Post Fight For The Troops 2 cuts

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

(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?

(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?

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?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

"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!

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?

They Should Have Never Gave You Niggas Twitter!

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?"

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

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

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

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.