself as a top contender potentially challenging for Georges St. Pierre's crown, the Welterweight Title.

#6 Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs Thiago Silva - UFC 130

This fight feature two highly touted Light Heavyweight fighters, Thiago Silva and Rampage Jackson. This fight has the ingredients for an absolute war, ensuring that it will most likely not reach a decision. Rampage, coming off a split decision victory of Lyoto Machida, will face Thiago Silva, coming off a beatdown of Brandon Vera.

#5 Georges St. Pierre vs Jake Shields- UFC 129

The fight for the title of the best welterweight in the world will commence at UFC 129, when Georges St. Pierre takes on Jake Shields. This matchup is very intriguing. Jake Shields is coming off a Split Decision victory over Martin Kampmann. That fight showed that his cardio was affected from the weight cut to 170. Nevertheless, Shields still proved that he is a dominant grappler and has excellent Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Georges St. Pierre, on the other hand, is coming off a dominant Unanimous Decision victory over Josh Koscheck at UFC 124. That fight just showed to so many how well rounded he can be, effectively using his jab to swell Koscheck's eye out very badly.

#4 Clay Guida vs Anthony Pettis - UFC 130 or 131

This fight is destined for greatness. Clay Guida, who is on a three fight win streak, will face Anthony "Showtime" Pettis. Clay Guida, always entertaining and absorbing us with his brilliant attacking maneuvers and wild hair, has his hands full with the last WEC Lightweight Champion Anthony Pettis. Anthony Pettis, fresh off his unanimous decision win of Ben Henderson and amazing kick off the cage, will wade into new waters in the UFC. FOTN Potential right here.

#3 Brock Lesnar vs Junior Dos Santos- UFC 131

We were recently given the details of The Ultimate Fighter Season 13 coaches and they are quite intriguing. Brock Lesnar, the former Heavyweight Champion and fresh off a loss to Cain Velasquez, will meet Junior Dos Santos to determine who will fight Cain next. This fight will prove many things that so many have been wondering. Can Junior stop a takedown from Brock? Can he use his BJJ to get back up or create a situation for a submission? Is Brock really focused on fighting? Can Brock sustain any punishment that Junior will surely throw at him? These will be answered in early June.

#2 Randy Couture vs Lyoto Machida- UFC 129

This fight has the makings of an instant classic. Two spectacular technicians will face off in Toronto at UFC 129. Randy "The Natural" Couture will face Lyoto "The Dragon" Machida. Randy is coming off of three consecutive wins against Brandon Vera, Mark Coleman, and James Toney. Lyoto is coming off two consecutive losses, losing the Lightheavyweight championship to Mauricio "Shogun"Rua and Rampage Jackson. What makes this fight so intriguing is what fighters will we see in that Octagon. Will Couture immediately go for the clinch and pummel away or will we see an aggressive Machida? Time will tell.

#1 Rashad Evans vs Mauricio "Shogun" Rua - UFC 128

This fight features the two top Light heavyweight fighters in action. Shogun will defend his crown for the first time against Rashad Evans, thirsting to once again hold the title. This fight means so much for the division. Stylistically, this fight will prove many things about both fighters. Rashad is a fantastic wrestler while Shogun is a fantastic Striker with an excellent BJJ game. I really can't wait to see how this fight pans out.

This list is opinion based.

~Stay Thirsty My Friends

z.z

The Benefits of cross pollination

2011-01-12T20:57:00.015-05:00

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

Gif via MMA-Core.com

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

Gif Via MM-core.com

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)

Photo via Dean Amasinger's twitter

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

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

Scott Coker may be a doormat.

2011-01-12T20:39:00.005-05:00

Before I get started on this post and have a metric assload of folks calling me a UFC shill or something along those lines, let me say that I like Strikeforce. At their best, the promotion can put on some entertaining shows. They're not always competitive (see Lawler vs Lindland) and the matchmaking doesn't always make sense (Diaz vs Santos seems like a fight to beef up Nick's record), but usually someone's getting their lights put out, or something's getting broken. So, to that degree, I say that Scott Coker should put a feather in his cap. However, he may want to take it back out, because doormats don't wear hats, and he may qualify for the position of sitting on my front porch.

Now, I'm not the only one who doesn't like Strikeforce's matchmaking in the upcoming Heavyweight GP. Kid Nate over at BloodyElbow already said that it "isn't a tournament" in one of his most recent articles. To me, the seeding seems a little bit fishy. Why the devil does Josh Barnett get a seemingly easy road to the final? Why are all four of the fighters who are top 10 heavyweights on the left side of the bracket? I think that it has to do with M-1 Global walking all over Scott Coker.

When it comes right down to it, M-1 Global is trying to milk Strikeforce for all it's worth, and they're banking on Fedor winning his first fight (where the odds have him listed at -500). Should Fedor get past Antonio Silva, M-1 Global is looking at a heavyweight dream match against Alistair Overeem, or a revenge fight against Fabricio Werdum. Win or lose, they're looking at a fat paycheck at the end of it, and a massive amount of leverage. Why on earth would Scott Coker want to do that with a company that has given him nothing but trouble since the beginning? Because Scott Coker may be a doormat.

Yes, I know it's the title, but I think it's pretty obvious at this point. In the short term, this does fantastic things for Strikeforce. In the long term, it doesn't make their matchmaking look competent in the least. Are there ratings coming? Yes, there are, but the tournament final seems downright pointless, because the best guys aren't going through hell and high water to get there. Only one of them is. If Scott Coker can't grow a pair and start putting his foot down, Strikeforce stands to look like a joke.

The minute he got choked out, Fedor and M-1 lost power. Pick up on it, Scotty!

-Micah C

Who Else Thinks Overeem Is Going To Win The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix?

2011-01-12T19:00:00.011-05:00

I'm not really sure what the popular opinion is here in the MMA blogosphere, which is kind of surprising. The Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament was announced a little over a week ago, and that equals about 6 months in internet time. That chick Justin Bieber could get a DUI tonight and within two hours my mom would be asking me who she is. So I'm totally going to break new ground here and give my prediction for the eventual winner, and in case you didn't read the banner (did you read the banner?) it's Alistair Overeem. Duh. Now I'm going to break it down for you fanboy style. HEEEERE WE GO.

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. FABRICIO WERDUM

This is one of the more interesting of the possible match-ups for the 'Reem. I always like it when promoters somehow manage to find fighters that can fit the "striker vs. grappler" mold. That's going to be harder and harder to do in the future. Anyway. Everyone knows you don't want to go to the ground with Werdum. Overeem and Fedor both made that mistake and paid the price. However, Overeem made that mistake four years ago. 2 1/2 titles (guess which one is worth half) and probably a herd's worth of horse meat later, Overeem is a very different fighter, and is going to be more than up to the task. Has Werdum progressed in that time? You betcha, but unless he can consistently take Alistair down, he doesn't have much of a chance. I'm not sure he's going to be able to do that against an opponent who will probably outweigh him by about 25 pounds without eating some kind of fight-ending strike from a vastly superior kickboxer. Advantage: Overeem.

Alistair Overeem via KO

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. FEDOR EMELIANENKO

Ooh baby. Now here's the fight I want to see, and conveniently Scott Coker has done his best to hook us up. I'm fairly confident Fedor will make it past Bigfoot (sorry Bigfoot) and unless you're just skimming this, Overeem will beat Werdum. Thanks, Scotty. Let me know if you're ever in NJ and I'll let you buy me a beer or six. I might even put out. Not only is this my "most-looked-forward-to" fight, but it's going to be one of the most evenly matched of Alistair's seven possible matches. Fedor is a great grappler and a good striker. I say "good" because he's not exactly Muhammed Ali in the ring/cage, but goddamn if he isn't effective (see Arlovski, Andre and Sylvia, Tim, etc. so forth). We need to be honest here, however. Fedor was getting spanked by Arlovski before he had his infamous brain-fart and threw the flying knee. Brett Rogers broke his nose with the first punch he threw and even pulled off a sweep from his back. Admittedly, Fedor stopped both of these fighters with authority, but Overeem is not any of those fighters. Overeem is the best striker in MMA, and he has the credentials to prove it. He's going to make Fedor pay for every mistake he makes on the feet. If Fedor gets it to the ground, he has a chance, but I'm not actually sure that is going to happen. He's giving up size and strength, and you can bet The Demolition Man will be training his TD defense for this one. It's pretty much the same gameplan for Werdum, except Fedor is a better striker. I think Fedor's best chance is to take Overeem into deep water and see what happens. Fedor doesn't seem like much of a game-planner though.

Alistair Overeem via unanimous decision

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. ANTONIO SILVA

I'll put this out there right at the beginning. Bigfoot has a very good chance at beating Fedor and making it to the semifinals. They are both good strikers and developed grappling games. This is a very, VERY, even match-up, but we're assuming Bigfoot wins and moves on to the 'Reem. I really don't think Overeem has much to worry about in this fight. Bigfoot has pretty good boxing, but once again, we're dealing with the best striker in MMA. He might have trouble

landing some knees and kicks on that bowling-ball-head that towers 7 feet over the ground, but his fists do a pretty good job of knocking dudes out. Bigfoot may show up for this fight a little bigger than his opponent, but can him take him down and keep him there? Nah. Look for Overeem to land something explosive and jaw-dropping (possibly jaw-BREAKING! Eh?) sometime in the second round. Seriously, Mike Kyle nearly put a 10-8 round on this guy. What's a punch from Overeem going to do?

Alistair Overeem via TKO

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. ANDREI ARLOVSKI

Arlovski used to be one of my favorite fighters back in the day. His TKO over Marcio Cruz was awesome, he knocked out Sylvia with the quickest one-two I've ever seen, and he had that fang-mouthguard before Rashad Evans stole his idea and totally ruined it. I was pretty damn excited for the first three minutes of his fight against Fedor. I put twenty bucks down on him against my friend, and it looked like a fresh 18-pack of Coors Light and a pack of cigarettes was in my immediate future, made all the more sweet by the fact that my friend was Mormon and hates both of those things. Then that stupid flying knee. Argh. This is going to be a pretty good striking battle. Arlovski is a very technical striker in his own right. He has speed and power, and he will be a threat to any fighter he faces. He is not a gimme win by any means. Overeem is a better striker though (getting the hint yet?). At this point I'm probably starting to look like someone who wants to buy some real-estate on The Demolition Man's balls (and I'd consider it), but these facts seem sort of self-evident to me. Another TKO.

Alistair Overeem via TKO

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. SERGEI KHARITONOV III

Done correctly, the rubber match is one of the most exciting things in combat sports, period. Sometimes one match isn't enough to determine the superior athlete, and if the other guy wins the second time? Magic. And sometimes Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski fuck it up. I actually have to commend Scott Coker again on this one. Very shrewd of you to put Kharitonov on the other side of the bracket, Scotty. If Sergei makes it to the finals, he'll be able to be promoted as

the old-school fighter making a comeback or whatever, AND market the fight on the whole as a rubber match. That's promoting gold right there. And he has a decent chance of making it to Overeem too, but he'll definitely be considered the dark horse of the tournament. So if he does make it, we have a simple equation here:

RUBBER MATCH + UNDERDOG + COMEBACK STORY + LAST GUY OVEREEM LOST TO IN MMA = GOLD!

In all actuality, it wouldn't even be much of a comeback. Kharitonov is a very solid competitor. Just mention how Jeff Monson choked him out super-easily or something. I don't know, I'm not a fight promoter. So how would the fight actually go? It'd be a good one, no doubt. Kharitonov has some good hands on him, and he has that Russian X-factor, but he'll probably lose. This fight will probably look a lot like Overeem vs. Kharitonov I, only instead of getting knees to the head, he'll get punches.

Alistair Overeem via TKO

A quick word of warning, I just cracked open my fifth Coors Light whilst writing this, so if everyone could lower their expectations a little bit from now on, that'd be great. As if anyone is going to read this. Onward and upward!

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. JOSH BARNETT

Non-Overeem-related prediction time. Barnett isn't making it past Brett Rogers. This fight will most likely not happen, unless Brett Rogers decides to forego training his TD defense and/or goes anti-Jorge Gurgel and decides to pull guard. Also, here's a nice little tidbit of information I just learned from Wikipedia. "He is the only person in MMA history to test positive for anabolic

steroids three times." This also kind of lends credence to my "Barnett not making it past Rogers" theory because he probably won't ever get the chance. So let's connect some very weird dots and say this fight happens. What is Barnett's best chance to win here? Take Overeem down, of course. Can he? Nah. For that matter, what's Barnett's biggest win in the past two years? Rizzo? Yvel? I know what you're asking. "Hey man, what's Alistair Overeem's best win in the past two years?" It's Brett Rogers, and correct me if I'm wrong, but at the time those two fought, Rogers was ranked in the Top Ten. Long story short, Barnett is rusty and kind of a

can-crusher these days. He'll shoot a couple lazy double-legs, and probably clinch a few times. Then he's going out, hopefully with an awesome knee of some kind. Aren't knockouts via knee strikes the best ever?

Alistair Overeem via KO

ALISTAIR OVEREEM VS. BRETT ROGERS

This fight already happened, and I really don't see it panning out any differently in the rematch, and I'm not going to spend much time on it. Rogers has a puncher's chance in this fight. I personally think Arlovski would win against Rogers 8/10 times and just got caught. Rogers has legitimate skills, but he's just overmatched and outgunned, and the first fight proved it. The second will cement it.

Alistair Overeem via TKO (again)

So there you have it, my totally unofficial predictions for this tournament. The irony is that the person who might have the best chance to win this thing isn't even in the tournament. His name is Daniel Cormier. Is that ironic? Everyone uses that word wrong. Thanks for reading, everyone. Now hopefully Ubereem doesn't make me look dumb.

Head Kick Legend Feel Good Fighter of the Year: Peter Aerts

2011-01-12T19:00:00.006-05:00

Originally Posted on HeadKickLegend.com

Deciding the comeback fighter of the year was a pretty obvious choice. In a year where Badr Hari was unable to compete due to extenuating circumstances (Jail/Soccer Kicking Hedsy Gorges and thus being suspended by It's Showtime) and Remy Bojansky's future is unknown due to a potentially career ending eye injury, the K1 Heavyweight division was full of change in 2010. 2010 saw young fighters in Tyrone Spong and Ghokan Saki finally make the jump to elite fighters that everyone has been waiting for, while the old guard is finally moving on towards retirement.

2010 saw K1 crown a new Heavyweight champion in Kyotaro, a fighter that some hope will fill the void left by the retirement of Masato, who scored a fantastic highlight reel victory over the Dutch Lumberjack at the K1 Grand Prix in Yokahama. This, along with a lackluster 2009, caused many to question if Peter Aerts had still got "it". Aerts is a legend of the sport and had nothing left to prove, but the loss to Kyotaro definitely opened up some questions about his ability compete at the elite level. Rumors began to swirl that he would soon retire as he approached the wrong side of 40 and was unable to keep up with the new breed or faster, stronger, and more powerful fighters.

His fight against Kyotaro was lackluster. While Kyotaro is a skilled fighter with a powerful hook, he isn't an elite heavyweight kickboxer. Peter Aerts had slowed down and allowed a fighter who was not in his league to handily defeat him. You can see the fight below, it's a depressing look at a fighter who could not keep up with a younger fighter.

Fortunately, Aerts was able to secure a wild card slot for the K1 World Grand Prix Final 16 in Seoul. He drew Ewerton Teixeira, a fighter who also suffered a horrifying defeat at the hands of Alistair Overeem in 2009. The fight was fairly even through the first three rounds with the judges scoring the bout 30-30 x2 and 30-29 for a Majority Draw. In the extra round, Aerts put on the pressure and was able to unanimously defeat the Karate expert with all three judges scoring the round 10-9. To be honest, I felt like a Chicago Cubs fan, I was angry that Aerts had won as he was starting to get my hopes up that he could still compete at the highest level.

When the fighters drew their match-ups for the finals, the brackets were set up in a way to create a road for Semmy Schilt and Alistair Overeem to meet in the finals. While Aerts would face Mighty Mo and Schilt would face Kyotaro, it was pretty much assumed that Schilt would be making it to the finals. On the other side of the bracket, Daniel Ghita was set to face Ghokan Saki in an absolute war and Alistair Overeem would meet Ernesto Hoost protegee Tyrone Spong.

Aerts showed up for the Finals in tremendous shape, looking rock solid and comparable to the time when he earned his nickname "Mr. K1" during the 90s when he was K1 champion. In contrast, Mighty Mo was in noticeably awful shape and that was the difference. Aerts was one step ahead of Mo the entire bout and finished the fight with a beautiful headkick. Aerts was moving onto the semi finals to face Semmy Schilt in a fight that everyone expect him to lose.

His bout with Semmy Schilt is an all time classic. Coming into the fight, no one in the arena, including the commentary team of Mike Kogan, Michael Schiavello, and King Mo, had any expectation for the fight to be competitive. Schilt was the King of K1 and Aerts was a man who was fighting outside of his physical prime. It was a good story but the reality is that Aerts was fodder for Schilt to have another dominant run in the K1 tournament. 'The Dutch Lumberjack" didn't get the memo and worked Schilt over for three straight rounds, the third of which Semmy was sluggish and clinched up to avoid Aerts' hooks to the body and head. Aerts won the Majority Decision and would move onto the Finals to take on the Juggernaut known as Alistair Overeem.

The K1 World Grand Prix Finals were set and the feel good story ran its course. Overeem came out hard early and decimated Peter Aerts in under a minute. No one really expected much different but the crowd was definitely in Peter Aerts' corner. There were rumors swirling that this would be Peter's last Grand Prix and if it is true, he went out in spectacular fashion. He's the greatest K1 fighter of all time and defied the odds in 2010 to make it to the finals of the World Grand Prix.

Welcome to UD 2.0

2011-01-11T23:24:00.002-05:00

So at this point most of you know, I've moved on to other things. I'll pop in every so often but I'll be spending most of my time running HeadKickLegend.com on SBNation's network. With the new year we've undergone some changes. Both Marta and Deo have moved on deciding to focus on their real lives and jobs. My boy (I don't mean that in the racist sense) FakeEmcee put out the call and some answered. I'd like to spend this time to introduce the six new staff members who will continue the drunken ridiculousness that we started back in September.

From BloodyElbow we have 4 writers:

Tim Bernier

10PointMusn't

Matthew Parker

woomikee24

From Bad Left Hook:

bowers_a (I hope he does some boxing coverage as I think it would add a nice dynamic to a blog that focused solely on MMA).

And you guys all know Dev. He's now officially part of Unintelligent Defense.

I hope everyone enjoys what these guys bring to the future of the site and hope you also follow me and my crew on HeadKickLegend for all JMMA and Kickboxing coverage.

Xoxo

Matt Roth aka ThisRedEngine

Shitty MMA Gear: Team Carwin Shirt

2011-01-11T10:16:00.002-05:00

Photo via PerformanceMMA.com

So I figured that since it was announced today that Shane Carwin would like to return to action at UFC 131 I should make this installment of Shitty MMA Gear related to him.

Not all shitty MMA Gear has to be bedazzled, adorned with skulls and obnoxious font, extra medium, or absurdly tied to Jesus. I also doesnt have to have random swirlys, splatters and dribbles as though somebody ejaculated all over a distressed cotton t-shirt and then dumped glitter all over it. Sometimes, it is the message that makes something truly shitty.

"Team Carwin" is, what I can only assume, the MMA version of "Team Edward" and "Team Jacob" that I saw every tween, teen and desperately miserable adult woman declaring during the Twilight craze. On a side note, if you are a man, you do not like Twilight. If you are an alleged man, and you DO like Twilight.....I would like for you to step up to a guillotine and let the men of this world chop off your balls like the people of France chopped off Marie Antoinette's head.

Back to the focus:

If you are a fan of Shane Carwin's punching power, cardio, twitter schtick, sleep inducing interviews, alleged steroid history, 5XL gloves, his willingness to fight the band Taintstick or family man status you might be on Team Carwin. That's totally cool if you are. Just don't wear the shirt. Honestly, would any self respecting human want to mix their MMA with Twilight? I sincerely hope the answer is "no".

Pooring one out for our Fallen Friends.

2011-01-10T23:48:00.004-05:00

"It's so hard, to say goodbye, to yesterday."-Boyz 2 Men

The times they are a changing, but with that change comes improvement. Now we may have taken the world by storm over these last few months with our intellect and charm, but as invincible as we many seem even we have our own struggles to get through. Recently we've lost a good chunk of our staff, but we'll continue to keep marching on. You may figure we'll only get weaker, but I can assure you that now we'll only become more powerful than you can even imagine.

It's time to poor one out for our fallen comrades.

To Barack Lesnar-Your name was funny and your display picture creepy. Our time with you may have been short, but if it wasn't for you helping to create this blog in the first place the world may have never been introduced to me and how awesome I am. Peace out Homie.

To Marta_Gallo-You had boobies, we needed that to balance out this sausage-fest. I guess Matt is back to being the only vagina around this place. Peace out Homie.

And finally to Damon O.-You told me we were gonna run train on these Honkys forever, but I guess forever wasn't long enough. Peace out Homie.

For you all I shed a single tear...from my penis.

Dueces!

HeadKickLegend Movie Review: The Fighter

2011-01-10T21:31:00.002-05:00

I am a Micky Ward fan. He was my favorite boxer when I was growing up. I tend to follow the "blood and guts" type as they lay it all on the line and always put on a performance of a lifetime every time they step into the ring. When I found out they were making a biopic about his life, I was extremely excited. He has an incredible life story and his fights always ended up being complete wars, so logically, one would surmise that the movie would be just as riveting. Unfortunately, the movie was disappointing. There were highlights but overall, as a boxing fan and a Micky Ward fan, I wasn't impressed.

First, the positives for the movie. It was refreshing for the film to explore a bit of the life of Micky's brother, who was his trainer and inspiration to become a boxer. Christian Bale was phenomenal as Dicky Eklund, known as the "Pride of Lowell". Dicky Eklund is best known for his fight with "Sugar" Ray Leonard, where he lost a 10 round decision and had a questionable knockdown of the boxing great. The movie opens up with HBO filming him for what he says is his comeback fight. It turns out HBO is actually filming a documentary that aired in 1995 called "High on Crack Street: Lost Lives in Lowell". Bale does an incredible job as Eklund, physically changing to embrace the role as a crack addicted former boxer. Amy Adams and Melissa Leo are also great in their portrayals of Charlene Fleming and Alice Eklund, who are Micky's wife and mother.

Unfortunately, there are some legitimate complaints about this movie. The biggest one is that Mark Wahlberg is completely forgettable as Micky Ward. There was no difference in his portrayal of Micky Ward than his role in the Departed. It was essentially the same character with the same accent and mannerisms. There were also a ton of liberties taken when it came to the career of Micky Ward. The first bout featured in the movie is Micky's fight against Mike Mungin. The movie leads the viewer to believe that Micky's career was already on the rocks when it couldn't be further from the truth. At that point Ward was 18-1. The fight montage for Micky's return to form was completely made up. None of the fighters mentioned appear on Ward's fight record. The movie closes with his bout against Shea Neary. The dramatization of the fight has Neary work Wahlberg over for the entire fight only for the "Rocky Balboa comeback moment" where Wahlberg rallies back to win the fight at the last possible moment. I'll let Boxing Rec break down what actually happened...

In a competitive European televised WBU Lightweight title bout held in London, Irish Mickey Ward dominated 22-0 Shea Neary by moving forward with combinations the entire bout as the aggressor, with Neary backing up on the defensive and trying to counterpunch mostly ineffectively, holding alot and taking a beating. Nonetheless, Ward got decked from a clean right hook in the eighth round. However, Ward did a somersault on the canvas, got right up, and rallied to stop Neary in the same round. The bout had noteworthy contrasting colors. Ward wore green gloves, black trunks and black shoes. Neary wore yellow gloves, white trunks with black trim and white shoes.

The other major issue is that the movie doesn't touch upon the Gatti trilogy. Micky Ward's career was built upon his classic fights with Arturo Gatti. To finish the movie with some type face on explaining he had classic fights robs the viewer of an essential part of Ward's career.

Overall, I'd say its an enjoyable movie if you can put the liberties taken with Ward's career aside. It's definitely worth viewing for Bale's portrayal of Eklund, who puts on a classic performance. I suggest seeing this movie with an open mind.

Originally posted at my new home: Headkicklegend.com

Garcia vs Phan 2 at UFC Fight Night 24

2011-01-10T19:29:00.005-05:00

Photo courtesy of MMA Junkie:

The guys at MMA Weekly bring word that featherweights Leonard Garcia and Nam Phan are set to rematch at UFC Fight Night 24 in Seattle. The two previously fought at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale back in December where everyone but three people at the Pearl of the Palms believed Phan had done enough to earn a decision victory as evidenced by Garcia's coach Greg Jackson's reaction to the decision:

Gif courtesy of the Nerd Society

I believe Phan will do everything he can to keep the rematch out of the hands of the judges this time around. No word yet as to whether the fight will be televised or not.

Jits: Caveman-Jitsu Prevails

2011-01-03T23:10:00.010-05:00

This post courtesy of Dev over at devbjj.blogspot.com

Photo via windsorstar.com

Clay Guida has always been known for his wrestling, but not many people comment much on his awesome jiu jitsu. I think they might start after Saturday night.

Yeah, he won 60,000 clams for “Submission of the Night” with his attempt to rip Takanori Gomi’s head and spine right out of his body, but the sexiness of the technique he used is more subtle than that.

Guida started out by single-leg manhandling Gomi to the ground (was anyone else as impressed as I was by Gomi’s takedown defense up to that point? That is a slippery little bastard).

Gomi used a combination of wrestling setups (posting his arm inside Guida’s leg) and solid jits (controlling the wrist) to prevent getting man-crushed from underneath Guida’s top half guard), and he utilized a really cool trick of switching his control leg on Guida’s trapped leg to keep him there while Guida tried to pass. Gomi almost popped out once, but Caveman-Jitsu took over and Guida took him back to the ground.

I like how Gomi controlled Guida’s wrist from underneath. Most of the other jits-centric fights on the card involved guys gunning for the kimura from bottom half guard (or bottom side control, in the case of Jeremy Stephens). Gomi, however, wasn’t trying to get the kimura – he was doing an awesome job of preventing Guida’s shoulder from rearranging his face like happened to Brandon Vera (although in fairness that was a Brazilian fist, not a shoulder). Anyway. By holding Guida’s wrist way down by his legs, Gomi prevents the crossface, and gives himself plenty of space from which to work.

Unfortunately for Gomi, MONGO SMASH. Guida used brute strength to move up on Gomi’s body, then popped him a couple times in the face with backward elbows (like a shoulder strike, except weirder) to get him to let go of that hand. Then, because he was up high, instead of trying to flatten Gomi with the crossface, he looped his arm over Gomi’s head. From half guard, this could be either a setup or just an attempt to do something with his arm. Either way, it turned into a setup.

Now here’s the cool part of what Guida did. He used a concept that takes awhile to gather from jiu jitsu – top mount is almost identical to being in bottom full guard. There are some significant differences, sure, the main one being that you have much more freedom of motion, but for the most part, the leg and arm positions are the same.

A guillotine choke is strongest from inside your full guard, because as you pull up on the neck, you can push your opponent’s body down with your legs. You also prevent him from moving to the side, which takes your forearm off his neck. You can do it from half guard, but it’s not nearly as effective.

Guida, once he decided to commit to the guillotine, knew he had to get to full mount…OR full guard. Either one works. So as he slid his leg out of Gomi’s half guard, Gomi rolled him easily. Except Guida had the same position, just upside down, and the roll allowed him to get that leg free. And he squeezed Gomi’s little head like a zit. Awesome. And apparently worth $60,000.

Wicked Awesome MMA Tattoo: Thiago Silva

2011-01-02T19:31:00.005-05:00

photo via tattooblues.blogspot.com. The place Thiago is getting the back piece done is Tattoo Blues in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Thiago Silva made his first Octagon appearance in 364 days last night and a few things were apparent:

1. He has not lost his aggressive style that has made him so popular.

2. He has either been hanging out with hippies or watching John Stamos in The Beach Boys video for "Kokomo" on a continuous loop because Brandon Vera's shoulder blades inspired him to play the bongos as a prelude to some vicious open handed strikes that I am sure made Sakuraba a happy camper.

3. He has been spending a lot of time in the chair getting a beast of a tattoo on his massive back.

Although it is only partially complete, it is already clear that this tattoo is very well done and will be a great finished product. It's a shame that the warrior has to share a canvas with that small Geico gecko on his right shoulder blade but shit happens and shit.

Congratulations to you, Thiago Silva. You made a triumphant return to the UFC last night, you made Brandon Vera capable of smelling his own eyeball, and you are the owner of a Wicked Awesome MMA Tattoo.

UFC 125 Aftermath

2011-01-02T01:42:00.003-05:00

photo via SBNation.com

-Thiago Silva is not only a fighter, he is a musician. I have not seen bongo skills like that since John Stamos in a Beach Boys video. I really wish he would have finished Vera. I guess I will have to settle for him being completely dominant in his first fight in nearly a year.

-Brandon Vera is done. He is also the only human being alive that can do a line of coke off his own ass.

- Edgar v. Maynard was a draw. Frankie won 2, 4 and 5. Gray won 1 (10-8) and 3. It really sucks for Gray but much like Jason Brilz and Evan Dunham last year, his career will benefit greatly through defeat.

-Clay Guida was bouncing around like a goddamn idiot and it seemed to really throw Gomi off. I didn't think Clay was gonna be able to do it, especially when his strikes were all barely landing. It seemed like he couldn't find his range but he ended up getting his 3rd submission victory in a row.

-Brian Stann killed a zombie. It was a damn impressive performance and I have decided I cannot hate him any longer.

-Buff Bagwell, I mean Phil Baroni, is now a .500 fighter. See ya.

- Will somebody figure out that you DO NOT go to the ground with Daniel Roberts?

Overall, I thought it was a very good card. It also gave me back my man points I lost the night before when I went and watched Black Swan. Thanks to the UFC, I got my balls back!!!!

UFC 125 Shitty MMA Gear Challenge Results

2011-01-02T01:23:00.006-05:00

UFC 125 is in the history books. None of us picked very well. Winning this challenge was like winning the NFC West. Let's get to it.

Gold Medal
MDH and Marta Gallo (5-5-1)

Shitty MMA Gear Medal
Matt aka Thisredengine (3-7-1)

Here are the delightful garments Matt will be wearing:

It should definitely be noted that L.A. Fields and Damon tied at 5-5-1 in the "Are Only White People Stupid Enough To Participate In The Challenges? Consolation Bracket".

Pictures forthcoming after UFC 126.

UD Guest Spot: The Embarrassment of Josh Thomson

2011-01-01T13:42:00.005-05:00

This is a guest column by my man Dev from devbjj.blogspot.com. Expect more of these in the future because the man has the BJJ knowledge that I do not and quite honestly, if he is as big of a smartass as I am, I am really gonna be pissed because I can't do anything about it. I'm fairly certain he can break me into little tiny pieces.

I don’t know if the title of this article is fair, quite honestly. I like Josh Thomson. I like watching him fight, and I think he’s pretty frigging awesome, particularly on the BJJ side (9 of his 18 wins are by submission). He was just awarded his black belt in June by Dave Camarillo, so there’s no denying he’s got some slick moves on the mat.

On the other hand, Tatsuya Kawajiri is no slouch on the ground. While he got his foot damn near ripped off by Shinya Aoki in July at DREAM 15, he’s effectively outwrestled (more than out-jiu jitsu’d) some pretty significant dudes. “Crusher” is a pretty appropriate nickname, because he’s not a submission machine, but he’s got excellent wrestling-to-beat-jits. I’d call it “defensive” jiu jitsu, except he was “offensively” bitch-slapping Thomson through positional improvement on the ground for pretty much the whole fight.

So I want to mention two jits-related aspects of this fight.

The first one is mount control. Kawajiri started out by knee-sliding like Rickey Henderson right out of Thomson’s half guard (3:15-3:25 on the Youtube vid). And he went right to mount, which is commendable against a guy like Thomson. Once Kawajiri got to mount, he used a pretty sexy trick to keep Thomson’s legs contained – he leg triangled them.

This isn’t a new concept, by any means. It’s the same leg position you use in a triangle choke, and you see it used a lot around the mid-section (a body triangle) when guys have back control (because it sucks). But to control the legs? You just don’t see it a whole lot.

Thomson did the only thing he could do – he kicked his legs like a 4-year-old throwing a tantrum, and attacked Kawajiri’s fist with his face. In fairness, he tried using his underhook to get out, but Kawajiri’s wrestling is WAY better than that. Thomson finally got his knees out by squirming into butterfly guard.

The second thing Kawajiri did is make Thomson look virtually incompetent by passing his guard over and over and over. I don’t know Thomson’s jiu jitsu game, but it looked to me like he was trying to get out to the side a lot, and from half guard (especially with an underhook, which he worked for a lot) this can be a good thing.

The problem with it is that anytime you’re on your side, your bottom leg is vulnerable to pass because you’ve limited its range of motion. Kawajiri exploited this multiple times, including the example above (the first pass at 3:15), but also in the second round with a variation on a technique called the Tozi Pass (also called a São Paulo pass or a Godoi pass), made famous by Roberto Tozi.

Here’s a great link to some Youtube vids that show the technique:

http://dutchassassinbjj.blogspot.com/2008/12/sao-paulotozigodoi-pass-redux.html

Basically, Kawajiri gets his hips up and shoves his chest into Thomson’s face. Then he drops quickly to the side, which turns Thomson’s hips and blocks that bottom leg against the mat. The key here, though, is pressure on the upper body – for it to work, he needs to twist Thomson’s body with his shoulders one way and his hips the other way.

If he comes that far off to the side with no upper body control, Thomson can easily come out the side, take his back, and strangle his ass.

Kawajiri keeps his underhook in this case, which is good, because that’s precisely what Thomson is thinking – and nearly accomplishes, almost taking Kawajiri’s back. But Kawajiri’s gorilla strength and pressure with his arm and shoulder (and kind of an upside-down whizzer) barely keep Thompson underneath.

(Youtube vid 10:06 – 10:29 shows the whole sequence.)

Intriguingly, Thomson didn’t transition at all to attack the arm that Kawajiri left out – during a Tozi pass if you don’t tuck that arm, you can succumb to a lot of attacks from the exact position that Thomson was trying to work from earlier – you could call it “side guard” (Cobrinha has a whole series of sequences from this position if you’re interested).

I say all this as a shoulda-coulda-woulda, but I’ve never been punched in the face while trying to pull it off. I have to imagine that changes your perspective slightly.

Don’t let this half-assed analysis indicate that I think Josh Thomson isn’t awesome – he is, and he showed some really strong moves on the ground and a lot of situational awareness. But the simple fact is that yesterday, Tatsuya Kawajiri out jiu jitsu’d the jiu jitsu guy. Repeatedly.

Predictions: UFC 125 Resolution - Shitty MMA Gear Challenge

2011-01-01T01:59:00.001-05:00

image via fightinginsider.com

UFC 125 is on New Year's Day and the Lightweight Title is on the line. We will have a RESOLUTION!

Since this is UD and we have consequences for poor fight predictions, here are the stakes for the first card of the year:
The last place finisher will have to purchase the Shitty MMA Shirt of the winner's choosing. The loser will then have to wear said shirt to the sports bar for UFC 126 and take photos to be posted on this very blog. On with the show:

Marta

Pick:Maynard
Opinion:Edgar is always going to be undersized, we know that. Edgar is great at sticking and moving, using his speed to make up for his lack of size. However that doesn't matter when you have a bigger superior wrestler laying on top of you.
How It Will End:UD

Pick:Leben
Opinion:Other than Anderson Silva no one stops the Zombie Leben, well maybe the Hawaii police too...Leben will win the striking enchanges and take the decision.
How It Will End:UD

Pick:Silva
Opinion:If this was my first fight back after having my face rearranged by Jon Jones, I might be a little hesitant with striking. Silva by über violence.
How It Will End:TKO

Pick:Guida
Opinion:Guida is an Energizer Bunny, he will avoid Gomi's big shot by bouncing around like one. The wildman Guida and his iron chin are going to grind this one out.
How It Will End:UD

Pick:Diaz
Opinion:I can't help it, I like the Diaz brothers. This is a considerable step up for Stun Gun and his judo will help him neutralize Nate's ground game but it isn't going to be enough. Dirty boxing and reppin the 209 to victory.
How It Will End:Decision

Pick:Davis
Opinion:This may just be wishful thinking, but I think Davis has be reenergized at 155 and has a few good fights left in him.
How It Will End:TKO

So thankful I have crappy ION TV....

Pick:Grispi
Opinion:He is on a 10-fight winning streak and was originally scheduled to face Aldo. He's on fire, and this will be Dustin Poirier first try at featherweight, I just can't see Grispi losing this fight.
How It Will End:TKO

Pick:Tavares
Opinion:There isn't a lot to base this on, other than Tavares wrestling and I'm assuming he has the better cardio.
How It Will End:UD

Pick:Nunes
Opinion:Although he has 6 wins by submission I am hoping he utilizes some kickboxing to win this one. Brown is more experienced but this is his first time at featherweight and Nunes is a gamer.
How It Will End:TKO

Pick:Roberts
Opinion:Ninja is going to get this fight to the ground and I expect a slick sub.
How It Will End:Sub

Pick:McKee
Opinion:Victim number one for Mandingo, Jacob Volkmann
How It Will End:UD

MDH

Pick: Gray "The Bully" Maynard
Opinion: Gray has already taken Frankie out and I think he is going to do it again. Get ready for a 25 minute viewing party of Gray's tramp stamp because Edgar is spending this night on his back.
How It Will End: Unanimous Decision

Pick: Chris "The Crippler" Leben
Opinion: Brian Stann his Slipknot and pointless tribal tattoos (which tribe you ask? Honky Tribe) are going to be sent packing back to the lower tier of 185. Hopefully before Chris puts him to sleep he tells him the name of his tattoo artist. It would be a nice thing to do.
How It Will End: KO Round 2

Pick: Thiago Silva
Opinion: Vera is fresh off getting his eye socket caved in by Jon Jones and if he wasn't gun shy before, he damn sure will be now. Silva sends Brandon Vera to Strikeforce here.
How It Will End: TKO Round 2

Pick: Takanori Gomi
Opinion: It pains me to pick against Clay but I think Gomi is going to give "The Carpenter" the Tyson Griffin treatment.
How It Will End: KO Round 1

Pick: Dong Hyun Kim
Opinion: This one is tough. Dong Hyun Kim is coming back from Tommy John surgery and Nate Diaz is returning to the cage after lumping Marcus Davis up. Kim is undefeated still and although Nate is on a roll since moving to 170, I think Dong takes this via Judo.
How It Will End: Split Decision

Pick: Jeremy Stephens
Opinion: Marcus is making his 155lb debut here and I don't know how the cut is going to treat him but I know Jeremy has the quickness on him and that will be enough.
How It Will End: Unanimous Decision

Pick: Josh Grispi
Opinion: After Jose Aldo pulled out of the title fight Grispi decided to fight another guy instead of wait for Jose to heal. Hopefully that doesn't bite him in the ass and simultaneously give Rashad Evans' approach credibility.
How It Will End: Unanimous Decision

Pick: Brad Tavares
Opinion: Baroni is one loss away from being .500 for his career. Tavares evens up his career record and sends him to the unemployment line.
How It Will End: NYBA Special - Lactic Carwinosis.

Pick: Mike Brown
Opinion: Brutalization.
How It Will End: TKO Round 1

Pick: Daniel Roberts
Opinion: After seeing Roberts choke the shit out of Mike Guymon in person at UFC 121 I feel like we can add this one to the highlight reel. SOTN here.
How It Will End: Submission Round 2

Pick: Antonio McKee
Opinion: So McKee finally gets to the big show. It is certainly well deserved and I think he makes a dominant debut.
How It Will End: Unanimous Decision

Matt

Pick: Frankie Edgar
Opinion: This is a shot in the dark to be honest. Frankie is coming into this fight as the smaller fighter. I'm making this pick for one reason, Maynard has never been in the championship rounds and I think that makes the difference.
How: Split Decision

Pick: Chris Leben
Opinion: Brian Stann needs to stop trying to compare himself to Leben. Yes, you both have shitty head movement, but Leben is a zombie. He will walk through your powderpuff punches and plant his own on your chin.
How: KO in round 2

Pick: Thiago Silva
Opinion: I'm sick and tired of hearing that we'll see the "old Brandon Vera" and expect the over rated Thiago Silva to be more than Vera can handle.
How: KO in round 2

Pick: Kim
Opinion: This is a shot in the dark, really I flipped a coin.
How: Decision

Pick: Gomi
Opinion: Guida is taylor made for Gomi. Unless Gomi can't keep pace which he can, this is a highlight reel fight for the Fireball Kid.
How: KO round 2

Pick: Stephens
Opinion: I really hate Marcus Davis. Honestly, everything about his face just makes me hate him.
How: Stoppage via cuts

Pick: Grispi
Opinion: This is a great fight to introduce the young featherweight to the world. Grispi is being molded to take on Aldo and this is a highlight fight.
How: However he wants.

Pick: The Best EVA!
Opinion: He's the man!
How: YEAAAAAH!!!

Pick: Brown
Opinion: I'm not sure where his mind is at, he had some personal problems in the fight against Gamburyan but hopefully he's turned a corner.
How: KO

Pick: Soto
Opinion: I'm a Pelligrino MMA guy, can't not pick him.
How: New Jersey!!!

Pick: McKee
Opinion: He's gonna wrestlerape Volkmann for 3 rounds
How: TKO RD3

See you all after the event!

Happy New Years Charlie...screw it.

2010-12-31T23:47:00.015-05:00

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another year gone by...whatever. Another year down the toilet is what it is. You know I'm in the exact same position I was when the year started? Huh, did you know that? Well you know now friend...CAUSE I AM! No job (and in turn no money), still living with my parents (who just made me sign up for mother fucking welfare), no girlfriend (given the previously listed set of circumstances should that really be all that hard to believe). So yeah, that's my life. Let me tell you something, everything I tried this year I never went about finishing. Haven't kept up with juggling, didn't keep up with learning Chinese, gave up on myspace, didn't even try on facebook, and I didn't even bother putting your mother in that headlock like I promised her. I don't even know how I've managed to remain part of this blog for so long (probably because I can go long stretches of time without actually doing anything and still keep all my blogging privileges). I mean I could try drinking myself to death but who am I kidding? I'd probably just end up quitting halfway through and just winding up with a massive hangover the next day (plus I loathe the taste of alcohol more than I do Wocka Flocka Flame fans). Plus I...wait a minute, I just caught a glimpse of this Achmed puppet ringtone commercial on TV. Why is Jeff Dunham so famous again? I mean really, he seems like a nice enough guy but come on. You know what, I just came up with my own wacky character people. He's named Socky the talking fucking sock puppet, so how bout you give me millions of dollars and my own pilot on Comedy Central now? It's not like getting a show on Comedy Central would even be all that impressive of a feat nowadays anyway. They'd probably give that Mexican guy on the side of the road selling oranges a show if he ever said one humorous thing in his entire existence (they pretty much already did with Carlos Mencia, only difference is I'd actually rather consider giving the guy with the oranges money for his trade despite the guaranteed Salmonella to accompany it).

Now I know what you're saying "Hey Lelan buddy don't be such a pessimist, you should just try to consider the glass half full!" Oh yeah, well you should consider your mouth half full...with...with my penis. Yeah, how bout that? Took you down a notch didn't I. So I don't know what you people do on new years, go shoot some fireworks up a cat's rectum or get drunk and have an "excuse" for putting the moves on that slutty half-sister of yours. Me, I'm gonna be home drinking this apple cider (like a big boy) and enjoying the bubbly diarrhea which it always gives me in the end.

So Happy New Years Charlie Brown you bald bastard you should be depressed. You're 10 years old with male pattern baldness and you're the least respected member of the Peanuts gang, and they're all a bunch of squares (except Snoopy and Woodstock by association). But seriously...we are all one year closer to death.

Non-MMA Video Of The Day

2010-12-30T00:03:00.004-05:00

Some people need bigger sickness bags.....other people may need to stay on solid ground.

Interview of the Day: Maximo Blanco

2010-12-28T12:18:00.004-05:00

Our friend (Matthew Benyon) over at TheGrapplingDummy.com just posted this interview with the human embodiment of violence known as Maximo Blanco. It's crazy how he can be so nice and then turn into a murderous fiend in the ring.

My Personal Year In Review: UFC in 2010 - Part Deux

2010-12-27T02:18:00.016-05:00

When we last spoke Rich Franklin had just put Chuck Liddell to sleep. Onward!!!

Court McGee won the Team Liddell vs Team Ortiz/Franklin season of The Ultimate Fighter. I was happy for him. Matt Hamill also defeated The Dean Of Mean. Keith was cut after losing the fight and Matt went to the doctor to get his hideous, pus-filled, staph volcano tramp stamp treated.

UFC 116 marked the return of Brock Lesnar to the Octagon. I could not afford tickets to the event but I was determined to be part of the event. So I packed my girlfriend and mother into the car and drove to Vegas. We went to The Buffet at The Bellagio. It was fuckin awesome. Seriously, some of the best food I have ever eaten. The next day we went to the Autograph Session and Weigh Ins. Brief encounters with Kenny Florian, Cain Velasquez and Clay Guida were all nice. Clay might be the nicest dude I have ever met. I also made myself an internet celebrity of enormous proportions with this little number:

Brock Lesnar then went on to get the bejesus beaten out of him for a full round only to come back and submit a thoroughly exhausted Shane Carwin in the 2nd round. Zombie Leben also had an epic battle with Zombihiro Akiyama. Those two fights were fucking bananas and I was glad I got to experience some of the festivities.

The UFC had another card on Versus and Jon Jones elbowed The Janitor into oblivion. This card happened.

The UFC went to Oakland in August. I also went to Oakland in August. I got to watch some great fights three rows from the top of the Oracle Arena. Stefan Struve had a fantastic come from behind victory over Christian Morecraft. Matt Hughes choked Ricardo Almeida to sleep and prompted my girlfriends expert commentary of "Look! His butt just flopped over!". Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen had a title fight for the ages and I was honored to be there. Furthermore, I got engaged the night before the fights. Hooray for ME!

UFC 118 was in Boston and had a few good moments: Gabe Ruediger gave Joe Lauzon a cake at the weigh ins and Joe took it home, shined it up real nice, turned it sideways AND STUCK IT STRAIGHT UP GABE RUEDIGER'S CANDY ASS! Seriously, it was an absolute mauling and I loved every second of it. James Toney made his "long awaited" UFC debut and promptly got tooled by Randy Couture. Randy also received his BJJ black belt after the fight. Fuck man, somebody get Neil Melanson on the phone and tell him I just successfully velcro'd my shoes and am waiting patiently for MY black belt. In the nights main event, Frankie Edgar took him his 2nd straight unanimous decision victory over Baby Jay Penn. The rematch was so one sided. Edgar went out there and made BJ look slower than dog shit rolling uphill.

Nate Marquardt was definitely not greased bro in his fight against Rousimar Palhares at UFC Fight Night. Cole Miller got another submission victory and a star was born when Charles "Do Bronx" Oliveira tapped Efrain Escudero right out of the UFC.

UFC 119 was the MMA equivalent of finding out your mom starred in "2 Girls 1 Cup". The only fight on the main card worth a damn was Evan Dunham v. Sean Sherk. I still think Dunham got hosed but it was close enough that I wasn't too mad Sherk got the nod. The loss didn't matter. This was Evan Dunham's coming out party. Frank Mir and Mirko Cro Cop hugged it out in the final bout of the night. The fight was so bad that even a double knockout due to simultaneous spontaneous human combustion wouldn't have saved that shit sammich. Frank's KO of Mirko was the ONLY KNOCKOUT OF THE NIGHT and it STILL didn't win knockout of the night. C'mon Man!

UFC 120 was held in jolly old England and a lot of shit went down. James McSweeney was finally expelled from the UFC and not a moment too soon. I need to be homies with Rashad Evans so I can get a couple UFC paydays. Apparently that is all it takes! Cheick Kongo cheated his way to a draw with Travis Browne, Michael Bisping beat Sexyama in the main event of the evening as well. The real highlight of the night was Carlos Condit's vicious KO of Dan Hardy. Condit hit him with a fuckin missile that made Robert Downey Jr. very happy in pants:

UFC 121 was at Honda Center and thanks to Dana White and Chuck Liddell being great big sweethearts I was able to go for free. I was thrilled to get to see my favorite fighter Brock Lesnar compete in person. Sadly for me, Cain Velasquez opened up a huge, gaping vagina on his face and TKO'd him for the championship. I was sad to see such a savage beating of Brock, but I enjoyed myself immensely singing "Enter Sandman" and doing the intro with Bruce Buffer word for word. My favorite fight of the night was Diego Sanchez v. Paulo Thiago.

UFC 122 happened. Nate Marquardt blew it. Dennis Siver did very bad things to Andre Winner.

Rampage Jackson made his 2nd post B.A. Baracus appearance in the octagon at UFC 123 against Lyoto Machida and won the fight somehow. Whatever, I guess. BJ Penn put Matt Hughes on ice mere seconds into their trilogy fight and the fun didn't end there! Phil Davis impressed once again with a ridiculous submission of Tim Boetsch, George Sotiropoulos took J-Lo's arm back down under with him and even Karo Parysian showed up and got knocked out in a sad fight. The most lasting impact this card had was that Gerald Harris got beat and was cut after the fight. the internet went into a tail spin and people got mega butthurt for reasons that still elude me.

Jonathan Brookins became the newest Ultimate Fighter and certainly became the ultimate fighter with the prettiest hair of all time (sorry Amir). Leonard Garcia beat Nam Phan in a fight he totally deserved to win. In a related story, this suit is NOT BLACK!

The UFC ended the year in style with UFC 124. I watched it at a friendly neighborhood Hooters that was staffed with mediocre at best looking women. Thankfully the fights were not as ugly as the wait staff. Sean McCorkle got shut up by Stefan Struve, Jim Miller and Mark Bocek both got SWEET submission victories and Georges St. Pierre jabbed Josh Koscheck right onto the operating table. If only I didn't have to stare at all the wildebeests that worked at the sports bar it would have been a perfect night.

That is all I have for the UFC Yearbook. Thanks for reading and feel free to share your personal favorite moments in the comments section. HUGS!

My Personal Year In Review: UFC in 2010 - Part One

2010-12-26T22:21:00.017-05:00

The year started off with the much maligned UFC 108. My memories of this event are how Sam Stout teed off on Creepy Joe Lauzon at will. It was crazy to hear Sam's corner yell out combos and watch him land every single time. Cole Miller locked up the year's first candidate for Submission of the Year in his victory over Dan Lauzon and his retarded neck tattoo.

Shortly after that, the UFC had the balls to trick me into thinking Mark Coleman could defeat Randy Couture. I don't know if it was nostalgia, stupidity or video packages of "The Hammer" showing off his startling Muay Thai but I was definitely pulling for Coleman here. Alas, he canceled Christmas in vain and got RNC'd by "The Natural". To make matters worse, Tito Ortiz's colossal cranium started yelling at him after the fight. Too bad Coleman got cut and we never got to see that fight......I guess.

Cain Velasquez then knocked out the corpse of Minotauro Nogueira in the main event of the UFC's first Australian card. OH and Michael Bisping totally beat Wanderlei Silva and was absolutely fucking robbed by the dumb judges who just sat there and saw Mike lose the 2nd and 3rd rounds decisively. This fight birthed one of my favorite .gifs of the year.

Jon Jones claimed his first victim of 2010 in Brandon Vera when Bones hit him with an absolutely disgusting elbow from inside Vera's guard. It sounded like someone stepped on a piece of glass and made the right side of Vera's face flatter than Arianny Celeste's pancake butt.

At UFC 111 Shane Carwin marched his totally never had a needle rammed in it ass into New Jersey and knocked Frank Mir's chin pubes into the stratosphere with brutal uppercuts and some strikes to the back of the head. The strikes to the back of the head were totally cool, bro. Tan Dan stood there and watched them go so it's all good. Georges St. Pierre also made another Welterweight look incredibly silly as he dominated Dan Hardy for 25 minutes.

Takanori Gomi made his UFC debut this year and boy was it ever underwhelming. I was really hoping Gomi would end this shit quickly so I wouldn't have to endure Keith Florian's yelling and screaming monkey ass all night. Roy Nelson also knocked out Stefan Struve in a body shape mindfuck of a Heavyweight fight.

Anderson Silva filmed his pilot episode of Pants Off Dance Off: Abu Dhabi at UFC 112 and Frankie Edgar defeated BJ Penn for the Lightweight strap in the same night. Apparently it sucked and everyone was totallhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify pissed yo.

The UFC went to Montreal twice this year. The first trip was UFC 113 and it was a great night of fights. Unless you were named Jason MacDonald and you broke your leg defending a takedown. Thankfully, John Salter celebrated his TKO victory over The Athlete in classy fashion by acting like he just won the Middleweight Title, the Super Bowl, MegaBucks and On-Demand Blowjobs for life all at once. After that, Patrick Cote got Pedigree'd by Alan Belcher, Matt Mitrione saved us from Kimbo Slice, Paul Daley got booted out of the UFC for punching Josh Koscheck after 15 minutes of missionary style coitus and Shogun Rua destroyed both Lyoto Machida and his knee (again) in less than a round to capture the UFC Light-Heavyweight Title.

UFC 114: Black On Black Crime was next on the calendar and Rashad Evans beat "Quittin" Jackson. The Main Event didn't deliver but everything else did. John Hathaway flat out embarrassed Diego Sanchez, Jason Brilz and Little Nog had an excellent fight in what was almost a phenomenal upset. and Mike Russow channeled his inner Homer Simpson in a crazy KO victory over TODDDUFFEE!. It was, in a word: Bop.

The UFC rumbled into Vancouver in June and had to deal with a bunch of uppity folks with beady eyes and flapping heads that didn't want "human cockfighting" in their fine city. Some dickhole fan stole fighter's hats and Ben Rothwell's napkin during entrances as a sign of goodwill. As for the fights, Carlos Condit scored a buzzer beater TKO victory over Rory MacDonald. Pat Barry got to second base with Cro Cop before breaking his hand, breaking his foot and getting choked into submission and Rich Franklin knocked Chuck Liddell the fuck out after Chuck broke Rich's arm with a kick. Chuck hasn't fought since, thank God.

Join me later this week for Part Two! Thanks for reading this.

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown!

2010-12-24T19:11:00.007-05:00

Good evening UD community, hows it been since last we met? Yeah that's great, listen I'm gonna need to cut you off though cause I kind of have more important things to get to, but good talk. As UD's resident Christian (oh noes, RELIGION!) now hold on...hold on wait a second, unroll those eyes friend I'm not here to pass out pamphlets or anything (although I do have a few fliers if you're interested). I'm simply here to wish you all a Merry Christmas (and to everybody who may not choose to participate, Happy...Saturday I guess).

Now is the day to celebrate the birth of our Lord (oh yeah, that Jesus thing does have something to do with it). I mean, at this point it's pretty much common knowledge that Jesus wasn't born anywhere near this time of year, he's actually projected to have been born around the summer season closer to late June. It's also known at this point that the holiday itself borrows heavily from the Pagan winter festival known as Yule as well as some other early celebrations of the Sun. Did you know mistletoe actually has it's fair share of Pagan ties itself? It's also known as a parasitic plant that's a major hindrance to the timber industry. So yeah, think on that the next time you're smooching on the Lord's inaccurately placed birthday. Oh, and don't even get me started on the whole Santa Claus gimmick, just a small part in the attempt of taking something sacred and making it about greed and consumerism (you know, the way the Illuminati really wants it). Do you think the original Saint Nicholas is thrilled about the idea of his name forever being associated with the attempt to show up Jesus on his on his own B-day? He's probably rolling in his grave, or tomb, or sarcophagus...whatever they did with dead people back then.

You know what, this is all beyond the point. The point is that no matter where your beliefs may lay I wish you the happiest of holiday seasons. So have a merry Christmas, a happy Hanukkah (didn't that start recently? Whatever, Matthew's Jewish or something ask him about it), and I don't know...have a jolly Kwanzaa or whatever it is you're supposed to say (it doesn't matter anyway, black people only kind of pretend to care about that one and it's mainly just to throw white people off).

Enjoy yourselves, it's a celebration!

Jonathan Brookins' TUF Finale Experience

2010-12-24T15:41:00.004-05:00

He certainly has a long way to go as a fighter, but he's passionate about what he does and seems like a genuinely likable guy. Snapwell Films did an awesome job on this one.

JonathanBrookins.com

Track of the Day: Tea Leaf Dancers

2010-12-22T13:09:00.001-05:00

If you can't tell by now, I'm a Flying Lotus Fan.

Shitty MMA Gear: Jesus Didn't Tap - Blue Lion Fight Shorts

2010-12-21T21:44:00.007-05:00

image via mmaoverload.com

Okay, I will admit that I like the colors of these shorts. That is the end of what I like about these shorts. Jesus Didn't Tap is a silly concept to me in all honesty. First of all, tapping was not a submission signal two thousand years ago. Second of all, Jesus didn't tap because he was nailed to the cross! He could have air tapped like James Toney but Jesus is way to cool for that shit. Furthermore, we ALL know that tapping is for bitches. Jesus may or may not be a lot of things. He may not have been real, he may not have been the son of God. He may even have been the original hippie but he damn sure wasn't a bitch.

Please do not purchase such heinous garments. If you do wear this shit your mom should be slapped for providing half of your DNA. If your mom is dead, her body should be exhumed and she should be hit harder than Kane hit Katie Vick. Oh yeah, I know some wrestling too motherfuckers!

Seriously though, don't buy it. Even Jesus would be pissed at you.

MMA Highlight Video of the Day

2010-12-21T15:20:00.000-05:00