IronSport

Interview with Marcelo Garcia!

2008-11-20T13:57:00.000-08:00

I just got an email back from someone who works for Marcelo about an email I sent them a while ago. Marcelo will let me do an interview over the phone, so now I'm fishing for additional questions.

If anybody has questions that they want me to ask, either post a comment or shoot me an email: josh@mmaopinion.com.

UFC 91 Conference Call

2008-11-06T11:57:00.000-08:00

Alright, so the recap of the UFC 91 conference call is posted on FightTicker. I suggest everybody go check it out.

The content is for Pramit, so I'm just referring people back to the site to check it out and post comments.

MMAOpinion Podcast: Pre-UFC 91 and WEC 36

2008-11-05T09:15:00.001-08:00

Alright, so I have a lot going on this week. I put out an issue of the podcast (or subscribe on iTunes).

Check out the article coming out in the upcoming issue of Fighters Only for my piece on the future of jiu-jitsu in MMA.

MMAOpinion Podcast: UFC 89, EXC and UFC 90 Preview

2008-10-23T13:58:00.000-07:00

Alright, the seventh episode of the podcast is up on the site, and on iTunes.

I'll be putting all of the episodes of the podcast up on the youtube channel over the next few days, so keep your eyes open.

Dana White Smashes EXC and they Died

2008-10-23T10:55:00.001-07:00

Priceless

Footage From Helio Gracie's 95th Birthday

2008-10-22T14:17:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of the Gracie Academy youtube channel.

Pre UFC 90 Vlog

2008-10-20T16:34:00.001-07:00

Post UFC 89 Thoughts

2008-10-19T14:27:00.001-07:00

UFC 90 stuff will be up soon.

Picks for UFC 89

2008-10-16T12:57:00.000-07:00

This is the first post for the new MMAOpinion vlog. Please subscribe if you haven't already.

Anderson Silva's Retirement: The Most Important Issue of our Generation

2008-10-15T21:52:00.000-07:00

I have posted a full piece at MMAOpinion, but the text is also below.

Anderson Silva has announced plans to retire in 2009, and the reality is that, while he may continue through six more fights (as those six fights remain on his UFC contract), there seems to be a coherent rational for his retirement. When I first heard the news, I was shocked, and almost considered calling Anderson Silva out as delusional. After all, a fighter who says “my time is over” while still ranked the #1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and considered to be one of the greatest athletes on the planet, must suffer from some kind of delusion.

The reality, though, is that most media outlets aren’t talking about the whole story, and the casual fan who reads the news off of sherdog may come to believe that Anderson is, as I did upon hearing the statement, absolutely insane. When one watched the full tape of the interview (which is linked in that article, though the translations are incomplete), the logic is lucid, crystal.

There are fighters who’s weaknesses are exposed, who’s games are picked apart by the architects of the sport, the great minds who find the fighter’s kryptonite, but Anderson has not found himself in this situation. A fan who has watched great warriors, #1 ranked fighters in all sports fall apart as they age, might think that this is the driving theory behind Silva’s logic. That’s not the reasoning, it would seem.

Anderson doesn’t care about money, he doesn’t care about over extending himself and collapsing, he cares, genuinely (it would seem), about the future of the sport, and his goal, in the Gospel according the Anderson, is to make room for the fighters of the future. Anderson, now 33, seems to consider the future of the warrior in his decision to leave the sport, so that he could allow other fighters to rise to dominance, and focus his time on honing the young up-and-comers.

My first thought, in all honesty, was to write a piece that would incite outrage in the MMA community, that would allow for an uprising of fans and supporters of this great warrior to speak out and tell him that we are great fans, but, as the Beatles say, it’s worth our while to let him be. The peripheral effects, beyond giving Anderson a chance to share his knowledge with the world, are significant.

We may come to believe, ten years down the line, that we have never seen a fighter like Anderson Silva since he left. This is a delusion. What Anderson is doing is perpetuating the level of evolution by creating competition in what is (and may very well remain, until 2009) his dominion. He is giving great fighters a goal that they can aspire to. That is not to say that there would not be challengers to his title if he were to remain, but the reality is that we will not recognize the challengers as legitimate, nor their chances as substantial.

If Anderson should choose to stay, that is his decision, but that’s really the point. This is not the position of the MMA community, as it may be argued. There are consequences to his staying, both positive and negative, and there are rewards to his leaving, though we loose one of the most impressive and profound talents we have seen in the brief history of this sport. Someday, though, when hindsight is twenty-twenty, we should evaluate the validity of the decision. Not today.

MMAOpinion Podcast with Antwain Britt

2008-10-10T07:27:00.000-07:00

It's up. You can stream it on the web or download it on iTunes.

Interview with Shane Nelson

2008-10-09T18:55:00.001-07:00

Alright, so I sat down with The Ultimate Fighter's Shane Nelson today. You guys are welcome to check out the interview at MMAOpinion or FightTicker.

Also, I spent part of this afternoon recording the next episode of the podcast with Curtis Clontz and special guest Antwain Britt. It'll be up tomorrow.

Big Day at MMA Opinion

2008-10-07T10:49:00.000-07:00

Curtis breaks down Kimbo Slice.

I talk about GSP's signing with the biggest talent agency for athletes.

Jim Rome smashes EXC.

MMAOpinion Podcast: Episode 4

2008-10-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Alright, Episode 4 of the MMAOpinion Podcast is up, talking about Elite XC - Heat.

Stream it on the site or download it on iTunes.

MMAOpinion Podcast: Episode 3

2008-10-03T08:15:00.000-07:00

Curtis and I recorded Episode Three of the podcast yesterday. Check it out on the site or subscribe on iTunes.

If you have any input, send me an email at josh@mmaopinion.com.

KID: Badass

2008-09-09T09:25:00.001-07:00

I talk a lot on the message boards about Norifumi "KID" Yamamoto, the man who should fight Urijah Faber. For those who don't know who I'm talking about, enjoy:

MMAOpinion Podcast

2008-09-04T23:26:00.000-07:00

So, Brandt DeLorenzo (the man in charge of MMAOpinion) and I did a podcast over the phone this weekend. It turned out really well, so I hope you guys all enjoy it.

Please check it out, download it and shoot it around the boards.

Normally, I don't like to self-promote, but I'm doing it alot with this one.

Countdown to Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans

2008-09-02T11:22:00.000-07:00

Shinya Aoki Highlight

2008-08-19T15:11:00.001-07:00

Enjoy.

KnowYourMMA.com

2008-08-15T11:10:00.000-07:00

My good friend, Brandt DeLorenzo (who's also the owner of MMAOpinion), has started up a social networking site for MMA fans, writers and fighters.

The site is called KnowYourMMA.com, and it's a pretty cool layout, especially given that it's still just getting rolling.

It's worth checking out, and if you want to add me as a friend, my extension is "IronMan."

The Stupidest Article I've Ever Read

2008-08-13T14:12:00.000-07:00

No, I’m not joking. I’ve called out a lot of idiot “journalists” on what they have to say about great fighters and the sport in general, but this guy takes the cake.

I won’t reprint all of the stupidity, because there’s a risk I may shoot myself, but this guy’s stupidity befuddles me.

So, since I’ve done this on forums, I’ll pick apart the insanity piece by piece, as sort of a Joe-Rogan-esque slowmo walk-through. I’m not Joe (or Frank Mir, for those who prefer the WEC commentary), but I’ll do what I can.

Now,hold on.. ..I personally have done a little time behind bars and i know that uttering death threats can get you 2 years in jail here in canada..but baby jay penn does it in front of millions of witnesses and gets nothing!!; and besides that (its ignorant and unsportsmanlike) conduct.

Alright, now lets set aside the fact that B.J. Penn is an American, that the comments he’s talking about were made within the United States an the fact that, in the lovely country I live in and write from, we have the first amendment, which defends B.J.’s right to talk smack. The fact is, this is smack talk.

B.J., admitedly, doesn’t have the most creative smack talk, but if you’re going to hate a fighter for using insults to psych himself up for a fight, then that’s fine. Still, to assert that there should be a criminal penalty implies that guys like Muhammad Ali should have been subject to fines for talking about how bad they were gonna whup their opponents.

Not only is it a bizarre claim, it’s ignorant of the culture of mixed martial arts, the culture of boxing, and the roots of many areas of the sport in professional wrestling promotional styles (which, realistically, trace themselves partially back to Ali).

Next up:

My first dis-like of penn came when he beat matt hughes.Penn still had 2 fights on his contract,but rather than honour his contract he takes off for japan and fights in k1 at 205 ..(made no sense to anyone but him).matt hughes avenged that fight in a rematch.And then the stage is set for him to meet Georges St.Pierre,GSP was looking to get a title shot ,and a win over bj would make that very likely.So the fight is on!! [I skipped stupid allegations about intentional eye-poking]

GSP had to go to the hospital after the fight to have his eye repaired.So then baby Jay Penn tells dana he is moving down to 155 so he can get a belt.Fast forwardto today he has the belt and he wants a rematch with georges st pierre (maybe he will poke both gsps eyes out this time).

O.K. So lets focus on this guy’s knowledge of MMA history, for which he would only have to reference Sherdog.com or “The UFC for Dummies.” Penn fought for the early part of his career at 155 and had his first title shot at that weight. Maybe that part happened while Einstein here was in prison.

Then you have the fact that the second Matt Hughes fight came after Penn fought Georges St. Pierre, though, since that portion of the article was impossible for me to translate from crazy-eeze, I’ll just ignore it.

What is really most absurd, to me, is that this guy thinks B.J. dropped down because he wanted a belt. B.J. dropped down because he wanted to fight Jens Pulver and Sean Sherk. He likes having the belt, to be sure, but those were the two guys that everybody wanted to see him fight.

Then, this guy veers off his bullet train to cuckoo town:

If Penn wants GSP so bad, have him earn it- as Silva is doing in LHW. Have Penn fight every 3-4 months (instead of the 7-10 he is now) so he can still defend his title that he wanted back so badly and have him work the ranks before getting GSP… hell, put him in the cage with Thiago Alves for #1 contender - at least that’d be something and he can say he deserved to fight GSP then.

I’m sure B.J. would love to fight Thiago, but Thiago’s not a #1 contender, and anyone who pays attention to the sport knows that bringing in a guy who has missed two weight cuts and tested positive for illegal substances over the course of his UFC career is just not something that you can do without being seen as the Don King wannabes you are.

Honestly, this article made me sick, but I’m glad it was sent to me.

If people are going to form opinions about B.J. Penn, make sure they’re based in fact and reason, not because the voices in your schizophrenic fantasy told you that all Hawaiians are evil and fat and lazy (which seems a lot more reasonable to me, because at least that voice in your head would be a source).

My Review of Matt Hughes' Book

2008-07-26T12:48:00.001-07:00

Made in America: The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History by Matt Hughes

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
Before I had opened the book, I had damned it peripherally for a subtitle that is terribly dishonest. As a long time MMA fan and an analyst of the sport, I found it unfair that Matt Hughes should feel any right to claim his post as the most dominant champion in history, as his title reign was interrupted by BJ Penn in 2004, which would insinuate that Frank Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, the fighters with similar numbers of victories and no interruptions would have the right to claim that title.

That said, this is a chance for Hughes to feed his ego, and if you are a hardcore fan of the former UFC welterweight champion, as my brother is, then you will enjoy the book. If you see the world as it really is, and are honest with yourself about the sport, then you will have a much harder time choking down his immodest bullshit.

View all my reviews.

Silva vs. Irvin

2008-07-21T15:56:00.001-07:00

TEXTAREA_ID

Preview for Affliction: BANNED

2008-07-15T21:40:00.000-07:00

I've been looking over the UFC's July 19th card alongside the Affliction card and the thought that keeps crossing my mind is "Why are there no pictures for any of these guys?"

Obviously, that's indicative of the larger problem. The larger problem is that the UFC is making Anderson Silva's 205 pound debut on a night that should belong to the company that put together the better card, and that is, without a doubt, Affliction.

With all of the low-profile debuts on the UFC card, it's nice to look at the Affliction card and a card that has fight-for-fight quality.

So, here are my thoughts (bottom-to-top):

Edwin Dewees vs. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira

I'm shocked that Babyface is such a huge underdog, because I think that Little Nog is aging and that his career is nearing the close. Still, I'm not surprised that people are picking Nog.

It's easy to look at this fight and see the guy with better jiu-jitsu and boxing (Nogueira) technically picking apart Dewees. I'm going to say, for the sake of picks: Nogueira by Round One Submission.

Still, if you are seeing the sometimes 5/1 odds that I am, throw down some money on Dewees. Those are way better odds than the fight actually is. The chance of another Nogueira collapse in the wake of the Sokoudjou fight and at his age, against a young, seasoned Dewees is a possibility.

Mike Pyle vs. J.J. Ambrose

This another fight where the odds are swinging hard in favor of Pyle. I think that's appropriate and think that Pyle will take this fight pretty easily. I'm going with a Round One TKO in favor of Pyle.

Vitor Belfort vs. Terry Martin

This is another fight with absurd odds. Belfort is a heavy favorite and that makes sense, since Martin's 205 pound career isn't phenomenal, but Belfort has been less than dominant lately, and it's not a stretch to call him a shadow of his former self.

That said, for the sake of picks, I'll go with the probable Vitor Belfort by Round 2 TKO, but I'm going to keep the possibility of a Belfort collapse in my periphery and remember that Martin dominated now highly touted UFC 205 pounder James Irvin for a full five minutes before taking a knee to the forehead.

If you see good odds for Martin, toss a little down. It's always a possibility, especially when a guy has Martin's power.

Andrei Arlovski vs. Ben Rothwell

Arlovski is a top ten heavyweight, make no mistake. I think that Rothwell will lose this fight, the real question is how he loses it. Rothwell can make an argument for himself as a low top ten guy if he takes Andrei the distance, and if he mixes it up more than Werdum did.

Rothwell loses this fight everywhere to a more athletic, more skilled Arlovski, and while I think, for the sake of picks, that Arlovski will take it by Round 2 TKO. Still, Rothwell will work hard to take it the distance.

Justin Levens vs. Ray Lazama

This is an easy call in favor of Levens. He's more experienced and he's got alot more power. Ray Lazama is one of the few guys on this card who isn't well known, so we'll see what he's got. Still, the smart money is on Levens by TKO, Round One.

Mark Hominick vs. Savant Young

Young vs. Hominick is one of the closest fights on the cards, in terms of odds, and it's also the most exciting, at least in my mind. Hominick is a small circuit legend and a 145 pound warrior (yes, I'm aware he doesn't fight exclusively at that weight class, but that's where he should fight). He's fought alot of great guys, he's had alot of great fights, and he's up for another appearance on what will be the best card of the year.

He's fighting Savant Young, and Young is an IFL superstar, if that's not too severe of an oxymoron. Personally, I like Savant. I think he's exciting and he throws bombs and he can take a shot.

Still, I'm going with Hominick in this fight. I think that the first two rounds will be exciting, and that Hominick will finish with a TKO towards the end of Round Two.

Matt Lindland vs. Fabio Negao

I'm juiced for the return of Matt Lindland. This is a guy who was, for a long time, the 185 pound king, and that only ever changed because he stopped fighting at 185, and the advent of Anderson Silva. It will be interesting to see if he has that power that he used to have, after all, he took down Fedor easily and he's done that to every opponent he's faced in recent memory.

The smart money is on Lindland, and, in fact, so is all of the money. Lindland is a heavy favorite, and there's a reason for this. I don't expect him to let Negao out of the first. I'm thinking Lindland by Round One TKO.

Renato Sobral vs. Mike Whitehead

Whitehead vs. Sobral is going to be a good fight, and I think that Babalu is waiting for this fight to hit the ground. Both of these guys are solid grapplers, and it's not clear whether Whitehead will try and put Babalu on his back, still, that seems like the probably gameplan.

If Whitehead doesn't try to get on top, he's really screwed, because Babalu could end up on top and finish way easier there.

I think Babalu will, top or bottom, catch the Submission in the First.

Aleksander Emelianenko vs. Paul Buentello

Alot of people will call Buentello a washout, and that's a little bit true, but he still knows how to throw the leather. I think that these guys will make it exciting, but I expect an early knockout for Emelianenko, as Buentello's chin is not what it once was.

They may trade a few punches, there may even be some nice movement in the pocket on the part of Buentello, but Emelianenko, being the giant thug that he is, will turn this fight into a brawl. So, we'll call it Emelianenko via knock out in the first.

Josh Barnett vs. Pedro Rizzo

This is a hard fight to call. Obviously, both have been inactive of late, and Rizzo hadn't fought a top tier opponent in a long time until he showed up and fought Jeff Monson. Still, Rizzo did something that few are capable of, and he knocked Monson out.

In terms of the matchup, this is a striker/grappler war. Expect Rizzo to look for some power shots, expect him to do some damage, but Barnett will look for that Greco clinch he knows so well, and he'll look to put Rizzo on his back.

The question is whether Barnett will be able to close the distance. If he can't, and Rizzo keeps him at bay for a full round or round and a half, he may do damage enough to put Barnett to sleep with a hard shot. Still, I think Barnett will get in there and Barnett will take it by Submission late in the first.

Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia

Obviously, this is the fight people care about, and what's sad is that I don't have alot to say that I haven't already said, and that hasn't been repeated by every critic and analyst and fan around the internet.

I think that Fedor and Sylvia will not stay standing long. I think that Fedor's clinch is going to be hard for Sylvia to stay out of, and I think that Big Tim will end up on his back. If that happens, I think Fedor will get a TKO by groundnpound or a submission from side control.

Even if this fight stays standing, and Tim fights off of his back foot, hiding behind that jab, I think that Fedor will do damage and come off looking like the aggressor. The only way that Tim can win this fight is to hurt Fedor a few times to win rounds, because the chances of a finish are not very good.

Still, I'm going with Fedor by way of a groundnpound TKO in Round One, proving that he is still the king of the big men.

Well, I was wrong...

2008-07-12T16:49:00.001-07:00

... about Almeida vs. Cote.

Sorry guys. Shit happens.

Why Almeida vs. Cote is going to be a Massacre

2008-07-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

I could simplify this statement to read: Cote's submission game sucks, but let me elaborate a little bit.

Cote has fought one serious jiu-jitsu fighter in the UFC, and that was Travis Lutter. Lutter decimated him, but it's not just that Lutter beat him, it's also that Almeida is a world better than Lutter.

Almeida has one of the best submission game's in this division, and while I'm not a Gracie Barra guy, I have to acknowledge that this guy is a warrior with some of the best skills on the ground that this division has ever seen.

Really, I don't see any way that Cote is coming out of this fight without tapping.

Idiots Should be Fired: Another Letter to Stupid People

2008-06-27T16:43:00.000-07:00

By Me

To the Editor (of Town Times):

I just finished reading an article on mixed martial arts spawned by Chris Boulay and Jim Taylor, and, bluntly put, it made me want to vomit. Not since the 1990s have I been so disgusted by a piece of such phenomenal stupidity. Not only do the writers of the article demonstrate the fact that they know absolutely nothing about the topics on which they are reporting, they back up their unsubstantiated, uninformed opinions with a complete disregard for any facts what-so-ever.

Apart from the fact that your writers lacked enough knowledge of the sport to list three fighters (Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson, Ken Shamrock and Frank Shamrock) as men with “staying power,” a statement that any person with any knowledge of the sport would burst out laughing in the midst of, they compounded stupidity which might have been seen and justified as opinion by contradicting basic medical facts and rattling off rhetoric that was done away with almost a decade ago.

You authors make the rhetorical remark: “This ’sport’ is supposed to be immensely popular, but where are all of the stars?” Saying that boxing has bigger stars than mixed martial arts.

It is clear that the authors of the piece you have allowed to be slathered on your publication know as little about boxing as they do about MMA, because, if they did, they would know that mixed martial arts has created more success in crossing into the mainstream in fifteen years than boxing did in its first fifty years as a professional institution.

Let’s forget the fact that MMA has an incredibly successful TV program, inspired films (both fictional and documentaries) and has given rise to a half dozen big names in the Hollywood scene. Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell aside, the UFC (MMA’s major franchise) produces more celebrities at an event than any boxing match until the 1960’s and 70’s at which point boxing had been around for almost a century.

Even if I set aside the fallacious misrepresentation of the history and the clear lack of knowledge about anything, your writers make one statement that really needs to be emphasized for people to see how stupid this article is:

“Where will the disciplinary action come from in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, International Fight League, or other like-minded organizations should someone die?”

This statement was, at least in essence, spat from Senator John McCain’s mouth in the early 90’s, but I doubt your writers would have known that for the same reason they wouldn’t know that McCain was destroyed by Ken Shamrock in a debate over the issue and almost every credible medical professional to have released a statement on the sport has acknowledged that MMA is less dangerous than boxing, rugby, football or hockey, and that it is better regulated by state commissions than any of those sports.

It is my firm belief that if you don’t know something about a sport, you shouldn’t talk about it, and if your authors are considering writing another article, they should take President Lincoln’s advice.

“It is better to be silent and thought a fool then to speak and remove all doubt.”

Sincerely frustrated,

Joshua Stein

RIP: Ryan Gracie

2008-06-25T18:23:00.000-07:00

I've been debating whether or not to talk about the death of Ryan Gracie for a while, and while it's not recent, it's significant.

It's important to realize that, when we talk about MMA fighters who die young the way that Ryan did, it's not just about their record, it's about the way that they fought and the way that they competed.

There's something that's weirdly nostalgic when I talk about Ryan Gracie, because even though he was never the best jiu-jitsu fighter, never the most notable brother, never the most dominant in the family, there was something about him that always made me excited when he was going to fight.

Ryan Gracie like to kill people, and when I was younger and wanted to see something visceral, Ryan's fights were on. For those who could not appreciate the technical nature of jiu-jitsu, Ryan was the most interesting Gracie, because he could win with a submission or he could win with a knockout, and he didn't really care which it was.

Perhaps that's what made him one of the most controversial figures in the Gracie family. Perhaps that's what made him the enigma that would often be described as a villain or a bad guy.

It's not strange to talk about a fighter who only had seven fights as a great fighter, as I believe Ryan was, but it is strange to talk about a guy who was only around for a short period of time as a legend. There are those who think that I might be romanticizing Ryan when I say that, but there is something legendary about the way that he fought, there was something about saying his name that reminds even the most traditional, calm jiu-jitsu practitioners of the most visceral practitioner in the martial art.

Ryan Gracie died, and while his death was under very strange circumstances, and his life was, at best, ethically questionable, he never lacked for an exciting performance, and he never neglected to put on a show.

He was not the greatest Gracie, and as an older and (at least I like to think) more mature fighter and fan, I feel strange that I once looked up to his visceral fighting style in my grappling training the same way that I looked up to Mike Tyson as a striker.

They were far from good role models, but they were, beyond a doubt, incredibly exciting for me to watch, and for me to misremember Ryan as anything less than one of my grappling heroes would do him a great disservice.

There are those in the grappling world who didn't much care for him, but Ryan Gracie deserves to be remembered, and I hope he will be.

Open Weight UFC Tournament

2008-06-24T13:51:00.000-07:00

Someone threw out the idea of a UFC open weight tournament and I asked them to present some brackets and I'd give them my take, so here are my hypotheticals.

A: Lidell vs Werdum
B: Penn vs Big Nog
C: GSP vs Kongo
D: A.Silva vs Lyoto Machida

Liddell beats Werdum (TKO, Round 3) There's no way in hell that Werdum gets Liddell to the ground, because there's no way Liddell lets this fight get into the clinch and he's very hard to shoot on. Liddell wins with a big counterpunch.

Nog beats BJ Penn (Unanimous Decision) I don't think that Nog is going to be able to finish BJ, as BJ's ellusive, but BJ would definitely lose this matchup. He's way too small, and would get easily swept if this fight hit the ground (though his arms are too small for Nog to sink in a triangle or an armbar).

Kongo beats GSP (Round 2, TKO) Kongo is way too big. GSP may be a great wrestler and submission fighter, but it's hard to deal with that size advantage. Kongo would punish him at range and knock him out after beating him up well.

Anderson Silva beats Lyoto Machida (Round 1, TKO) Stylistically, this is the worst possible matchup for Machida. Machida lives off of being illussive, but Anderson will come after him in that technically explosive, percise way, put him in the clinch and finish. The size difference here is not a factor at all.

Nog beats Liddell (Unanimous Decision) Technical boxing display from Nog, but no big finish. Liddell is too tired from some exchanges with Werdum to do much, while Nog didn't expend as much energy handling BJ (because he was just fighting with his weight, no muscular pushing was really necessary). Nog is the fresher fighter and it shows.

Kongo beats Silva (2nd Round, TKO) Kongo, like Nog, is still fresh because he fought a fighter he could just throw his weight around against, while Silva had a legit challenge. Again, size plays a serious factor in this fight and the 20+ pound weight advantage for Kongo, along with the 4 or 5 inch reach advantage allows him to keep Silva at range and dominate. Maybe he finishes, maybe not, but I think that Silva is tired to the point where he will break down. Chasing Machida tired him out.

Kongo beats Nogueira (Unanimous Decision) Kongo has two matches where he's been the heavier fighter by twenty or thirty pounds, (Nog had that in the first one, but would get caught in some exchanges with Chuck, inevitably) and he's the better striker. Nog will not take him down, and if the fight stays standing, Kongo will win by using kicks and combinations at range.

Podium:

First Place: Cheick Kongo
Second Place: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Third Place: Anderson Silva

A: A.Silva vs Werdum
B: Lidell vs Kongo
C: GSP vs Penn
D: Big Nog vs Lyoto

Werdum beats Anderson Silva (1st Round, Submission) World championship BJJ and a thirty pound weight advantage make it easy for me to say Werdum would win this fight. Silva would strike, maybe do some damage, try to clinch up or close the distance, and he'd end up in a Greco clinch, be on his back, and the World class BJJ would trump Silva's blackbelt.

Kongo beats Liddell (3rd Round, KO/Unanimous Decision) Kongo can wear Liddell out, the fight will stay standing, and either Chuck's cardio will buckle and he will get knocked out or it won't and he will simply drop it on the scorecards.

Penn beats GSP (Unanimous Decision) This is a fight I'd love to see. It could go either way. I'm giving it to BJ, because I think that if he could get the fight to the ground, he'd maintain control positions and win. It's a fun fight, though. Still, it won't matter in the next round, and I'll explain why.

Nog beats Lyoto (Unanimous Decision) This is an incredibly boring fight. The judges will give it to Nog because Lyoto won't hurt him and Lyoto will be the one backing up.

Werdum beats Kongo (Round 1, Submission) I feel like this one speaks for itself. Kongo gets caught clinched up with Werdum, ends up on his back and gets tapped.

Nogueira beats BJ/GSP (Unanimous Decision) Nog will throw his weight around and control the fight, wherever it goes. He'll control it with his reach, standing up, and with his jiu-jitsu on the ground. All of the technical skills won't matter, because the size difference is really severe.

Werdum beats Nog (Unanimous Decision) Nog has spent 30 minutes fighting in the cage, he's exhausted and it shows. Even throwing his weight around in the second fight doesn't give him an edge, because Werdum spent most of the time resting after his submissions. Werdum will get in close, as Nog will be too tired to be seriously ellusive standing up, and get the fight to the ground. I think that Werdum would probably pass Nog's guard, but it doesn't really matter. Even if he doesn't, he'll win by being on top for three rounds while Nog fails to submit a superior grappler and fails to keep the fight standing.

Podium:

1st Place: Werdum
2nd Place: Nog
3rd Place: Kongo

A: Lidell vs Lesnar
B: Big Nog vs Rampage
C: Wand vs A.Silva
D: Werdum vs Machida

Lesnar beats Liddell (Round 1, TKO) Lesnar own a 60 pound weight advantage, as long as he doesn't have to cut to 265, and a superior wrestling background. While Liddell has power, I'm not delusional enough to believe that someone without a serious jiu-jitsu background is going to be able to take Lesnar on the ground. Lesnar will win this fight by sheer virtue of his physical power, as much as I had to say it.

Nog beats Rampage (Unanimous Decision) This would be an interesting fight, standing up, and I don't think that Nog has a serious size advantage in this fight (15 pounds, at most). Still, I think that his striking is a little more technical and he won't have the problem that most of Rampage's opponents have (that being Rampage's physical power) because they are the same size. Rampage wouldn't be able to finish Nog, and Nog's ability to work around strikes gives him in this fight in my mind.

Anderson beats Wanderlei (Round 1, TKO) If this was the old Wanderlei, I would give it to him easily. Unfortunately, even the win over Jardine does not make Wanderlei the fighter he once was, and Anderson is at his peak in terms of his career. So I'm gonna give this to Anderson, but it could be much more exciting and much more interesting than just the typical dominant performance we see from Anderson.

Werdum beats Machida (Round 1 Submission) This could actually be a straight up chase at one point, but I think that eventually Werdum would close the distance and get this fight down. I know Machida has a good submission game, but there's a difference between a blackbelt and a world championship. Werdum really would catch Machida on the ground and finish this, if only by virtue of his muscle advantage.

Nog beats Lesnar (Round 2/3, Submission) This fight will end up in Nogueira's guard, and when it does you'll see that inevitable Nogueira submission combination. Whether Nog catches it immediately with the triangle or armbar or whether Lesnar starts to muscle out and gets caught in the second or third attack doesn't really matter, because he's going to get caught.

Werdum beats Anderson (Round 1, Submission) If Anderson has a tough fight with Wanderlei, then he'll get killed by his own fatigue and collapse under Werdum's game. If it doesn't, he'll still lose a technical battle on the ground. Werdum is a really incredibly grappler, and, as I've said before, he is a level above the rest of the guys in this division.

Werdum beats Nog (Unanimous Decision) This fight would be a little bit closer, since we don't have Nog coming off of two decision wins. However, there's a chance Lesnar could leave him in as much pain as Sapp did, which would stop this fight before it even starts. Either way, this goes down the same way as the other match I've described. Werdum will get on top, and the judges will give him the win for his takedowns and control.

Podium:

1st Place: Werdum
2nd Place: Nog
3rd Place: Anderson Silva

Monson Calls Out Kimbo

2008-06-23T09:59:00.001-07:00

This fight would be awesome. Monson would fucking kill Kimbo (who grapples like a second string guy on the Special Olympics wrestling team).

The Great Collapse

2008-06-14T21:38:00.000-07:00

The UFC heavyweight division is falling apart.

At best, it’s a nag with two broken legs trying to race against a field of less known, but far more aggressive and focussed competition. I wrote in a piece in January saying that if the UFC heavyweight division didn’t get an injection of talent, it wouldn’t recover on its own, and since the only serious pickup the division has made in the last few months is Shane Carwin, who was impressive at UFC 84, it’s impossible to say that the division has done any real work to recover.

They haven’t invested their money in a single top ten heavyweight since signing Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, they’ve failed to put UFC champion Randy Couture back in the Octagon and they’ve turned Nogueira into their paper champion by matching him up with the incredibly undeserving Frank Mir, hoping that having both fighters coach a season of the Ultimate Fighter series will give them time to develop a serious contender.

In the meantime, Affliction has put together a single card consisting of four former world champions (three from the UFC and one from Pride), ressurected the career of legend Pedro “The Rock” Rizzo (a three time UFC top contender) and speckled the roster with more top ten big men than the UFC has on their entire roster.

In the last 20 UFC cards, there have been two heavyweight title fights, and while it’s understandable that the UFC might take some time to try and resolve the contract disputes with Couture, the contractual issues aren’t the reason why it’s taken so long. It’s the result of an incredible ineptitude for signing and resigning top talent.

It seems like any heavyweight that wins in the UFC automatically fails to retains his contract. Andrei Arlovski beat Fabricio Werdum to become the only fighter on the heavyweight roster with a winning streak and the UFC couldn’t sign him. Andrei has since been signed to Affliction and will fight on the Banned card. His opponent, Big Ben Rothwell, should have been signed by the UFC when he entered the free-agency after leaving the IFL. Rothwell is on a thirteen fight win streak.

The UFC brass also failed to resign former champion Tim Sylvia after he beat Brandon Vera. His ending of Vera’s undefeated streak may not have led people to consider him a contender to fight Nogueira, as he won by way of a boring decision, but given that most of the fighters in the UFC had lost one of their last three fights (including Mir, who’s now the top contender, Werdum, who’s behind him in line, and Vera, who gets billed as the next rising star), Sylvia looked pretty good.

There’s only a handful of guys who are arguably top ten heavyweight on the UFC roster, and while Fedor Emelianenko has had his #1 spot disputed because of his inability to fight top competition, there’s no doubt in my mind that the Affliction division he’s now a part of is far more exciting than the basket of cans now making up Nogueira body of competition.

You won’t see people doubt Nogueira’s ranking, whether they call him one or two, but he’s very much alone in the UFC division he’s now presented with.

I do have a solution for the UFC, and while it’s not a pretty one, it’s one that would work if they put some money into it.

Sign a dozen heavyweights. Pick up lesser names from small shows, guys like Christian N’Pumbu and Tony Bonello, and some cult legends like Bobby Hoffman and Travis Fulton. They aren’t expensive, but they are exciting and they’ll give fights with some story and some substance. The division may not improve immediately in quality, it may not get immediate recognition, but when fans see how exciting and how good some of the small show fighters are, it will ressurect some of the credibility of the division, and it’s so severely lacking right now that any credibility at all would be worth the money.

Hardonk vs. Sanchez

2008-06-10T23:38:00.001-07:00

Here's the video. It takes a while to load up, but it's worth waiting for.

My only thoughts on this fight:

Oh my f*cking god.

Great come from behind win for Hardonk.

Should the UFC sign Kimbo?

2008-06-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Obviously, the answer is hell no.

Still, since the question was posted on the forum, here's the full length response.

He's worth about as much as they pay the other guys who mop the apron with their beards.

Realistically, Kimbo Slice is not an asset to any professional MMA organization that wants to be taken seriously, especially the biggest show.

Slice has no ground game, so what happens if you put Kimbo in the ring with Werdum, Gonzaga, Mir or even f*cking Brock Lesnar. He's the only guy Brock could submit.

Kimbo has no technical striking, so if you put him in the cage with Vera, Kongo, Hardonk or any other striker in the division he'd be picked apart and eaten like fried chicken.

Everyone is enamored with this guy because he has a chin and an account on youtube. So what?

There are dozens of solid strikers who have skills, and dozens more who have chins. Mark Hunt actually has a kickboxing background and you don't hear the UFC talking about signing him. (they should, but another vent for another day)

Really, this is a dumb question, but aside from that, once Brett Rogers knocks Kimbo out (and hopefully this will happen sooner rather than later), the Kimbo Slice hype train will have pulled into the station, then we can all go about our merry way like we did after Mir beat Lesnar and that hype machine died.

Faber vs. Yamamoto

2008-06-02T23:09:00.000-07:00

These are my thoughts on the 145 pound dream matchup.

A thread was posted on the forum and I noticed alot of what seemed, at least to me, to be baseless Urijah Faber dry humping.

My response:

Move over Frank Mir, you need to make some room on Urijah Faber's nuts.

Come on, guys, let's actually look at this fight with out brains and not let ourselves be blinded by Urijah's cornrows.

Faber's striking is OK, KID's is savage.

Faber's wrestling is D-1, KID's is Olympic.

In terms of skill sets, these guys are on different planets. I'll be honest, I'm impressed by Faber's explosiveness, but he's hardly a flawless fighter. In fairness, neither is KID, but KID does everything better than Faber does.

Everyone seems to believe that Faber is a tank with the best wrestling at 145, but KID is a better wrestler.

At the same time, people seem to suffer from the delusion that Faber has beaten some of the best opposition in the world. While I like the WEC, and think it's a good organization, I'm not crazy enough to believe that Jeff Curran, Chance Farrar and Joe Pearson are on the same level as the guys KID fights.

If you think that guys Faber has fought are as good as Royler Gracie, or Genki Sudo, or Caol Uno, you're smoking some pretty strong sh*t, and I'd like to take a hit of it sometime, but it's time for you to put the bong down and remember that Faber would be a wrestler from the University of California at Davis (not Ohio State, or a different big corn-fed school) trying to take down a wrestler with a family legacy who's got an Olympic quality game.

What is Faber going to do?

He can't take KID down. He can't strike with KID. So I'll tell you what he's going to do.

He's going to get pounded.

"Styles" in MMA

2008-06-01T21:49:00.000-07:00

So, I'm going to start doing something new, because I haven't really been posting on the blog that much, and I've dedicated most of my time to writing articles for MMA opinion. Because of that, I've decided that when I write posts on mmaforum, where I work, that I think are particularly good, I'll post them up here.

The forum gives me a great deal to think about, and I do some of my best writing, about some of the most interesting stuff, on there. Plus, I'm sick of just giving you guys the same stuff I talk about on MMA Opinion.

So, this one came from a "Fighting Styles" thread asking the perpetual question of "What's the best fighting style mix for MMA?"

Personally, it's a question I've answered before, but I thought it'd be interesting to really explain what I mean when I talk about this.

The original post said:

If there needs to be a combination of 3 fighting styles to use in your MMA i beleive it should be in no specific order , wrestling, juijistu, and boxing.

they cover all areas of MMA from standup to ground work, to having good hips.
i think if your strong in theese three styles no one can beat you... a perfect example is george st pierre

Obviously, this is the generic, storebought answer. Here's my response:

Sure, and there are dozens of other combinations that cover these three bases just as well. In fact, there are combinations of two styles that work better that these, and there are single styles that incorporate all of these elements. Look at Combat Sambo.

It's definitely true that the three primary areas that need to be covered in order to be a well rounded fighter are standup, takedowns/clinchgame and groundwork. That's just sort of a general rule in the sport.

Still, to say that the three styles of jiu-jitsu (by which you probably mean BJJ/GJJ), Muay Thai and wrestling is seriously played out. These are the classical dictum of mixed martial arts combination and its believed that these are the best combinations, but it varies from fighter to fighter, and even within these styles there are differences.

Personally, I come from an aggressive, Royler Gracie style Brazilian jiu-jitsu lineage with alot of modern submission wrestling integrated in, I have clinch based brawling for a standup game and a Sambo/Judo/Roman-Greco clinch and takedown game.

This style works for me.

It puts me on top where I work topside submissions, I'm very comfortable on my back and pull guard from time to time, I can strike, I can take guys down and so on.

I don't work within this classical generic mold of "Muay Thai/wrestling/jiu-jitsu" fundamentals and neither do the guys like Georges St. Pierre, who everyone seems to believe work off of that platform.

St. Pierre is a karate fighter, and while he's integrated Muay thai in to round out his clinch game, he still considers himself a karate based striker. (this delusion that Machida is the only guy who does that is a load of bullsh*t)

St. Pierre has wrestling and jiu-jitsu, too, but they are very specialized. He works very reversal based long distance wrestling, not classical Roman-Greco, not folkstyle. His jiu-jitsu is very oriented at the transition game, and his entire game is built around working quickly from one position to the other.

Not everybody fights like that.

Couture always slows the game down as he transitions from position to position. So does Jeff Monson and, for that matter, Fedor.

It's not that their style of fighting is in any way inferior (so that you don't misunderstand what I mean by the term "slower"), it's that their game is powerful and control based, where St. Pierre's is about moving quickly and attacking, attacking, attacking.

There was a second response to the thread, on Jeet Kune Do. Just so you get the feel, here's the post:

I would say all you need is Jeet kun do. as many of you know bruce lee invented it and it is mma. It takes the best moves from every style and puts it in to one.

The kicks of tkd
the knees and elbows from MT
the throws of judo
the takedowns of wrestling
holds of BJJ
speed and punches of kung fu
and many others

Of course, my response:

Jeet Kune Do is probably one of Bruce Lee's greatest regrets in history, and he even said so towards the end of his life.

The fact is, Lee wanted people to mix their own fighting styles, to think about techniques in a new and fresh way and JKD did that when he was at the helm of it, because nobody did that better than him.

Personally, every MMA fighter should work to create their own style that fits their body type, their background and what they like to do in the ring or cage.

This idea that there is a set grouping of styles that works efficiently is crap.

There are techniques within a style that a fighter is good at, and so the fighter takes those techniques and adds them to the arsenal.

There is another set of techniques in a different martial art that suit a different need, and the fighter adds those to the arsenal as well.

It's not this played out misrepresentation that fighters are blending the entirety of styles. Everyone is taking something different from their martial arts, because no one ever learns "muay thai," they learn techniques from muay thai. No one ever learns "BJJ," they learn techniques from BJJ.

Stop thinking so linearly, and you'll start to see that the game is far more multidimensional than everyone seems to think it is.

If you guys like what I'm doing, let me know. It's experimental, but I figure throwing something up is better than leaving you guys hanging.

James Thompson Interview

2008-05-28T16:57:00.000-07:00

It's no secret that I don't understand the Kimbo Slice hype train. Honestly, I hope that Kimbo does get his ass handed to him on CBS this weekend because it would be really cool to see him go down on the big stage like that.

Thompson released this interview through FightHype.

When asked about what sets him apart from Tank and Cantrell, he says:

Unlike Cantrell, I'm gonna turn up to fight. Unlike Tank, I'm gonna train and not drink.

He forgot to add "I'm a legit fighter in my prime... and I watch DVDs."

My Picks for UFC 84

2008-05-24T13:06:00.000-07:00

After watching the weigh-ins, I want to throw my picks out there, just as sort of a last minute lead in to the event. (we'll see how I do)

Christian Wellisch vs. Shane Carwin

NOTE: I think that this fight is going to be a great introduction to Carwin for UFC fans and while I'm worried that he may fail on the big stage, I think that he'll overpower Wellisch with his physical ability and his technical skill. He's also considerably more experienced that Lesnar and it's not like he's fighting a former UFC Heavyweight champion. Wellisch is good, but I think that he'll do exactly what the UFC expects him to: fold like a cheap plastic chair under Carwin's weight.

My Pick: Shane Carwin via Round 1 TKO

Jason Tan vs. Dong Hyun Kim

NOTE: This is one of two fights on the card I don't really care about. That doesn't mean it won't be exciting. I think Tan is gonna look for a submission, but I think that the grappling matchup is pretty much even. This is really a toss-up between new more or less unknown fighters (I've only seen about two minutes of Tan, and he spent most of that time getting punched in the face).

My Pick: Jason Tan by Unanimous Decision

Jon Koppenhaver vs. Yoshiyuki Yoshida

NOTE: This is the other fight I don't really care about. I find Koppenhaver's style of fighting not particularly endearing and there's nothing about him that I think makes him extraordinary. He's a middle of the pack fighter who happens to have been on a reality show. Yoshida has alot of cage experience, he's got some submission skills and some striking. I'm going with Yoshida from the little that I've seen, but mostly because I don't think that Koppenhaver is a great fighter, and I think that Yoshida may be the better man in this fight.

My Pick: Yoshida by TKO, Round 2

Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim

NOTE: Rich Clementi has been on fire and has choked out two very tough strikers in Melvin Guillard and Anthony Johnson. Still, I find that I can't bring myself to bet on No Love, because he's only beaten strikers in the grappling game, and I don't think that he can do that to Terry Etim, who's a fantastic submission fighter. Etim is coming off a tough decision loss to Gleison Tibau, but I think he's got a great shot at winning this fight.

My Pick: Terry Etim by submission, Round 2

Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura

NOTE: When you put two great jiu-jitsu guys or two great wrestlers in the cage, it becomes a matter of which guy has better skills in other areas of the game. In this fight, I hardly think there's any doubt that that is Sokoudjou. He hits much harder and can end this fight quick and hard if he lands a solid punch. Honestly, I think that's what he's going to do.

My Pick: Sokoudjou by KO, Round 1

Ivan Salaverry vs. Rousimar Palhares

NOTE: Ivan Salaverry is an underground legend in MMA, and so it's hard for me not to just pick him and be done with it. There are some who believe that he's on the last leg of his career, but I think he's got a few more left in him. He's fighting an opponent with great submissions skills, and so I'm not convinced that he's going to be able to finish, but I think that his UFC experience is going to give him the win on the judges scorecards.

My Pick: Salaverry by Unanimous Decision

Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes

NOTE: This is a no brainer. Mendes is a stepping stone opponent for Silva, who's going to be a title contender soon, and Silva is going to decimate him.

My Pick: Thiago Silva by TKO, Round 1

Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida

NOTE: I don't think that Machida's striking is as good as everyone says it is. He's illusive standing up, but he's hardly decimating all of his opponents with his hands. I think that Ortiz is going to put him on his back and once the former UFC champ gets on top, he's going to find himself in over his head with Machida's jiu-jitsu, which he's proved is very good.

My Pick: Lyoto Machida by submission, Round 2

Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic

NOTE: It's hard to be a jiu-jitsu fighter stepping into the cage against someone with better jiu-jitsu that you. Personally, I think that there's a reason why Goran Reljic is debuting this high on the card against such a high class opponent. Goran is a student of Roger Gracie, arguably the best grappler in the world, and he's a European champion at the purple belt level. The problem is that Gouveia's not a purple belt, he's a black belt, and there's a serious difference. I'll be cheering for Goran, because I think that a victory for him might play a roll in opening up talks between the UFC and Roger Gracie (a personal fantasy of mine), but I'll be betting on Gouveia.

My Pick: Gouveia by Unanimous Decision

Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine

NOTE: Alot of people are under the impression that I'm leaning towards Jardine in this fight because of Wanderlei's problems adjusting to the cage. Honestly, I still think that Wanderlei outclasses Jardine everywhere. He's a BJJ blackbelt and a world class muay thai fighter. I just think that Jardine is going to be in the cage and find that his opponent is a much better fighter.

My Pick: Wanderlei Silva by TKO, Round 2

BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk

NOTE: I'll be honest, I'm taking Penn in this fight in part because I like him. I think he's more fun to watch and a champion that wins all of his fights by UD is not something that I think should be happening in the versatile, explosive 155 pound division. Still, after seeing a slimmed down Sherk and a relatively ripped Penn at the weigh in, I'm very confident. There's no where BJ can't win this fight. He can submit Sherk off of his back or knock him out standing up, but we're all well aware that Sherk has one way to win. I think that the Muscle Shark is going to do exactly what he always does, and I think that Penn is going to hit him hard, shake him up and finish with a submission.

My Pick: BJ Penn by submission in Round 2

Top to bottom, this is a fun card.

Eddie Bravo Talks about the Marcelo Garcia fight

2008-05-22T18:43:00.000-07:00

I was just watching for the tutorial and I found this gem. Very interesting insight into the Marcelo fight and very funny.

The Best Thing Sherdog's Ever Done

2008-05-22T11:10:00.000-07:00

Usually I'm pretty hard on Sherdog, because of the amount of bullshit that flows freely from their site.

Still, this CroCop highlight is really good:

I'm on FightOpinion

2008-05-21T06:59:00.000-07:00

I'll be honest, I was really excited when I saw a trackback to my article on Wanderlei Silva on FightOpinion.

Unfortunately, I have to admit that I was incredibly bored http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifby most of the other articles. Apart from the mainstream outlets like the British Sun, which acknowledged that "Jardine has a point to prove" (as if a fighter steps into the ring and says "you know, I don't think I'm going to make this an entertaining fight, because I want to piss off the fans"), all except .

Generally, I think Kevin's great at bringing MMA to people who don't watch it. The work he's done with Yahoo is really good. Still, the fact that the comments in his piece look exactly like a piece I wrote about two months ago bugs me a little. I'm aware that Kevin has some consistency in his views, and it's not like he hasn't been saying this, but I think it's better if the writers just leave this stuff well enough alone.

We have said we're not going to promote gimmick fighters, and, sorry Kevin, even talking about how we're not talking about them (especially at great length) is pretty paradoxical. I'm aware that your piece was on why other people are talking about the bearded brawler, but come on, it's been said.

Fighters as Capital

2008-05-18T17:34:00.000-07:00

This is a fantastic piece. I definitely suggest that people check it out.

My Latest Work at MMAOpinion

2008-05-13T10:26:00.001-07:00

For those of you who want to check out my pieces at MMA Opinion, I definitely suggest you do. I just published a piece on Sean Sherk, which was part two of my pre-fight bit. Part one, on BJ Penn, is also on there.

There's also a piece up there on the evolution of the mount, where I personally think it's going.

My Pick to Win Dream

2008-05-08T12:17:00.001-07:00

My pick to win the Dream Grand Prix, and the man I think is one of the greatest middleweights in the world, has goten alot of people curious, because alot of hardcore MMA fans don't know who he is.

So, I present:

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza

LZ Granderson Should Be Fired

2008-05-03T13:33:00.000-07:00

Apart from the inherent racism, his lack of knowledge about the sport is disgusting.

I'll start reading ESPN magazine for real when they get a good columnist who doesn't think that Kimbo is the personification of black American violence.

O'Reilly on MMA

2008-05-03T10:47:00.000-07:00

For those who have the seen the video recently posted on mmaopinion, where I work and where the best news and analysis in the sport is.

Now lets forget Bill's economic stupidity. Let's forget that the 16-34 year old males are the second most potent viewer groups in the entire country (in, the minds of many producers of big advertisement buyers, like beer companies, the most important). Let's forget that the sport has been approved by state athletic commissions, that it has fewer fatalities than boxing, hockey or football.

Let's forget that when John McCain commented on the sport and called in "human cockfighting", Ken Shamrock destroyed him in civil debate on Larry King's live interview, one of the crowning moments for the sport, and one I would like to see Shamrock repeat. Personally, I'd be happy to debate O'Reilly myself, since he clearly knows nothing about the sport and about the way that it's marketed.

As far as the "redeeming moral value" of MMA that the twit Jane Hall, there's as much redeeming value in mixed martial arts as there is in football.

The sport teaches discipline and the value of pushing yourself. It teaches that the only person that can be held accountable in failure is ourself. It teaches that the fighter who develops his mind, his body and his craft wins, and that sometimes that guy comes from the school of hard knocks, and sometimes he comes from priviledge.

The sport offers us at least as much in terms of fantastic stories and tragic failings as any other sport. Some people love football, and just because, as my grandfather once described it to me, "it's just a bunch of fat guys running into each other," that doesn't mean they aren't entitled to watch it and that the networks aren't entitled to carry it. (for the record, I'm a football fan, go Raiders)

If Bill O'Reilly would attack the rights of a network to carry the fastest growing sport in the country, it just makes him come off like an angry pissant who's upset that it's not on his network. The money that the UFC has made Spike has turned the heads of every network executive who isn't an idiot. Obviously, this is why FOX is late to the table on this issue.

Big Bad Bill has tried to attack the sport for years, saying that he honestly believes that this sport is deteriorating the moral fabric of our nation. Really, Bill O'Reilly?

Is it deteriorating the moral fiber our country as quickly as you would like to deteriorate a network's right to broadcast anything you don't like?

Bill O'Reilly has bastardized and trivialized the rights of Americans, and makes every show he does an attack on somebodies right to do something for no other reason than because it doesn't straighten out his lap pinky. He's a shock jocky, but most importantly he's a hypocritical psycho who thinks that, for some reason, his opinions matter more than the facts.

If Big Bad Bill wants to get in touch with me, or anyone wants me to post their thoughts on this, feel free to send me an email at jstein.ironsport@gmail.com

Comments are welcome.

I realize that this is an old video, but it really is something that makes me want to puke when I see an idiot like O'Reilly try and justify his bigoted bullshit with no data and no knowledge of the topic he's flapping his lips about.

Results of Dream Opening Round

2008-04-30T21:03:00.000-07:00

The Dream opener for their middleweight grand prix was awesome. The card was packed with serious fighters and serious fights, and the tournament only promises to get better as it goes on.

Shinya Aoki beat J.Z. Calvancante by unanimous decision, making him a top lightweight in the world in many minds.

The brief recap of the seven middleweight fights that opened the tournament:

Kiyoshi Tamura beat Masakatsu Funaki by TKO in 57 seconds. Unfortunately, even his highlight reel performance won't give him any weight as he moves to the next round, because there are some seriously legit fighters and he is not at the top of the bracket.

Zelg Galesic whipped out an armbar submission victory in a little over a minute and a half to advance to the next round. His muay thai skills are notable, but the fact that he's displaying some groundfighting is very, very good.

Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza choked out Ian Murphy in Murphy's debut. The fight lasted almost 3:40. Jacare is still my pick to win this whole competition, as he is the best grappler in the tournament by far.

Taiei Kin upset Japanese fan favorite Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa on the judges scorecards, and he was convincing the whole way. It's not likely Kin will win the whole competition, as he couldn't finish Minowa and the Punk is hardly a top competitor, but it is a legit win that improves the look of Kin's 3-2 record. (Note: Kin's record is more impressive than it looks, as his losses are to top middleweights in Galesic and K-1 warrior Yoshihiro Akiyama)

Dong Sik Yoon beat out Shungo Oyama on the judges scorecards. This is Yoon's fourth straight win, which has brought him up to 4-4 for his career. Still, he's beaten Galesic before (with an armbar back in K-1 in mid-2007) and, though he lost to Sakuraba in his MMA debut, he's definitely looking to his momentum to carry him through this tournament. We'll see if he has it, though I don't really think so.

Kazushi Sakuraba finished Andrew Nakahara with a neck crank almost eight and a half minutes into the first round. Sakuraba seems to be one of the heavy favorites, especially among the Japanese fans, and we'll see if the Gracie Killer can hold this one together at his age. Many would like to hope so, for nostalgia's sake.

In the biggest shocker of the night, Gerard Mousasi choked out Denis Kang with a triangle. The fight makes the underdog Mousasi look more interesting and his record is very impressive, including the little sidebar that he's now finished his last seven fights. I'm liking Mousasi more and more, but we'll see if the skills he has been using in the smaller circuits pay off against bigger competition, they certainly did against Kang, who's no small fish and was, for many, the pick to pull this one out.

I had Jacare before this card started and I'll stick with him, because I have no reason to think that anyone else in this bracket is going to out-grapple him and, while I'm well aware that this is not Abu Dhabi, I'd like to see Jacare get some respect in MMA, as he definitely deserves it.

All Hail the King

2008-04-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

My writeup on one of my longtime heroes, the great Fedor Emelianenko, is on MMA opinion. A copy is posted below.

I first saw Fedor Emelianenko fight in 2002, when he took on Heath Herring, and just by looking at the guy, I was not impressed. He’s not big, he’s not muscular, and he’s not angry. But, I didn’t really know what it meant to be a fighter. Sure, I knew about the Gracies, but the way I had figured it, Rickson was built like a truck and he was the best, so it wasn’t like Gracie Jiu-Jitsu was this huge exception, where athletic prowess was irrelevant.

There is a moment in the lone round of the fight with Herring where Fedor picks Heath up and slams him down into the canvas, and I remember being twelve years old, watching that slam and going, “Damn.”

To say I follow Fedor with personal investment in his career is overstating it. There are fighters that I believe that I have a much bigger stake in, fighters who I have backed a little bit more than I realistically should have because I want them to get some extra attention. Still, there is something about Fedor that makes me, and every hardcore MMA fan I know, revert to the child/enthusiast in them, yelling and screaming at the TV.

Fedor is not as polarized as Muhammad Ali, nor as well covered as Mike Tyson. He does not have the mass media appeal of Bruce Lee, or the beard of Chuck Norris. Still, there’s no doubt in my mind that Fedor is the greatest fighter in the history of combat sports. He has dominated in a way that not even Rickson Gracie did, because Fedor has done it in the presence of men who, without him, would have been just as legendary, and anyone familiar with the history of the sport knows that Rickson only fought a handful of guys worth talking about.

Mirko CroCop and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira are titans of our time in a way that Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield weren’t, because they bring aspects of the game that no one else does. They don’t talk big like Liston or boast some of the flamboyance that Holyfield did. They are, very much like Fedor, stone cold killers, who are explosive and dangerous and respectable, and they are well feared by those who are going to step in with them, a respect that doesn’t get pushed aside by big-talking boxers trying to make names for themselves.

People will ask me why Fedor is the greatest fighter ever, and I pull up Fedor vs. Randleman on youtube, or (if the UFC pulls it off for copyright reasons) the DVD I have of the Critical Countdown 2004 event where it went down. If they say that’s only one fight, I’ll point them to the Zuluzinho fight, the Goodridge fight or both Coleman matches. For those who understand how big the matchups between Fedor and his top rivals (fighters like CroCop and Nogueira) were, I walk them through Fedor’s game, and how he controlled those fights, even when it looked like he didn’t.

The fact is, nobody in the sport has stayed as dominant as long as Fedor has and, while people will dispute his status because he hasn’t fought top tier competition in a little while (though the fight with Mark Hunt wasn’t that long ago), when he fights Tim Sylvia in Adrenaline, he’ll remind us something very important: there’s a reason why he’s feared, because he is dangerous anywhere and everywhere.

I, like many of my fellow long time Pride fans, will be watching the approaching Adrenaline card, as it has offered us the opportunity to see Fedor fight a top heavyweight, even if that heavyweight is Tim Sylvia. Certainly, a war with the former UFC champion/ogre will be exciting. It will be the second time Fedor has fought an opponent with a size advantage and a supposed advantage in the standup department, but if Randy Couture can put the Maine-iac down with a punch, who’s going to say that Fedor can’t end this fight standing, as well as on the ground.

The sport is changing, but Fedor seems to evolve even faster. Hopefully, we will see a new level of performance in his fight with Sylvia. While a debut in the UFC seems unlikely, at least in the immediate future, the presence of Fedor as a force in the world of independent MMA and as the most dominant heavyweight in the world seems unquestionable.

Travis Lutter Talks (and talk, and talks) to Pramit Mohapatra

2008-04-25T06:35:00.001-07:00

Well, Pramit has done it again: he's officially struck interview gold.

Lutter spills his guts about everything, and it's pretty fucking funny, especially when he gets down to talking about Franklin and Silva.

A little excerpt:

I think most of them are dumb-ass kids. I’m not saying MMA fans. I’m saying the people that are writing me this shit. I think the average MMA fan rules. They’re following my sport. I like them a lot. But, the guy who is taking the time out of his day that lives in Kentucky to email me to tell me what a piece of shit I am. You really have to question, what is his motivation? How sad of an individual is that? I don’t know what to say to that. It’s like, “I saw you on TV so you suck. As a fighter you suck. You’ve got no cardio, blah blah blah.” What motivates these guys to send hate mail? I don’t understand it.

A Response to Kimbo Slice

2008-04-24T06:47:00.000-07:00

... and anybody else who thinks that they should be fighting the best fighters in the world without any real MMA experience.

I posted the abridged version in the comments of our little Kimbo section on MMA opinion.

Here's the long, ranting version:

If you're going to be a fighter, shut your mouth. There's been a long tradition of great fighters who don't talk shit, and there are days that I wish that would extend to the ridiculous gimmick fighters in the smaller shows. Still, I guess that's not how it works.

Obviously, it's important to be real with Kimbo, because the guy is not a legitimate fighter and he should know that. He's fun to watch, he's explosive, he's got a cult following. But all of those things are true for Butterbean, the only difference is that Kimbo's management is arrogant enough to push him as the greatest fighter in the world.

It's like the kid in school who always acts the toughest and peacocks, acting out and disrespecting people. Being loud and obnoxious and arrogant. Then he gets into a fight with the real powerhouse at the school and his freinds, who spent that whole time talking shit too, have to clean his ass up off the pavement.

The point is, one of these days Kimbo is going to go on youtube and make a bad yo' mama joke about Fedor, and the King is going to show up at his gym, dangeda-dangeda Baz Rutten's old ass through a wall and then proceed to beat Kimbo down like the rookie he so clearly is.

Nothing annoys me more than people who don't show respect to the guys who have built this sport up from nothing. Honestly, when Tito did it that was totally different, because he was trying to get attention for the sport and draw in fans. All Kimbo is trying to do is build up the fanbase for his beard.

Maybe he has a God complex, maybe he thinks that he's beloved everywhere because he got to have his last fight in his home town. Let me tell you, though, Kimbo has a major problem with most of the MMA community at this point, because everybody is sick of him disrespecting the guys that built this sport with their bare hands.

What was Kimbo doing while Chuck was knocking out NCAA wrestling champions? Videotaping his grimy-ass backyard pit fights?

I'll point this out again:

Kimbo has yet to fight a serious athlete. He's fought two over the hill, out of shape brawlers. I love Tank as much as the next guy, but even in his prime he wasn't much of a fighter, and now that he's past that point, it's done.

If Kimbo really wants to fight Chuck, he should start by scheduling a rematch with Sean Gannon, to show that he actually knows enough now that he doesn't need his manager to jump in and protect him every time he eats a serious shot, because if one of those punches came from Chuck, Kimbo's beard would not be able to absorb the force, contrary to what superpowers some might believe it has.

So that's all for Kimbo, and I hope he fights Ricco Rodriguez, so that fat, unconditioned hot-air bag can ground and pound Kimbo into respect.

Adrenaline MMA Makes Fedor vs. Tim Official

2008-04-11T21:02:00.001-07:00

Honestly, I don't care as much about this fight as I would have pre-Randy Couture ass whupping.

Still, I think that this is a great fight in terms of what it allows Fedor to do: show that he can still beat the shit out of top fighters.

A New Piece on MMA Opinion

2008-04-07T09:44:00.000-07:00

Check out the second part of my inside the guard series.

If you missed the first one, check that out too.

My Response to SI's Top 25 Toughest List

2008-04-05T11:21:00.000-07:00

Now, for those who don't know, Sports Illustrated released a list on the top 25 toughest athletes in the world.

Anderson Silva, the man that Americans are quickly starting to recognize as the most dominant force in the western hemisphere, was listed as number three, while Fedor was listed at 8.

Now, I like Fedor and Anderson, and I'm glad that we had 2 guys in the top ten. But when I first heard about this, I posted this short response on MMA forum. (and, yes, for me this is a short response):

I'm not sure that I understand the justification for putting Anderson higher than Fedor.

Has Anderson spent more time dominating the sport than Fedor?

Has Anderson been in more wars than Fedor?

Has Anderson beaten fighters from every generation and style of the sport?

I think that the answer to all three of those questions is no.

Fedor's beaten two K-1 champions, UFC champions, Pride champions and fighters from every stylistic component of the sport, and he beat most of them where they are good. (he beat Coleman off his back, he beat CroCop standing up, he beat Nog from inside the guard)

I think Anderson is a great fighter, but I do think that he's very much a man of the moment. I'm not questioning his legitimacy as a fighter, but I do think that he's been pushed very hard by the mainstream media while Fedor, who has been around alot longer and hasn't burst into the American scene since it's been huge, hasn't.

Just look at Fedor's record and look at Anderson's record.

There are a half dozen guys on Fedor's record who were top 10 when he fought them, and his fights with Nogueira, CroCop and most of his breakthrough fights weren't really originally thought to be in his favor. There are only two guys (maybe three, but I don't really count Marquardt) on Anderson's record that I looked at right before the matchup and thought was a toss up (Henderson and the first Franklin fight), and that includes the fights that Anderson dropped to Chonan and Takase. He should have dominated those two guys.

This really doesn't make sense to me, but given SI's long history of MMA-illiteracy, I'm not shocked.

Some New Stuff

2008-04-05T09:38:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't read MMAOpinion, you really should. I have two articles running on the ticker bar right now.

One is a piece on Matt Serra and his legitimacy as UFC welterweight champion. There will be a cooperative piece for this on Georges St. Pierre coming out soon.

The other piece is part one of a four part segment I put together on the evolution of the modern guard game.

Hope you like 'em, and hope that you check out MMA opinion often, as there are some great writers on there.

Knock That Shit Off (a note to some MMA writers)

2008-03-31T09:06:00.000-07:00

Now, there are writers I disagree with. I don't agree with alot of the guys at sherdog, I don't agree with alot of the guys that the UFC hires to write hype pieces. Still, I respect those guys, because they respect the fighters and do some research.

But when you step into the arena of "MMA commentary" and throw out a piece where your first reference is to Hulk Hogan, you need to reevaluate your decision and head back to the WWE forums.

I would like to say that this is just a shot at John Curry, but he's not the only one doing this. Still, since I got emailed a link to his article, I think I'll point out exactly what bothers me about this guy.

First, look at the guys he's criticizing:

Chris Leben, who holds some of the most exciting knock out victories. He knocked out Alessio Sakara, Terry Martin, Jorge Santiago, Jorge Rivera and Jason Thacker (not to mention submitting Edwin Dewees and going the distance with Patrick Cote and Luigi Fiorvanti). I don't think there's any surprise that they keep him around, since he pretty much promotes himself.

Jens Pulver. I'll get to my problem with that listing in a minute.

Tim Sylvia, who is hardly overrated, as he's one of the most disliked fighters in the sport and is now fighting with a small show no one cares about.

Ortiz and Evans. Obviously, his failure to mention that Tito Ortiz is a six time UFC lightheavyweight champion and his comparison of Ortiz to Hulk Hogan says enough, but I think what says more is that he totally ignores Evans' knockout of Jason Lambert and the fact that this guy won TUF after being the last pick in his weight class and by beating a guy who is almost a whole foot taller than him.

He mentions Kimbo Slice, who is a product of his own hype, not of his organizations, and while he's not the best fighter, he doesn't claim to be. He's a generally modest guy who's matchups get alot of publicity because he's fun to watch.

Now, even if we ignore that this numbskull left Brock Lesnar off of his list and put Lyoto Machida (one of the most unhyped fighters around, despite coming off of a chokeout of the man many of us thought could bring down top guys in the 205 pound class) on, it makes alot more sense when you look at some of the ridiculous and fallacious factual errors that he makes.

He suggests that Jens Pulver dropped down a weightclass after he returned to the UFC and lost to BJ Penn and Joe Lauzon. Never mind the fact that Pulver had been competing as a 145 pound fighter since 2003. Never mind the fact that Pulver is 10-0 with 10 finishes in that weight class. You can say that he dropped down because he felt like he couldn't compete at 155, that's true, to some degree. But it's also true of Urijah Faber, who commited to fight full time at 145 after losing to Tyson Griffin.

Anyway, I hope I've made my point. There are some great guys in newmedia, and some guys with ideas that I disagree with. But there are also guys who just make stuff up to fit a bizarre Hulk Hogan fetish, and we could pretty well without them.

My Thoughts on Cung Le vs. Frank Shamrock

2008-03-31T08:55:00.000-07:00

Now, I said that this fight was going to be more interesting than Frank Shamrock getting a takedown. I said that Cung Le was a better wrestler than everyone seemed to think. I said that Cung Le would win the standup game if he could keep the fight standing.

Even I won't pretend that I expected Le to devastate Shamrock the way that he did. I didn't expect him to snap Frank's arm in half. But, now that he did, and the fact that he did it to the King of Pancrase and the great Frank Shamrock, I think that Le has basically solidified his position as a top 185 pound fighter.

Personally, he'll be well into my top seven, and I think that, if he decimates a few more quality opponents (say, Robbie Lawler and Phil Baroni), then he should call out Anderson Silva, and I think that that's the toughest matchup for Silva right now.

Anderson wants someone he can strike with, and who can strike with him. Le will make that fight stay standing. He will use his San Shou takedown skill to keep the fight standing (and I don't think that Silva's wrestling is good enough to really resist, and I doubt he would want to), and he will make it a kickboxing match to remember.

This is a fight I want to see because I want to see if Anderson's kickboxing is as good as everyone thinks it is (and I include myself in that everyone). Silva never really established himself as a top kickboxer in the world, and the prospect of him fighting a guy who has makes my mouth a little watery.

The Shamrock fight was a great showcase for Cung Le and I wish him the best of luck, since he's a great guy. I hope he continues to dominate Strikeforce, but I would like to see him push for some serious competition, as the current field of competitors doesn't do much for me.

To Silence Fedor's Critics (and to satisfy the curious)

2008-03-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

Frankly, this is my definition of a fluke loss.

Pramit Mohapatra Interviews Mark Cuban

2008-03-25T20:53:00.000-07:00

Fightticker's Pramit Mohapatra sat down with Mark Cuban and threw some questions at the millionaire behind HD Net. There has been alot of speculation about what, exactly, the purpose of HD Net is going to be, about whether it is going to serve as a line for Dream and World Victory Road into the American scene, or whether it is going to coagulate alot of the free agent fighters starting to crop up (both Fedor Emelianenko and Randy Couture have been mentioned by name).

My thoughts on the Cuban interview are a little bit direct, but I will say that I'm glad Cuban took questions and the first thing that struck me was his compliment of Fedor Emelianenko. While that may have been a diplomatic move, throwing a little flattery at the guy he's trying to sign, but it seemed genuine to me, and the fact is (while I consider the comparison to Charles Barkley to be a little inadequate) he gives recognition where recognition is due. That's good to see, especially from someone as typically egnimatic as Cuban has been known to be.

Cuban says openly that he's working on nailing out an agreement with Kurt Angle and Randy Couture to get a fight put together, and while I think that the fight would be an utter embarrasment if it happens, I can't say that I'm surprised Cuban wants to put the fight together. I mean, people would pay money to see this fight, and if Cuban puts together fights people want to see, he'll establish himself as a force very, very quickly.

I do like that Cuban says that cards should be offered free, with the exception of a handful of pay-per-view events. I do agree that the UFC expecting people to pay $40 for a crappy card is ridiculous, but I also think that Cuban expecting to have a monopoly on the outlet puts him in as much trouble with anti-trust regulations as the UFC is. Still, I think that it's important to recognize that since Elite XC is coming through CBS and IFL is available on other outlets, he's not going to have a serious monopoly.

Now, I only have one sticking point with Cuban's interview. I just want to make a short note before I start on the issue I disagree with Cuban on. The fact that Cuban can't comment on the ongoing trial with the UFC over the fate of Randy Couture. Obviously, Cuban is the one that brought the suit, but I think it's important to recognize that the suit is ongoing and Cuban has the good sense not to comment on it.

My problem with the Cuban interview is his assertion about the "Inside MMA" rankings as the guide to who is really the top of MMA. There is no associated press in MMA, there is no coagulate rankings. The fact that MMA rankings are subjective and are intricated is what makes them interesting. I can't say that I agree with the prospect of using one source as a way of structuring his divisions. It's ridiculous.

Establishing a ladder is a single organization job, and the thought of giving a single media outlet control of structuring that ladder subjects it to the bias of the guys at "Inside MMA." While they're smart guys, I don't think that we should give them the freedom to establish the ladders on their own.

Belts are a system that allows for extra publicity and a sense of dominance within an organization and a set of rules, and the ladder is a system of seniority. While I don't think that the system is perfect, I think that suggesting handing all of that over to a single magazine is not an improvement.

A New Day, A New Piece

2008-03-22T07:16:00.000-07:00

So, I thought I'd share my thoughts on the upcoming fight between Michael Bisping and Charles McCarthy, not so much because I think it's a fight of the year candidate (but you never know), and more because I think that a fighter demonstrating that guys who drop down from 205 can have alot of success will attract the attention of guys who feel like they're being screwed in the lightheavyweight division.

I'm not going to name names...... okay, I will.

I think it's a little fucked up that Forrest Griffin gets a title shot still relatively soon after his loss to Jardine, while guys like Thiago Silva are just passed over. I know Forrest beat Shogun, but I'm shocked that essentially one fight has made him a title contender.

Middleweight Rankings

2008-03-20T18:51:00.000-07:00

I know that it's been a while since I've done a Rankings piece, but Sherdog released an updated look at their rankings (without, of course, changes in many of the divisions). While I agree that the lightheavyweight division and the heavyweight division have stayed pretty much the same, I think that the middleweight division requires some revision, and the ones that sherdog did seem inadequate to me (and frankly, a little ridiculous in some places). So I'll give you my look at the division.

1. Anderson Silva

2. Paulo Filho

3. Dan Henderson

In case people feel like Henderson's high rank, despite getting his ass whupped by Anderson, needs defense, I'll offer you an explanation. Frankly, he's made it farther with Anderson than anyone else, and the fact that Marquardt is ranked ahead of his by sherdog pisses me off a little. I know that they usually significantly drop the rank of fighters who have just lost, but I still think that Dan is the top guy in his division. I think that, if any of my rankings are suspect, it's my ranking of Filho, who's mental state is really questionable. Still, I like the guy and think he's a fantastic fighter, and if he can get past his depression and fight Sonnen then I think he'll continue to dominate the WEC.

4. Robbie Lawler

5. Yoshihiro Akiyama

I more or less agree with sherdog's explanation of why they are on the list, but I think that the fact that Marquardt is ranked 4 when he hasn't finished a fight in the first round since 2003 and both of his finishes recently (the chokeouts of Crafton Wallace and Jeremy Horn) were over guys that we aren't even calling top guys. He's beaten Lister, who's not ranked either. The only top tier guy he's fought destroyed him in 5 minutes. I think it's wrong that Marquardt's on the top five, and I feel the same way about Okami, who's finish over Evan Tanner was impressive, but Tanner himself is not a high ranking guy and his UD wins are not, in my mind, enough to make him more significant than Franklin. I think that they're places should be dropped and Akiyama and Lawler pushed up as a result.

6. Frank Trigg

7. Cung Le

Now Trigg's ranking is for the same reason as Akiyama's and Lawler's, but I feel that no one really seems to credit Trigg as a great fighter. His only losses are too top submission fighters and Robbie Lawler, who, in my mind, is one of the most destructive strikers in the division, behind Silva and neck-and-neck with one other fighter who I've slipped on to my rankings: Cung Le. I think that Le's fight with Frank Shamrock is a chance to prove himself as a technically destructive fighter who's done alot to cultivate his wrestling skills. If he beats Shamrock, and I think that there's a good chance he will, then he becomes one of the most respectable fighters in the smaller shows. Besides that, I think that Le's ranking makes sense as he's been consistent. That's not to say I usually reward guys for winning and everyone else losing, I usually expect more, but I think that Le's style has proven destructive to a degree that we must show some respect for, and I feel that this ranking does that adequately.

8. Kazuo Misaki

9 Rich Franklin

10. Travis Lutter

I feel that Misaki speaks for himself. He's had an interesting couple of months, but his ranking still makes sense. Franklin and Lutter are the two guys (besides Henderson) who managed to survive two rounds with Anderson, so I feel that that, in part, justifies it. In terms of Franklin, we can't forget that he destroyed MacDonald and he dominated Okami for two rounds (he did have some trouble at the end of that fight and exposed a problem in his submission game, but still came out on top). I don't think that two losses against the top guy in the sport should diminish his rank more than the guys who only lost once. It didn't do that to Nogueira. As for Lutter, he had the weight problem with Silva, but that makes his performance, in my mind, a little more impressive than people think it was. Then there's the fact that he smashed Patrick Cote, who's proven to be much better than people suspected as well. I think Lutter deserves this spot more than Santiago (though that's arguable), and alot more than Marquardt and Okami, who really haven't finished anyone I think of as a top-of-the-pack guy in the UFC. In defense of leaving Santiago off, I feel that his losses to Belcher and Leben are still relatively recent, and that his more recent wins don't necessarily prove that he's on an entirely different level.

Hope that makes some sense to people.

DREAM Results: Will Result in Many Puns

2008-03-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

Well, it wasn't a great night, and I won't trouble you with the puns until I publish my official study of the results with mmaopinion.

Still, here are the results.

Ikuhia Minowa defeats Bum Chang Kang via kneebar submission at 1:25 in the first.

Hayato Sakurai defeats Hidetaka Monma with a 4:12 TKO.

Joachim Hansen pulls out the Unanimous decision over Kotetsu Boku.

Luiz Firmino chokes out Kazuyuki Miyata at 7:37.

Katsuhiro Nagata defeats Artur Oumakahnov (yes, I posted his name; it's too damn hard to type) via Unanimous decision.

Mitsuhiro Ishida beats Bu Kyung Jung by Unanimous decision.

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic demolishes Tatsuya Mizuno in an epic 56 second TKO ass whupping.

Eddie Alvarez beats Andrei "Dida" Amade with strikes at 6:47.

Tatsuya Kawajiri beat Kultar Gill with a unanimous decision.

The main event went a less-than-epic 3:46 seconds before being declared a decisive no-decision.

Countdown to Dream

2008-03-14T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well, it has almost arrived and I'm a little bit excited at this point. I've been waiting for Aoki vs. JZ for a long time and think that if both of these guys really show up this could be an FOTY candidate.

My picks:

Gesias "JZ" Calvancanti vs. Shinya "Tobukan Judan" Aoki

I think that this fight will be a war. I originally picked Aoki by early submission after getting caught with a punch, because I didn't think that highly of Aoki's chin or JZ's submission defense, but I think that this fight will show an exciting round and a half or so before the Tobukan Judo ends the match.

My Pick: Aoki via submission (Triangle choke), Round 2

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs. Kultar Gill

This fight is an easy pick, as Gill is a serious no-name, but it will be nice to see the return of Tatsuya Kawajiri and see him catch a big win.

My pick: Kawajiri by TKO, Round 1

Kazuyuki Miyata vs. Luiz Firmino

I'm going with Miyata in a war. I think that the Japanese will expect him to win, and I agree with that, but it will be a hard fought decision victory. I don't think that it will be controversial, but it may very well go back and forth before going to the judges.

My pick: Miyata by Unanimous Decision

Joachim Hansen vs. Kotetsu Boku

I've been waiting for Hansen's return for a while now, and I think that he's got the power and the submission skills to finish a guy like Boku, who he completely outclasses, wherever he wants. Personally, I think he'll take this standing up and early, because he wants to show that he's back and dangerous.

My pick: Hansen via TKO, Round 1

Andre "Dida" Amade vs. Eddie Alvarez

Again, this is a close fight for me to look at. I like Dida, and I think that Alvarez is an interesting prospect. I think this one could end alot of ways, both guys have solid outs and will work their asses off to show that they deserve to say in this organization. Still, I see Dida taking this one with the help of the judges.

My pick: Amade by Unanimous Decision

Mitsuhiro Ishida vs. Jung Bu-Kung

Ishida's a heavy favorite, and when the odds are this heavy I rarely bet against the masses. Ishida is a great fighter with a long history, and his opponent is a relative newcomer. I think experience and raw skill will prevail in this fight and Bu-Kyung will get demolished.

My pick: Ishida by TKO, Round 1

Katsuhiko Nagata vs. Artur Oumakhanov

I've picked this fight based on the quality of opposition, not necessarily on the record, which would give a heavy favoritism to the Russian. I'm taking Nagata in this fight because, despite being barely over .500, he's only lost to two of the better guys over seas right now, one of whom has a thirty pound advantage on him (Yoshihiro Akiyama). While I don't expect Nagata to put on a huge show, I think that he's going to pull it out with the judges.

My pick: Nagata via Unanimous Decision.

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai vs. Hidetaka Monma

Sakurai is one of the most loved fighters in Japan, and his opponent is a nobody. Sakurai has power and experience and raw athleticism, not to mention a solid amount of skill, and his opponent is simply not of the same caliber and, honestly, was probably hand selected by DREAM to lose this fight. That's not to say Monma can't make it interesting (his submission skills earned him a submission win over UFC veteran Jesse Liaudin), but at the end of the day, I think that Sakurai is going to smash him into the canvas.

My pick: Sakurai by TKO, Round 1

Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic vs. Tatsuya Mizuno

CroCop is back where he's comfortable (the ring) and fighting a guy that nobody's heard of. After looking into Mizuno to see if he had the potential for a big come from behind upset, my conclusion is that he's going to get flattened.

My pick: CroCop by KO (kick), Round 1

Should be a fun event, and I'm hoping that the production value is as good as World Victory Road so that we can see a good return to the way Japanese MMA once was. We can only hope.

Why I Don't Like Sherdog?

2008-03-13T09:48:00.000-07:00

In fairness, there are lots of other reasons, but this is one of them. For those who don't know, this was posted where they usually put news.

The Affliction vs. The UFC dispute, I can understand, but what Anderson Silva wears after he pounds someone's face in? Come on, this isn't US magazine; you're covering a sport, not the dresses at the Oscars.

Roy Jones Jr. = More of the Same

2008-03-12T18:28:00.000-07:00

It has been suggested that Anderson Silva should fight Roy Jones Jr., perhaps the greatest 185 pound boxer in the world. It’s not surprising that people have started to think this, after Silva destroyed a man that many considered the #2 ranked middleweight in the world, but the thought of reverting to Roy Jones Jr. seems bizarre, and the reasoning is relatively simple.

Even in the longstanding debate between who is the better striker, the conditons of Silva’s match with Jones would be subject to negative scrunity, however they turned out. Here’s what I mean:

If Silva and Jones met in a boxing match and Jones wins (which I imagine he probably would) then it won’t prove anything. It won’t show MMA fans that boxers are superior strikers because they are used to using heavier gloves. All it will show is that Jones is, as I suspect, a better boxer than the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.

If Silva and Jones meet in the Octagon and Silva destroys Jones, whether using his kicks, his thai clinch or his submission skills (all of which are possible, but the first two I find most probably, given that Silva feels they will look the best against Jones), all he will have proved is that it isn’t possible for Jones to adapt to the MMA system in whatever short period of time he is give. It won’t prove anything about the quality of Anderson’s skills and the authority of his dominance.

Let me simplify it even more:

If Silva fights Jones in MMA, all he’s going to prove is that Jones isn’t a very good MMA fighter. (or at least not any better than the other guys that he has systematically demolished)

If Silva fights Jones in boxing, all he’s going to prove is that his striking doesn’t translate well, or (on the slight off-chance that he should win) he’ll prove that he is (as we already know) a phenomenal striker.

That said, I don’t even think that Jones is a deserving opponent for Silva, given his current situation. Jones is 3-2 in his last 5 fights, and I, personally, don’t find that stat to be particularly impressive. If Jones were on the kind of roll that Mayweather is on, it might be more understandable (that said, if he also had Mayweather’s mouth, my reaction would be as it has always been to Mayweather, and that is to politely suggest that he shut his cakehole).

I think that it goes without saying, given how I feel about boxers coming into MMA (they shouldn’t), that I don’t think we should be talking about this, and that we should be looking at the prospect of a match between Silva and a legitimate top middleweight, pushing the UFC into signing Matt Lindland or Kazuo Misaki or Dennis Kang or Yoshihiro Akiyama (or a dozen other guys who are much more qualified fighters than the boxer Roy Jones), or, as has been suggested many times, that Zuffa work to convince WEC champ Paulo Filho that his best chance for a great fight (both to prove his own mettle and to entertain the fans) is in the prospect of a fight with Silva), despite the uncertainty of both men about fighting a fellow Brazilian.

My point is simple: we, as MMA fans, have been led on for over a year now (arguably longer than that, but other instances have been more sparatic, so I’ll just stay on the safe side) and I’m wondering why professional writers are still talking about it. I don’t want to sound superior, because here I am, talking about it (even if it’s as a suggestion not to), but it’s like my dad always used to tell me:

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me for being suck a damn fool.

MMA News: What's Going On

2008-03-10T07:33:00.000-07:00

Well, here's what's going on in the world of the greatest sport on the planet.

Ken Shamrock drops his fifth straight to "Buzz" Berry in Cage Rage. (and the first thing we all asked ourselves is "who the hell gets a nickname like 'Buzz'?"

Fedor goes into free agency. (normally I wouldn't link to Sherdog, but Jake Rossen put a good article together)

I realized that Japan is not as stable as we might have hoped. (and part of me died a little)

Brandt DeLorenzo takes on Dana White and Nazi's. (so I don't have to)

SHOWTIME XC announces it's upcoming main event. (a wildman vs. the wildman)

Another crazy week is in store. I hope you all enjoy it.

Frank Shamrock vs. Cung Le: FOTY Candidate (and Serious Dark Horse)

2008-03-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

The old wisdom about great fights is simple: it's about putting two guys in a cage who have everything to prove.

Rarely does a matchup like that come along between two high profile guys, and even more rarely does it happen between two guys who have already achieved legendary status.

Frank Shamrock may be the greatest champion in UFC history. He was 7-0 in his UFC career and left with his title belt. Never before has the 205 pound division seen a fighter so destructive. Tito Ortiz is sometimes compared, but even he lacks Shamrock's versatility. In case you don't know what I mean, 10 events before Tito Ortiz knocked Evan Tanner unconscious with a slam (and years before Rampage would do it to Ricardo Arona) Shamrock demolished Russian Igor Zinoviev in 22 seconds when he slammed Zinoviev to the canvas with such force that the fight was stopped immediately. Shamrock's strength as a submission fighter is often touted, but his power and ability to knock opponents out with strikes (or even use strikes to draw the submission) is one of the most impressive supplements to his grappling skills in the sport.

Now, on the other hand we have Cung Le, who is not a legend in MMA, and has only had 5 fights in the sport, but Le is a legend in his own right. Despite his youth, he's one of the most established San Shou fighters in the world, and was well respected in K-1, where he was considered one of the most dominant middleweights. His power and explosiveness, not just with his strikes (which have been known to put opponents out, regardless of where they land) but with his takedowns. His ability to explode through moves routinely that most guys never land (like flying body scizzor takedowns) has endowed him with a legendary status in and of itself.

Both train out of San Jose, California, and both are promising to put on a serious show. Shamrock is the larger of the two fights, but Le is the more technical striker and it will be interesting to see if he can keep this fight on his feet.

This is by no means a typical striker vs. grappler matchup, it is a matchup between a guy with incredible striking and takedowns (Le) and one of the most versatile men ever to step foot in the Octagon.

While this fight may not be watched by many, as it is carried on Strikeforce, I can only hope that it impresses those who do, as both fighters are respectable, and at the top of their division. (even if the mainstream MMA media fails to recognize it.

Hating Convention: For My Fellow Combat-Cult Followers

2008-03-08T22:46:00.000-08:00

This piece was originally posted on mmaopinion.com.

There’s always going to be a large movement of fans (not just of fighting, but of anything) who reject the conventional and the mainstream. Those guys are generally credited with being the first MMA fans; guys who turned their backs on professional boxing and wrestling in order to find something new, something different, something off-beat.

The problem is, now the UFC has become so mainstream, so cultured that the reason they started following it to begin with no longer carries any weight. Where do these fans go?

They can’t go to Pride, since it no longer exists. (many left for Pride after the first TUF season, but they’re now looking for somewhere else to go)

They can’t go to the IFL, because, let’s face it, the IFL has worked way to hard to pull itself into the mainstream.

They can’t go to the WEC, because it follows that same formula as the UFC, only with lighter weight classes. (And, on top of that, many refuse to support Zuffa entirely, because of some of its contractual issues with its fighters)

They can’t go Japan, because they know that those organization are unstable. (and the disillusionment has only furthered itself with Fedor’s free-agency)

They won’t go to Elite XC because, besides about 4 fighters, the whole thing is a gimmick show (these are the fans who have been following the sport long enough to know that Kimbo Slice is not legit).

These guys are stuck in limbo, wandering back and forth between organizations. They watch UFC events because their friends (most of whom they got into the sport) are really excited to watch Anderson Silva (who is not, as many have said, the Mike Tyson if MMA, since he doesn’t commit rape and he has all of his teeth) and Rampage.

I wish I could say that the solution was simple, or that an answer would present itself, but the fact is I don’t think that’s the case. I’ve been out looking for other, exciting organizations for a long time. I’ve watched alot of K-1 (very exciting, but I miss the grappler) and have turned to Cage Rage to get some of my fix. Whether an underground titan will emerge soon, I don’t know, but I hope that when it does, these fans will find it, so that the UFC doesn’t just squash it with it’s giant checkbook.

UFC 82 Fallout

2008-03-08T17:08:00.000-08:00

I originally posted this piece on mmaopinion.com, the site that I have been working for a little over a month now. I'm trying to keep up this site, too, as I feel like its important to have my own thing going.

Still, I don't really want to write the same piece twice, so here it is.

For some, there were some big shocks on the UFC 82 card, but the fact is, most of it was understandable.

We saw Anderson Silva submit Dan Henderson to solidify his position at the top of the 185 pound ranks in most minds.

We saw Diego Sanchez return to form and destroy his Swedish opponent, who I clearly overestimated.

We saw Koscheck destroy Dustin Hazelett, who everyone else seemed to have drastically overestimated.

We saw Chris Wilson take Jon Fitch the distance, but drop the fight in the end, as was expected.

We saw Andrei Arlovski pound Jake O’Brien into a bloody pulp, and many of us pointed and laughed.

We saw Heath Herring outgrapple Cheick Kongo, who seems to be showing improvement on the ground, but doesn’t seem to understand that his ground game still sucks.

We saw Yushin Okami kick the crap out of Evan Tanner, which I might not have predicted, but I’ll admit that when I saw the size difference as they squared off I considered as a possibility.

The real question is what does this mean for the future of the division.

Well, the middleweight division seems devoid of challengers. I mean, there’s the possibility of Cote or Kampmann, but I don’t think anyone expects them to beat Silva. That’s just a fact.

Silva may have to engage in a unification fight with Paulo Filho to find a real challenge, and it certainly would be, given that Filho looks like the #2 man in the division, with Henderson getting knocked off.

The possibility of Zuffa doing that unification fight seems more and more possible, as Filho’s division doesn’t seem particularly rife with talented opposition either, and it would certainly be an incredible draw.

Kongo’s loss simplifies the UFC heavyweight division, leaving us with only two serious contenders: Arlovski and Werdum. While people didn’t think that Kongo was a serious contender, I still maintain that he would have been.

I think that Kongo will fight Antoni Hardonk in his next fight, and that will be an awesome matchup. If Joe Silva doesn’t set this fight up, I’ll be seriously disappointed, as it would be an interesting striking war, the kind we really only get to see in K-1 nowadays.

Mir also seems to be looking like a legitimate contender, now that Kongo is gone, but it’s hard to really call him that when I tend to believe that he’d be destroyed by both Werdum and Arlovski. Still, I wouldn’t object to seeing Mir fight Sylvia again to try and prove that he’s really back in the division. That would make for a great rematch. The possibility of him fighting Kongo was really nullified by this fight with Herring, but I think that it’s still a possibility to see Mir fight Herring, should Herring continue to fight with the UFC.

Sanchez, Koscheck and Fitch caused perhaps the biggest shift in their division, because all three are really vying for the chance to fight Matt Hughes for a top-contender position. Personally, I think that they should give it to Fitch, given that he is still undefeated in the UFC, but they may give it to Koscheck because of his wrestling pedigree and his status as a reality show celebrity.

I’m fairly certain they won’t give it to Sanchez, because they want to see him recover a little bit first, but I haven’t dismissed the prospect of him fighting Hughes if Hughes should lose a fight to either Fitch or Koscheck. I’d like to see Diego fight Tommy Speer, but I think that such a possibility is unlikely, as the UFC wants to keep their country boy pretty.

As for Leben, I’d like to see him fight Drew McFedries, as they are both trying to get back on the contender trail. I’m also open to the idea of Leben fighting Evan Tanner, as I think that would be a cool stylistic matchup and help to get Tanner back on track if he should win.

Okami is in a very interesting position, as he’s not really deserving of a top tier position in my mind, but could hold up a solid post as a gatekeeper. I’d like to see him fight the loser of Patrick Cote vs. Martin Kampmann (which I hope would be a top contenders’ match) and see what happens from there. I’d also like to see him fight Joe Riggs, as it would be an interesting fight, but since that fight really doesn’t seriously advance Okami, I doubt Joe Silva will put it together.

The UFC is in for an interesting year, and seems to be putting together an interesting group of contenders in their lower weight classes, while working hard to reestablish the big men. UFC 82 was a good step towards that, especially for the 170 pounders and Anderson Silva. The future for all looks bright.

Next up, UFN: Lauzon vs. Florian.

And thanks to all of you guys who are regulars here. I appreciate it.

Cage Rage: Americans Don't Care, But Maybe They Should Watch Anyway

2008-03-07T15:09:00.001-08:00

I would only like to mention that, despite the presence of one moderately washed up UFC Hall-of-Famer (no, not Dan Severn), the card looks genuinely interesting.

The return of Neil Grove is emminent, and he weighed in at 273 pounds (what can I say, he's a big boy, but not quite as big as his 282 pound opponent).

The fight between Jean "The White Bear" Silva and Masakazu Imanari will be a war. Silva is coming off of a TKO win over submission master Chris Brennan, and Imanari is coming off of four straight wins, all of which is he has finished in impressive fashion (1 KO and 3 submissions).

I think the overall card looks interesting, as it also promises the return of Mustapha al-Turk, who had won four straight first round destructions (including on submission of former phenom Mark "The Smashing Machine" Kerr) before dropping a decision. Hopefully, he'll put on some fireworks.

Anyway, just thought that American fans might be curious as to what the rest of the MMA world does when the UFC is off the air.

Travis Lutter: Why I Care that He's Fighting Rich Franklin

2008-03-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

Here's the thing, everyone seems to think that Franklin vs. Lutter is going to be a complete and utter decimation. They think that Franklin, the former UFC middleweight champion and staple of American MMA is going to come in, swing for the fences, land a shot and go home. I don't think it's that simple, not just because anything can happen in MMA, but because of who he's fighting.

I saw Travis Lutter fight at UFC 50, when he debuted against a legend: Marvin "The Beastman" Eastman (the same gatekeeper they picked up to fight Rampage when he debuted in the UFC). Eastman is a fantastic kickboxer, and he knows how to throw down, and many people (myself included) thought that this was going to be a striker vs. grappler matchup of classic, textbook proportions. Nothing impressive, and the more well rounded veteran will take home the fight.

That's what the first round looked like, but in the second round Travis Lutter landed an overhand right that, when played on the highlight reel (whether in slo-mo or full speed) makes Rich Franklin's knock out of Nate Quarry look like a preschool brawl. It's the kind of KO that we only get to see about once a year (I can't think of it reappearing in the UFC until James Irvin knocked out Terry Martin with a flying knee at the top of the second in their fight).

That said, I don't think Franklin's edge in the standup department is huge, and I don't think he has one in the grappling. Let's face it, Franklin is a great athlete, but he's not a great grappler. Okami almost caught him with the kimura, and if Lutter gets the opportunity, he's much better than Okami in the submission department and is not just going to let that sub go.

I'm not saying that I think that Frankin is screwed, or that Lutter is the second coming of Fedor. All that I'm saying is that I think this fight will be interesting, and that it should not be dismissed as a stepping stone fight for Franklin. Lutter is going to make this a war, and I predict it's going to be fun to watch.

The Prospect of Barnett vs. Gracie

2008-03-05T12:54:00.001-08:00

I'm already excited just thinking about it. The fact is, if you put the greatest heavyweight submission grappler in with one of the greatest MMA fighters in the world, something incredible is bound to happen, and the prospect of Roger Gracie and Josh Barnett bring that to World Victory Road is intriguing.

I'll get into the specifics of the matchup if it is officially announced, but I should say only now that I think that this would be a technical fight even more than Barnett's fight with Yoshida, and Barnett's power would be tested by an opponent almost as strong as he is, with technique that goes even beyond Nogueira's. It's a test of transitioning to MMA for Gracie and a test of the skills Barnett has used for a long time. This fight seems, at least to me, incredibly promising.

Since I'm Having Sort of a Tribute Morning

2008-03-04T06:52:00.000-08:00

This is for the Baddest Man on the Planet, Mr. Untouchable Ernesto Hoost!

For those who don't know who Hoost is, he's credited with being the greatest kickboxer in the world and his work in K-1 is incredible. While he's started showing his age recently, his coaching skills have also shown to be very impressive. A single example of his work in the UFC is destructive kickboxer Antoni Hardonk who, while not much of a grappler, has been absolutely destructive standing up.

This one's for Hoost.

Anderson Silva Tribute

2008-03-04T06:49:00.000-08:00

This is a video I found on youtube, a shout-out to the man who seems to be at the top of the middleweight division right now. It's a solid showcase of his abilities, and proof that he's a great fighter. Like we needed more.

A Note on Ludwig vs. Gomi at WVR

2008-03-03T20:45:00.000-08:00

Everyone I've talked to seems to think that Gomi is going to win this upcoming fight against Duane Ludwig by falling back on his wrestling and submission skills, and I think that alot of that is a result of people's understanding of Ludwig's standup. I won't go deep into a technical analysis, and I will acknowledge that Ludwig is a very, very good striker, and has been for a long time.

The reality, though, is that Gomi is still going to have an advantage standing up in a way that I don't think alot of people are accounting for, because Duane Ludwig is thinking the exact same thing.

Here's what I'm saying:

If you're Duane Ludwig, you know that your opponent is a better wrestler than you, and a better submission fighter, and a better groundnpounder, you're going to work very, very hard to keep this fight standing up. You're going to anticipate that takedown, and be ready to sprawl, perhaps even more ready to sprawl than to bob and weave when Gomi starts closing the distance.

Gomi hits hard, and I think that if Ludwig is too focussed on the takedown, he's going to run into the same problem that we've seen guys who are predominantly strikers (most notably Mirko CroCop) run into before. Great strikers get beaten by better grapplers standing up because they are so afraid of hitting the mat that they neglect their standup. We saw it in CroCop's fights with Randleman and Gonzaga, and while I'm aware that Ludwig is a different person, it's important to remember that when he's in with that level of grappler, he may very well fall back to that mentality.

For those watching the World Victory Road event this Wednesday, I would like to offer this thought on Gomi's fight: If Gomi comes inside, whether with a shot or just looking for a clinch, and Ludwig starts to back away or prepare to sprawl out, be ready to watch Gomi's hands, because Gomi is the kind of smart fighter who is not going to force a takedown when he can land that knock out punch, and he has the power to put Duane to sleep.

I'm not saying that this fight won't end up on the ground. If Duane comes out ready to brawl, and shows that with the way he carries himself, we may see Gomi go for that clinch or that shot and take this fight to the mat either right off the bat or after feeling Ludwig out for a little while. But if Duane comes in tentative, don't be shocked if you see Gomi knock him out with a big punch, it's something he's got the ability to do, if given the opportunity.

UFC 82: A Look Ahead

2008-03-02T22:55:00.000-08:00

I posted a piece on mmaopinion.com about the fallout from UFC 82 and what I think is going to follow in its wake. I might be right, but probably not about everything. Still, it's definitely an interesting result.

I'll try to post middleweight rankings tomorrow. Good night, and may your dreams be filled with bloody canvases and unconscious egotists.

Beat the Monkey: Beaten

2008-03-02T10:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, so this requires a small explanation.

I set up my program through MMAPlayground.com, a site that is generally quite accomodating. Unfortunately, I was informed earlier this morning that my accounts had been removed, and that I was in danger of being banned from the site. Oh well, I guess I'll have to revert to pen and paper.

I'll post my middleweight rankings later, with a look at Sherdog's pre-UFC 82 rankings and some of the complete and utter wierdness that they seem to post consistantly on their website.

Beat The Monkey: A Little Experiment

2008-03-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

For those who don't follow the intense world of stock trading (I'm generally one of those people) there was an experiment conducted about 10 years ago that pitted one of the top stock traders in the world against a monkey, and the two ran neck and neck for a very long time. I decided it might be fun to try this with MMA analysis, and see how effective I actually am, or if I suck so much that I get beaten by something that has no awareness of the matchups.

I've decided that, since monkeys are very expensive, I can only afford to play against a quarter, which will (in an ideal world) prove to be right about 50% of the time. Realistically, I have a much higher win percentage that 50%, but the coin might too, and it might be considerably worse (then again, so could I)

In order to make things really interesting, I decided to add another factor, and that is basic numerological analysis, purely analysis based on records. While I tend to analyze styles, there's always a way to look at the numbers. Pick the guy with the most wins, or the fewest losses, and the fewest decisions. I've decided to run a combination of that, but really the basic paper-based scoring system that doesn't look at past matchups, doesn't look at personal history or the styles of the fighters. We'll see how that does.

The scoring for this is going to be done two ways, or more realistically in two tiers. Any fight that has more than three top ten fighters on the card will be in the "Major events" category (so UFC 82, the upcoming World Victory Road Event, that kind of stuff). Any event that has less will go in the "Minor events" category, regardless of the size of the organization that puts it together.

I think that it will be a little more interesting in the "minor events" category, but I tend to think I'm pretty good at picking high-profile fights and the year of the upset has shown that that's not always true.

I'll post the first round of scores after tonight's event (my analysis will be on MMAOpinion.com) and give some thoughts about the future of the project.

A Little Fun For Your Friday

2008-02-29T13:38:00.000-08:00

I'm painfully bored right now, and I was surfing through youtube checking out videos and I found this gem. Enjoy.

The Fall of Boxing: Good for Us, Bad for Them

2008-02-26T22:14:00.000-08:00

I don't have a personal vendetta against boxing, but I do have a personal vendetta against any fighter who doesn't really want to win.

If you want to make money, going into the stock market, become an investment banker. Don't fight.

After watching Wladimir Klitchko win a decision over Sergei Ibragimov, I decided it was about time that I pointed out one of the greatest flaws in boxing: that the decision is not just acceptable, but expected. It get's neither in mma. I hope you all enjoy the piece.

It's posted on MMAopinion.com, and thanks to Brandt DeLorenzo (who supplied the great photo).

Henderson vs. Silva: Why They Win, and Why They Are Looking at FOTY

2008-02-22T21:50:00.000-08:00

For those coming to this for the first time, I will say only that this started as an analysis of Anderson Silva, and the support of the initial part led me to do a second piece about Dan Henderson. The response from that has led me to add the final part, and it's posted here first. (it will be on MMAopinion and UFCscene soon, as well)

For those returning, having read the first two installments, you can skip right to the final piece. I've bolded each of the section headings and thrown in picks and video to make that process easier.

In Rio, The Spider Steps on You

Leading up to the fight with Dan Henderson, I think it’s appropriate that we take a look at what makes the fighters great. I’ll definitely spend a little time talking about the numbers, but I’m going to try and focus on the technical aspect, give you some things to watch about the all-around game and the specifics of the way they fight.

I’ll definitely look at Henderson as we approach fight time, but I think that it’s only appropriate to start with the reigning champion of the UFC’s middleweight division, not just because of his status as champion, but also because of how he has been regarded by professional analysts (most notably the ones that the UFC has had do their “analysis.” (I put it in quotes, because it’s not really analysis as much as it’s hyping the fight)

Anderson Silva is not infallible. He is great, and certainly one of the most devastating fighters of his generation, and it wouldn’t be far fetched to say that he’s one of the greatest users of the traditional vale tudo combination: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Muay Thai.

There’s alot to be said for the length of Silva’s limbs, because, let’s face it, they’re freakishly disproportionate. His reach has always been his greatest physical weapon, but, just like with a thick, stocky fighter, it’s all about how you use it, and Anderson is certainly among the elite in using his natural weapons to their fullest potential.

Saying Anderson controls distance is like saying Peyton Manning throws the football.

When Anderson Silva decides he wants to stand at range, he uses every strike in his arsenal at full distance. He tends to stick to straight punches, but they are so crisp and so quick that people rarely have the opportunity to get around them, despite the fact that they stay at a very traditional, direct angle.

One of the other things that many of his opponents seem to forget, perhaps not in training for the fight, but certainly when they are in the heat of battle, is that Anderson’s legs are also very long and very quick, and he tosses out kicks with the front and back leg with the same ease most fighters throw out punches. That, above all, is one of the reasons why he is able to control distance so effectively without moving backwards. He uses his hands to make his opponents aware of his attack, and uses his kicks to intimidate them, and control their pace, further once he has kept them from being too close.

Anderson Silva’s distance control is something that we see so rarely in the sport, especially at that level, that the only thing I can think of to relate it to is Tim Sylvia’s standup during his early fights. It’s not just a matter of height and the psychological factor of being taller than your opponent, because Anderson is really not that much taller than his opponents, it’s making your opponent stay on his heels, because as soon as he comes on his toes and starts to move forward, he starts eating those straight punches.

It allows a fighter like Silva to be aggressive and really attack his opponent, knowing that his opponent will have to do alot of work to get around the straight strikes, but there are other reasons why Anderson’s distance control is so effective, and that’s because of his clinch game.

If you get caught in the clinch with Silva, you will get hit in the face, that’s just a given. It has alot to do with the technical control that Silva has over his opponents, his ability to keep his hands inside and use the leverage from his long forearms, but it also has alot to do with the length of his legs. Anderson Silva can knee an opponent in the face without really moving his body backwards to counterbalance the weight or pulling his opponent down, something that traditional thai boxers almost always have to do to get their opponent’s heads in range.
The fact is, Anderson has the balance and the length in his legs to smash his opponents face without compromising his center of gravity, and without exerting way to much force, like we’ve seen fighters do in order to control distance. It’s the kind of quality that I’ve never really seen in a fighter, with the exception of Sylvia, because even the legends of the clinch like Wanderlei, have to use those traditional transitions of balance (like forcing your opponent down or moving your upper body back). Anderson’s abilities in the clinch allow him not just to utilize those knees, but also to transition seamlessly between the clinch and his traditional stance, with minimal recovery time, and not lose any of the attack power in his open range striking.

As we saw in his fight with Travis Lutter, Anderson Silva’s skills are not strictly based in his standup, as many fighters have thought. Rich Franklin and coach George Gurgel (Gurgel is Franklin’s BJJ instructor, a blackbelt in the style, and competes in the UFC’s lightweight division) thought that they might be in good shape if they could take the fight to the ground. Franklin’s wrestling wasn’t sufficient to deal with the Anderson’s balance or clinch game, but even if it was, he probably wouldn’t have done much damage on the ground.

If Franklin almost got caught by Yushin Okami in that fight, there’s a serious possibility that Anderson would have caught him with a submission, especially off the back.

When I say Anderson Silva has a blackbelt, it’s something that is taken for granted, because there is such an abundance of submission fighters in the UFC with blackbelts. Make no mistake, Anderson’s submission game is even more formidable than we saw in his fight with Travis Lutter, or his fight with Nate Marquardt.
Anderson’s reach isn’t just exploited on the feet, but also on the ground, especially in his guard game.

As became very clear against Lutter, Anderson’s lanky physique gives him the opportunity to really work one submission in particular: the triangle choke. It’s not just that he can put it on and lock it in quickly (he can do that, but that’s not his entire game), it’s that he can set that triangle up and keep it on from pretty much anywhere, because of the length of his legs. Even if an opponent is posturing up to escape the triangle, as we saw Lutter doing a few times, his legs give him the opportunity to pull his opponent back down when they can’t pull themselves loose.

The length of his arms also comes into effect, as was clear when he started using them to smash Travis Lutter’s head in. The fact is, no one can really defend the strikes and the submission at the same time, but Anderson’s body allows him to put himself in a position to win matches that way, and he has no problem using it.

As far as a way to beat Anderson Silva’s guard game, it’s not a good idea to play low, and it’s not a good idea to stand up (as he’s very well versed with the upkick, one of the moves that led to his defeat of Lutter). It seems almost necessary to pass the guard as soon as you get the takedown, or revert to very technical BJJ and maintain posture while opening the guard and pinning one of the legs, a feat which will not be easy against a fighter as well versed in jiu-jitsu as Silva is.
There are a few flaws I’ve noticed in Silva’s game, but it’s important to remember that these are only tiny nuances, compared to the laundry list of things that he does better than anybody else.

The first is that he leaves himself very open to footlocks. He likes to throw his legs up after his opponent when he is fighting off of his back, but most opponents are so preoccupied with the up-kick that they rarely try and think about taking one of his feet. Silva’s ability to defend the leglock has never been tested (I will not discredit Ryo Chonan, but I think that if he had landed that any more perfectly on anyone else, it would have gone exactly the same), so it is uncharted waters, but the uncharted waters seem much safer than the charted ones, given that everyone Silva has faced in the Octagon has been, for lack of a better term, completely destroyed.

The other hole in his game is not the one that everyone seems to think it is. It is not that he can be taken down. Obviously, Anderson Silva does not mind fighting off of his back. Obviously, he can take punishment. When I hear Dana White and Joe Rogan talk about a potential chink in Silva’s armor, I cringe, because I know that anyone who winds up on top of the Spider is going to have to deal with a very sophisticated, very well practiced guard game that you can’t deal any serious damage in, because you might overextend one of your arms and get submitted.

The problem is much simpler, but it’s not something that anyone approaches because it’s not the way the modern MMA fighter thinks. Every MMA fighter today, with the exception of Shinya Aoki, believes that in order to get the fight to the ground, you have to use a takedown, which means that if a fighter doesn’t want to be on top, he never has to be. And the problem with this mindset, when one goes in to fight an opponent like Silva or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, is that you overlook a serious possibility, which is making your opponent fight from the top.

There is a stigma on the bottom, because everyone thinks that the guy on the bottom will lose on the judges scorecards, and that’s true alot of the time, but the possibility of Anderson Silva being on top is not as frightening as being caught in one of his triangles as he elbows your brain down into your spinal column.

Making Anderson sit in guard is something that gives an opponent a serious opportunity to exploit what is otherwise Anderson’s greatest attribute. In case my going off on a brief rant has led you to forget what that is, that would be his long limbs.

Anderson Silva’s arms make him a prime target for armbars. The length of his neck makes him a prime target for guillotines from the bottom. His relatively lanky build make him much easier to de-base once one has locked up a triangle. Yet we haven’t seen anyone really try to make him fight from the top since Silva’s fight with Daiju Takase. Takase, for those who don’t know (and since the fight occurred a long time ago in relative obscurity in Japan, I understand if you don’t) won with a triangle choke.

Still, giving Anderson the top position is, like throwing footlocks, uncharted waters. But who wants to go throught the water charted by Leben, Franklin, Marquardt and Lutter anyway?

Anderson can be a victim of his own advantages, I really don’t have any doubt of that. The question is whether or not there is an opponent willing to risk getting punched in the face when they put themselves on their back. Such a fighter has yet to come along, but if they do, it will be interesting to see the reaction they draw, not just from fans, but from other fighters.

Until someone does beat Silva, whether by using the guard or by being more of a wrecking ball than Silva has been proven to be, he will be a force in the UFC middleweight division. While it seems like Dan Henderson has an excellent shot at doing that, Anderson’s skills are still very much a real issue, and his confidence can only be growing as he destroys opponent after opponent in the middleweight division.

Making Dangerous: Why Dan Henderson Wins

As I posted an article on the fighting style of UFC champion Anderson Silva as a lead up to this fight, it’s both fair and necessary to do the same for Pride welterweight champion Dan Henderson. (for those who need the clarification, Pride doesn’t have a 170 pound division, and their welterweight is 185 pounds)

Dan Henderson has been one of the most well respected fighters in the world for a long time, but it is not simply his respectability that has led the UFC to give him two title shots in a row. It’s the fact that he is the only man ever to hold two titles in Pride. This is a look at how he got them, and why he’s been one of the most dominant and physically powerful fighters in two weight classes for years.

The first thing that needs to be acknowledged is that when Dan Henderson fights up in weight, he is still often the more physically powerful fighter, because of something that his opponents and training partners describe as the “gorilla grip.”

Gorilla grip really isn’t doing it justice. In the greco-clinch, Dan Henderson is a vice with legs. He gets a hold of his opponents and just imposes his will. It’s not solely because of his conditioning, but also because of his wrestling ability.

Dan’s clinch is one of the most technical attack styles around, and, like most of his fighting style, he operates it with such aggression and commitment that he’s basically pinning himself to his opponent and working them to the mat, where he basically pins them, a la his Olympic caliber Greco-Roman wrestling, and delivers punishment.

Of all of Dan Henderson’s weapons’, though, there’s one that’s respected more than his wrestling, more than that Olympic experience, because of what it’s done in this sport, and that’s his right hand.

Dan’s not credited with being a great boxer, and he never will be. He doesn’t utilize combinations the way that people think he should and he never really sets his moves up with head movement, the way that a lot of great counterpunchers do.
If any part of his style is to be credited with setting up his right hand, it’s his chin. Rarely do I get the opportunity to watch a fighter as willing to eat a punch as Henderson outside of the heavyweight division, but Henderson is one of the guys who has no problem with mixing it up, and he does it better than anyone else.

Henderson moves forward when he fights, and usually that’s because his opponents are wary of his right hand. I’m not sure if Anderson Silva will show it serious respect in their upcoming fight, but there’s definitely a chance that we will see Henderson move Silva into the cage because of his ability to dominate with his right hand and his clinch game. The combination tends to keep opponent’s on their heels, trying to just throw jabs at Henderson and work combinations.

In 28 fights, Henderson has never been knocked out, and his ability to keep moving forward has a huge psychological effect on his opponent, something that I call the “Mark Hunt effect.”

It’s one thing to know that you are hitting your opponent and that you are doing damage, but when you throw a combination you expect to do damage at a guy and he keeps moving forward, there’s a serious mental flag that goes up. A little siren in the back of your head says “wait, that didn’t hurt this guy.” That flag can be ignored if it only pops up one or two times, but if it goes off enough and a fighter starts to realize it, it can really get to him.

There are plenty of guys who try to recreate that impact by smiling and giving their opponent the little “bring-it-on” wave, but every competant fighter, especially a great standup guy, knows that his opponent is taking notice when he does that, knows that his opponent got woken up a little bit. We saw that understanding in Patrick Cote’s fight with Drew McFedries not to long ago.

It’s something totally different when your opponent doesn’t even look like he noticed, and that’s the kind of chin that only guys like Hunt and Henderson seem to offer.

Henderson attacks constantly, whether with the clinch or from his feet, using his right haymaker. It’s really hard to explain how hard Dan Henderson hits, but Frank Trigg put it better than anyone else when he said that getting hit with Henderson’s right hand will put you out, regardless of where it hits your head, but if you catches you flush, that’s the night. Just ask Wanderlei Silva.

Dan hits like a ton of bricks, and he carries his hand in close to his head, almost as if it’s glued to his cauliflower. This is what may present problems for Silva, as it makes it nearly impossible for a fighter standing orthodox to land a clean shot.
If you want to look at the ways to beat Henderson, there are really a few that have been tested, and I expect that Anderson will try to use them to the best of his ability. There are really two tactics that seem to work the best.
The first is to maintain distance and use some technical striking to avoid the right hand. It’s about not being intimidated by Henderson’s relentless attack and just bobbing and weaving. I expect Anderson to do a lot of that, given that’s what he’s good at. It’s also the ability to really use kicks that really plays a big roll for the guys that beat Dan, because that is what keeps him out of the range he needs to use that right haymaker.

Maintaining that distance will give you the opportunity to win a decision, but in a 25 minute fight, Silva may decide that standing with a guy he’s not going to KO is not really his best option.

The second is to attack him from the guard, but that seems to get harder and harder as Dan’s ground game develops farther from wrestling. Still, it doesn’t seem like much of a stretch to see Anderson pulling out a submission again Henderson, when you consider that Antonio Rogerio Nogueira did it with an armbar when he fought Henderson.

That’s not to say that Henderson’s submission game is bad, but it is his weakest link, and certainly has presented more problems for Henderson than anything else. While he’s worked to shore it up, he’s not at the level of a BJJ blackbelt, and if Anderson can exploit that deficiency, we’ll definitely see some technical groundwork from both fighters.

The secret to beating Henderson on the ground is to not get trapped and not get frustrated. Even Rampage Jackson got a little flustered early in the fight when dealing with Henderson’s raw strength. If Anderson can keep cool and use his jiu-jitsu to create a solid position, instead of getting pinned to the mat by the Greco-Roman skills of Silva, he can use the principle that the Gracie’s have been teaching for years: leverage is greater than strength.

As true as that may be, we can’t forget that Henderson is unrivaled in strength at 185 pounds.

Matchup of the Year

It just doesn't happen often enough; a fight where I am so uncertain about who is going to win that I am flip-flopping about my pick as I am starting to right.

Honestly, I haven't been this unsure about a pick since Fedor vs. CroCop. I've been wrong, but I haven't been unsure.

The fact is, Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson make for a fight that we cannot, with any real certainty, call, and the odds are proof of that. The UFC and Pride Champions are locked even and I doubt that even Wanderlei Silva vs. Rampage Jackson would have been considered this tight of a matchup if it had happened instead of the Henderson fight at the end of last year.

I've already talked about why it is that Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva are forces to be reconned with in the middleweight division, why it is they are both dominant and devastating, and why it is that I so rarely bet against either of them when they are competing in this weight class.

Still, I want to take a second to really look at the dimensions of this matchup, because it's not until you really see how these guys matchup that you see how hard it is for me to make a pick.

Often, just a stylistic advantage can make a choice simple, but this fight offers no such luck.

After all, we have Anderson Silva, who has torn through opponents with mechanical efficiency in his striking, and we have Dan Henderson, who has a chin that has never failed him, even in his fights at 205 pounds and the open water of the heavyweight division. So the question takes us back to the ancient Zen parable: If you take the strongest weapon, and smack it against the hardest dome, what's going to happen.
There's the answer that we've seen from Mark Hunt in his fight with Mirko CroCop, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to compare Hunt's chin to Henderson's yet. (I'm aware that I've done it periodically, but only to illustrate that the man has a very hard head, the question is "how hard?")

I'm certainly ready to call Anderson Silva the Peter Aerts of the UFC middleweight division. He seems to tear through everyone with that vicious set of combinations and tireless attack that I've only ever seen from top K-1 kickboxers like Aerts and his fellow Dutchman Ernesto Hoost. I'll be honest and say that I think that even the guys that we consider aggressive in the MMA world aren't as aggressive as Silva. Wanderlei wasn't, because he had the patience to wait for an opening and bob and weave for minutes at a time. Sure, when he attacked he was devastating and finished every match, but I don't think he's been as aggressive as Anderson has been in Anderson's MMA career.

That said, I think that if we see this fight stay standing through five rounds, it will end very much like the fights we've seen with Hunt in K-1 (namely the three bouts he dropped to Jerome LeBanner and the one he dropped to Hoost, which I certainly recommend to anyone interested in K-1), and not like Hunt's MMA performances (which have been heavily focussed on his submission game).
What that means is that we will see Anderson Silva do serious damage to Dan Henderson, but we will not see the effect on Dan. There will be combinations landed by Silva throughout the fight and eventually the final bell will ring (something that has never happened with Silva in his UFC career).
If this fight hits the ground, this is a different world. We are looking at an incredible wrestler and a BJJ warrior. It is a classic matchups with the next generation spin: that neither of these men are new to each other's world. Both are well versed in wrestling and both are skilled in submissions. The specialties are really only a slight advantage in the reality of things.
If this fight does hit the ground, I am still leaning towards Anderson, but less than I am with the standup, because I'm not sure how Anderson will compete with the freakish strength of Dan Henderson. We are, after all, talking about a guy who controlled Rampage for the first few rounds of their fight, and kept the much larger opponent planted flat on the canvas.

Still, I will give the edge to Silva for a few reasons. The first of which is that I think that his jiu-jitsu is aggressive and gets vastly underrated because people are so tied up with the viceral power of his muay thai. Every time I watch the tape of Anderson's fights with Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt (guys with very, very well established Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu backgrounds), I'm astounded by how well he makes his style work in mixed martial arts. The use of elbows on an opponent who's resisting the triangle and his ability to just completely destroy Marquardt on the ground makes it hard to believe that Anderson is beatable.

The other is Dan Henderson's history against great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighters, and it is really my basis for making this prediction more than anything else.
Henderson has been twice submitted by opponents with superior jiu-jitsu backgrounds. While one of those wins is often attributed to the raw size of current UFC champion and former Pride champ Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, his skills are not dismissable.

It is also important to not that Henderson was caught in an armbar by Nogueira's brother Antonio Rogerio (yes, they both have the same first name), who, while he competes at 205 pounds, cannot be attributed with a strength advantage, as that is clearly not the case.

It's also worth noting that the Nogueira brothers gave Anderson Silva his blackbelt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. While I make it a point never to make the mistake of confusing the student and teacher (Kurt Pellegrino is, for example, not as good a submission fighter as his instructor, Hermes Franca, and he isn't on 'roids). Still, in this case I have a hard time letting this slip by, while Anderson Silva is a weight class below Rogerio and two below the current UFC champ, I think that this is really an advantage on the ground.

That said, Dan Henderson is very strong and a great wrestler. If he takes this fight to the ground and maintains top position, he may be able to power through Anderson's submission attempts. He may even take a page out of 'Page's book and try some crazy power-bomb slam. I won't call this one for Anderson and say that he has control of all the outs (this isn't BJ Penn vs. Joe Stevenson), but I will say that I'm going with Anderson on this one.

The prediction: Anderson Silva by decision.

The reality: Anything can happen.

A Little Rickson Gracie Nostalgia For a Saturday Morning

2008-02-16T07:34:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite videos on youtube, and a reminder of why Rickson was the man when the sport began. While many fans just know Royce for what he did in the UFC, Rickson was the man who ran MMA on two continents. He pushed the new generation of GJJ fighters to prominence in Brazil and brought them overseas to Japan, where he showed how beneficial the style was.

He's definitely a warrior.

Tank Abbott vs. Kimbo Slice: Crazy Shit

2008-02-15T12:19:00.000-08:00

It's easy to say that these two guys are just going to punch each other in the face. Neither are going to have any cardio, but it's not going to matter. Still, let's take a real look at the way this is going to go down.

Let me first say that I think Kimbo is a decent brawler, but that I have to say that not only does Tank have twenty more fights on the professional level than Kimbo, he's also got hundreds on the street. If we want to give anyone an experience edge on this fight, it is Tank.

In terms of the way that these guys think, it's always about bringing it outside of the cage, that's always what they're thinking about, but once you step in, it's going to be different than the typical, onesided brawl we've seen from Kimbo.

Tank is in incredible physical condition in this fight. It sounds wierd to say, but he's the trimmest I've ever seen him, and that could mean alot of things, but I don't think it will have any impact on his power, because Tank Abbott hits harder than any man on the planet. Including Chuck Liddell. Including Mirko CroCop. Including Fedor.

He may not hit as consistently as those guys. He may not move as well as those guys. He may not be as good a striker as those guys, but he hits harder than anyone on the planet. After all, Tank put out Cabbage Correirra with one punch, and Cabbage has fought some of the most dangerous strikers on the planet. It says alot for Tank that he is the only one to put Cabbage out with that one shot.

If that shot catches Kimbo, the Slice is going to have to hope that his bushy beard will provide some padding, but I don't think it will help much.

Personally, I wanted to see Kimbo fight Antonio Silva, but even the big Silva couldn't put out Cabbage with one punch, and given that Antonio was almost 350 pounds at the time, that's saying something.

Kimbo is going to step in the ring and find that Tank is not Bo Cantrell, he's not going to fall down pro-wrestling style as soon as he gets hit with a punch. Tank wants to prove himself, and I certainly hope he does.

I won't count Kimbo out of this fight, but I certainly think that he's the underdog. Anything can happen in a brawl, but I think I've got a pretty good idea of how this goes down.

They step in the cage, punch each other in the face and Kimbo falls down. Then Tank gets drunk.

Why I've Been Slow

2008-02-14T08:58:00.000-08:00

Sorry, for those who read regularly. I've been working with mmaopinion.com, and they've hired me as their first paid writer.

I'll still be working on this site, and posting articles, but I'll also be around there regularly, putting stuff up. So definitely check it out.

Lightheavyweight Rankings

2008-02-07T16:28:00.000-08:00

As with my heavyweight rankings, I'm not going to offer reasoning where I don't feel it's needed. This is one of the more complex divisions, as it's been pretty well mixed together since the integration of the UFC and Pride as 205, but I think my rankings are pretty solid, even given the craziness that exists within this division.

1. Quinton Jackson

2. Dan Henderson

3. Lyoto Machida

People will definitely feel as though I have to justify this ranking, but let me start by saying that I think having Keith Jardine ranked as #3 is ridiculous. I am equally upset by the fact that Dean Lister, Houston Alexander (who beat Jardine badly) and Thiago Silva are not ranked, despite having performed much better than the list Sherdog offers. As for ranking Machida at 3 when sherdog doesn't seem to think he's even top 5 material. I'll say that I think his undefeated record is very impressive, while I may not be totally impressed by his win over BJ Penn (something I've talked about before). I see some of his opponents as being serious top guys, especially Sokoudjou and Nakamura, and I feel that he shouldn't be underestimated, as he is one of the most formidable fighters in the division, and far and away the most versatile.

4. Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou

Sokoudjou is a warrior. He has stopped two fighters who are the best in the world at what they do and while his loss to Machida has shaken out some of his mystery, I still think he's one of the most interesting fighters. He has serious athleticism and powerful explosiveness. I know people will dispute this ranking, say that a guy who has been finished recently cannot be this high in the rankings. CroCop didn't drop from the top five after his loss to Gonzaga. Barnett didn't drop after his loss to CroCop. That statement is untrue in regards to the world ranking. It's about losing to a respected opponent, and I feel that Machida is both respected and respectable, as is clear in my ranking of him.

5. Thiago Silva

6. Houston Alexander

This is my greatest problem with Sherdog, and it's one that is perpetual, not just because of this one ranking. They do not respect the up and comers. They need to see it far too often before they acknowledge it as a fighting style and not a fluke (as they did before Sokoudjou's fight with Ricardo Arona, and as they have done with dozens of fighters over the last few years), either that or they fall into a trap of believing it is a fighting style when it's an act of fight-specific planning (as they did with CroCop and Gonzaga going into the Couture fight, thinking Gonzaga's striking would be overwhelming). Alexander has been proven. Jardine is now considered a legitimate fighter (and is ranked 3 by Sherdog), but Alexander destroyed him. Alexander is an explosive fighter, as is Silva. These are not guys who bring one solid performance. I am severely disappointed that Thiago Silva is not the next 205 pound contender, but when he is (I don't personally see it as a matter of "if") he will get the opportunity to prove that his viceral style of striking is the real deal, and not just some fluke. Alexander will continue to do the same.

7. Chuck Liddell

8. Keith Jardine

It's clear that I don't care that much that Jardine beat Liddell. The fact is, Jardine has won two fights, and that is the basis most people see to put him in the top 5. That is stupid. He beat Liddell by split decision (meaning one judge gave the other fight to Liddell), but Liddell has a history in this division and has finished more than one opponent, unlike Jardine. I think it's a great disrespect to Liddell to have him ranked so much lower, or even lower at all, that Jardine, given the clear differences in their record and the fact that Jardine barely won that fight. While I think Jardine is higher on the lightheavyweight ladder within the UFC, I think that Liddell deserves a higher ranking.

9. Forrest Griffin

10. Mauricio Rua

I am not sure that I really want Rua to be ranked 10, and I almost put Wanderlei Silva in that spot instead, but I am taking into account the fact that, not long ago, Rua was ranked one. If he can wean himself off of his dependence on the Pride rules, he will be fine, otherwise, he will be in trouble, and may be dropped from the rankings altogether.

Rankings: Just Another Problem I Have With Sherdog

2008-02-06T20:59:00.000-08:00

I have lots of issues with the site, and have no problem listing them at length, but their ranking process always confuses me, because so often they seem illogical. I don't agree that a fighter should be removed for inactivity in his weight class, though general inactivity I can understand. It's really just an opinional difference, but it seems strange that Matt Lindland, the best 185 pound fighters in the world, is removed from their rankings because he has had to go up weight classes to look for competition.

Here are my heavyweight rankings (I'll add more as this week goes on). I've offered clarification where I feel its necessary, though there are things (like putting Fedor at #1 among the big men) that I figure you probably have a good handle on.

Heavyweight

1. Fedor Emelianenko

2. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

3. Randy Couture

My logic in ranking Nogueira at 2 and Couture at three is based primarily on their performances against Tim Sylvia. Nogueira finished him and Couture, however, I feel it's also important to note that Nogueira has fought a much greater volume of top ten opponents and has done much better against them.

4. Josh Barnett

I'll be honest, I think that the fact that Barnett is not on Sherdog's rankings is fucking ridiculous. Usually I'd put it more eloquently than that, but I think there's really no other way to word my frustration. I respect Barnett as a fighter and don't hold him on a pedestal in the least, and I'm just as frustrated as anyone that he hasn't fought since the buyout, and his imminent return on the Sengoku card will really dictate where I think he falls in the new, scattered heavyweight division. that said, I refuse to rank guys who have much less experience and credibility higher than Barnett, because doing that is ridiculous.

5. Andrei Arlovski

6. Fabricio Werdum

7. Tim Sylvia

My reasoning for ranking Arlovski and Werdum ahead of Sylvia is simple. Werdum has been impressive recently, as has Arlovski, though not in his last fight. Sylvia gets ranked very highly because he beats opponents he should beat, but that's not enough for me to call him a top 5 heavyweight. If Sylvia had really shown up in past fights and I had reason to regard the fight with Nogueira as an anomaly, I would do that, but Sylvia doesn't finish people, and he doesn't even really impress when he sends the fight to the judges. The fact that he is ranked so high by groups like Sherdog really just emphasizes how much crap we are willing to put up with from the former champ before we start questioning his work ethic.

8. Cheick Kongo

9. Gabriel Gonzaga

There are those who are going to wonder why Gonzaga is ranked lower than Kongo, given that Gonzaga finished CroCop and the Frenchman did not. The fact is, Gonzaga has been absolutely destroyed in his last two fights. While there has been alot of talk about the quality of his win over Mirko, it is clear that he is not capable of creating a similarly brilliant performance unless it is fed to him on a one-dimensional platter similar to the Croatian, or a less famous fight like it was in his initial wins over Fabiano Scherner and Carmello Marerro. Kongo may be one dimensional, but he has shown that he can beat a far more diverse level of opponent and, at the very least, has shown growth in his skill set over his last few fights. This is something I have not seen from Gonzaga and, until I do, I will consider Kongo higher, not only in the UFC ladder, but in the world rankings as well

10. Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic

In case there is any question of why I included Mirko instead of Ben Rothwell, I will say that I think it's impossible to call Rothwell a top ten fighter when he can't finish Ricco Rodriguez. While I will not dispute the dominance that Rodriguez once had as a fighter, and as one of the greatest groundnpounders the sport has ever seen, I will say that he is not the same fighter, and the fact that Rothwell cannot finish him is disappointing, given that Rodriguez has the cardio of a sumo wrestler (and the physique to match). CroCop may have two painful losses, but I will keep him on the rankings for the same reason I keep Gonzaga on, because he has done incredible things recently and needs only to get back on track. Rothwell still needs to figure out where the track is. As for Rothwell's other wins, people seem to believe that they are extraordinarily impressive, and that's not true. His record is a veritable "Who's that?" of modern MMA, but what can you expect from an IFL division that doesn't really have the finances to get him an awesome opponent.

Those are my thoughts on the current heavyweight divison. I will mention, because I think it's important, that I think both Jeff Monson and Mark Hunt could be on this list, and I considered putting them both ahead of Gonzaga and CroCop. I will probably go back and forth on the issue, but I'd like to see if Hunt is continuing to improve, as he has been over the last few years, and I want to see if Monson has a strong showing against Fedor (as I think that Monson is probably the toughest matchup, stylistically, for Fedor), I don't think he will win, but I think he has the potential to make that a very, very interesting fight, and if he does I will consider him a top ten heavyweight, perhaps even more so than most of the UFC's current top contenders.

The Fate and Future of Randy "The Natural" Couture

2008-02-05T09:43:00.000-08:00

There are many fighters who get billed as being more skilled than Randy Couture, many who people believe would hand him his ass if they ever stepped in a cage or a ring, but there are few fighters that stir conversation the way that Randy does.

It's been an issue of alot of speculation, since no one seems to offer substantial information on what is actually happening, but Randy's contract with the UFC is, supposedly, terminated.This makes for teh interesting possibility of a matchup between the 43 year old, 5 time UFC champion and former Pride Heavyweight champion and #1 ranked heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko.

Emelianenko and Couture have both sounded excited in recent interviews, as the prospect of a matchup between the UFC hall-of-famer (the only man in the hall who's really at the top of his game) and the greatest heavyweight of this generation.

Many critics dispute Emelianenko's #1 ranking and say that he doesn't fight enough, and he needs more top tier opponents in M-1, and there's little doubt that a win over Couture would shut them up for at least a little while.

Still, the UFC has yet to take down the listing of Couture as their heavyweight champion, and if you go to the UFC website and click the title holders link, Couture's the first man you will see. Whether this is just a failure to update the website or the UFC's way of saying that they still believe Couture is under a contractual obligation, I'm not sure, and I don't think anyone other than Dana White and the rest of the brass really has much of an idea.

That said, I think that we need some information, because it is unfair that the UFC should insist on keeping one of the worlds top heavyweights in perpetual limbo, though they've been doing it with Arlovski's contract negotiations for a long time, so I'm not really sure.

The future of Randy Couture is definitely a subject of alot of interest to fans hoping to see solid fights in this heavyweight division. The most we can do right now is sit, wait and watch to see what has happened and what will happen.

A Note Of Optimism: UFC 82, Sengoku and the Second Coming of the Big Men

2008-02-04T21:27:00.000-08:00

My disappoint with the big guys in this division is something that I'm pretty honest about. The fact is, they either haven't been fighting well, or they haven't been fighting at all, and that's really not something that should be coming from the men this sport was built on.

In light of UFC 81, though, we are starting to see that the downplayed expectations of the division may be getting them to fight harder and put on a better show.

The last card featured the big heavyweight matchups between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and the title fight between Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Tim Sylvia. While both were expected to be terrible by the masses, both proved exciting, with Mir pulling out a win in 1:30 against his clearly submission-retarded opponent and Nogueira catching Sylvia in a guillotine that shocked alot of fans, myself included, who didn't think this fight would end with a big sub.

There is one more fight, though, that I've been looking forward to for some time, and it involves the man who is, in my opinion, far and away the UFC's most exciting heavyweight striker, though his grappling has been notoriously lackluster.

Cheick Kongo and Heath Herring are getting set to square off at UFC 82 as the co-main event with Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva (which is definitely an FOTY candidate in my opinion if both guys bring their A game). Kongo vs Herring isn't just a battle of old school vs new school, and it's not just a battle of styles where one guy is going to swing for the fences and the other is going to try and take this fight to the ground.

Kongo promises to bring the European kickboxing that we've seen him throw out there in every fight, a style reminiscent of the top tier K-1 fighters, not the big single strike style that we've seen from more modern fighters like Mirko "CroCop" Filipovic.

The Frenchmen's kickboxing is some of the best I've seen in the division in a long time, and his size and athleticism only make it that much more impressive that he has developed such extraordinary technical prowess without just trying to fall back to his physical advantages, like we've seen some of the bigger, stronger fighters do.

Herring, on the other hand, is about as well rounded as they come. While he's generally considered a striker, he has a solid ground game and good wrestling. There's definitely a chance that if he ends up in trouble, he will try and take the fight to the ground where he'll look for his experience to give him an edge.

It's going to be a fight, no matter where it ends up. I personally believe that Kongo gets alot of grief for his split decision loss to Marrero, where he showcased a less than perfect ground game, and that has led to a lot of stigma directed towards his ground skills, but I'm not sure how much of a problem that will actually be. But if anyone can take advantage of it, it will be an experienced fighter like Heath Herring.

There's another big heavyweight matchup that has been recently announced that I'm already gearing up for, and that's Josh Barnett vs. Hidehiko Yoshida, which has been put on the main event of the Sengoku card.

Barnett is a world class grappler, with one of the most aggressive submission games and probably the most versatile submission arsenal in the division, and the only comparable submission fighters are Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira and Jeff Monson. Barnett is a wrestling machine with size and power to muscle in submissions that most people would just give up on.

Yoshida is a technical judo warrior with an Olympic gold medal under his belt, and while he's had alot of trouble developing substantial standup, there's no doubt that his judo is solid, and if this fight ends up on the ground, he could make it interesting for Barnett. While Yoshida isn't quite as muscular as his American opposition, he's not a lot smaller, and one of Yoshida's protoge's, Kazuhiro Nakamura, gave Barnett some trouble, escaping from numerous dangerous positions.

I think Barnett is a fantastic fighter and, like many of the mainstream guys, I'll pick him to take this one, but I'm not going to count Yoshida out. He deserves respect as a fighter who can perform under pressure and as a guy who has no problem being the underdog. He hasn't coped well with big, powerful wrestlers in the past, but Barnett's a very different fighter than Rulon Gardner, so we'll see the matchup when the time comes.

It's going to be an interesting few months, and I'm definitely looking forward to it.

UFC 81: A Final Note (Better than Expected)

2008-02-03T09:33:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest, the fights that I expected to be bad weren't, and the two men I expected to go to war bored me to sleep.

In spite of the Eastman Martin snoozefest, UFC 81 was a great fight card. Frank Mir beat Brock Lesnar with a kneebar in the first round and Anotion Rodrigo Nogueira became UFC heavyweight champion when he choked out Tim Sylvia in the third.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu reigned supreme at the top of the card and brought some sparks of hope back the UFC heavyweight division. We can only hope that solid matchups will happen in the near future, though they seem to be absent from many of the upcoming cards, much as they were before this event.

Personally, I'm excited for the next few events, much more so than I was for this one, and this one surpassed expectations. Hopefully the ones approaching will do the same.

UFC 81: Predictions

2008-02-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I'm actually a little excited for this card, as a whole. There are some fights that I expect to be duds, but there are some that I am very excited to see. My overall view of the fight card:

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Tim Sylvia

I'm going to be more or less an outcast on this one, because I'm thinking Big Tim will pull this out. I've given my reasons throughout the prefight buildup, but to recap, I just don't see Big Nog as being able to take this fight to the ground, and I definitely don't see him pulling this one out on the feet. It probably won't be exciting, but it will be long.

My Pick: Tim Sylvia by Unanimous Decision.

Brock Lesnar vs. Frank Mir

After watching Lesnar's training on UFC All Access, I've changed my pick a little. Originally I had thought that Mir would finish this fight early by outclassing Mir on the ground, but now I think it will take him a little more time, and I'm a little more skeptical. I think Lesnar could pull this out, as he's more or less untested, but I'm going to go with the safe bet and give it to Frank Mir.

My Pick: Frank Mir by Armbar in the second round

Jeremy Horn vs. Nate Marquardt

This may be the most promising fight on the card and while I think that Nate has the skills to win this fight standing up, I don't think he'll be able to handle Horn's experience and versatility. I also think that Horn is a very underrated fighter as a middleweight because he competes up in weight class so much, and so I'm going to give this one to the man from Utah.

My Pick: Jeremy Horn by submission in the third round

The rest are all up in the air, and my reasons for them are based mostly on skill set. I will say that they aren't of a whole lot of interest to me, and I'm a little surprised that some of them ended so high up on the card. I'll give my picks and hopefully they'll speak for themselves.

Ricardo Almieda defeats Rob Yundt by submission off of his back in the first round.

Gleison Tibau pulls out an exciting unanimous decision over Tyson Griffin.

Chris Lytle demolishes Kyle Bradley, hitting him hard on the feet early in the first but finishing him with a submission later in the round.

Marvin Eastman stops Terry Martin late in the third round with a big knee after what proves to be the most exciting fight of the night. Both take serious punishment.

David Heath beats Tim Boetsch in a boring decision that consists mostly of Heath laying on top of his opponent.

Keita Nakamura gets his first UFC win, stopping Rob Emerson with a submission in the second after trading with him in a back and forth first round. Nakamura will probably pull guard to get to the ground, but may get a solid takedown or even land a substantial strike.

This will be an interesting event. I'm not really excited about the heavyweight matchups on this card, except for the prospect of a good fight from Lesnar and Mir, which may or may not happen. I do think that Eastman and Martin will have the fight of the night, and that's a matchup that could go either way, because Martin has serious power and Eastman is a monster. Both have fought at 205 and both hit like trucks.

Hope this event doesn't end up being a dud, but even if it does head in that direction, there are a few fights on the card that will be interesting, and the prospect of a new heavyweight champion keeps the outlook better than it was for that division (though that may not be saying a whole lot).

Sengoku: Now It's On

2008-01-31T06:58:00.000-08:00

So, I was skeptical when the Sengoku card seemed to lack any credible matchup except one, but the return of Takanori Gomi, hopefully in the top form that seems to follow his tough losses, will make the card sweeter and worth watching for alot of long time hardcore MMA fans like myself, and particularly as some who followed Gomi and his archrival in Pride, Joachim "Hellboy" Hansen.

What will become of Hansen? I don't know, but at least Gomi's back.

Sengoku: Will it Be Worth Watching?

2008-01-30T12:34:00.000-08:00

There's always a question with Japanese shows about whether or not they will translate well to the American audience, but the upcoming Sengoku card may not translate at all, as it seems to be a return to many of the traditional Japanese formula without the high class warriors that used to populate the Pride cards, and even made their way into smaller organizations like DEEP.

While the possibility of Hidehiko Yoshida vs. Roger Gracie has been discussed openly, the reality is that this is highly unlikely, given the Gracies' history of pulling out of fights. Even as a longtime Gracie fan, I regard those fights with the same skepticism: I'll believe it when I see it.

That's not to say I wouldn't be excited if the fight were to happen. Roger Gracie has said he's considering it and he's negotiating, and the potential for a matchup is very interesting.

Roger is a great grappler, and Yoshida is an Olympic gold medalist in judo, obviously there's the potential for a great match once this fight hits the clinch.

Gracie, though, is clearly the superior grappler. Even if we forget the last name, the man is still a world champion who's been on the podium at the Mundial and Abu Dhabi consistently. He's one of the most dominant grapplers to transition into MMA, and the only exception I can think of in the heavyweight division is Jeff Monson, and even that dominance is questionable, as Roger has performed on a higher level both in gi and no-gi grappling, while Monson has only ever done the former with much success.

I'll say that Gracie will take this fight on the ground, but Yoshida's striking skills have improved to a level that I don't think Roger's have, and it will be interesting to see if Yoshida chooses to keep the fight standing or decides to go for a big upset on the ground. We might even see some groundnpound from Yoshida, who may use his background in slam and pin based fighting to beat on Gracie for a little while.

Still, it will be a technical matchup that really draws alot of appreciation in Japan, but the question has to be asked, if we are talking so seriously about a matchup between guys who aren't in contention for a title, and aren't top ten guys, is this card really going to be interesting enough to spend big money on?

UFN: Florian vs. Lauzon; I'm Optimistic, I Think

2008-01-30T07:35:00.001-08:00

I'll be honest, I don't really know what to think about the upcoming Ultimate Fight Night card scheduled for April. It's going to come after a long drought of UFC cards in March, since UFC 82 will be on the first of the month and there won't be another fight between the two. It will also immediately preced the UFC's first venture into Montreal, a fight that I think (and this is just an idea at this point) will probably be headed up by a rematch between Canadian Georges St. Pierre and champion Matt Serra, and hold a top contenders match for St. Pierre's countryman and training partner Patrick Cote.

Still, the Florian vs. Lauzon card provides some interesting issues for me, because the Boston boys are both incredible fighters and both have a history of being very impressive and very well rounded, but at the same time I have a hard time giving this matchup the credibility that it deserves.

I'll say that I'm skeptical, because Lauzon did burst on to the scene by knocking out one of the most notable fighters in the history of his division, but Florian is 6-1 at 155 pounds, and his only loss is to Champion Sean Sherk, who was unable to finish Florian even when given 5 rounds.

Florian, like Lauzon, has a penchant for finishing fights, and he's finished all six of his wins, using his muay thai skills honed with Mark Dellagrate (probably the best American muay thai coach besides, arguably, Duke Roofus) and his Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt.

It seems like Lauzon is seriously outclassed, and while Lauzon has never been beaten in a major octagon event and has had impressively devastating performances in his first three fights, he's still got a way to go before I see him as the top contender that Florian is. After all, Florian made it to the finals on the Ultimate Fighter, and he was fighting in a much higher weight class.

I think Lauzon will bring it in this matchup, but I'm not sure if that will be enough to handle Florian's clearly superior technical pedigree. I hope that the two guys can make this a war, but I see this fight getting finished early one way or the other, and I'm betting on Florian.

Calm Before The Storm: Or Just the Calm Before More Calm

2008-01-28T09:05:00.001-08:00

Sometimes when I read Sherdog.com columns, I wonder if they're watching the same fights that I am, but I'll say this of Mike Sloan's article about last weeks televised event, he's right on all counts.

Rarely will a fighter with as large an ego as Mike Swick apologize for putting on a terrible performance. The fact that he admits the fight was bad when he came out the victor speaks for how undeniably terrible it was. The Omigawa vs. Tavares fight is the same in that sense.

I'll admit that, like Sloan, I was very impressed with the performances turned in by Patrick Cote and Nate Diaz. I didn't think that Cote would be able to finish McFedries, but he did, and deserves respect for doing something that no one else in the 185 pound division has done yet, and that's hurt the Miletich man.

As for Diaz, he finished Alvin Robinson in the impressive, aggressive submission grappling style I've come to expect of Cesar Gracie students, with and without the gi. It speaks for Diaz's skill as a grappler, and there's no problem with a solid, technical submission.

My problem with Sloan's piece has nothing to do with the first section and everything to do with his allussion to a great fight between Lesnar and Mir, because he's hoping, and not looking at the facts, and setting himself up for a letdown, especially given the rest of this card.

Everyone knows that Nogueira vs. Sylvia is going to be a hard fight to watch, bar natural disaster (and I'm praying for rain like the NBA saw this weekend to brighten up the fight). After all, both fighters are coming off of fights that can be called nothing other than unimpressive, and they don't match up in a way that promises explosiveness. That's partly because one of the fighters is Tim Sylvia (who doesn't really provide and explosive matchup with anyone short of Fedor and CroCop) and the other is Nogueira, who is most explosive off of his back, a place where we know Sylvia will never allow this fight to be.

Anyone who suggests that this sport will be entertaining because Lesnar comes from a background in "sports entertainment" doesn't understand why fans watch this sport. I won't speak for everyone, but I watch it to see two guys go at it, not to see them talk about going at it and then pull a chair out from under the ring as soon as they show the first sign of defeat.

Sloan offers us with three possibilities.

Will Mir run out of gas within 90 seconds like he usually does, thus allowing Lesnar to capitalize? Will Lesnar take Mir down and fall right into an armbar 20 seconds in? Or will Lesnar and Mir both enter the Octagon in the best conditions of their lives, resulting in one hell of a heavyweight showdown worthy of being the main event of UFC 81?

The first two seem the most probable, and while I, like Sloan, will be praying for hell and high water to show up in that cage, it's important to acknowledge the unlikelihood.

I commend Sloan for his optimism, but question his reasoning. Well, I guess that when we're faced with certain boredom, all we can do is hope for the best.

Hard to Get Hotter: Interview with Ring Girl Michelle Wickert

2008-01-27T19:41:00.000-08:00

So I had the opportunity to interview ring girl and model Michelle Wickert. Apart from being smokin' hot, she's going to be featured in next months issue of Ultimate Grappling.

Josh: To start things off, how did you get into being a ring girl for MMA?

Michelle: I had attended many fights. I got very upset b/c these girls were in the ring with not confidence. I happened to see an ad saying that they needed ring girls and you know the rest.

J: What do you like about the sport?

M: Everything. It takes so much for a fighter to get ready for their fight. I know this because I train!!!! I just don't fight.

J: What organizations have you worked with?

M: I have worked with so many. In fact I was just added to an organization in PA. I hope to work with UFC one day!

J: You recently did an interview with Ultimate Grappling Magazine. How'd that go?

M: That was AWESOME! I still can't believe it!

J: What are you looking to do in the future?

M: UFC or another organization very similar to that. Who ever wants me....I'll go! Plus I have many modeling gigs!

J: Do you have a crush on any fighters?

M: No crushes. But I'm a die hard Randy, Tito, and CroCop FAN! I even have the dolls that they make...sad I know!

J: What's your favorite time during a promotional or a fight?

M: I like doing both but if I had to choose I'd definitely pick the fights!

J: What's your favorite thing to do away from work?

M: Workout! If I'm not working as a ring girl or modeling you'll find me working out and helping others to achieve their fitness goals!

Thanks to Chelle for doing the interview. Sorry to all of the guys out there hoping I'd have pics up. She's got photos on her site and definitely check out her proelite account.

Groundhog Day: Hopefully No Performance Repeats

2008-01-25T08:48:00.000-08:00

It's no secret that former Pride Heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is a warrior, and it's well known that former UFC champ Tim Sylvia was a monster in his day, but recently, neither of them have been particularly exciting in the Octagon, and the fact that they are top contenders speaks less to their ability and more to how thin the current division is.

Nogueira took a serious knock down from Heath Herring during his last fight, which was his first in the Octagon, and many of us are wondering whether or bot he's going to adjust better to his second fight in the cage. We can only hope that he'll show some solid boxing skills and some dangerous submissions against a fighter who has some of the most impressive standup and submission defense in the heavyweight division.

Sylvia hasn't finished an opponent since 2006, when he knocked out Andrei Arlovski to reclaim his heavyweight championship. Since, he's been coasting on decisions, and didn't show that he really improved after his loss to Randy Couture when he failed to finish Brandon Vera.

There's no doubt in my mind that this fight will go to the judges, and I really, really hope that I am wrong.

Nogueira has never been stopped in his professional MMA career, and his resiliance is something that he's known for. He's been in 20 minute bouts and kept on going.

On the other hand, Sylvia has been dropped, but he's changed his game to be much more conservative and, as a result, nearly impossible to finish. Since his armbar loss to Frank Mir that required him to have pins put in his arm, his submission defense has only been overpowered when he's been stunned by a big right hand, and that's not something that Nogueira has historically been able to do.

Can Tim Sylvia follow Heath Herring's lead and put Nogueira down with a big shot?

Can Nogueira succeed where world submission grappling champion Jeff Monson failed?

It's possible, but I wouldn't put money on it. I think it's going to come down to a battle of Sylvia's kickboxing against Nogueira's boxing, and I see that one slipping in favor of Sylvia.

I have no problem with being wrong on this one, but I don't see it going any other way.

Sean Sherk: Shut Up and Fight

2008-01-24T08:54:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don't diligently follow Sherdog's Beatdown Radio program, you might or might not have heard about UFC lightweight champion Sean Sherk's recent comments about autograph signing.

In case you didn't, Sherk responded to a question about autograph signings by saying, "No, I'm not signing autographs for you, I was booed, either cheer me or no autographs."

These comments have led to Sean Sherk being compared to former UFC heavyweight champion, who has been routinely booed in his recent fights (a rash of unimpressive decisions), but, in defense of Sylvia, he doesn't bitch and moan about getting booed. Neither did Andrei Arlovski when he was booed after his lackluster decision win over Fabricio Werdum.

The following is a message to Sean Sherk:

Man, if you're going to fight, fight. You've always said that you want to be a fighter, but fighters don't just lie on top of their opponents until a group of old men with the approval of the Nevada State Athletic Commission declare them the winner. Fighters go out and fight, they try to win every second of every fight.

This isn't boxing, you aren't going to get cheered just because your hand is in the air. If you have a crappy performance, expect to be treated as such. I'm sick of calling you an upper echelon fighter when you don't even fight.

You were once touted as having one of the most explosive groundnpounds in the sport, but in the last few years you've exploded your way to three decision victories and a knockout loss to Georges St. Pierre.

You haven't finished an opponent since September of 2005. You haven't finished an opponent in the UFC since 2002. Excuse me if I'm less than impressed.

It seems like you expect people to cheer for you because you have a belt. I'll cheer for fucking Danny Abbadi if he brings his A game to an undercard fight (I don't, because that doesn't happen, but I would), but I'm not going to cheer for you just because your name is on the poster, and I'm not going to cheer for you just because you have the biggest bicepts of any 5'6 fighter in the sport.

At some point, the steroids become another redundant point in my arsenal of reasons for not liking you. It doesn't matter whether you actually took them or not.

If you didn't, then you've had three crappy performances in a row.

If you did, then you've had three crappy performances in a row and even illegal performance enhancing drugs couldn't help.

Frankly, I'm not impressed either way.

You will always be a solid athlete, but so will Mark Kerr. If you cease to impress, I will stop cheering, and so, I'm glad to say, will the rest of the fanbase.

This sport is still in its infancy, I refuse to stay silent while guys like you have shitty fights and then go and blame the fans when they make a note of it. This isn't the NBA, we're still dealing with the stigma of being a major combat sport and we're still trying to attract fans. If you continue to be a fucking diva, you are going to lose the support of the entire sport, just like you've just lost mine.

I've been a fan of this sport for a long time, and you were on the first live card I watched, so I've got some nostalgia, but if you stop treating this like a job and start treating the entire fan base like they should cater to your ego, someone is going to smash you.

Stop whining and get back in the gym. Put a performance out there that you can be proud of, and stop trying to defend wins that are clearly not worth defending.

Well, that's all I've got.

For the rest of my fellow MMA fans, whether you are still going to back Sean Sherk, I respect your loyalty, even if you're crazy. That said, I think we all like it when fighters fight, and don't waste their time and ours by Bible beating and inflating their own egos.

The Heavyweight Disaster: Spreading Outside of the UFC

2008-01-22T12:47:00.001-08:00

As each organization announces upcoming heavyweight fights, I find myself getting more and more bored and even a little bit depressed by the low quality, not just of fights, but of fighters.

While I like to reminisce about the good ol' days of the freak matchup as much as any guy, I'll be the first to call out an organization for putting together a matchup just for the hype. So, Gary Shaw, consider yourself called out.

The fact is, Kimbo vs. Tank is a high profile fight because it's a freak matchup, even if it's about as interesting as Fedor vs. Zuluzinho. In fairness, there's far more speculation about the way that this fight is going to go down, but that doesn't make it more exciting. At least Fedor's fight had Fedor.

I'm not going to bash Kimbo or Tank as fighters, just state the facts and let them do the talking for me:

Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson has one professional fight.

David "Tank" Abbott has a losing professional mixed martial arts record

Both fighters are not famous because of what they have done in the cage.

Both fighters get more attention for the way they look than the way they fight.

Both fighters have shown little, if any, technical ability in their fights.

While it's only fair to say that both are incredibly strong, I was sort of hoping that the reign of bulky freaks of nature would die out when Igor Vovchanchyn put his shin through Mark Kerr's face. That, apparently, doesn't decrease the draw that Elite XC intends to get out of having two massive, skill-less warriors throw over-hand rights at each other until someone falls down.

I'd say that I'm disinterested in this fight, but there's some nostalgia attached to Tank Abbott. Still, there's not enough to get my attention with a single fight, and Elite XC seems to offer little else with their roster that consists or about a dozen talented fighters and a bunch of low caliber gatekeepers.

It's this simple: Gary Shaw's organization is dragging more cans than a wedding limo, but they don't have the same draw.

Why is Kimbo getting talked about like a main event?

Why is Tank Abbott's career being resurrected by a fight with a guy who's only win is over a guy who, like Tank, isn't even boasting a .500 winning percentage?

Let me tell you why:

Because the heavyweight division is so bad that we're going to tolerate the Brock Lesnar's and Kimbo's of the sport just to watch the giants go at it, and that, more than anything else, is depressing.

Mark Coleman to Be Inducted to UFC Hall of Fame

2008-01-22T10:06:00.000-08:00

As the first heavyweight champion in the UFC, it makes sense that the Hammer would be the next inductee. Still, there are a few guys I'm really hoping will get the nod in the upcoming years. My list includes:

Frank Shamrock (5 time middleweight champion)

Tito Ortiz (6 time middleweight/lightheavyweight champion)

Matt Hughes (9 time welterweight champion)

Mark Kerr (UFC 14 and 15 tournament winner)

There are a few others I would induct, just for nostalgia's sake, but those are the ones that I think have the credentials to get pulled into the hall in the upcoming years, given that Ortiz and Hughes leave the organization and Shamrock gets on better terms with Dana White.

Coleman's induction will be at UFC 82, and there's been some talk about him returning to the incredibly weak heavyweight division, where he would be one of many wrestlers with too much muscle mass and not enough versatility.

UFC Signs Shane Carwin: Dana White Insists on Wasting More Money on Another Heavyweight Joke

2008-01-21T20:33:00.000-08:00

Shane Carwin appears to be the next in the UFC's ever improving line of Mark Kerr wannabes, and I continue to be unimpressed with the UFC's ridiculous attempts at building at solid heavyweight roster.

You can't build a palace of gold out of bricks made of shit, but Dana White and his commrades at Zuffa seem to be intent on doing it.

While Carwin boasts an impressive 8-0 record, he's shown all of the diversity one might expect from a fighter who would finish on the podium in any Mark Coleman look-a-like contest.

You might be thinking: "Well, at least he's got a solid repetoire of first round finishes, right?" That's true, but the fact is, he has yet to fight a fighter with any credibility. His only opponent ever to appear in the octagon was Sherman "The Tank" Pendergarst, who was absolutely decimated by Antoni Hardonk.

Why does Dana continue to sign guys like Carwin for the big dollars when he could be field testing loads of other guys for much, much less money?

It's about the press, baby!

All I have to say to Mr. White is "C'mon man, you've made this sport huge, but that doesn't mean you only need to sign the Jose Canseco's of the sport." And by Jose Canseco I mean the ones that performed great for a while and then start bouncing fly balls off of their head. Carwin's not even going to have the same run that Canseco had, of at least being a serious contender for the hall-of-fame. Carwin, rather, will find soon that he's a Hammer House fighter in a game that has changed more than Coleman's hair line.

To put it simply:

The UFC signs Shane Carwin, and I look for a reason to care.

Final Thoughts on UFC 80: Not Surprised

2008-01-21T12:45:00.000-08:00

Some of the events in 2007 were fucking shocking. Georges St. Pierre getting knocked out by Matt Serra, Gabriel Gonzaga getting laid out by Mirko CroCop and Randy Couture returning to the Octagon were just a few of the big surprises, but this first card of 2008, not so much.

Perhaps the only thing that might even be construed as an upset on the card was Fabricio Werdum knocking out Gabriel Gonzaga, but it's not terribly amazing when a fighter beats a guy he has beaten already. That said, I picked Werdum to lose, and we pretty impressed with his performance. Still, it didn't shock me.

Penn's choke out of Joe Stevenson and Marcus Davis' big KO of Jesse Laudin were not surprising either, and both of them were well expected by many fans, myself included.

While I was a little surprised by Wilson Gouveia pulling out an early round two KO of Jason Lambert, it isn't the first time Jambert's been floored with that strike before and it was a move that Gouveia clearly put some effort into scouting. If anything on this card can be called a surprise, this is it. The first Octagon KO might have been the big win of the night in my opinion, but with the odds for this fight basically up in the air, it wasn't a huge shock to see Gouveia pull it out.

Antoni Hardonk turned in what was my favorite performance of the night in a fight that I knew was going to be entertaining, though most people thought differently going in. I predicted a round one KO, but I was surprised that he did it so early, so quickly and so devastatingly. Not shocked at the outcome, but very happy to see Hardonk can a boring layngay fighter like Colin Robinson with some serious Dutch kickboxing saavy.

I know Kendall Grove is overrated, even if many of the hardcore TUF fans wanted to admit it. I knew he was going to lose the fight with Cote and I knew he was going to lose this one. The downfall for Grove continues to be that he cannot cope with the more experienced brawler and use his height effectively. In my opinion, he shouldn't be working with Punishment, but rather with a camp that's going to really teach him some effective muay thai skills like Chute Boxe.

That said, I was impressed with the way that Rivera showed up and really brought the fight to Grove, working around the reach and knocking him around like he was a 15 year old kid. I like watching the Conquistador fight, and even if he never manages to get to the top of this division, he'll be a solid test for many of the young up and comers.

Sakara brought some good boxing skills and put on a solid show in his fight with James Lee. He used his distance like a good boxer should as he transitions to MMA, and I was impressed with is ability to keep from getting taken down. I figured he had one out for this fight, and that was to use his hands to keep distance between him and Lee, and he did that. Props to Sakara, and hopefully the UFC will keep him around to see if he can continue to use his hands at that level.

Sam Stout and Paul Kelly turned in impressive showings, and hopefully we'll get to see them finish a fight in their next matchup, as they'll probably be facing UFC rookies to show that they belong in the upper echelon of their division.

In a card with only one heavyweight fight I'll say this: the only thing that surprised me was that the UFC managed to broadcast the entire card on pay-per-view, and I wasn't bored with the decisions. I good note to start of the year, but not one that really shook the world.

Oh well, maybe that will come later.

Coach Superfights: Why The IFL Is At Least A Little Bit Interesting

2008-01-13T10:29:00.000-08:00

There are alot of problems with the team concept in the IFL, not the least of which have to do with where the teams are located (most of them are not in urban areas), the way the rouds work (four minutes being an odd amount of time compared to the usual five minute rounds) and the fact that they really only have one interesting division (the 155'ers are the only real group in the IFL that's really been exciting to watch, since Big Ben Rothwell can't carry the entire heavyweight division on his back).

The fact is, the coach superfights still give alot of nostalgia to old school fans of the sport, myself included. The fact that they are bringing two of the most interesting fighters in the history of the sport, Ian Freeman and Mario Sperry, into the mix will hopefully make it that much more interesting.

While there are some coaches that haven't done any fighting in the IFL (namely Chicago Red Bears coach Igor Zinoviev and Tokyo Sabres coach Ken Yasuda), there are plenty of high profile fighters to make up for that, including former UFC champions like Frank Shamrock (lightheavyweight/middleweight), Ken Shamrock (superfight) and Maurice Smith (heavyweight).

Hopefully the upcoming matchup will keep the league afloat while they fix the team concept that is really making them hard to watch.