flyingpython

January 2nd,2010

2010-01-02T22:46:00.003-06:00

Spent all day off my foot, still don't know what the hell it is. Very weird. At about 8pm my foot gave a loud pop that even Krista heard. It feels much much better.

So I'm back on track!!!

January 1st, 2010

2010-01-02T22:44:00.002-06:00

Day 1 and I'm behind on my goals. lol - go figure.

I started with my crunches and did some stretching. Did 35 of my 50 push ups and decided to do my 2 miles. Ended with 2.25 miles.

At some point I did something to my foot, I don't know what the hell it is but it hurts. Seems like it needs to pop or something!

The New Years Resolution Diary

2010-01-02T22:36:00.002-06:00

I've made a couple of Resolutions I'm going to keep this year. I will document my progress here as much as I can....

#1 - I would like to run 1000 miles this year. My initial goal is to run at least 2 miles per day every day. If I run 2 all year that will put me just over 700, so all those extra .25's and .5's that I end up running will have to get me there or I will have some work to do in the 2nd 1/2 of the year.

#2 - 50 Hindu push ups every day all year. This will put me at 17,800 for the year.

#3 - 50 Hindu squats every day all year.

#4 - 50 crunches every day all year.

#5 - 50 burpees every day all year.

The thing with me is that when I work out I do a good job of working hard, when I sit on the couch I work very hard at sitting on the couch. So doing these 5 small things every day I'm certain more work will get done.

tattoo

2009-10-10T08:18:00.002-06:00

gi pics

2009-08-30T11:10:00.001-06:00

yo

2009-06-25T16:07:00.001-06:00

Tattoo

2009-05-27T04:34:00.002-06:00

tattoo

2009-05-26T20:13:00.001-06:00

The UFC is weak at the top and bottom (Part 2)

2008-07-06T21:34:00.002-06:00

Insomnia at full speed so here we go!

In part 1 of this article I tackled the easier piece, the HW's. The Lightweight Division is a whole different animal. Here I type that the UFC has a weak Lightweight division when they are seeminlgy stacked. The fact is that if you look at the Top 10 lists out there the UFC is weak in this division. We can battle and argue over the validity of this list and that list all day long, there are some good LW fighters not currently in the UFC.

MMA Worldwide Rankings (UFC fighters noted)

#1 - Takanori Gomi
#2 - Shinya Aoki
#3 - BJ Penn (UFC)
#4 - Gilbert Melendez (just lost a fight)
#5 - Tatsuya Kawajiri
#6 - Gesias "JZ" Calvancante
#7 - Sean Sherk (UFC)
#8 - Mitsuhiro Ishida
#9 - Vitor Ribeiro
#10 - Joe Stevenson (UFC)

Right off the bat let me say that I agree with all who are going to blast me with notes that BJ Penn should be at the top of this list. It's not my list, go yell at MMA Worldwide. In my opinion the LW Division is the hardest to have a top 10 because it seems as though everyone's LW roster is stacked. Just off the top of my head we had Tyson Griffin do pretty good last night, Roger Huerta has been doing great and will fight Kenny Florian in a few weeks. The winner of that fight should get a match with BJ Penn. Jamie Varner and Razer Rob out of the WEC are pretty good. KJ Noons out of Elite XC and Josh Thompson just beat the #4 guy on the list. It is ridiculous how many 155 pound guys their are. I know I left some good fighters off the list I just made.

As a comparrision lets take a look at the next lightest division in the UFC, The Welterweights.

#1 - Georges St. Pierre
#2 - Matt Hughes
#3 - Josh Koscheck
#4 - Matt Serra
#5 - Jake Shields (not a UFC fighter)
#6 - Jon Fitch
#7 - Diego Sanchez
#8 - Thiago Alves
#9 - Carlos Condit (not a UFC fighter)
#10 - Karo Parisyan

8 out of 10 in the UFC

It is extremely hard to sit here and say that the UFC is weak, I personally feel like it's the best division across the board in MMA. You almost never see a bad fight in this weight class. This Division is the best argument for cross-promotions in MMA. I'd love to see Gomi and Aoki in particular. Not that I'd turn down anyone else on the top 10 or on the 'honorable mentions' list I created. If cross-promotions could be worked out down the road I think a big hole will be filled. Unfortunately I don't think this will happen in the Dana White era.

Will we see more weight classes in the middle down the road? In MMA we basically have 135, 145, 155, 170, 185, 205 and HW. There are a couple exceptions on different promotions. Boxing from 135 - HW boxing has 135, 140, 147, 154, 160, 168, 175, 200 and HW. Again, there are exceptions to this rule. With boxing you get 2 more weight classes in that middle area. MMA and the UFC certainly has the talent to fill all those slots in the lower weights.

I haven't heard much about Dana White going after people like Gomi and Aoki. Just like I mentioned in the HW division it may be that the UFC feels like they have the guy, BJ Penn, and it's the guys in the other organizations that need to come to them. The UFC monopoly is pretty strong, they put on more shows and with a few exceptions they have the best fighters. I just feel like in these early stages of the sport going mainstream we are missing out on a couple of key things.

I will say that I'm enjoying the DREAM Lightweight Tournament, something I wish the UFC would somehow incorporate into thier arsenal of events, I think it would bring a lot to the table and give some people an opportunity to shine.

UFC Weak at the top and weak at the bottom (part 1)

2008-07-06T20:36:00.005-06:00

The UFC is the largest MMA organization in the world. Overall they have the most talent in fighting and if you look at the top people in every weight class they have all the top guys except for Fedor Emelianenko in the Heavyweight division and Takanori Gomi in the Lightweight Division. For the purpose of this article I'm using the MMA Worldwide rankings, there are many other top 10 lists by division that may fluctuate away from these rankings but all in all I think they are pretty good.

For now I will focus on the top, or Heavyweight Division. When I get a chance to sit down I will finish part 2, the Lightweight Division. (if my insomnia kicks in it may be tonight!)

Here are the top 10 HW's as ranked by MMA Worldwide. I'll place a UFC next to those who are in the UFC.

#1 - Fedor Emelianenko
#2 - Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (UFC)
#3 - Randy Couture (technically with UFC but won't fight with them)
#4 - Tim Sylvia
#5 - Andrei Arlovski
#6 - Fabricio Werdum (UFC)
#7 - Josh Barnett
#8 - Gabriel Gonzaga (UFC)
#9 - Ben Rothwell
#10 - Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic

Basically 3 of the top 10 HW's in the world are with the largest organization. On July 19th those who order Affliction on PPV will see the #1 and #4 fighters square off as well as the #5 and #9, #7 is also on the card.

While that fight is going on UFC fans get to wait for the not so much anticipated upcoming match between Nogueira (#2) and Frank Mir (not ranked but a former UFC champ). When this fight was announced many in the MMA community screamed why, why, why? But who else are they going to put in there? Werdum would be my top choice, Herring? Kongo? Gonzaga? Outside of Werdum none of those matchups really perk my interest.

As a comparison here is the top 10 in the Light Heavyweight division.

#1 - Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (just lost to Forrust Griffin Saturday)
#2 - Mauricio Rua
#3 - Chuck Liddell
#4 - Lyoto Machida
#5 - Wanderlei Silva
#6 - Rameau Sokoudjou
#7 - Keith Jardine
#8 - Forrest Griffin (New UFC LHW Champ)
#9 - Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (Only one NOT in the UFC)
#10 - Rashad Evans.

(9 of the top 10 in the UFC in the LHW Division)

While the internet continue's to flow with information and opinions that agree or disagree with Dana White and the UFC on the many things I think we can all agree the 'Top' organization should have a better grip on the big boys. Traditionally in all combat sports the HW's have been the big draw. While 'true' fans or practitioners typically appreciate the lower weight classes for a better skill set, quicker pace and better cardio the average fan is more likely to want to see a big guy KO another big guy.

Over the past year we have seen the UFC miss out on many opportunities to ramp up this division, for whatever reason they could not make it happen. Some of these things, of course, are not at the fault of the UFC. In no particular order here are some of the most recent dissapointing HW outcomes when looking at the UFC.

#1 - The UFC failed to land Fedor Emelianenko. Fedor is believed by most to be the best HW in the world. Even though he hasn't really fought a legit top tier HW opponent since beating Crocop in August of 2005, most people still consider him the best. Bottom line, in my opinion, is that the UFC/Dana White should have made this happen!

#2 - Randy Couture had a much publicized retirement from the UFC basically due to the failed attempt to land Fedor. In hind sight this wasn't handled as good as it could have been handled but he has been holding his ground. He wanted Fedor before he gets to old to compete. If Randy gets out of his contract in September, which looks like a done deal, we may see a Randy vs. Fedor in November or December on another stacked Affliction card.

#3 - The Crocop flop. The UFC did sign Mirko to a deal but he lost 2 of his 3 fights. Crocop didn't seem to be himself, was it age? Was it the cage as opposed to the ring? Elbows? Who knows the truth but this definately was a bust for the UFC. I tend to think that it is possible that Dana let the Fedor deal slide based on some big PRIDE names not doing so well. His thought process could have been that

#4 - Tim Sylvia and Anrdei Arlovsky both negotiated out of their last fight with the UFC. While I don't fully know why they decided to leave the UFC I do know that Tim is fighting Fedor, dream match up for all heavyweights. I also know that if Arlovsky wins his fight and Affliction puts on another show that he, along with Barnett, will be in the drivers seat for the winner of the Tim vs. Fedor fight depending on the final verdict with the Randy Couture contract disputes.

#5 - Did the UFC even go after Barnett? I haven't heard anything either way but I would assume there would have been rumors flying around if they were going after him. My personal opinion is that he should be in the top 4 of the division.

The UFC is obviously a little concerned about the Affliction card, they have scrambled together a card on free tv (Spike TV) on July 19th to try and pull some business from Affliction. They are headlining the card with Anderson Silva who most believe is the current best pound for pound fighter in the world. Those who don't believe Anderson is the best have a pretty good argument with BJ Penn and George St Pierre. Dana has been all over the internet and radio shows saying how ridiculous it is that Affliction is putting a card together. If affliction can put together 4 cards a year with 1 or 2 of these top HW's on each card I believe they will get the buys they need to stay in business. They certainly won't be able to put a card like this together every few months, it is the most stacked HW card in MMA history.

MMA in Tennessee

2008-06-29T11:12:00.002-06:00

In the opinion section of Tennessean on June 20th there was a lot of questions regarding the sport of MMA in Tennessee. Specifically claiming that this sport is brutal and could be compared with human cock fighting. I'd like to expand on a couple of the points made in the article.

There was a specific reference to the term "ground and pound", a term quite often used in mixed martial arts. GnP (Ground and pound) is what we call when 1 person gets the other to the ground and controls top position while attempting to land strikes to the body and head of the opponent. I couldn't really tell by the article if the writer actually opposed to the technique involved in GnP or if he just thought the term was offensive. To a new or uneducated watcher of MMA (mixed martial arts) this may seem no different from 1 brother holding another down to tickle or poke in the chest, but there are a lot of techniques involved holding someone down and deliverying strikes. There are also numerous techniques to get out from underneath, other techniques to at least protect yourself from the stikes coming your way. This is something that the casual fan either need study and learn or you can always go to a local MMA gym and take a free class. It is easy to dismiss something new as barbaric or to see a fight and say to yourself "I could hold that guy down like that, it takes no technique". I say take a class and see for yourself.

Another comment made in the article was in regards to elbow strikes. Specifically that in a fight you may hear instructions from a corner to work the cut and try and open it up more, the goal being that if the cut gets big enough the Doctor will stop the fight. This is something widely debated within the MMA community. Cuts are part of the game, you will hear those same comments in boxing. In my opinion elbows are good for the sport, if a cut comes as the result of a good technique then so be it, to me it's just like a knock out. I don't like the fact that we have some people in the sport that go out with the intent on stopping a fight by opening up a cut. I also don't like football teams that rely on defense only and try to win games 10-7. There are facets of all sports that I don't like, but these things are within the rules and we have to live by them. Elbows, like GnP, are just antoher technique that can be utilized to knock someone out. My rebutle on this would be to ask if stiking someone with an elbow is all that more brutal than a 220 pound safety in football running a 4.5 second 40 thrusting his entire body into a wide reciever? You could make the same argument for hockey, a guy on skates charging full speed and knocking someone into a wall. There are brutal parts of every contact sport, is one any more brutal than another? I say you ask the people that participate.

Another point that has been storming through the media is Kimbo Slice. On this point I will agree in part with some of the media. I think it is an absolute shame that Elite XC choose to showcase Kimbo Slice on the 1st live primetime television event. That show on a couple of Saturday's ago did not do my sport justice. Kimbo is a former street fighting you tube sensation that has a huge fan base, he does not represent the best of what the sport has to offer. His technique is terrible and there are a 100 guys that could finish him in the 1st round. His opponent, James Thompson, has lost 7 of his last 9 fights, 6 by KO and 4 of those in the 1st round. The UFC and Dana White have done so much to take the punk or thug attitude out of the sport and promote it with great athletes, Elite XC put everything back a few steps with that move. It was a shame. Now, if Kimbo continues training maybe in the future he could make more of a contribution but for now he's just a carnival like attraction.

It would be easy for me to slant an article saying how brutal something is. Let's talk football for just a second. Let's talk football here in TN. Albert Haynesworth, in a fit of rage, stomped on a helmetless opponent cutting him open. He then stormed across the field toward the locker room throwing a most memorable fit. Last year here in Nasvhille Shawn Merriman of the Chargers hit Vince Young in what appeared to be a cheap shot. Althought any Titan coach will deny it we all saw Merriman get drilled not to long after it, an obvious retaliation for an earlier hit. PacMan Jones, who is in Dallas now, was known for an unbelievable number of off the field antics involving guns, hitting women and who knows what else. Last year at a Vanderbilt game, I am a proud season ticket holder, a player from Kentucky took a good 2 steps out of bounds to deliver a spear (hit with his helmet) to the chest of one of our running backs knocking him unconsious. I could list more and more to say how brutal football is. The fact is that anywhere we go in life there are some boneheads, or good people who have a bonehead moment. The people who don't want to see MMA become successfull grab the worst examples they can without seeking the full truth.

If you would like to compare some brutal sports do some research or make some of the following comparisons.

Compare Boxing to MMA. Would you rather be hit 100's of time with a big 14-16ounce glove as you would in boxing. Or hit a few times with a 4ounce glove and getting KO'd. A doctor will tell you that NO knock out is good for you, neither is getting a concussion. But getting hit 100's of times is far worse. The fact is that the 16 ounce glove is designed to protect the hand, not your brain. Boxing is far worse health wise than MMA.

Compare the longevity of an individual in MMA vs Football. There are many people cpmpeting in MMA at the top of thier game into their late 30's and more. Randy Couture was the Heavyweight Champion of the UFC when he 'retired' and he is 44 years old. Chuck Liddell is 37 and was the Light-heavyweight Champion until 1 year ago, he will more than likely be getting another shot at the title within 6 month to a year if he keeps winning. One of my heros growing up was Howie Long, he can barely get out of bed in the morning after his time spent in football.

MMA has been legalized in Tennessee. Whether you think it is brutal or not is now irrelevant, it's the largest growing sport in the world right now and more and more people are learning about it. It's here to stay. All I ask is that before you pass judgement on something learn about it. Don't jsut pick a couple of bad things that happened or some bad people that are involved and say the whole thing is just about money.

MMA News since my last blog.

2008-06-12T17:52:00.002-06:00

Since my last blog was almost 2 full years ago I cannot possibly cover everything that the MMA world has done. There have been 24 UFC's since my last post. PRIDE was bought out by UFC. New company's, IFL, Affliction, HDNet fights and many others are popping up all over the place. HDNet has a fight on pretty much every other week.

EliteXC had a fight on live national prime time TV a couple weeks ago. I had to DVR that one as I was traveling to Illinios to corner my good friend Jonathan Ivey in his fight. He won by Keylock in the 1st round, 43 seconds to be exact.

It's been a wild ride and they are actually calling MMA mainstream now, who'd of thunk it?

Long Time No Blog

2008-06-12T17:47:00.002-06:00

It's been a while for me. I'm going to see about making a comeback. My life has been a whirlwind these last 2 years. Let's see, in a nutshell I....

1 - Got Married in Costa Rica to my lovely wife Krista.
2 - Moved to Joelton from Spring Hill.
3 - We have a baby on the way (due in November). My 2nd, Krista's 1st.
4 - Still training in Brazilian Ju-Jitsu and MMA.
5 - My daughter is 9 years old now, man I'm old.

After the wedding and the move just kind of got tied up in day to day life and quit blogging. I'm back no so you can all go back to not paying any attention to me.

UFC 61 Bitter Rivals ~ The Predictions

2006-07-05T18:35:00.000-06:00

Wahoo, it's been a great month for MMA, this Saturday will be no different. Bitter Rivals is headlining 2 re-match fights. Ken Shamrock will try and avenge his loss to Tito Ortiz, these 2 really hate each other. Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia will fight a 3rd time to see who the true champ is. This time around I have insight from my mma friend Krista who sent me her picks. As usuall MMA Krista is not to be confused with my fiancee Krista. You will notice if you hit the UFC's web-site, some of the records are different. I stick with Sherdog's records as they tend to be more consistant.

The Undercard, may not be shown on the telecast.

Hermes Franca 14-5-0

vs

Joe Jordan 19-9-2

Hermes Franca returns to the Octagon, I'm so glad the UFC is bringing back the 155ers, these guys are fast, tough and they don't bring the power that the big boys do but they are incredibly exciting to watch. Joe Jordan is a well rounded MMA'er who has a lot of fights under his belt. It will be interesting to see his reaction to being on a larger show. His record against other guys that have fights in the UFC is not that great, but a Draw with Josh Neer and Roger Huerta (who was supposed to be in this fight with Hermes) prove that he has been the distance with some good ones. He does also hold losses to Jorge Gurgel and Melvin Guillard, 2 people starting to shine in the UFC. I believe Hermes's (is it really Hermes's, that's great!) 4 previous fights, although 2-2, will give him that extra bit of composer that is so valuable in the fighting game. Plus, how could you vote against a guy named Hermes? I just can't do it. Krista has also picked Hermes in this one.

Gilbert 'El Peligro' Aldana 5-1

vs

Cheick Kongo 7-2-1

I've been waiting for Kongo to come to the UFC for a bit now. He brings 5 KO's in his 7 wins over to the Octagon to fight with Aldana who lost his 1st time in the UFC. Aldana went the better part of 2 rounds with heavy handed Paul Buentello, ultimately getting knocked out. I think this will be a great fight to watch, although we may not be watching it since it's an undercard fight. (advantage-PRIDE) I'm looking for Kongo to win this fight by delivering some heavy leg kicks that will open Aldana up for the big head shots. Krista did not pick this fight.

Jeff 'The Snowman' Monson 21-5

vs

Anthony 'The Hippo' Perosh 5-1

The Hippo? Come on, are you serious? Once upon a time the Snowman was 6-5 and at a crossroads in his career. He'd just lost to Ricco Rodriguez, Forrest Griffin and Chuck Liddell (with 1 win in the middle). That's UFC Champ, TUF Champ and UFC Champ for those of you at home. Since 2002 Monson has won 15 fights in a row. I don't see him losing this one either. Monson is more than likely in line to fight the winner of Sylvia/Arlovski depending on how the Mir/Henderson fight goes. Krista is taking The Hippo in this one.

Drew 'The Master' Fickett 26-4

vs

Kurt 'Batman' Pellegrino 6-1 (UFC has him at 13-1?)

I think Fickett is going to add 1 to his 16 submission victories, he's been in the big fights with the big guys and I don't know that Batman will have the right gadgets to get out of this situation. I just can't wait to hear Joe Rogan say "holy omoplata's, Batman's tapping!" If you are playing the Joe Rogan drinking game you will have to finish your drink if he says that, you will also have to send me a dollar. Krista did not pick this one.

And now for the main card!!!!!!

Yves Edwards 29-10-1

vs

Joe Stevenson 24-7

This 155 pound battle should be another great and exciting fight. If you read this blog you know I love Thugjitsu and Yves Edwards, can he stop Joe from taking him down though? That is the biggest question. If Joe gets him to the ground it's going to be a long hard fight. I think that Yves took his last UFC opponent, Mark Homminick, a little to light. A mistake I don't see him repeating. Yves is well rounded wih 12 KO's and 10 submissions, it's gonna be a KO in this one. Krista also has Edwards.

Josh 'The People's Warrior' Burkman 6-3

vs

Josh 'The Dentist' Neer 17-3-1

It is rumoured that the loser of this fight has to change his name from Josh. Burkman is coming off a loss to Drew Fitch, a loss that came with 3 seconds left in the 2nd round. Josh Neer is coming off victories over Melvin Guillard and TUF Champ Joe Stevenson. I see Neer keeping his streak alive and coming out on top in this one, although I like Burkman since he's from Team Quest. It will be interesting to see how Tito's training will effect his conditioning and this fight. It may be the edge he needs to prove me wrong. Krista also has Neer in this fight.

Dan 'The Sandman' Chistison 8-3

vs

Frank Mir 8-2

Here are 2 big heavyweights, Dan is one of the biggest at 6ft 8in and 265 pounds. I'm hoping this is one of those fights where 2 good submission guys go toe to toe. Big Dan's gotta keep Mir at bay with his long reach. I may have an opportunity to talk to big Dan tomorrow afternoon, if I do I'll bring you all the last minute comments. I don't want to take up to much of his time right before a fight though. Mir is coming of a loss after a motor cycle injury that sidelined him for over a year. He still has a small claim to the title since he was never beat for it. If he wins I believe they will give him the next title shot. If Dan wins I think the shot should go to Monson, I think Dan will have earned it, but I'd like him to have another fight or 2 before stepping up in talent to face the winner. I've got Dan in this one, Krista's got Mir.

And now what's being billed as the co-main event of the evening.

Tito 'The Huntington Beach Badboy' Ortiz 13-4

vs

Ken 'The Worlds Most Dangerous Man' Shamrock 26-10-2

In the promo world it just doesn't get any better than this. 2 guys that really hate each other. The UFC milked it for ratings on The Ultimate Fighter 3 and now they will milk it for PPV's at UFC 61 Bitter Rivals. This fight may be just a little over hyped though. Shamrock's and old school fighter, he's 42 years old and he's lost 5 of his last 7 fights. Tito is coming from 2 losses (Randy Couture and Chuck Liddell), 2 split decision victories (Vitor Belfort and Forrest Griffin, I personally thought he lost the Belfort fight) and a unanimous decision over Patrick Cote. I really think that this is a lose lose for Tito. Either he wins a fight that everyone thinks he's gonna win or he loses. Man if he loses it will be ugly. I think Tito has got to KO Shamrock very early, either with 1 devastating punch or a completely devastating 1-2 minute performance that turns Sharmock inside out. Shamrock's a good fighter so he always has a chance, maybe a 1/2 a percent in this one. As much as I'd like to see Tito get KO'd 1 time it won't happen today. Tito's fantasy of ending Shamrock's career may just come true on Saturday. I've got Tito in this one, as does Krista and every other MMA fan I know.

The Real Main Event -

With all the hype going out about the Tito and Ken fight people are actually overlooking a pretty damn good match up.....

Tim 'The Maine-iac' Sylvia 21-2 and current UFC Champ

vs

Andrei 'The Pitbull' Arlovski 9-4 and former UFC Champ

Fight #1 saw Arlovski drop Sylvia with a big right hand, drop in on him and end the fight with an Achilles Lock. Fight #2 saw Andrei land the big right again, sending Sylvia to the mat, this time Sylvia got up and landed a short right that Andrei walked right into, this caused him to drop face 1st in flash KO fashion. Both guys have tremendous power, they have proven that they can knock each other off their feet. I think both of them have learned their lesson and both will be a little cautious and try and fight the fight they want. With 25 KO's between them you can imagine how this fight will go. I think Arlovski will win back his title, but it definately wont be easy. These guys are good and this should be a great fight. Much better than the over hyped Tito v Shamrock. Krista has taken Sylvia in this one so we shall see how it all turns out on Saturday!

I gotta talk about this soccer again.

2006-07-03T17:52:00.000-06:00

I don't know why I'm in a ranty mood tonight but here goes. I was watching the World Cup, again. Argentinia vs Germany to be precise. This was on last Friday. I'm watching this and having a little trouble with the fact that these are grown men. I do take for granted sometimes that being a guy who trains in mixed martial arts, gets hit in the head and thrown around for a workout and a little recreation that I may be a little more numb to pain than the average bear. My fiancee refers to me as the most 'testosterony' guy she has ever dated. But these guys ahve to be the softest professional athletes out there.

So with the game tied up Argentinia's goalie gets kicked in the stomach, he proceeds to flop around on the ground due to this devastating injury. All that I can handle and I'm getting used to. But then, in the World Cup, with your nations hopes and dreams on the line he gets subbed out??? Subbed out for an injury after being kicked in the tummy??? And, he got taken off on the stretcher.

Now in my years I've cracked my ribs twice, broken fingers, toes, seperated my shoulder, knocked out my front tooth when I was in seventh grade and I have also been kicked in the tummy. Mike accidentally kicks me in the head every time we work out. I have never been on a stretcher. I have seen people in football blow out there knee's and not be taken off on a stretcher, Nascar racers get in accidents at 200 miles an hour and don't need a stretcher.

These guys are just soft!!!!

It's all over

2006-07-03T17:30:00.000-06:00

I'm selling my stock I'm selling my house and I'm throwing a raging keg party tomorrow since the apacolypse is upon us!!!

MTV2 is coming up with a new show of some kind called Final Fu. Ridiculous!

They are looking for "Black Belt level (or equivalent)" What the hell is 'or equivalent'.

This page, along with it's fantastic Jean-Claude Van Dam music, is a total joke. "Defend your martial arts style against the best competing practitioners in the nation". It looks to find the best fighters to compete "against each other in an arduos competition of challenges and stand-up, tournament point fighting". Jean Claude must be the host of this, or maybe Steven Seagal. I don't think Chuck Norris would stoop down to this much of a publicity stunt!

1st off, there was already a show to try and find out which individual style would dominate. It was called the Ultimate Fighting Challenge back the and Brazilian Jui Jitsu won! Now if you want to call yourself a fighter and you want to compete you must be well versed in multiple arts, that's why they call it MMA. MIXED MARTIAL ARTS.

This is a shameless attempt for MTV to jump on any band wagon they can. I hate to say this but I remember when MTV was cool, or at least I thought it was when I 1st started watching. Unfortunately I 1st started watching when it 1st came on the air which makes me old.

This will be a fantastic opportunity for all those TV Sensie's we see that will "teach your child to defend himself in real life situations".

UUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGG! OK, I'm done!

PRIDE Critical Countdown ~ The Results

2006-07-02T20:53:00.000-06:00

What a night of fights. PRIDE has announced that they will be coming to Las Vegas on October 21st of this year. Can't wait.

EDSON DRAGO vs PAWEL NASTULA (1-0)
Nastula came out and got the takedown, worked for an armbar but Drago was able to back out. Nastula gained another takedown and ended up with the mount pretty quick. Worked a pretty good ground and pound opening some cuts. The ref paused the action to bring them to the center of the ring. Drago reversed Nastula, tried to work his ground and pound but Nastula gained an arm bar for the submission victory.

NAKAO YOSHIHIRO vs LEE EUN SU (2-0)
Su was outclassed from the very begining of this fight. Yoshihiro controlled the action, took him down and worked a vicious ground and pound game. Within no time Su had a mouse under his eye that after about a minute closed it completely. The Dr stopped the fight for safety. TKO Yoshihiro.

VITOR BELFORT vs YOSHIKI TAKAHASHI (3-0)
They both came out looking for a quick exchange, Belfort lands a nice left hook that drops Takahashi to the canvas cold. Quick one! Belfort shows the hand speed that made him famous when he was younger.

ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA VS ALISTAIR OVEREEM (3-1)
Overeem came out and controlled this fight. During the 1st round he controlled the action with high and low kicks. Around the 5 minute mark of the 1st round you could see the damage on Nog's leg. Nog did get a takedown and work some weak ground and pound but Overeem's defense was solid. In the second round Overeem went back

KAZUHIRO NAKAMURA vs EVENGELISTA SANTOS (4-1)
Nakamura came out and quickly got the takedown. Worked his ground and pound, wint into side control and landed a lot of little punches, not a whole lot of damage jsut frustrating. Secured the Americana but had it a little to far from the body, switched to a should crank then moved back to an elbow lock to secure the submission.

ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA vs FABRICIO WERDUM (4-2)
Nog came out swinging and sent Werdum to the floor, Werdum pulled guard and played defense for a while. Nog controlled this round. Werdum has a stiff and quick jab but that's all he's got going for him. On 2 occasions during the round Werdum hits the canvas and at least 1 of Nog's body punches made Werdum wince. Round 2 brought more of the same, Nog now has a cut on his eye from the stiff jab of Werdum. It goes to the 3rd round where Werdum puts up a better effort but not enough. Werdum got a takedown and worked some pretty weak ground and pound. At one point Nog had to give up his back, Werdum went for the Rear Naked Choke, Nog slipped out the back door. Frank Trigg with the comment of the night says something like "Wow that was a great move I wish I could have learned that!"

(For those who are not MMA fans/followers, Frank Trigg lost his last 3 fights by the Rear Naked Choke.) So the Nog twins both make me wrong on this evening.

WANDERLEI SILVA vs KAZUYUKI FUJITA (5-2)
Silva came out a swingin, nocked Fujita to the mat early and landed 3 big knees to his head. The middle of this round got a little boring as Wandy controlled the action, Fujita did get some ride time and ground and pound as Wandy tried a couple times to land an Armbar. With right at a minute left Wandy drops Fujita again, jumps on, lands a lot of heavy blows and finally KO's him with literally 1 second left.

JOSH BARNETT vs MARK HUNT (5-3)
Wow, great job by Josh Barnett in this fight! I doubted his ability to take Hunt to the ground but it took him no time at all to get him down on the ground. Once he was on the ground he passed guard for side control, segregated Hunts arm and worked for a Kimura and secured the victory. Impressive win for Barnett.

MIRKO FILIPOVIC vs HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA (6-3)
Anotehr impressive win. Mirko came out utilizing his well known kicks. Yoshida hung in there for a while but 6-7 leg kicks from the 1/2 way point to the 7 minute mark inthe fight did their damage and took their toll. Yoshida was clearly in pain and limping on that leg, Mirko landed another one and Yoshida went down hard.

Another great night of fighting. A note about the UFC vs PRIDE argument. This was not live, taped in Japan. In 2 hrs and 40 minutes PRIDE brought us 9 fights and still had time to plug their upcoming shows and all that good stuff. Since the UFC is live it's harder to fill gaps in a show like this when you get some early ending fights.

UFC vs PRIDE take 2

2006-07-02T10:43:00.000-06:00

A while back I did an article on PRIDE vs UFC (read all about that using the link. In that article I broke down the history of the 2 organizations and things they do different and the same. I took a lot of comments by reffering to the UFC as "the big show". It's almost a full year later and things have changed so today I decided to break down what I like about each show, some of the fighters who have crossed over, some of the champs and some of the others.

I will say that based on the payout amounts I've seen, PRIDE does a better job. Although when I see payout amounts they are not confirmed so who really knows. All in all I think MMA Fighters deserve more than what they get.

THE PROGRAMS
I do like the fact that the UFC is live. Since PRIDE is held in Japan it is difficult to broadcast to the United States live. And, yes, I do live in the United States. PRIDE can get rid of a lot of unneeded fluff and bring more fights which I like. All and all there is just more of an excitement watching a live event.

Advantage ~ UFC

Both organizations are continueing to commercialize everything, bringing in more money that they do not share with thier fighters.

Advantage ~ Push

I don't know this for fact either but it seems as though the UFC fighters get better endorsments and sponsers than the PRIDE fighters. If you look at Quinton Jackson's interviews when leaving PRIDE and going to the WFA he seemed to imply that PRIDE doesn't do a good job of getting fighters extra sponsers.

Advantage ~ UFC

I love the enthusiasm of the PRIDE crowd, it just seems to be more true fans and less drunken idiots screaming. Go USA! I've been to some of the UFC's, sorry fellow fans but we do tend to bring in a lot of drunken idiots.

Advantage ~ PRIDE

I like the cage over the ring but like the system of PRIDE over the UFC. In PRIDE you can still knee to the head. I understand why the UFC doesn't allow those things when someone's head can be trapped between the mat and the cage, a knee or stomp could cause a lot of unneeded damage.

Advantage ~ Push

I like the judging of PRIDE. The UFC's boxing-like 10 point must system just doesn't belong in MMA, plus the judges don't seem to know as much about the sport. The judge that voted for Stephan Bonnar over Rashad Evans the other night is a perfect example. I guess he scored highly on the vicious headbutt's Bonnar was landing to Rashad's fist! But I think judging the whole fight rather than each round is the way to go. Like boxing, you still have some 'round stealing' with last minute action.

Advantage~ PRIDE

THE CROSSOVER FIGHTERS

Anderson "the Spider" Silva
Silva brought his 3-2 PRIDE record to the UFC to fight Chris Leben last week. Silva had lost his last 2 PRIDE fights to Daiju Takase and Ryo Chonan. He dominated Leben from the 1st jab to the final outcome which lasted all of 49 seconds. You could tell from that 1st jab that it was going to be a quick one. Silva also holds victories over Jeremy horn and Jorge Rivera outside of PRIDE and UFC. He made the PRIDE talent look pretty damn good.

Advantage ~ PRIDE

We will then go from the most recent to probably the most decorated, Jeremy "Gumby" Horn. Horn is a mere 6-4 in his 10 UFC bouts while keeping an undefeated 3-0 in PRIDE. Horn's 77-14-5 record (according to Sherdog) would indicate that the UFC talent is pretty stiff since he is well below average when fighting there.

Advantage ~ UFC

Phil "The New York Badass" Baroni couldn't by a win at the end of his UFC career, everyone said he was washed up. Baroni posted a 3-5 record in the UFC, losing to Evan Tanner and Matt Lindland twice. Baroni was able to come over to PRIDE and KO Ryo Chonan and Ikuhisa "the Punk" Minowa. Overall he is 3-2 in PRIDE. The UFC fighters figured Baroni out, stand in front of him, get knocked out. Some of the PRIDE fighters tried to trade with Baroni and got knocked out. Hopefully they have figured him out.

Advantage ~ UFC

Yves Edwards has also done a bit of crossing over. Yves is 2-1 overall in PRIDE and 6-3 in the UFC. This doesn't help us at all.

Advantage ~ Push

THE CHAMPS

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell is an interseting one to look at. Chuck is 13-2 in UFC and 2-1 in PRIDE. His loss to Jeremy Horn 7 years ago can be chalked up to being in a fight with someone more experienced. Losing to Quinton Jackson and Randy Couture can be chalked up to fighting to top flight guys and coming out on the losing end. He has come back to beat Randy 2 times and eagerly awaits an opportunity to fight Jackson again.

Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva is another champ that crossed over. His 1-2 UFC record didn't look so hot, his PRIDE record of 22-2-1 with 1 no contest looks real good. Like Chuck you shouldn't make the mistake of looking at his early losses, he's much better than he was back then.

There is not a fan out there that would not love to see this fight. This would be UFC vs PRIDE at it's finest. Chuck has proven KO power with a freakish ability to avoid the takedown. Wandy loves to take people down and ground and pound them into the mat. No doubt chuck would want to stand and Wandy would want to ground and pound, but Wandy can trade standing up also. I believe that Wandy is more of a complete fighter, I also believe Chuck would land one of his big right hands and send Wandy home.

Advantage ~ UFC (barely!)

Time "The Maine-iac" Sylvia is the current Heavyweight Champ of the UFC. At 6ft 8 and 250-265 he is a menace to MMA. He's a good striker who brings with him an incredible reach advantage. Sylvia has 2 submission losses in his 23 fights, 16 KO's in his 21 wins. Arlovsky did put him on the floor before dropping into a Achilles Lock, he also put him on the floor before getting KO'd in there 2nd fight. Sylvia has shown a chink in his armour, a small chink mind you!

Fedor Emelianenko is a monster. 23-1 overall with his 1 loss coming in his 2nd fight. Fedor has not shown a chink anywhere. He has the power to knock you out and he has the smarts to submit you. He has one of the greatest comebacks in MMA history when he took a vicious slam from Kevin Randleman, looked completely composed and landed an armbar for victory.

Sylvia would want this to stay on the feet and need to use his reach advantage to keep Fedor at Bay. This may actually work for a while, Crocop was able to keep Fedor away at times. But Fedor would, in the end wear the Maine-iac down and beat him.

Advantage ~ PRIDE

Rich "Ace" Franklin is the current 185 pound champ in the UFC. It's hard to put up a better fighter right now. Many will look forward to seeing him fight Anderson Silva, that fight will probably take place next year. Franklin is an incredible striker, more polished than Chuck Liddell with an equal amount of KO potential.

Dan "Hollywood" Henderson won the Grand Prix 185 pound championship last year. Henderson is a former wrestler with impressive stand up skills.

Although Henderson is from Team Quest I would pick against him in this fight. I think Franklin is one of the best fighters out there right now. I really think he could beat Liddell if he fought at 205.

Advantage ~ UFC

In the 170 pound weight class you don't have much for PRIDE representation. It would be hard to find someone to stand up to the power of the UFC in this category, they bring Matt Hughes, Georges "Rush" St. Pierre and BJ "The Prodigy" Penn to the table.

Advantage ~ UFC

In the 155 pound weight class you don't have a champ in the UFC. PRIDE brings Takanori "The Fireball Kid" Gomi to the table in this weight class. I know he recently lost a fight to Marcus Aurelio but I don't think that would happen again. Gomi is good, real good. Soon the UFC will crown a champ, I think it will be Kenny Florian. It will be an interesting match up to talk about when the Champ is crowned.

Advantage ~ PRIDE

On my points I have UFC with 7 (1 Barely), PRIDE with 5 and 3 pushes. That about sums up how I feel about the 2 shows. I love them both, I'd love to see more crossover action but if you put me to a decision I'd pick the UFC. Although I'll give PRIDE a bonus point on the fact that they show 8-10 matches where the UFC will maybe show 6-7 on a good night. That makes the decision very close.

As always feel free to comment, argue, discuss or whatever it is you do.

PRIDE Tonight ~ Predictions

2006-07-02T10:03:00.000-06:00

OK, the event has actually happened but I hae not looked at the results. Since many out there woudln't believe that anyway I'm not going to get into much detail, just the picks. This will air tonight on PPV, since PRIDE events are held in Japan they are tape delayed.

The Open Weight Tournament ~

WANDERLEI SILVA vs KAZUYUKI FUJITA
I'm taking Wandy in this one.

MIRKO FILIPOVIC vs HIDEHIKO YOSHIDA
Crocop, Mirko in this one.

JOSH BARNETT vs MARK HUNT
This should be a good fight, I think Hunt will win. Unless he comes in 30 pounds overweight which he has been known to do. But for the official picking purposes I'm going with Hunt.

ANTONIO RODRIGO NOGUEIRA vs FABRICIO WERDUM
I'm taking Werdum in this one. (my upset)

Other, non tournament match ups ~

KAZUHIRO NAKAMURA vs EVENGELISTA SANTOS
Santos

VITOR BELFORT vs YOSHIKI TAKAHASHI
Belfort. (I'm betting he has finally pulled his head out of his ass, could be wrong)

ANTONIO ROGERIO NOGUEIRA VS ALISTAIR OVEREEM
Overeem. Will both the Nog's lose in 1 night????

EDSON DRAGO vs PAWEL NASTULA
I will take Nastula.

NAKAO YOSHIHIRO vs LEE EUN SU
Yoshihiro.

Soon it will be UFC Ortiz VS Shamrock.

Ultimate Fight Night ~ The Predictions

2006-06-26T19:48:00.000-06:00

Here we go again, this is going to be a busy month in the world of mixed martial arts. And with 5 people now training at Spring Hill MMA (my garage) I am busier than ever.

The Undercard (may not be broadcast)

Justin Levens 7-2 (5 KO's 2 Subs)

VS

Jorge Santiago 10-5 (3 KO's 6 Subs)

Santiago is an American Top Team fighter with a pretty solid backround against good opponents. Levens is a Ruas Vale Tudo fighter who was on a MMA role with 7 straight wins before running into Scott Smith and Evan Tanner. Tanner, by the way, is a former middleweight champ. I'm gonna pick Levens in a close fight here, I don't know much about these guys but something tells me Levens' 1 fight in the Octagon with Tanner will make him a little calmer and more prepared.

Rob MacDonald 3-1 (1 KO and 1 Sub)

VS

Kristian Rothaermel

I didn't post a record for Kristian because of the inconsistancies. Sherdog lists him at 4-2, the FFC refers you to Sherdog's profile. The UFC lists him at 40-4. Just a little bit of difference there. You may have seen Rothaermel quiting on TUF this past season. Quite frankly I don't know why Dana is giving him a chance to fight here, I hope he looses. There you have it. Go MacDonald!

Mark Hominick 10-5 (6 KO's 4 Subs)

VS

Jorge Gurgel 9-1 (9 Subs)

I'm excited to see Jorge fighting again. His knee gave him problems during the TUF season 2, he showed a no quit attitude that you had to admire. Hominick looked really good against one of my favorite fighters, Yves Edwards. No one is going to back down in this one, Jorge shows a lot of submissions but is not afraid to stand in there. I am going to reluctantly pick Hominick in this one, I hope they choose to air this fight, it will be a good one.

Brandon Lee Hinkle 12-7 (8 KO's 3 Subs)

VS

Jason Lambert 21-5 (10 KO's 7 Subs)

Brandon Lee Hinkle sounds too much like Lee Harvey Oswald to me, so I'm going with Lambert. He's coming off wins at UFC 58 adn 59 where as Hinkle is coming off a loss at UFC 57. His win at UFC 55 was a yawner over Sean Gannon who was in about as good a shape as Elvis before he died. It was terrible! I'll take Lambert in round 1.

Dave Menne 39-13 (5 KO's 14 Subs)

VS

Josh Koscheck 5-1 (1 KO 3 Subs)

Here's a fight I hope they don't show. Unless Koscheck has improved on his game. The guy is a World Class wrestler who sometimes forgets he can strike in the world of MMA. He earned the nickname "The Blanket" in his heated rivalry with Chris Leben in TUF season 1. Let's hope his training with Tito Ortiz has gotten him out of that phase. Dave Menne is a former UFC Champ, I think his days in the big leagues are over though. Dave's a good guy with good skill, I just think he was fortunate to get in early. I'll take Koscheck in this one.

Jon Fitch 10-2 (3 KO's 3 Subs)

VS

Thiago Alves 8-2 (4 KO's 1 Sub)

This should be another entertaining fight. Both are on mini-rolls in the UFC. Fitch looked good against Josh Burkman and Alves looked good against Derrick Noble. I'll go with Alves and American Top Team to win this one, but it should be another good one.

The Main Card

Jonathan Goulet 15-6 (6 KO's 7 Subs)

VS

Luke Cummo 4-3 (2 KO's 1 Sub)

Luke is coming off a win over Jason Von Flue, a fellow TUF season 2 cast member. Goulet is coming off KO loss to Duane Ludwig at UFN 3. I've liked Luke's attitude from the begining and I'm looking for him to have used that to learn more about himself and this sport. I pick Cummo.

Rashad Evans 7-0 (1 KO and 2 Subs)

VS

Stephan Bonnar 9-2 (1 KO 6 Subs)

This should be a great fight! Rashad is coming down in weight since winning the heavyweight crown in TUF season 2. Rashad is a good boxer with good all around defense. He'll need it against the well rounded Stephan Bonnar. Bonnar looked a little out of it in his last fight with Keith Jardine, I thought he lost that fight but he did win the decision. I look for Rashad to continue his rise and win in an upset over Bonnar.

And now for the Main Event

Chris Leben 15-1 (7 KO's 4 Subs)

VS

Anderson Silva 15-4 (8 KO's 2 Subs)

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-Nelly, this should be a great fight!!!!! I can't wait. Chris Leben has been on a tear through the UFC since losing on the TUF season 1. A victory ehre could line him up for a title defense in the near future with Rich Franklin. Silva's arrival in the UFC is highly anticipated by world wide fans of MMA who are often asking "who's got better talent, PRIDE or UFC." This fight will fuel that fire one way or another. I'm gonna kep takin Leben until somebody proves me wrong by beating him. He's got a big head and he can take a big punch, he should be tested in this one.

OK kids, don't forget to play the Joe Rogan Drinking game and have fun UFN'ing.

TUF 3 ~ The Results

2006-06-26T19:32:00.000-06:00

My Oregon boys didn't win their fights but they both showed a lot of heart.

Ed lost his fight to Kendall, although I had it 29-28 for Ed. Many other people thoguth Ed won that fight, Sherdog scored the fight for Ed as well. But it was close enough that the decision doesn't bother me that much, Kendall fought a great fight and was going for a submission for the last minute of the last round, on the 3 judges cards that probably won it for him. Dana White announced after the fight that because of the great fight he would give both fighters contracts even thought Kendall would be the lone person crowned "The Ultimate Fighter".

Josh Haynes showed a ton of heart as he got man handled by Michael Bisping. Bisping ultimately scored a 2nd round KO to win his crown. Haynes announced that he would now pursue his fighting career in a lower wieght class, more than likely 170. If you ever have any question about how hard it is to go up 1 or 2 weight classes find someone who competed in High School wrestling and ask them, or, go to an event and see if any of them go up in weight class. If they do, they are pretty good.

Jardine and Gouveia went toe to toe for 3 rounds. Gouveia looked dominant in the 1st round with faster hands and devastating leg kicks. Then, like so many others in MMA today, he went away from those leg kicks and Jardine brought leg kicks of his own. By the 3rd round both looked as thought 1 more leg kick would send them to the mat for good, but they seldom went for them. Jardine won the decision in the end.

I said it when Florian fought at 185, I said it when Florian fought at 170. I like him at those weights but I would love to see him at 155. Well I got to see him and I loved him at 155. As I stated above it is difficult to go up 15 to 30 pounds in weight and still compete, Florian did it well but just didn't have the strength I felt he needed. I believe he will be a dominant force at 155. He took Stout straight down to the mat, messed with him a bit and then put him away with a rear naked choke. Spencer Fisher is another 155'er that is tearing it up right now and he could not take Stout down, Florian did it in no time.

All in all I was 6 and 3 with my predictions. If I would have went with logic over home town favorites I should have picked Bisping but what the heck, gotta stick with my boys. You wont find a fair weather fan in me.

UFC Salaries, Can they compare?

2006-06-26T18:50:00.000-06:00

Mixed Martial Arts is the fastest growing sport in the world. The most recent UFC's have come close to and out PPV'd Professional Boxing and Professional Wrestling. But where is this money going? Here are some reported salaries from the recent UFC 60 Gracie VS Hughes

Matt Hughes ($110,000) def. Royce Gracie ($400,000)

Brandon Vera ($32,000) def. Assuerio Silva ($8,000)

Diego Sanchez ($24,000) def. John Alessio ($3,000)

Dean Lister ($10,000) def. Alessio Sakara ($10,000)

Melvin Guillard ($10,000) def. Rick Davis ($2,000)

Gabriel Gonzaga ($10,000) def. Fabiano Scherner ($3,000)

Spencer Fisher ($14,000) def. Matt Wiman ($3,000)

Jeremy Horn ($70,000) def. Chael Sonnen ($5,000)

Mike Swick ($10,000) def. Joe Rigs ($12,000)

Both Gracie and Hughes also reportedly recieved a cut from the PPV, this should have put Gracie over 1 million dollars.

Now look at the amount the event reportedly brought in.

Reported Gate Money = $2.9 million (14k in attendance)
800,000 PPV customers at $39 each = $31.2 million

Total $34.1 million dollars just in attendance and PPV.

Gracie and Hughes together are not making what some of the top flight boxers are making. Here's a quick look at what some boxers you may have heard of recently pulled in.

Bernard Hopkins made $5 million for winning over Jermaine Taylor who brought down a modest $3.5 million.

Floyd Mayweather makes about $5 million per fight.

Oscar De La Hoya's price tag was $4.5 million dollars plus $2.50 for each PPV sold. Should have got him another $1.5 million for his fight with Shane Mosley.

Arturo Gatti reportedly made $8 million for his lackluster loss against Floyd Mayweather. (I could not find information to confirm that total.)

Most of these fights brought in less than the 800,000 viewers the UFC's mot recent fight brought in.

Dana White was recently on ESPN discussing the finer points of the UFC and MMA. One point he made about boxing was that, unfortunately, it is predominantly controlled by Don King and Bob Arum. It would seem that it is unfortunate for mixed martial artist to have only 1, Dana White.

The Ultimate Fighter Finale ~ Undercard Results

2006-06-24T19:14:00.000-06:00

As the main show is coiming on live as we speak and getting ready to roll let me update you on the undercard. Followed by my record on picking the fights this evening.

Mike Nickels was able to get a rear naked choke on Wes Combs. (0-1) rough start.

Matt Hammill was able to outclass Jesse Forbes with some brutal ground and pound to end the fight with 13 seconds left in the 1st. (1-1)

Luigi Fioravanti was able to to KO Solomon Hutcherson in the 1st. (2-1)

Kalib Starnes was to much for Danny Abaddi and choked him out in the 1st. (3-1)

Rory Singer was rocked in the 1st round by Ross Pointon but on the way to the mat he landed a triangle on Ross for the victory. (4-1)

Check Out SPIKE TV today

2006-06-24T08:46:00.000-06:00

SPIKE will be running a marathon of The Ultimate Fighter season 3 that will lead up to the finale this evening.

There is a lot of action coming in the next couple weeks. Tonight is the Finale.

6/28 - The Ultimate Fight Night (prdictions and card coming soon)

7/8 - UFC PPV. Tito Ortiz vs Ken Shamrock AND Tim Sylvia vs Andre Arlovsky.
THIS ONE SHOULD BE HUGE

7/22 - World Fighting Alliance has a card.This one features a lot of big names.
More to come on this event in the near future.

Bill O'reilly knows squat!!!!!

2006-06-22T14:56:00.000-06:00

I rarely step into the political area's of our little blogging community. But Bill went and brought his lack of research and complete idiocy to my world. On a recent show Bill spoke with Dana White, President of the UFC, and Rich Franklin, current Middle-weight champ. In this interview Bill made several points to try and show how brutal this sport is. I will break down his points...... You can link to the 5 minute broadcast if you want to watch The Idiot. I find a lot of what Bill O'Reilly says as blatant disregaurd for common sense, not to mention truth. It is just ridiculous!

1) He starts this interview by showing a picture of Muhammad Ali and implying that his Parkinson's desease was brought on by prize fighting. (If at this point you a Bill fan and you are thinking to yourself "he didn't imply anything there" just wait for it, he flat out says it later!)

2) He then tells a flat out lie by saying that Rich Franklin once knocked a man out for 20 minutes and people thought he was dead. Yes, I said it....FLAT OUT LIE! When Franklin begins to speak about that issue Bill just cuts him off and changes the subject.

3) Then Bill turns the subject to why Rich does this, (I'm paraphrasing here) Bill basically says how brutal the sport is and asks Rich if he does it for money. Rich explains that he gave up a career as a teacher (Math teacher to be precise) to pursue a lifelong dream of being a proffesional athlete. What's missed in that whole scenario is what Rich was trying to say about his health. How many times do we here about football players who can barely walk in there 30's because of knee, shoulder and back issues? The Oakland Raiders have a fund set up just for their teams former players and their health issues. You just don't have the wear and tear on the body that you do in other contact sports. You won't find boxers and mixed martial artist with issue's like Howie Long and Shaq. It just doesn't happen. And that is NOT to imply that boxing and MMA are the same when it comes to health.

4) Now comes the time in the interview where Bill links Ali's Parkinson's to his boxing career. I'm surprized Bill didn't mention the other great boxers with Parkinson's, Michael J Fox, Bill Graham, Kathering Hepburn, Johnny Cash, Harry Truman and MacArther. Johnny Cash is an interesting one because I always figured country music caused some kind of health issues!

5) Bill will now ask Dana White if he can understand why people think it is brutal and wonder to themselves "What's next, are we Romans, are they going to bring lions in there?". Dana, visibly flustered at Bill's complete ignorance, states taht MMA is safer than Boxing. I've already written an article on the diffences, you can read that one Here. In a nutshell, would you rather be knocked out with 1 or 2 good clean shots with a 4oz glove that knock you out? or, Would you rather be pummelled with 12 rounds worth of 14-16oz glove shots (that is to say there is a lot of extra padding in those gloves), given several standing 8 counts in which you are given an oportunity to get some of your whits back before getting pummelled again?

6) Bill will now bring up some crack research from the UK (British Journal of Sports Medicine) that indicates, based on the number of concussions that MMA is 3 times more dangerous than boxing. I looked on google and found THE ARTICLE where it looks as though a doctor watched 642 fights and saw what ended the fights. 28% were ended by some kind of head trama which the doctor and Bill apparently links to concussions. No live people were studied. I wonder how many tackles in football are a direct result of a hit involving the head? WOW, according to Bill that would be a lot of concussions out there. If anyone can find other articles I would LOVE to read them. Great Facts Bill!

7) Bill will 1 more time bring up that Ali got Parkinson's from fighting, he actually says it this time. I went to this site to get an answer on what causes it. They, along with other sites, list that Parkinson's is a result of a chemical build up that destroy's your brain cells. Here is an blurb from an article that says concussion symptoms are "Parkinson-like". Bill stated that Ali himself says that he got Parkinson's from boxing. I have personally never heard that, I'm trying to find it on the internet but haven't yet. You would think, or at least someone with logic (obviously not Bill) that if Ali thought this came from his boxing career he would make is a point to say it every time he spoke to a crowd. He doesn't! You would also think at some point you'd hear it from Michael J Fox as much as he is an advocate in educating people on the disease.

Bill O'Reilly should not be allowed to be on television. If I hear one more comment about the 'liberal' media spreading lies while this guy gets away with this I'm going to scream!

TUF 3 ~ The Finale ~ The Predictions

2006-06-17T15:53:00.000-06:00

The Ultimate Fighter 3 has come to the end, the matches are set and on the 24th of July 2 new fighters will win contracts in the UFC. This will be aired on SPIKE TV for all to see. Don't miss all the action. Here is how the fight card is going to breack down.

Let me mention 3 names 1st. Noah Inhofer, Tait Fletcher and Kristian Rothaermel. These are the 3 fighters who chose not to fight at some point in the show. Any fighter out there with an opportunity on this show needs to understand, if you don't quit you will be fighting in the UFC in some capacity. Chris Leben lost 2 times on the show, he's now on Ultimate Fight Night cards. With this sport growing and getting more venues they need more fighters, just don't quit. Even if you get whooped you still will have an opportunity. If you follow the show you will see more guys who did not win fighting on cards for upcoming events.

The Undercard

Mike Nickels

VS

Wes Combs

Mike Nickels went on the ultimate fighter with a record of 3-1, he lost in a fight with Matt Hammill. In that fight he showed that he had really no stand up game. His punches were not sharp and he would not keep his head up which eliminates the opportunity to see your target. If he has not spent the last couple months working on that aspect of his game he will be in some trouble next week. Wes "soldier" Combs brings a 12-0 record with 9 KO's, I don't see Nickels slowing him down any. I think he will be way to much for Nickels to handle.

Solomon Hutcherson

VS

Luigi Fioravanti

Solomon was winning his fight against Rory Singer when he took a nice high kick to the head and got dropped. He showed some good stand up skills for someone with a strong wrestling background. He will need to showcase those skills and improve on them to have a chane against Fioravanti. Fioravanti has a 7-1 record, his 1 loss was to Chris Leben. If Leben couldn't knock him out, Solomon more than likely wont either. After that I don't know what kind of submission game he has. I look for this to be a rough start for the TUF guys with these 2 losses.

Rory Singer

VS

Ross Pointon

This is an interesting match up for me. Rory is a very smart person who should be able to come up with a strategy to beat Ross, just don't get hit by that looping right hand. In order to do that Rory will have to disprove his critics, stand in there and be willing to take that punch to get the take down and work his game. Ross, what can you say, no one should doubt whether or not he will stand in there. But if Rory can get him to the ground I don't think he can do anything. I'm going to take Rory over Ross.

Kalib Starnes

VS

Danny Abaddi

Kalib comes in off his 1st loss, that loss was on the show so it wont show on his record. He seemed very frustrated with the training of team Shamrock and has made several comments since the show stating that. Shamrock criticized Kalib after his loss saying that Kalib could not have hurt his ribs or he would not have been able to hang in there as long as he did. Having cracked my ribs at the begining of a trainig class and finishing that class I can tell you that Shamrock was wrong. I knew that I was in pain but didn't know they were cracked until later that night when the pain didn't go away. I don't give Danny much more than a fluke chance in this one. Kalib will take him down and work him over pretty good and pretty fast.

Matt Hamill

VS

Jesse Forbes

This may be the slowest fight of the night. Both these guys are young in there MMA careers and both are wrestlers. The fear with a fight like this is that wrestling will take over and they will forget they can punch and choke. I like Matt, he's a good story. Matt is deaf, if you've watched any MMA you know that the corners are constantly shouting instructions into the ring, Matt cannot have this part of the game at his disposal. He seemed on the show to be a very hard worker. I believe he will beat Jesse.

The TUF Championship Fights

The Middleweights

Ed Short Fuse Herman

VS

Kendall Da Spyder Grove

This should be a good one. Ed should have been my pick for the middleweights, I went with Rory because he's one of Forrests partners and I just expected a little more from him. Ed being an Oregon boy should have been my pick. Kendall showed a ton of improvement throughout the show and did some major damage to Kalibs ribs with some nice kicks during the semi-finals. Ed's game is to ground and pound, why not, he comes from Team Quest. Kendall may be a little to long for Ed to handle inthat type of game. Kendall is 6 foot 6, if he can keep Ed in his guard Ed wont have enough on his punches and Kendall can just work his submissions. I'm going to go with Ed in this one. WAR Oregon!

The Lightheavyweights

Michael The Count Bisping

VS

Josh Bring the Pain Haynes

Bisping went straight through the competition and looked good doing it, he's got all the tools needed to be a great fighter. Josh was my preseason favorite for this fight. On paper this looks like an easy fight for Bisping, he's taller, more polished and has a better record. Haynes has just hung around and hung around. He's shown a tremendous heart and desire just to win. He pulls inspiration from his family, his oldest son was diagnosed with brain cancer at birth but has pulled through. Bisping will be his toughest opponent to date and I believe Bisping is a heavy favorite but I'm sticking with my pick, win or loose. WAR Oregon!

The Main Events

Kenny Florian

VS

Sam Stout

Florian was a finalist in TUF's season 1, Stout came on to the scene by taking a split decision over favored Spencer Fisher in UFC 58. Florian is going to have to get Stout to the ground to work his ground game, I don't know that he can do that. I'm going to look for Stout to defend the takedowns and keep Kenny at bay with his hands. This should be a good fight.

Kieth Jardine

VS

Wilson Gouveia

Jardine was a member of TUF season 2, he is also a veteran of the KOTC. Gouveia is a BJJ fighter from American Top Team in Florida. Jardine has fought in the UFC 3 times, 2 wins and one very questionable loss via decision against Stephan Bonnar. I think he will dominate this fight and come out victorious.

World Cup

2006-06-15T17:30:00.000-06:00

I get into the World Cup every 4 years when it comes around. This year, I'm wondering why? I love the competition, I love the idea of each nation fighting for themselves like the olymipics, I love routing for America and I even love the fact that we are not the 'choosen ones' like we seem to be in so many other sports.

So this year I'm watching as usual and I can't get past 1 thing. These are grown men and great athletes, right? WHY DO THEY ROLL AND FLOP AROUND AFTER GETTING SOME LAME TACKLE??????????????? Man that is pissing me off this year. You know I love the fights, you know I love me some hockey and you know I love my football. Why can't these guys stand up like men? I really don't understand this concept in soccer. I don't understand it at all. I never played soccer other than recreation soccer in a gym class or something. So I guess I never learned the fine art of looking like a wuss on world wide television. And these commentators??????

I'm watching a game right now, Trinidad and Tobago VS England. Beckam chips a ball back to some other guy who makes a run for the goal. He gets tripped up and rolls about 4 times, (I used to run full speed in football and get tripped or hit, don't ever recall rolling that much.) he then grabs his leg and flops around like a fish out of water. The ref comes over and pulls the yellow card on the dude from T&T. The commentator goes on and on about how uncalled for that tackle was and why the T&T guy would do such a thing, meanwhile the England dude is still flopping around. 1 second after the giving of the yellow card the England dude hops up and runs away. They show the replay, the T&T dude didn't even make contact, not a bit. Are soccer refs aware of this invention called instant replay?

In hockey if a player takes a dive they get a penalty, perhaps soccer should adopt the same policy. It's quite ridiculous. Don't even get me started on when they bring the stretcher out! You'd think the guy was dying!

Fighters Wanted

2006-06-13T14:05:00.000-06:00

There is a new reality show coming out that will feature 2 fighters, they will travel around the world and train in different martial arts with some sparring involved. My friends at lockflow recieved all the scoop. Stop by and check it out over at LockFlow .

Countdown

2006-06-06T18:40:00.000-06:00

PRIDE Bushido ~ Volume 11 Tonight

2006-06-04T12:21:00.000-06:00

PRIDE's latest Bushido is tonight. The Bushido is a tournament format competition. Tonight will be the first round of the Welterweight tournament. Dan Henderson is also in the tournament but he recieved a 1st round bye due to the fact that he won last years tournament. The PPV airs tonight at 9pm central time.

PRIDE Bushido Vol. 11 Welterweight GP Sunday, June 4th, 2006 Saitama Super Arena

Welterweight GP First Round:

Gegard Mousasi (Red Devil Internatonal) x Makoto Takimoto (Yoshida Dojo)

Joey Villasenor (Jackson's Submission Fighting) x Ryo Chonan (Team MAD)

Phil Baroni (Hammer House) x Kazuo Misaki (GRABAKA)

Amar Suloev (Red Devil) x Murilo Bustamante (BTT)

Denis Kang (Spirit MC/ATT) x Murilo "Ninja" Rua (Chute Boxe)

Paulo Filho (BTT) x Gregory Bouchelaghem (Snake Team)

Akihiro Gono (GRABAKA) x Hector Lambard (Yoshida Dojo)

Lightweight Single Bouts:

Hayato "Mach" Sakurai (Mach Dojo) x Olaf Alfonso (Odo Fight Club)

Tatsuya Kawajiri (T-BLOOD) x Charles "Krazy Horse" Bennett (Freelance)

Marcus Aurelio (ATT) x Mitsuhiro Ishida (T-BLOOD)

Jason Black (Miletich Martial Arts) x Eoh Won Jin (Seishin MMA Gym - CMA KOREA)

International Fight League

2006-06-04T12:12:00.000-06:00

This is something that has just sprung up recently. The IFL has 4 teams, the format is somewhat like that of High School Wrestling. Each team has a representative from each weight class. It is in a ring but the rules are similar to that of the UFC. You may strike, takedown, grapple, submit. This airs on FOX sports. Tonight it is on at 7pm. These are more up and coming fighters that geta chance to work with top flight coaches. Pat Miletich, Silverbacks Coach, currently trains Matt Hughes (welterweight champ and Tim Sylvia, Heavyweight Champ (both of the UFC). Maurice Smith is a former UFC Champ and world renowned kickboxer. If youhave a chance check it out. The premier fight was a couple of weeks ago and it was pretty exciting.

Fight Date: June 3, 2006 Location: Trump Taj Mahal, Atlantic City, NJ 8:00pm est

Tigersharks vs. Silverbacks - First Team League Championship

Maurice Smith – Coach | Pat Miletich – Coach

155 lbs.Steve Bruno vs. Bart Palaszewski

170 lbs. Brad Blackburn vs. Rory Markham

185 lbs. Dennis Hallman vs. Ryan McGivern

205 lbs. Reese Andy vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz

265 lbs. Devin Cole vs. Travis Wuiff

National Emo Kid Beatdown Day

2006-06-03T07:22:00.000-06:00

6-6-06 is National Emo Kid Beat Down Day.

Thank you, and have a happy National Emo Kid Beatdown Day!!

UFC 60 ~ The Results and the Images

2006-05-31T18:08:00.000-06:00

I continue to grow in my computer knowledge on how to add things to my page to better inform the public. This review will incorporate images of some of the fights. The cool KO's anyways!

Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard over Rick "The Flying Squirrel" Davis

As you will see below this fight ended indramatic fashion as Melvin dropped Davis with a huge overhand right. You can clearly see what I have talked about in the past regarding the KO's in MMA. The smaller glove makes for a cleaner knock out which is actually safer that the continuous pounding of the heavier glove!

Spencer "The King" Fisher over Matt Wiman

This was a great fight, maybe the fight of the night. Krista (MMA friend not my fiancee) wasn't lyin when she told me about Wiman. This kid brought it! In the end Fisher was able to land a flying knee (pictured below) to end the fight. Right before the knee fisher landed a punch that, as Joe Rogan would say, "rocked" Wiman and sent him stumbling. I will also add that Fisher did a lot of uncharacteristic trash talking taunting that I didn't care for. But we will see these 2 fight again in the future, and Fisher better watch out.

Mike "Quick" Swick over Joe "Diesel" Riggs

This was one of Swick's longest fights, what can you say he just ends them quick. It was still relatively quick as Swick controlled the action early. As you will see below in the 1st image Swick landed a high right kick that wobbled Riggs. Riggs then shoots in and tries to take Swick down but ends up in the "Swick-a-tine", Swick's version of the Guillotine choke. You can see from the 2nd image that Swick has his right arm tight under Riggs' chin which quickly cuts off the air and blood supply causing that bright redish-purple color his face turns. This is why they tap people!

Brandon "The Truth" Vera over Assuerio Silva

The Truth is this guy can fight. He should be fighting at 205, but don't tell him that, he's not done with the heavyweights yet. I was a little dissapointed that Silva was caught in the Guillotine like Riggs, he's a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu guy that should nothave been caught like he was. But I guess he wanted to allow me to give you all another angle of the Guillotine, here it is. You can see the head trapped like before with Riggs, the tremendous arch on the back is cause by Vera pulling Silva's head and controlling Silva's waist with his legs. Very well excecuted.

Diego Sanchez over John Allesio

I could show you some imagesof this fight but you may die of boredum!!!!! This was one of the most painful things to watch. Diego pushed all the action, kept coming forward and trying to take Allesio down. Credit Allesio for defending the takedowns but the guy didn't do anything offensively. I do know a few people who thought he won the fight, but you have to give me something. Diego won on my card simply because he tried. Allesio could have won my card by throwing 4-5 punches. It's that simple.

Dean Lister over Alessio Sakara

Below you will see a very nice Triangle Choke applied to Sakara. Lister seemed very comfortable in his Octagon debut. This was a rather quick night of fights as we didn't see much in the way of 2nd rounds. To apply the Triangle Choke you must have 1of your opponents arms between your legs and 1 out side (in this case Sakara's right arm is trapped by Lister), notice his right leg over the head and neck while his left leg works as a lever to apply force to the choke, this cuts off the supply of blood and oxygen to the brain quickly. Had Lister had needed to add more pressure he could have reached up with his hands and pulled Sakara's head down into his belly.

Jeremy Horn over Chael Sonnen

They didn't show this fight.

Matt Hughes over Royce Gracie

I was pretty dissapointed in Royce on this evening. I expected Hughes to win the fight but I really thought that Gracie would defend better. Hughes was able to stay out of Royce's guard and almost submit him. In the end Royce gave up his back and Hughes pummeled away at him. There are many people saying many things about Royces performance. Here's how I see the many arguments.

1 - Matt is just too strong for Royce. - Gracie has fought much bigger and stronger people that Matt Hughes. Ken Shamrock, Kimo, Dan Severn to name a couple. All these men had 40-90 pounds on Royce when he fought them.

2 - MMA has evolved too much for Royce and the Gracie family. - There are still some successful BJJ fighters that don't strike to much. Royce wasn't one of them tonight.

The truth about this fight was that Royce looked intimidated to me. Why, I don't know. Gracie's inability to defend Hughes from his back or even pull guard on him shouldn't have been a factor of the sport evolving or strength. Had Hughes dominated Royce in the stand up and defended his takedown attempts it may be an issue of evolution, had Royce not been able to keep a 230 pound Ken Shamrock (who I'm sure is stronger that Hughes) in his guard it may be an issue of strength. All in allthis was an over hyped fight, that was my fear going in but I still watched to see if Royce could pull off some old magic. Below is the end of the fight. Royce is not defending himself leaving Big John McCarthy no choice but to stop the fight.

UFC on PPV at the Harding Hooters

2006-05-27T12:57:00.000-06:00

Appaerntly the Harding Hooters in Nashville is showing the UFV PPV tonight. Any of you interested in seeing the UFC that may not want to shell out the money should be able to check it out there.

UFC 60 ~ The Predictions

2006-05-24T18:43:00.000-06:00

Here we go on another UFC ride. UFC 60, the return of Royce Gracie. We do have this small matter of 8 other fights to get through before we talk about the big one. If you want to come over and watch all the action, drop a line.

The Undercard (these fights may not be broadcast)

Jeremy "Gumby" Horn

VS

Chael Sonnen

If you click the link you will quickly notice that Jeremy Horn has been in the ring over 100 times. Yep, 100. That's a lot of fights no matter how you slice it. He's a grappler by nature but says he's gonna try and showcase his stand up abilities against the Team Quest submission fighter. If he comes from Team Quest you know he can wrestle and grapple. I look for Sonnen to overcome his 2 losses to Horn and defeat him on this stage.

Gabriel Gonzaga

VS

Fabiano Scherner

A couple of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu fighters going at it. I like this match up for 2 reasons. 1) They are pretty even if you look on paper. They are both submission guys. Both 5 wins, both 4 submission wins. 2) We need more heavyweights to step up and prove that they can compete with Arlovsky and Sylvia. I'm gonna take Scherner just cuz I liked his last fight, it ended in defeat but you can't win them all.

Alessio Sakara

VS

Dean Lister

Another good match up. Lister is world known for his submission skills. He's been waiting to move up the UFC and now he has his chance. Sakara has 2 fights in the UFC so he has had the chance to get his feet wet. I'm gonna take Sakara with a victory in this one. Although Lister has tremendous skills on the ground I haven't been overly impressed with his MMA game.

Spencer Fisher

VS

Matt Wiman

Although I've heard a lot about Matt Wiman from Krista (my fight fan friend, not my fiancee) I have always been impressed with Fisher. He has a 17-2 record with 9 KO's and 7 Submissions and only 1 decision. He keeps coming forward to try and end the fight. I wish Matt a lot of luck and hope he does well but I believe he will come up short. (sorry Krista!)

Melvin "The Young Assassin" Guillard

VS

Rick "The Flying Squirrel" Davis

Most know by now that I likethe way Melvin fights, I've picked him in every fight I've reviewed. Rick Davis is an up and comer with 4 fights under his belt. Melvin should try to keep this fight standing but will not be afraid to use that wrestling background to ground and pound fora victory. I'm pickin Melvin.

The Main Card

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez

VS

John "The Natural" Alessio

Diego takes you down, Diego pounds you and you tap out or go to sleep. That's how he compiled that 16-0 record (14-0 on Sherdog). John Alessio has been around the block a few times. Until I see someone stop Diego I'm not picking against him. Nick Diaz is a good fighter, he was able to slow down Diego a little but in the end it was an easy decision victory for Diego. Pick, Diego.

Mike "Quick" Swick

VS

Joe "Diesel" Riggs

Don't blink in this fight!!!! I'll give you some numbers..... :22, :20, :45, :26 and :31. That is the time, in seconds, of 5 of Mike Swick's last 6 fights. All ending in KO's (1 of him and 5 of his opponents). The nickname is Quick and he lives up to it. Riggs is trying to climb back up to the top after his devistating loss to the scales, weighing in over the limit by 2 pounds before getting submitted in the 1st round by Matt Hughes. he has since beat Nick Diaz in the cage and reportedly also beat him in a fight at the hospital after the fight. Riggs will be glad to stand toe to toe with Swick. If Swick doesn't knock his head off witht he 1st flury of punches Riggs may take him down and work his ground game. It's a close one but my gut says Swick keeps on rolling. But don't blink for God's sake!

Brandon "The Truth" Vera

VS

Assuerio Silva

Vera has always seemed to me like he should cut 20 pounds and fight at 205, I'd love to see him against Chuck Liddell. But he just keeps KO'ing the heavyweights so if it aint broke dont fix it! Assuerio is coming off his loss to current heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia. The winner of this fight may be in line for a title fight with the winner of the next Sylvia vs Arlovsky fight coming up in August (i think). I don't think Vera will be able to keep this one in his comfort zone on his feet. I look for Silva to take him down and dish out some ground and pound. I take Silva.

And now for the moment we've all been waiting for. I cannot tell you how excited I am for this fight to happen.

Royce Gracie

VS

Matt Hughes

No fancy nicknames, just 2 guys who live to train and fight. Royce - a legend, the one who changed martial arts as we all knew it, a guy who fights people 20-100's of pounds out of his weight class. Matt - A great champ, a guy who will fight anyone anywhere, one of the most dominant fighters today. Here's how I see this breaking down. Matt will try to work his stand up, Royce will work the takedown even if it means being on the bottom and playing defense for a while. Hughes will work his ground and pound fromthe top and land some but not enough to warrant a KO, TKO or landslide decision. That's right, I see this one going the distance. But it is so damn exciting I will watch every second. And then I'll back the disc up and watch it again and again. I like both these fighters, I also have a high respect for both these fighters. That being said I would love it if Royce were able to pull this off and submit Hughes. But I really don't believe that will happen. The Militech camp trains better than anyone in the world right now and I think Hughes will be ready for this fight. I look for Hughes to win a decision here.

UFC 60 ~ The Storyline

2006-05-24T18:12:00.000-06:00

Wow, I am excited for this one!!!! Royce Gracie, the man who started it all, back in the cage to prove that he's still got it and that Gracie Jui Jitsu is still the best. If you've seen any of the hype you've probably heard some of this before. Let me kind of run down what this boils down to, in Bruceleeroy's terms.

1) Since the dawn of martial arts until about 13 years ago most people got into a style, studied that style, lived that style. Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwan Doe, Jui Jitsu, Aikido, Muay Thai....Whatever your poison. All taught throughout the globe by instructors who will tell you that any man or woman of any size can take out any aggressor with the right amount of skill.

2) Back in 1993 the UFC began, it's goal was to find out what martial arts style is the best and would be the most practical in a close to real fight atmosphere. Royce, with his family name Gracie Jui Jitsu, dominated. A 170 pound man defeating a who's who of fighters in minutes, often times fighting people 20-40-100 pounds heavier than him. Having been at the 1st 2 UFC's live I can tell you that very few people had much of an idea of what was going on, including myself. If you rent the video's you will actually hear people booing because they don't know why the fights are being stopped. Royce went on to beat Boxers, Savate practitioners, Karate, Wrestling legends (real wrestling not WWE) and anyone they put in front of him. It was in a word, impressive.

3) Since the early 90's MMA has evolved to where most people will train in 3 areas, Boxing, Muay Thai Kickboxing and Brazilian Jui Jitsu. (Training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu often translates to Gracie Jiu Jitsu) In the last couple years or so many 'new era' fighters and/or people who train have began to revolt against the Gracie family stating that they are stubborn in only training 1 style, that Royce walked through a bunch of people who had no idea what they were getting in to.

4) The match between Royce Gracie and Matt Hughes is signed in and the questions arise.

Is Royce "washed up" or even "never meant to be"?
Is Royce not prepared to step into today's UFC where so many people are actively training in a stand up game and a ground game?

The answers to these questions will all be answered on Saturday night. But the results of Saturday night will not change the following facts.....

Fact - Most Mixed Martial Arts fighters inthe U.S. would not be where they are at this moment had it not been for Royce Gracie. Anyone who says different is just plain wrong. Like him or dislike him his theory was proven. 1 on 1 Gracie Jui Jitsu dominated the other styles. Once you get a Karate guy off his feet, he's about worthless unless he now trains a ground game.

Fact - Royce has not lost in the UFC. He is 13-1-2 overall. He is one of a very few fighters still around who will go out of his weight class to fight people. (In a noted rivalry Tito Ortiz, 205 lbs, and Ken Shamrock, 235 lbs, wanted to get it on. Tito would not agree to the fight against Shamrock unless it took place at 205 so Ken would loose size and strength. Gracie weighed 180 when he fought Shamrock and won.) Gracie, at 170-180 throughout his career, fought Dan Severn, Ken Shamrock twice, Kimo Leopold, Keith Hackney and most recently Aekebono, giving up anywhere from 20-80 pounds in most fights, well over 100 pounds to former sumo wrestler Aekebono.

Win lose or draw he and his family have done more to change martial arts in the last couple years than anyone has in the previous 2000.

So I got engaged last night

2006-05-11T17:30:00.000-06:00

I asked Krista to marry me and after much thought about all my shortcomings and weaknesses I was able to get enough alcohol into her to make her agree with me!

So there!

We say Gooooooooo.......

2006-04-24T22:14:00.000-06:00

Go AVS!!!!!!!!!!

Wahoo the hockey gods in their infinite wisdom have given me yet another heart attack as the Dallas Stars came back from a 3-0 deficit to take the lead on my precious Avs. As I watched 3 goals in a row bounce around "sloppy" goals and a 4th go off the skate of Mike Madano I thought Shirley my team was sunk. But just and fair are the hockey gods as Milan Hedjuk flipped a no look pass out in front of the goal where Brett Clark could chip it in to tie and send to OT. The Stars seemed to control the action and it almost ended with a laser beam shot that hit an Av post and bounced out, and people say Patrick Roy was crazy for talking to the goal posts????? He always smiled and said he'd take allthe help he could get, if it's good enough for Patrick, it's good enough for me. After the post shot Hedjuk again broke free, this time passing back tothe slot for John-Michael Liles who's slap shot was heading for Turco when Joey Sakic (pictured below), my hero, tipped in the puck becoming the National Hockey League's all time leader in playoff overtime goals passing the Rocket Richard.

The Avs now lead the Stars 2-0 and they will be heading home for the next 2.

I'd like to quickly apologize to my girlfriend for screaming at the TV until 11:15 at night, I'd also like to apologize to the Spring Hill Community because I'm sure they all heard me too!!!!

Quick note to say also, Go Preds!!!! They haven't looked to good and I think they are fortunate to have a split at this point going out to San Jose. Mason has played good D and they are hanging in there. Let's all hope they get back some emotion and momentum and get 1 back on this 2 game stretch.

UFC 59 ~ Reality Check

2006-04-12T19:10:00.000-06:00

Due to my lack of time with summer rolling around let me quickly run through my predictions. I apologize I don't have the time to do as I normally do with the links and all but you can find about everything you need to know about the fighters on UFC or Sherdog . Obviously the UFC website will have all the most up to date info. I have found Sherdog to be one of the more informative when it comes to fighters records and information. Sherdog will also have a 'play by play' on the night of the event, including the undercard. Or you can swing by Spring Hill MMA (my casa) and watch, just bring me some beer!

THE UNDERCARD

Evan Tanner VS Justing Levens

I'd like to see Tanner get back on the winning side of things, I've always liked him as a fighter. He lost his championship to Rich Franklin a year ago, he was then winning the fight against David Loiseau when he took a couple of nasty elbows which opened a few ugly cuts (not to take anything away from Loiseau, he won the fight).

My Pick - Tanner

Thiago Alves VS Derrick Noble

I'm picking Alves in this one.

Jason Lambert VS Terry Martin

Terry Martin has some good skills. If you watch the UFC's Ultimate KO's 2 on SPIKE TV, he's the one that flying knee. If you saw it you remember it. I'd really like to see him cut to 185 though, I feel he's got some room to come down and be the big man in the class instead of the small man.

I'm taking Lambert in this one.

Karo Parysian VS Nick Thompson

I won $10 picking Nick Thompson the last time I was at the fights in Tunica, MS. He looked real good fighting 3 times in one night. He's gonna need to bring all that to fight Karo. Karo should be a little upset that he had a title shot and lost it due to an injury. He'll be looking to get back into the mix of that title contention.

I take Karo.

David Terrell VS Scott Smith

I don't know anything about Smith other than looking him up. Terrell got a shocking KO victory over Matt Lindland couple years back.

Just for giggles I'm going to pick the underdog, Smith.

THE MAIN CARD

Jeff Monson VS Marcio Cruz

I haven't been impressed with Cruz, he did beat Frank Mir (former HW champ) in his last fight. Monson is a strong guy who will bring the action.

I pick Monson.

Nick Diaz vs Sean Sherk

Diaz has lost a lot of fans with his attitude in the last couple fights. When he looses he always blames something else. Sherk lost his last outing to Georges St Pierre (no slouch).

I cannot route or pick Diaz. I take Sherk!

Tito "The Huntington Beach Badboy" Ortiz VS Forrest Griffin

We will find out pretty quick in this one if Forrest is truly ready to be at this level. Tito has been there and done that so you know he'll be ready. Look for Forrest to want to keep it standing, if he can he's got a better chance in my opinion. Look for Tito to take him down and run with a little ground and pound.

As much as I hate picking him, I think Tito will win. (hope I'm wrong)

Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovsky VS Tim "The Maine-iac" Sylvia

This should be a great fight. These two have already fought once, Arlovsky the victor by submission. Sylvia should be a little better prepared this time but I think the outcome will be the same. I think Arlovsky is too quick, too strong and too good for Sylvia. Should be a closer fight though.

I take the pitbull!

Peace and Humptiness forever!

The Ultimate Fighter ~ Season 3 Meet the Fighters

2006-04-12T18:32:00.001-06:00

As the fight fans may have noticed I've been extremely busy the past month. I haven't forgot about the fights, believe me. The Ultimate Fighter Season 3 is upon us, the 1st episode was last week and tomorrow night we'll get the second installment. If you are unfamiliar with the program it is a reality show for fighters. Much better than the contender! This show brings top quality guys, 1 of which has already attempted a shot for a title, not a successful shot unfortunately for him. During this reality show they show the workouts and training, ultimately they fight for the right to stay on the show. Let's meet the coaches and thier teams.....(all profiles copied from The Ultimate Fighter.com. (On a side note if you are interested in learning more about the sport or the show you can join thier forums, there's a lot of good information and it's completely free. Keep in mind that anyone can join so don't think everyone on their knows what they are talking about. The fighters, past, present and future do frequent the forums to speak with their fans. Most the big time fighters are also on myspace if you know where to find them. You can to most of them from my page if you have one. Bruceleeroy's Myspace )

TEAM ORTIZ

Tito Ortiz
Light Heavyweight
6'2, 205
Age: 31
From: Huntington Beach, CA

Tito Ortiz was the first ever UFC Light Heavyweight Champion. With a 13-4 MMA record, Ortiz holds victories over Wanderlei Silva, Vitor Belfort, Vladimir Matyushenko, Evan Tanner, and his Season 3 coaching rival Ken Shamrock. Ortiz is best known in the fight game for his intense training regimen and strong work ethic.

“They’re gonna learn a lot, they’re gonna learn the Tito Ortiz style,” said Ortiz. “But they’re also gonna be training with me. I’m not just gonna be the coach showing them how to do it; I’m gonna be the coach doing it with them.”

Michael Bisping
Light Heavyweight
6'1, 205 lbs.
Age: 26
From: Liverpool, England

Team: Ortiz

If World War II had not occurred, Michael would probably be living as a Count in Poland, as his family ancestry traces back to royalty in his native land. Instead, the 26 year old is living the self-described “working class” life in England, but is aspiring to become an Ultimate Fighter. Born in Cyprus, Michael attended Blackburn College, majoring in Electrical Engineering, and has two children ages three and five. He began learning jiu-jitsu at eight years old and lists Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture as his favorite UFC fighters. When he’s not practicing mixed martial arts in Liverpool, he works as a DJ on the weekends. His nickname is “The Count.”

Matt Hamill
Light Heavyweight
6'2, 205 lbs
Age: 29
From: Loveland, Ohio

Team: Ortiz

Matt comes to The Ultimate Fighter 3 with an incredible athletic resume. The 2004 inductee in the Division III Wrestling Hall of Fame was the first U.S. wrestler to win gold medals in freestyle and Greco Roman competition in the 1997 World Games for the Deaf. The three-time NCAA National Champion attended the National Technical Institute for the Deaf in Rochester. Matt has been featured in Sports Illustrated’s “Faces in the Crowd” and was featured on the cover of NCAA News as a junior at RIT. In 1997, he was named USA Deaf Sports Federation Athlete of the Year. Born and raised in Cincinnati, Matt is a graduate of Loveland High School in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Bengals fan trains with The Ultimate Fighter Season 2 coach and UFC Middleweight champion, Rich Franklin.

Noah Inhofer
Light Heavyweight
6'2, 205 lbs.
Age: 24
From: Yankton, SD

Team: Ortiz

At the last minute, Noah booked a flight and traveled all the way from his native Yankton, South Dakota to Boston to make the open tryouts for season three of The Ultimate Fighter. Even though he’s attending the University of South Dakota and studying to become a special education teacher, he thinks his wrestling background and two years of jiu-jitsu experience will earn him a shot at the six-figure, multi-year UFC contract. Noah is 24 years old, runs his own lawn mowing business, and holds an MMA record of 5-2.

Danny Abaddi
Middleweight
5'11, 185
Age: 22
From: Orlando, Florida

Team: Ortiz

Born in Amman, Jordan, Danny (real name Muntaser) of Jordanian and Egyptian descent, moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was two years old. His family moved around quite a bit and he ended up attending and graduating Olive Branch High School in Olive Branch, Mississippi where he played soccer. Danny began taking taekwondo in Brooklyn and was a black belt by the age of eight. The taekwondo child-prodigy began teaching the sport at age 12 and currently travels the country teaching. The 4-star black belt works and trains at Victory Martial Arts in Orlando, Florida where he currently he lives. The 28 year old currently holds a 2-1 MMA record and 14-1 Pro Kickboxing record. Among Danny’s other talents are break-dancing and kickboxing.

Kendall Grove
Middleweight
6'6, 185 lbs.
Age: 23
From: Maui, HI

Team: Ortiz

The 23 year-old nicknamed “Spider” was born and raised in Maui and attended Baldwin High School where he was an All State wrestler in the 170lb division and was a standout wide receiver on the football team. His brother Chad was an All-WAC wide receiver at the University of Utah and his cousin, Kaluka Maiava, is a freshman linebacker on the powerhouse USC Trojan football team. After high school, Kendall moved to Las Vegas to pursue his dream of being an Ultimate Fighter and currently has a 7-3 professional MMA record. The outdoor enthusiast surfs and plays paintball in his spare time.

Rory Singer
Middleweight
6'2, 185 lbs.
Age: 29
From: Athens, GA

Team: Ortiz

Born in Brooklyn, Rory grew up in Marlboro, New Jersey and was a star wrestler at Marlboro High School. Rory studied Biological Engineering at the University of Georgia and is currently attending the School of Nursing in Athens, Georgia. The 29 year-old began learning jiu jitsu six years ago and currently holds a professional MMA record of 9-5, including bouts in Japan and South Africa. The avid reader of such novels as “The Lord of the Rings trilogy” recently was roommates with Athens, Georgia’s most famous MMA fighter, The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 light-heavyweight champion, Forrest Griffin.

Mike Stine
Middleweight
6'0, 185 lbs.
Age: 27
From: Long Island, NY

Team: Ortiz

Born and raised in Hicksville, Long Island, Mike was a 2005 quarterfinalist in the prestigious boxing tournament, the New York Golden Gloves. He is a graduate of Hicksville High School where he was All-Long Island in ice hockey and attended Farmingdale College where he earned an Associates Degree in Criminal Justice. He has been training in mixed martial arts for four years and currently holds a 3-0 professional MMA record. The 27 year-old Islanders fan and fishing enthusiast currently runs a Tiger Schulman gym in Great Neck, Long Island.

Status: Eliminated - Episode 1
Mike was defeated by Kalib Starnes by TKO in the first middleweight fight.

TEAM SHAMROCK

Ken Shamrock
Light Heavyweight
6'1", 205
Age: 42
From: San Diego, CA

If you’ve followed mixed martial arts for any length of time, you’ve heard the stories. You know about the legendary Lion’s Den tryouts - tests of strength, skill and will that have broken so many over the years with their sheer intensity. The orchestrator of these tryouts, UFC hall of famer Ken Shamrock, didn’t give any breaks to any aspiring fighter, because on his team, if you passed the test, you were truly serious about your craft.

And if you were serious, Ken molded you into a fighter. Guy Mezger, Tra Telligman, Vernon White, Pete Williams, Jerry Bohlander. All UFC veterans, all world class fighters.

So there’s got to be mixed feelings among the hopefuls who will eventually share a house with Shamrock when he coaches Season Three of the Spike TV reality series ‘The Ultimate Fighter.’ On one hand, they’ll get instruction from one of the sport’s legends; on the other, they may have to go through hell to get there.

Tait Fletcher
Light Heavyweight
6'3, 205 lbs.
Age: 34
From: Los Angeles, CA

Team: Shamrock

Joe Rogan’s (“Fear Factor”) personal bodyguard has worked in security for such celebrities as Adam Sandler on the set of “The Longest Yard.” The 34-year old and current resident of Los Angeles has appeared in commercials for both Nissan and Coke. A graduate of Alpena High School in Alpena, Michigan, Tait moved to New Mexico to attend St. John’s College in Santa Fe to study Classical Literature. He began training in jiu jitsu in New Mexico and currently has a professional MMA record of 3-1.

http://www.theultimatefighter.tv/fighter_photos/JesseForbes.jpg

Jesse Forbes
Light Heavyweight
6'2, 205 lbs.
Age: 21
From: Tempe, AZ

Team: Shamrock

Only 21 years old, his parents would rather see him attending college than training in mixed martial arts, but Jesse has decided he wants to be a fighter -- and an ultimate fighter at that. Jesse was a two-time All State wrestler Corona del Sol High School in Tempe, Arizona and went on to wrestle two more years in community college. He has an excellent ground game, and is learning to become a good striker training with Drew Fickett. Jesse is a south paw, holds a MMA record of 2-0 and wants to become as successful as Rich Franklin in the Octagon.

Josh Haynes
Light Heavyweight
5'9, 205 lbs.
Age: 28
From: Medford, OR

Team: Ortiz

No stranger to the world of MMA, this 28 year Medford, Oregon native trains with Team Quest and UFC fighters Nate Quarry and Randy Couture. Josh is a graduate of Grant’s Pass High School in Medford and studied Computer Science at the University of Southern Oregon. Josh also spent six years in the Army and was stationed in Ft. Benning, Georgia. Over the years, he has built an impressive MMA record of 9-4 with 1 KO. At the same time, he has also built an excellent professional career, applying his computer science degree as a hospital network engineer. But Josh decided it was finally time to pursue his dream of becoming an ultimate fighter, and quit his job to train full-time. He started fighting at 330 pounds, and has dropped over 100 pounds to fight at 215. His oldest son was diagnosed with brain cancer at birth, and having watched his boy endure multiple surgeries already, Josh stays completed focused and driven to do whatever is necessary to become a success and take care of his family.

Mike Nickels
Light Heavyweight
6'4, 205 lbs.
Age: 34
From: Denver, CO

Team: Shamrock

This 34 year-old tattoo artist from Denver is a 2005 gold medalist in jiu-jitsu at the 2005 Pan Am Games. Mike excelled at football as both a tight end and defensive end at East High School in Denver. Following high school, he traveled the country training elephants and prides himself as being an amateur animal activist. Mike is married with two kids and currently has a professional MMA record of 3-1. He owns a tattoo studio in Denver, “Twisted Sol,” for more than 10 years, which he’s grown into quite a successful business with 14 employees.

Kristian Rothaermel
Light Heavyweight
6'0, 205 lbs.
Age: 33
From: Metairie, LA

Team: Shamrock

Hurricane Katrina was a nightmare for New Orleans resident, Kristian. His father died in the catastrophic storm and most of Kristian’s possessions were destroyed. The 33 year-old stayed in the ravaged Gulf Region to help rebuild homes. Now he is looking to start a new life by joining The Ultimate Fighter 3. Kristian studied English Education at The University of New Orleans. The former high school teacher describes himself as a hunter, thinker, and fisherman. He is an avid reader of everything from Chinese poetry to the classics and received a scholarship in college to study poetry in Prague. At 21 he began learning Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and currently holds a 40-3 professional MMA record. His nickname is “The Weather Underground.”

Ed Herman
Middleweight
6'2, 185 lbs.
Age: 25
From: Portland, OR

Team: Shamrock

The 25 year-old member of the legendary MMA squad, Team Quest, out of Portland, Oregon, trains with UFC legend Randy Couture and The Ultimate Fighter Season 1 participant and rising star Chris “The Crippler” Leben. He also trains local police in Portland on the latest and most effective mixed martial arts moves. Born in Vancouver, Washington, Ed graduated from Columbia River High School and was an all-state wrestler in the 168lb. division and a standout defensive lineman on the football team. He currently holds an impressive 14-2 professional record. When he’s not training, Ed teaches kids mixed martial arts at the Team Quest gym in Portland and bartends in the evenings. He currently lives with his girlfriend.

Solomon Hutcherson
Middleweight
5'11, 185 lbs.
Age: 33
From: Racine, Wisconsin

Team: Shamrock

The pride of Racine, Wisconsin, Soloman was a superstar athlete at Racine Park High School where he was an all-state linebacker in football and a feared wrestler in the 171lb division. The youngest of seven children, he attended Triton Junior College in Illinois and studied Fire Science. He has been competing in mixed martial arts for four years and currently holds a 10-2 professional MMA record. Soloman has three kids and works laying cement for a concrete company in Racine. A big sports fan, Soloman roots for the Raiders and his hometown Brewers and Bucks.

Ross Pointon
Middleweight
5'8, 185 lbs.
Age: 28
From: Stokeontrent, England

Team: Shamrock

Known as “The Gladiator,” the 28 year-old from Stokeontrent, England near Manchester, took up mixed martial arts seven years ago. The graduate of Trentham High School is a black belt in karate and currently owns The Gladiator Gym, where he teaches kick boxing and mixed martial arts. Ross made it on the “The Ultimate Fighter 3” after impressing UFC President Dana White and other UFC top brass at an open-casting call in London. He currently holds a 4-6 professional MMA record. The hard-kicking Brit is single and has a young daughter.

Kalib Starnes
Middleweight
6'3, 185 lbs.
Age: 31
From: Vancouver, BC, Canada

Team: Shamrock

The current #2 ranked middleweight in Canada has an impressive professional MMA record of 8-0-1. Kalib currently lives in Vancouver, British Columbia and is part of the renowned Revolution Fight Team. When he is not competing in mixed martial arts, Kalib is participating in spoken-word competitions and is an avid reader of poetry and linguistics. He lists Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn among his favorite authors. Kalib grew up in Surrey, British Columbia and attended Nakusp Secondary School where he played soccer. He began his fighting career when he took up Brazilian jiu jitsu in his late teens.

OK, I nailed season 1 picking both champs, my predictions from last season were horrible. I will say that I'm becoming a big fan of Mark Hammill, you have to love this story. A deaf mixed martial arts fighter. Let me just say that if you watch the fights you probably here the yelling and screaming coming from the corner. That is, believe it or not, a big deal. Your coach knows you and has studied your opponent. When Mark steps into the ring he has one extra hurdle to overcome. You also have to like his work ethic, he seems like a very dedicated guy. You know I have to route for my Team Quest representative, Ed Herman. The Team Quest guys, along with a couple other fight teams, know how to bring it. You have to have something training with all those guys from time to time. I know Tait from myspace, he's pretty active on there so I'll be keeping an eye out for him. Kalib is probably the favorite of most in the middleweight division, he's pretty polished. No one Lightheavyweight really stands out to me, Kristian has tons of ring experience but may lack the heart needed to be at this level. It all remains to be seen.

For my predictions....

Lightheavyweight - Josh Haynes.

Hey, he's another Medford boy like me. They grow them a little tougher in Southern Oregon, I know! This is the second season in a row to feature a fighter from my veryown Rouge Valley area. I'm picking him cuz he's from my area. My best friend back home worked with Josh for a little while as well. Good luck Josh.

Middleweight - Rory Singer
I'm picking Rory because I like his style. If he's half as tough as his former roommate, Forrest Griffin, watch out for him!

Thunderstorms in April, Nashvegas

2006-04-07T21:34:00.000-06:00

As the locals know we here in Nashvegas have been getting hammered by thunderstorms that have brought us hail and tornados. I have been fortunate enough not to come face to face with a tornado down here in Spring Hill, but I have felt the fury of about 5 hail storms in the past week. I wish all that are also feeling the impact of these storms good luck in staying safe and resolving these difficult issues.

Below I have posted some pics, down here last Friday seemed to be the worse for me damage wise. An estimated $4600 damage to my now dimpled truck, haven't got the house estimate back yet. Over $3k to Krista's (my old lady, ball and chain, portable dungeon) car. My car was also dimpled but it's just a to and from work car so I don't care so much about that. Many people in my neighborhood have also recieved broken windows, roof damage (which I don't think I have at this point) and fallen trees. Which I know is nothing compared to some of the leveled houses we have seen from North Nashville and West TN over the past week.

Stay safe....

Peace and humptiness forever!

2006-04-07T21:33:00.000-06:00

Here are my dogs chillin in front of the fire trying to dry off from the thunderstorm.

2006-04-07T21:32:00.000-06:00

This is my hand, or mitt as some people like to call it. In my hand are 3 of the yard full of golf ball sized hail balls that March 31st's storm in Spring Hill left me.

2006-04-07T21:31:00.000-06:00

Those little (and by little I mean golf ball size ice balls hurling at 100 mph toward my truck/house and head) hail droplets sure caused a lot of trouble, here's some crack they left.

2006-04-07T21:29:00.000-06:00

and here is another present in my siding that our little friend Mr Thunderstorm left me. These are also located all over my house.

2006-04-07T21:28:00.000-06:00

Last but definately not least is the April 7th storm dropping not large golf ball size hail but piles and piles (almost a foot deep) on my Hizzouse! Fo shizzle.

The official Joe Rogan drinking game.

2006-04-01T21:27:00.000-06:00

For those of you that don't know Joe Rogan (Stand Up Comedian, Fear Factor Host) is one of the commentators for the UFC. While Joe is an accomplished Brazilian Jiu Jitsu grappler (don't know for sure but I think he is either a purple or brown belt) and a huge fight fan he gets a little crazy with his comments from time to time. It's one of the reasons that watching MMA is funner than other sports, sometimes it's just good to listen to someone who is enjoying the action and has a true love for the game. So enjoy your drinks and have a designated driver if you are playing the Joe Rogan drinking game cuz you will get a little drunk.

You can see Joe show some of his skills HERE . In this clip someone on myspace has challenged Joe to a match, Joe accepted and ultimately taps the guy 3 times in about 1 minute.

Rule #1
Rocked - 1 drink
Anytime Joe says any form of 'rocked' you gotta tip your glass (see rule #4 for an exception). Examples - "Wow, that guy is rocked!" "Oh my god he's rocked again!" "I can't believe he is still rocked!"

Exception to rule #1 - While "not rocked" is a form of "rocked", it is the rarest of Joe Rogan comments and therefore worth 2 drinks. "He got hit with a huge right and he is not rocked!"

Rule #2
Kimura - 2 drinks
The Kimura is a popular move in mixed martial arts, it ends a high percentage of all fights so it does come up quite often. Although Joe is extremely familiar with MMA and submission grappling he does get a little over excited when it comes to the Kimura, it would seem as though anytime someone touches someone elses arm Joe calls for the Kimura.

Rule #3
Plata - 3 drinks
There are a couple of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu moves that incorporate the word 'plata'. While they are rare to MMA fights compared to arm bars, kimura's and certain chokes Joe will say the fighters are going for them from time to time.

Rule #4
Just walk me through it. - Finish your drink.
At the end of a fight Joe will often head to the ring for a post fight interview. As a feature of the interview we are blessed with hearing the fighter recap a clip, usually the finish, of the fight they have just won. Example - The video clip will show the fighter throw a right hook and knock out his opponent. Joe will ask them "Will you walk us through what happend. The fighter will then say, as he's watching the clip, "Well, I threw that right hook and I knocked him out." I know that fighters, some of them, are a lot smarter than they get credit for. This recap almost always comes off bad. Awesomely bad as it usually brings a chuckle to my UFC party goers.

Rule #5
Exception to rule #1 - While "not rocked" is a form of "rocked", it is the rarest of Joe Rogan comments and therefore worth 5 drinks. "He got hit with a huge right and he is not rocked!"

Happy UFC'ing!

UFC 58 - USA vs Canada ~ The results

2006-03-05T10:58:00.000-06:00

Another great night of fighting completed! I have to say I was dissapointed in the overall USA vs Canada theme of the event, I don't like the USA, USA chants atthis type of venue. Overall my predictions were 5-3 this time, much better than the 2-7 I put up at last weeks PRIDE.

The Underdard~

Tom Murphy defeats Iccho Larenas by TKO in round 3.

Jason Lambert defeats Rob MacDonald by Submission (Kimura) in round 1.

Sam Stout defeats Spencer Fisher by a split decision.

The Card~

Yves Edwards vs Mark Hominick

They both came out ready and willing to fight. I gave a slight, very slight, edge to Yves in the 1st round jsut for being a little more accurate. It was impressive to see Hominick stand with Yves. Hominick usually fights out of a lower weight class and had to come up to 155, usually that means you will be a little overpowered, Hominick was clearly the stronger guy. In the 2nd round Hominick landed a devastating body shot, yves went straight for the takedown and got it. Hominick slowly worked toward a triangle submission and got it. I can't believe Yves didn't back out of that submission at some point, he had to have seen it coming. Hominick had a great opening performance against one of the 155's best fighters.

Mark Hominick defeats Yves Edwards by Submission (Triangle) in round 2.

Nathan Marquardt vs Joe Doerksen

This fight, unfortunately, was 3 rounds of non-stop boredum. I really don't like watching Marquardt fight. I gave Doerksen the 2nd round although all 3 judges scored the fight 30-27 for Marquardt. I could say more about this fight but I may fall asleep. I did have a good chuckle after the fight when Marquardt called out Rich Franklin, now that would be funny!

Nathan Marquardt defeats Joe Doerksen by a (yaaaaawn) unanimous decision.

BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre

In a highly anticipated fight BJ Penn comes back after a 2 year layoff and gets put in the cage with GSP, one of the fastest rising stars in the business. In round 1 BJ controlled the action, an acidental poke in the eye left GSP seeing 2 BJ Penn's. A grazing uppercut then bloodied the nose of GSP. In the second round GSP began to press the action, land his low leg kicks and secured 2 pretty clean takedowns. Teh 3rd round saw more of the same for GSP, low leg kicks, pressing action and 2 more takedowns, 1 was a very clean slam to the mat. After the fight GSP looked a mess but Penn could barely stand up, it was a war. A few fans boo'd the decision and began chanting USA for Penn (which I felt was innapropriate).

Georges St Pierre defeats BJ Penn by split decision.

Mike Swick vs Steve Vigneault

Swick came out in normal Swick fashion and took the action right to Vigneault. Swick's assault on Vigneault led to him attempting and getting a single leg takedown on Swick. During this takedown he forgot the cardinal rule and did not protect his neck. Swick landed, what he calls, the Swickottine choke and ended the fight.

Mike Swick defeats Steve Vigneault by Submission (Guillotine Choke) in round 1.

Rich Franklin vs David Loiseau

In the main event we saw just about all you can see in a fight. Franklin came out and controlled the action early. Loiseau seemed to have a definate problem with Franklin's left hand stance. At times Loiseau was litterally running across the ring to get away from Franklin. Loiseau's face was swollen and bloodied pretty bad. In between the 2nd and 3rd round you could here Rich Franklin tell his corner that his left hand was broken. He continued to fight and used his jab effectively to press the action. Loiseau did have a shining moment in the 3rd when he landed a big left hook that sent Franklin to the canvas, he jumped on Franklin but could not finished him. Overall Franklin dominated this fight, Loiseau is definately a tough fighter for hanging in there but he got beat pretty bad. Rich left the ring with a broken hand and a very bad limp that may indicate some larger issue's. He's going to have to take some time to heal up.

Rich Franklin defeats David Loiseau by unanimous decision.

UFC 58 - USA vs CANADA ~ The Predictions

2006-03-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

Tonight is the big night and I can't wait. Rich 'ace' Franklin vs David 'the crow' Loiseau, BJ Penn vs Georges St Pierre. That alone is worth more than the PPV. In addition to that we have the return of the lightweights and one of my favorite fighters, Yves Edwards! This has already been an exciting year for MMA, and it just keeps getting better. Bigger fights, better competitors and more PPV's to compliment the growing UFC and PRIDE tv shows.

The Undercard. - If you read about the card on the python earlier this month you will notice some changes. Both Diego Sanchez and Kenny Florian had to back out of there fights. Diego with a stomach illness that put him in the hospital and Kenny with some kind of back injury during training. Christophe Midoux was also replace after taking a knee to the stomach and suffering a hernia last night (or the night before). Iccho Larenas will step in and fight in his place. Luckily these were slated to be the undercard fights and the show will go on as originally planned. Those in attendance will undoubtedly be a little dissapointed to miss out on Diego and Kenny who are still riding their popularity from the SPIKE TV show The Ultimate Fighter.

Spencer Fisher Team USA

VS

Sam Stout Team Canada

Spencer Fisher (17-1 with 9 KO's and 7 submisions) is a last minute replacement for Kenny Florian which brings on 2 important question. What will this do to the mental game planning of Stout (8-1-1 with 6 KO's)? What kind of shape is Fisher in? As a fighter you prepare yourself for you big fight by not only getting in shape and training what you are good at, but observing your opponents fights and building a game plan around what you think is your best opportunity to win. 1/2 of Stout's training has more than likely been focused around an opportunity to counter stike take down attempts from Florian. Now he's go a fighter in Fisher who will probably go in and swing for the fences and be a little more aggressive than Florian would have. Fisher is also a little bigger than Stout.

I'm going to go with the good ole American in this one and call it for Spencer Fisher. He needs to press the action early and try to get it done in the 1st. Stout should probably try and take this into the 2nd and 3rd rounds to try and test Fishers cardio since he came in at the last minute, although that would not play into his strengths as a brawler. Look for this one to be fast and furious and end with a KO.

Tom Murphy Team USA

VS

Iccho Larenas Team Canada

The same predicament faces Tom Murphy (4-1) as he is facing a last minute replacement in Iccho Larenas (3-1). These Heavyweights should both come out and throw blows, Murphy should have a decent fan base coming from The Ultimate Fighter show. After losing to Rashad Evans (the TUF season 2 Heavyweight champ) he claimed to have not put forth his best effort as he was hampered by injuries.

I'm going with the USA again in this one and give Tom Murphy the benifit of the doubt with the knee injury. I don't know much about Larenas, I will say that all his fights have ended in a KO, the 1st fight was him getting knocked out, all the ones since have been his opponents.

Jason Lambert Team USA

VS

Rob MacDonald Team Canada

Another last minute match up will pit Lambert (19-5 with 9 KO's) agains MacDonald (3-0 with 1 KO). MacDonald is an up and rising star who lost to Brad Imes during the taping of The Ultimate Fighter. Note- losses on TUF do not count against your record as they are not sanctioned fights (it's a long story but trust me). Lambert has been in with a couple of big names for a relatively unknown fighter. The big named fighters; Sylvia, Sonnen, Ruas and Correira all defeated him but those were a while back.

Trust me when I say all of my predictions won't be for the USA but this one I'm sticking with the Red White and Blue!!!!! I'm picking Lambert because he's been in with the better opponents and has a lat more experience. MacDonald has promised a 1st round knock out so he's not just gonna roll over and tap. Should be another good one.

That's it for the undercard, on to what we are all going to see on the TV tonight.

Yves Edwards Team USA

VS

Mark Hominich Team Canada

Wahoo! Those who know me know that I'm excited for this one. If you haven't seen Yves (28-9-1 with 12 KO's and 10 Submissions) fight take my advice, DON"T BLINK. He's fast and furious and I love his style. Yves is the founder of his own martial arts style, he calls it ThugJitsu. A blend of this and that really, he does it all as you can see from his balanced record. His 1 loss out of his last 8 fights came via split decision loss to Joachim Hansen over in PRIDE. I don't know much about Hominick but I do know this, he's gonna loose! That's right I said it. ThugJitsu forever!

I think you've probably guessed this one but just to make it official I'm going to call this one for Team USA and Yves Edwards.

Mike Swick Team USA

VS

Steve Vigneault Team Canada

Mike "Quick" Swick (9-1) likes to follow his nickname and end fights quick. His last to have been brutal KO's over Gideon Ray and Alex Schoenauer. Those two fights together totalled 42 seconds, you read it right. Swick is another former TUF contestant who's making quite a name for himself. Vigneault is a good fighter who's been around the block. I really would put him in a category I put a lot of fighters in, and this is not a bad thing. He's a top 2nd tier guy. I don't think he belongs in the UFC or PRIDE but he's a good fighter, he's tough and he will bring it tonight. I just don't think he's good enough to compete on that top top level. Good thing for him is he has a chance to prove me wrong. As I've said before, there is a reason the fight the fights.

I got Team USA sweeping this thing as I take Mike Swick with a 'quick' KO.

Nate "the great" Marquardt Team USA

VS

Joe Doerksen Team Canada

Marquardt (20-6-2 with 4 KO's and 11 Subs) is a Pancrase veteran who's UFC debut at The Ultimate Fight night was unimpressive at best. He did clearly beat Ivan Salaverry in a decision but he did not press any action and it was a yawn fest. Doerksen (32-8 with 4 KO's and 25 Subs) will definately press the action. It will be interesting to see Marquardt in this type of fight to see what happens. These guys are definately ground guys by nature but Doerksen is more than willing to stand up with anyone.

Here it is, my 1st prediction for Team Canada.....Joe Doerksen.

BJ "the prodigy" Penn Team USA

VS

Georges "rush" St Pierre Team Canada

Alright, give me a moment to catch my breath......whew, this is a very anticipated fight. Penn (10-2-1 with 3 KO's and 4 Subs) has been out of the UFC game for just over 2 full years. He's had 4 fights since then, just not in the UFC. And what about that last UFC fight you ask, he only beat Matt Hughes, current UFC Welterwegiht god, I mean champ. Beating Hughes is no small feat. Penn all but dropped off the face of the Earth after that fight, confusing many of his fans. His only 2 fights in 2005 were MMA exhibition type mounts at K-1 events. (K-1 is a kickboxing tournament) I felt like both his performances in the K-1 events were lackluster and not a normal Penn like fight. You may be looking at those pictures up there and thinking this will be an easy fight for St Pierr, Penn just doesn't look like a fighter. Trust me, he is. He will come to fight. Georges 'rush' St Pierre is 11-1 with 5 KO's and 4 Subs. His 1 loss, Matt Hughes. In that fight St Pierre was controlling the action and I had him beating Hughes in the 1st round. Unfortunately for him Hughes landed an armbar with 1 second left in the 1st round. That 1 second has haunted him ever since. St Pierre is a complete package who will take you down and ground and pound you till you are done. If you are unfamiliar with the term ground and pound, watch and learn cuz he may be the best at it.

OK, I'm gonna take some shit for this I know it.......I'm picking Team Canada for the 2nd straight fight and going with St Pierre. This will be a great fight no doubt!

And now for the main event of the evening.....

Rich "Ace" Franklin Team Captain USA

VS

David "The Crow" Loiseau Team Captian Canada

Another great match up. Rich Franklin (19-1 with 10 KO's and 9 Subs, 4 of the 9 submissions were submissions due to stikes. Basically, he was about to KO them.) just doesn't like to leave it up to the judges, he's never gone the distance. He has been Knocking people out for a while now. Franklin is a very smart fighter who stirkes and grapples well. He's tough to take down and even tougher to strike with. On a quick side note I will say that Franklin has fought at 185 and 205, I'd love to see him go up to 205 and take on Chuck Liddell, I think that would be a great fight. Ok, back to this fight. David Loiseau (14-4 with 9 KO's and 2 subs) is not afraid to stand with anyone. Known for his incredibly dangerous elbows that change a fight in a second. Loiseau is exciting to watch because he tries some risky moves, flying and spinning kicks, punches and knees are all a part of his arsenal.

I'm getting back to Team USA and Rich Franklin for this prediction. I think this will be a great fight but Franklin is just to good for him. But do watch for those flying moves of Loiseau, they can change the fight in an instant.

All in All this will be another great night of fights.

PRIDE ~ Unbreakable The Results

2006-02-27T20:41:00.000-06:00

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW. As Bas Rutten would say....That's Unbeleivable. A great night of fighting from Japan. Now before you read I must explain that coming on May 5th (yes my B-day present from PRIDE) they will be going old school and holding an open weight tournament. In the early stages of the UFC there were no weight classes. Royce Gracie, 185 pounds soaking wet with led in his pocket, proved that you don't have to be the biggest to be the baddest. Most MMA fans now beleive that the sport has evolved so much that a smaller man couldn't compete like Royce did just 10-12 years ago. PRIDE is begining to put that to the test with this event and theupcoming tournament to begin in May.

Tough night for Bruceleeroy as only 3 of his predictions came through. Yeah, that's 6 of 9 wrong! Ugh. But that's why they fight the fights.

In the 1st fight of the night I was looking forward to Pedro Rizzo bringing a big knock out to the ring. And he did not dissapoint. He got knocked out at 25 seconds of the 1st round. the 1st punch as a matter of fact. he through a right low kick to Zentsov's front leg, Zentsov countered with a left hook that turned off Rizzo's lights and sent him to the canvas instantly, no question about it.

Zentsov over Rizzo by 1st round KO.

Next on board I had Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (a Memphis native by the way) in a 1st round KO over Yoon Dong Sik. Sik has 2 previous PRIDE fights in which he was pummeled and bloodied, seemed for all the fixins of a quick Rampage knock out. While I'm not a fan of the Judo guys in general, a lot of them don't figure out it's MMA and there is punching involved, Sik made a fanout of me. He stood toe to toe with Rampage and took the best that he had to offer. In all 3 rounds Rampage controlled most of the action, couple slams, some ground and pound. At one point in the 1st round Sik sunk in what appeared to be a deep arm bar. Rampage, in typical fashion, picked up Sik and went for a big slam. Sik intelligently let go and avoided the slam, something many before him have been unable to do. In the end it was a unanimous decision for Rampage but he could not get rid of the South Korean. If Sik makes a much progress between his last fight and his next fight he will be someone to contend with.

Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson over Yoon Dong Sik by unanimous decision.

The next fight brought Fabricio Werdum vs Jon Olaf Einemo. This was a pretty slow fight to watch. Werdum controlled all the action and landed blow after blow, he cut up Einemo with a couple of solid knee strikes. For a while you were wondering what was keeping this guy up, a theme you will see throughout this card. Einemo was on the big stage for the 1st time, he will be there again. He needs to work on his basic skills but he's one tough sucker. He can take a punch, several actually, and some knees.

Fabricio Werdum over Jon Olaf Einemo by unanimous decision.

Next was a battle of training legends. Mario Sperry and Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. Partly as I predicted these to grandfathers of grappling decided to stand toe to toe and duke it out in the ring. Sperry landed a big punch early that sent TK back across the ring and into the ropes, he composed himself and ultimately made quick work of Sperry by KO'ing him at 1:20 in the 1st round.

Tsuyoshi Kohsaka over Mario Sperry with a 1st round KO.

Next brought out one of my favorite fighters who I regretfully did not pick. Alistair Overeem has been known to gas out in fights, thats really been his only weakness in the ring. He normally fights at 205 but decided to fight a bigger Sergei Kharitonov. Overeem looked HUGE coming in at 235 and seemed to have more gas in the tank than ever. He controlled the stand up for a brief moment before taking Kharitonov to the ground and completely demolishing him. He bloodied and batter Sergei till the crowd was crying for mercy like they were at William Wallace's exicution. It was brutal. So I lost this prediction but I loved seeing Overeem at that size. I really think he has been a victum of his own desire to cut weight and fight at 205. We've seen that with other fighters. After that performance I don't see any reason for Overeem to drop weight again. He IS a heavyweight.

Alistair Overeem over Sergei Kharitonov by TKO (ref stoppage)

After the pummeling came to great friends to the ring. I always thoguth it would be tough to fight a long time friend or training partner. Josh Barnett and Kazuhiro Nakamura have sparred and trained together in the past. Barnett had a huge weight advantage and used every pound of it to complete a take down, a little ground and pound, a couple toe holds and finished with a rear naked choke. Nakamura really couldn't do anything with the weight of Barnett.

Josh Barnett over Kazuhiro Nakamura by submission (RNC) round 1

Antonio Nogueira came to the ring with a mission, beat Kiyoshi Tamura. Beat him he did. There really was never a chance for Tamura. It ended as quick as it started with an Armbar submission.

Antonio Nogueira over Kiyoshi Tamura by submission (Armbar) in round 1.

In a fabled old veteran vs newcomer fight Mark Coleman came to the ring looking a lot better than he has in a long time. He quickly pushed the action and he and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua went back and forth for a moment. Coleman was lunging ofr a takedown when Rua reached out with his left hand to post and his elbow just gave out. for a moment Coleman didn't know what happened, when the ref pulled him off Coleman slung him about 1/2 way across the ring. At this point the camera's quit following the action because several members of Brazilian Top Team, led by Wanderlei Silva apparently rushed the ring. According to Coleman Silva, along with others sucker punched him. This caused a 1 minute rumble in the ring that was quickly broken up by security. Coleman has always had a temper problem and a lack of self control. As in many sports it should never be acceptable to put your hands on a referee, he was trying to protect Shogun who was obviously in a dangerous position. Having said that the members of Brazilian Top Team should have enver rushed the ring. Shogun ended up with a penatly and lost 10% of his winings but that shouldn't be enough. Coleman, in true Coleman fashion with his lap dog Baroni in the back ground was running his mouth a million miles an hour saying how bad he was. He gets credit for the victory but really had nothing to do with it. It was a fluke injury.

Mark Coleman over Mauricio Rua Ref Stoppage due to Injury.

In the final fight of the night Mark Hunt, who I'm pretty sure weighed in at 265 about 7 weeks ago, came to the ring just over 290 to fight a rookie MMA'r Yosuke Nishijima. Nishijima was giving up a lot of weight, the former Japanese boxer came in about 80 pounds off Hunt's wieght. Hunt hit Nishijima with everything but the kitchen sink. Nishijima showed the heart of a warrior but just could not handle the power of Hunt. He lasted through the 1st 2 rounds but crumbled in the 3rd. I was pretty dissapointed in Hunt who has apparently been on the Bruceleeroy KFC lunch buffet diet since his last fight. I recommend the diet highly if you are not fighting in PRIDE anytime in the next couple months. I just wish they'd put the macaroni and cheese out there, what is the deal with that.

Mark Hunt over Yosuke Nishijima by KO in the 3rd round.

Next Saturday night is USA vs Canada in the UFC. That will also be unbelievable. You can play the new Joe Rogan drinking game. I'll explain later.

PRIDE ~ Unbreakable

2006-02-23T18:50:00.000-06:00

Unbreakable airs this Sunday night and promises to bring an all star list of fighters to the table. If you have been getting into all the UFC they've been showing on SPIKE TV you have gotta try a PRIDE event, well worth it. If you are in the Nashville area come on down to the party! OK, I'll begin with.....

Mark Hunt

Mark Hunt sports a 3-1 record in MMA. He is a well accomplished kickboxer and a little known fact about him is that his head is made of concrete. It's true! He took some big kicks in his last fight against Crocop and didn't even blink. He's also beat Dan Bobish and Wanderlei Silva. His lone loss was in his 1st fight against Yoshida, no reason to be depressed about losing to him.

VS.

Yosuke Nishijima

Nishijima has no profile because this is his 1st MMA fight. He is a boxer from Japan and I think he's going to find himself in a little bit of trouble. He's outmatched,outexperienced and outweighed by 50 pounds. All Ihaveto say is that he'd better bring a bat! If he doesn't he will get KO'd in the 1st.

Mark "The Hammer" Coleman

The Hammer has been in the UFC octagon 8 times and this will be his 12th appearance in the PRIDE ring, his 14-7 record may not sound all that impresive but understand that he's fought a who's who of MMA. He is a lot like Randy Cotoure in the way he takes on a top opponent every time he steps in to fight. He's a former wrestler fighting out of the hammer house fight team in Ohio.

VS.

Mauricio "Shogun" Rua

Take a step back when Shogun enters the ring because he is like a freight train in the ring. 12-1 coming off a big double KO night with victories over Alistair Overeem and Ricardo Arona. Shogun will be giving up about 30-40 pounds depending on what kind of shape Coleman is in.

This will be a great fight. I look for them to come out swinging for the fences. I don't think that Coleman, now 42 like Cotoure who just retired, is just getting up there in age. I predict another 1st round KO.

Josh "The Babyfaced Assassin" Barnett

Barnett is a wrestler out of Seattle, WA with a 15-3 record. His losses come at the hands of Crocop, Crocop and Rizzo. No slouches there. He holds victories over Randy Cotoure, Yuki Condo and Dan Severn. He will be looking to get backin victory lane after back to back losses to Crocop. He's submitted 9 of his opponents so watch for some craft moves from this 250 pounder.

VS.

Kazuhiro Nakamura

Nakumura has also been around the block in MMA bringing an 8-4 record to the ring. Coming off a busy 2005 which saw him win 4 and lose 1. "The 1" you ask, Wanderlei Silva, yup, the champ. Other than that he's looked pretty damn good. All 12 of his fights were fought in a PRIDE ring so he's no stranger to the crowd and atmosphere there.

This will be another great fight. With a Judo player and a wrestler in the ring we should see a very technical fight with some great takedowns! I have Nakumura winning a decision in this one.

Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem

Overeem is one of my favorite fighters to watch. He'll stay in there and trade with someone, even Chuck Liddell was having some trouble with him before landing the big one. His record is 21-6, he's coming off a loss to Shogun (listed above). At 6 foot 5 he loves the Guillotine choke, watch for him to use his height to land that early.

VS.

Sergei Kharitonov

Sergei, do you mind if I call him Sergei?, is 13-1 in MMA and is equally good on his feet and on the ground. Don't believe me? 6 KO's, 6 submissions, 1 decision. So there!

When it comes to Sergei, he's only been out of the 1st round 1 time so it's gonna be fast and furious. Look for Overeem to try and impose his 6 foot 5 on Serfei early. But with Sergei coming in at 6 foot 4 he probably wont get caught in that choke. I'm going against my guy tonight and picking Kharitonov in the 1st round with a KO.

Mario "Zen Machine" Sperry

Mario Sperry is well known in the BJJ and MMA world. He's got great submission skills being from Brazilian Top Team, although you wouldn't know it by looking at his past 4 fights which have ended by KO or TKO in the 1st round. 3 times the other guy and 1 time him! He spends his time doing a lot of training and has only fought 3 times in the past 3 years.

VS.

Tsuyoshi "TK" Kohsaka

You gotta love a guy with a creative knick name, where do they come up with that stuff? At 18-10-1 he's no stranger to the MMA world himself. He is also a submission fighter who has a TKO win against the current PRIDE heavyweight champ. Yeah so it was 6 years ago, it's still a victory.

It is funny how sometimes 2 great submission guys get into the ring and it ends up going to the guy with the better strikes that comes out on top. This fight does have the potential to be just that, but I have a sneaking suspicion that we will see a highly technical ground fight that goes the distance. I take Sperry by decision.

Yoon Dong Sik

Yoon Dong Sik is just fun to say, go ahead try it! He is 0-2 in his 2 MMA fights. Although he has put forth a valiant effort I don't think he gets the whole punch while you do your Judo concept. If he hasn't figured that out this may be a quick one. If he has figured that out it still may be a quick one.

VS.

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson

Rampage is a good one to watch. 11 KO's and 7 submissions in his 21 wins makes him a very dominant force in the ring. Oh yeah, he also beat the crap out of Chuck Liddell 3 years ago. (a rematch EVERYONE wants to see!!!!)

But tonight we will see him beating up on someone else. I don't give Yoon much of a chance against Rampage, I think he will be giving up too much strength and aggression. Rampage in the 1st with the bloodist glove since the OJ trial!

Pedro "The Rock" Rizzo

Are you kidding me, we've already got a great card and now Rizzo. His resume, like Coleman's listed above is a who's who. Even if you only read about it hear I'm betting you've heard some of these names; Kharitonov, Rodriguez, 2 with Telligman, 2 with Cotoure, Matyushenko, McGee, Arlovsky, Barnett, Severn, Randleman, Coleman, Abbot (tank), Vernon White. That's 5 fights with former UFC champs right there! This guy fights them all. Oh and he beat most of them. Losses to both with Cotoure really shouldn't count against anyone.

VS.

Roman Zentsov

Zentsov is 10-10 with 7 KO's and 6 losses by KO. If you took your algebra, as I did, you figure Zentsov's KO's against the air speed velocity of an unlaiden swallow, carry the 1.... and this will turn out to be a very boring fight. OOPS, I forgot to divide by pie. Hate when that happens. No way this fight gets out of the 1st round. I have Rizzo with a BIG, that's right, BIG KNOCK OUT. Can't even use KO to describe this one.

Fabricio Werdum

Fabricio is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist that now trains out of the CroCop Squad Gym. He's 6-1-1 with 2 KO's and 3 Submissions. Knowing BJJ and training with CroCop is bound to make you a little well rounded. It will be interesting to see how he handles himself coming off his 1st loss. This is the type of fight that makes or breaks your career.

VS.

Jon Olav Einemo

Einemo has no nickname, this is very disturbing to me. I'm going to name him "The Real Slim Shady." Now that we have that out of the way....Jon Olaf is 5-0 wit 4 KO's and 1 submission all coming in the 1st round. He's not fought anyone with a real big name and I've not seen him fight.

I'm going to go with Fabricio on this one just because of the experience he brings with him. I'm going to say a close decision.

Antonio "Minotauro" Rodrigo Nogueira

At 25-3-1 Antonio is not to be taken lightly. He has also beaten a list of who's who, a little less of a list than Coleman and Rizzo, but it's a list dammit! On this night he fights a guy with a similar list.

VS.

Kiyoshi Tamura

Tamura has also fought some big names. His record, 13-8, would reflect an average fighter. He's beat Minowa, Horn, Miletich, a Gracie and Patrick Smith. (I only mention Patrick Smith because I don't like him and it brings a smile to my face to know that he lost that fight so sue me) Some of his losses come at the hands of Babalu(twice), Sapp, Silva and Yoshida. Not a bad list to loose to.

I'm gonna take Tamura in an upset on this one. Why, cuz I can.

I always say it's a great card and I'm always excited the fights are coming, this is true. But this card is packed baby. PACKED! Bring your cowbell and be prepared to shake it like a poloroid picture. Yeah, I can't spell. And you know this!

Upcoming Events

2006-02-19T17:02:00.000-06:00

We've got 2 big PPV's coming up in the next 2 weeks. Mark you calendars for some non stop action.

Next Sunday, February 26, 2006 - PRIDE 31

Fight Card

Mark Hunt vs. Yosuke Nishijima
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Mark Coleman
Josh Barnett vs. Kazuhiro Nakamura
Sergei Kharitonov vs. Alistair Overeem
Mario Sperry vs. Tsuyoshi Kohsaka
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson vs. Yoon Dong Sik
Pedro Rizzo vs. Roman Zentsov
Fabricio Werdum vs. Jon Olav Einemo

And just added on the 13th.... Kiyoshi Tamura vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira

Should be a great card, PRIDE puts on a damn good show.

Then in two weeks!!!!!!! UFC 58 USA vs CANADA

Fight Card

Rich Franklin Vs. David Loiseau
Georges St. Pierre Vs. BJ Penn
Nate Marquardt Vs. Joe Doerksen
Mike Swick Vs. Steve Vigneault
Yves Edwards Vs. Mark Hominick
Kenny Florian Vs. Sam Stout
Rob MacDonald Vs. Jason Lambert
Tom Murphy Vs. Christophe Midoux
Diego Sanchez Vs. John Alessio

What a night this will be. We've got some talent on this card and I am excited. The biggest question will be who's fights are gonna be left off, none I hope.

A big thank you to Dana White for listnening to me and bringing back the Lightweights to the UFC. I know that others were calling for the return also, but I just had to sit him down and tell him how it was, so finally he listened! Yves Edwards is one of my favorite fighters to watch in the ring, exciting stuff coming our way in the next 2 weeks.

UFC 57 - The Results

2006-02-05T11:08:00.000-06:00

What a great night of fights the day before the Superbowl. I went 4-5 on my predictions for one of my worst nights in a while. I did choose 2 fights that I considered underdogs just because I like the fighter but hey, you gotta go for your boys sometimes.

Keith Jardine over Mike Whitehead by unanimous decision. (L)

Jeff Monson over Brandon Lee Hinkle by TKO (choke) in round 1. (W)

Paul Buentello over Gilbert Aldana by TKO (strikes) in round 2. (L)

Alessio Sakara over Elvis Sinosic by unanimous decision. (W)

Joe Riggs over Nick Diaz by unanimous decision. (L)

Renato Sobral "babalu" over Mike Van Arsdale by submission (RNC) in round 1. (W)

Marcio Cruz over Frank Mir by TKO (ref stoppage due to strikes) in round 1. (L)

Brandon Vera over Justin Eilers by KO in round 1. (W)

Chuck Liddell over Randy Couture by KO in round 1. (L)

They did end up showing 7 of the 9 fights with so many 1st round KO's and TKO's.

The showed opened up with Diaz and Riggs. Diaz dominated the 1st round and Riggs just looked to tired to continue. They reported before the fight that after weighing in at 169 Riggs stepped into the ring just over 200 pounds. He put back on 30 pounds of water weight over night. Any former wrestlers out there know that this in unbelieveable. Most guys will dry out before the fight and come in 10-12 pound heavier. 30 is ridiculous. Although Diaz seemed to be the one with the energy the entire time Riggs was landing shots and countering well while moving backward. Riggs controlled the 2nd round and had an edge in the 3rd to get the unanimous decision.

Babalu then stepped into the ring with Mike Van Arsdale. Babalu controlled this fight easily. They traded a couple punches and thenwent to the ground. It didn't take Babalu much time to take Van Arsdale's back and start working for the choke. As soon as it was sunk the tap came from Van Arsdale and Babalu immediately climbed the cage and asked the crowd where his belt was. He is calling out Chuck Liddell, he wants his title shot. Which he will get probably in August of later of this year.

Frank Mir's return was a dissapointing one no doubt. He looked to be in better shape than we've seen him physically. Mentally he might still have some work to do. He started out strong and controlled the action. After a takedown Mir found himself on to but was quickly reversed. Cruz landed a big punch which cut Mir over the eye, followed that up with some elbows that opened the cut more. The fight was allowed to continue but Mir just couldn't see and ultimately could not defend himself with all the blood in his eyes. He assured his fans that he would go back to the drawing board and return.

Brandon Vera easily defeated Justin Eilers with a nasty kick to the head in the 1st round. Eilers came out swinging for the fences as usual, Vera moved well and let that first flurry die down and then began to work. The left high kick sent Eilers staggering inthe center of the ring. Vera then charged in which turned out the lights on Eilers and sent him face 1st into the canvas. Eilers was able to leave the ring on his own a few minutes after the fight. Vera will definately be someone to watch out for in the heavyweight division. He may have just aligned him self for a number 1 contenders match with Cruz after Mir's loss. Arlovsky will take on Sylvia in April and then it may be time for one of these 2 (Cruz and Vera) to get their chance against the winner.

Chuck Liddel and Randy Couture, what can you say, the best of the best. Both came out in tremendous shape, Randy was supposed to have new game plan for Chuck. I was a little dissapointed that he didn't attempt the takedowns and try to frustrate Chuck. He actually looked a little old and slow out there. Chuck's confidence was high and he just countered away at Randy. He landed a big punch that backed Randy off in the 1st, Randy was then able to take him down and basically hold on to make it to the end of the round. Coming out into the 2nd round Randy kept throwing his left jab and everyone could see that chuck was waiting to land the counter right hand. When Chuck did, Randy went down and the fight was over.

After the fight Chuck announced where he was going to party and Randy announced that he would not fight again. At 43 years old I think that is a good decision for him. He's done just about everything that a fighter can do in the UFC. He has nothing to prove to anyone and will be inducted into the hall of fame as soon as he is eligible.

Since so many of the fights were short they had time to go back and show Paul Buentello and Gilbert Aldana duke it out for just over a round. I like this Aldana kid, he gassed early and wasn't in the kind of shape he needed to be inbut he can definately throw and take a punch. I'd like to see him drop about 25-30 pounds and fight at 235. They also showed Jeff Monson control Brandon Lee Hinkle for a round and ultimately put him to sleep with a choke at the end of the 1st round. After Hinkle woke up he didn't realize what happened and wanted to continue to fight.

UFC 57 - Couture vs Liddell 3

2006-02-04T11:38:00.000-06:00

OK, it took me longer than I thought to get the rest of my predictions lined up but here goes. As I stated before this should be a big night of fights and I'm getting extremely excited. Click on any of the links for the Sherdog fighter profiles.

The next match will be Brandon Vera VS Justin Eilers which I have learned will take place just before the Main Event.

Justin Eilers

Eilers comes in at 9-4-1, his losses to Arlovsky and Buentello were quick 1st rounds knockouts from 2 heavy hitters. He's racked up his 9 victories against several middle tier fighters.

Brandon Vera

Vera come in at 5-0, this will be his 1st PPV. He holds a victory you may have seen at the UFC's Ultimate Fight Night 2. I look for Vera to come out and try to push the pace, I feel Eilers will not be well conditioned. He's not the type to go late into fights. I call a victory for Vera.

Alessio Sakara VS. Elvis Sinosic

Alessio Sakara

Sakara is a Jui Jitsu practitioner who will try to gain back some reputation after a no contest due to a kick to the groin (OUCH!) at UFC 55. He was the kicker, not the kickee.

Elvis Sinosic

Sinosic has had some trouble in the UFC. At 55 he lost to Forrest Griffin. He has also posted losses to Evan Tanner, Babalu and Tito Ortiz. His lone UFC victory came over Jeremy Horn. don't let that 6-8 record fool you. Those 5 fights I've mentioned come against some top tier fighters. This should be a good fight, I thnk Sinosic will want to keep this one on his feet to be successful. As for a prediction I don't think he will keep it in a stand up battle so I'll pick Sakara.

Renato "Babalu" Sobral VS. Mike Van Arsdale

Babalu

Babalu's 5 losses come at the hands of Chuck Liddel, Kevin Randleman, Dan Henderson, Fedor Emelianenko, and Valentijn Overeem. 3 of those 5 guys are current champs. Babalu has been around the block, he's a dangerous striker and has a ground game to match.

Mike Van Arsdale

Van Arsdale's 2 losses come at the hands of Randy Couture and Wanderlei Silva. 1 curent champ and one 2 time former champ. He is a great wrestler whose learned the submission game. So what am I saying by listing these guys losses? They are both pretty damn good! I like Babalu and hope he wins so that's my prediction. This could be the fight of the evening if the Couture and Liddell fight ends in a quick KO. Don't miss this one, it'll be a keeper.

Frank Mir VS. Marcio Cruz

Frank Mir

Mir is a former UFC Heavyweight Champion. He earned his title by defeating big man Tim Sylvia with an armbar in the 1st round. If you've been listening to me and following the Unleashed series on Spike TV you may remember this fight, Mir broke Sylvia's arm but Sylvia wanted to keep going. Shortly after that fight it was anticipated that he and Andrei Arlovsky would clash. A motorcycle accident has sidelined him for almost 2 years now. If he gets through this fight with flying colors and Arlovsky can defeat Sylvia again in May they will more than likely meet up this fall for a long awaited title fight. As Mir never technically lost his belt that will be a very hyped up fight.

Marcio Cruz

Cruz only has 1 MMA fight under his belt. This is not a good formula for success against someone like Mir. This is purely a warm up fight for Mir and barring some miracle Mir should win easily. The only other thing that may play a factor is the broken leg of Mir. If for some reason that has not fully healed it could spell danger. Short of that I don't look for this to be anything but an exhibition of Mir's grappling talents.

Are ya ready? Are ya really really ready?????

IT'S THE BIG ONE

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell VS. Randy "The Natural" Couture

The Iceman

Chuck Liddell, if you didn't already know, is the most feared striker in MMA. His last 8 fights have ended in a KO, him or them. Usually them! His Kenpo background, unorthadox boxing and his freakish ability to not be taken down make him one of, if not THE, best in the business. Liddell is a great fighter who seemed to just be out worked by Couture in their 1st fight. Couture would box a little, take him down and box a little more. He finally fell in the 3rd round when he could not continue. Liddell has since said that he wasn't in the kind of shape he needed to be in. Liddell really never landed a good punch on Couture and was pretty much dominated the whole fight. I think that it was the threat of getting taken to the mat and the constant getting up that took away his game plan. If Liddell wants to retain the title that he earned wtih a victory over Couture he will need to land another one of those big punches!

The Natural

Couture is the most decorated fighter in UFC history. He's won belts in 2 weight classes and fought just about every name in the business. He's been in 15 UFC's dating back to 1997. Winning 11 of those 15. Couture, a 43 year old, is known for his world class wrestling, dirty boxing and his unrivaled conditioning. Couture is also a great fighter. In thier 2nd fight he got off balance and didn't protect himself when coming off the cage, Liddell landed a big punch a knocked him out cold. Liddell will do that from time to time, he's pretty good. Couture has since said that his mind was not fully focused on the fight, he was going through a divorce at the time.

Both fighters have a victory, both fighters have a loss. The only thing to do is have a rubber match. I think this whole fight boils down to how Randy Couture fights. If Couture tries to box with Liddell and stands up with him the whole fight Chuck will land that big punch again and will knock him out again. He is that good. In fact, he's the best. However, if Randy accepts the fact that Chuck is better and uses his wrestling skills to take him down I think that gives him the opportunity to out box Chuck like their 1st fight. He has to attempt the take downs to open Chuck up a little, he can't just box with him. The frustrating thing about taking Chuck down is that he just gets up. No one really knows how he has the ability to do it, he just does. Couture, with his wrestling skills, may be able to get and keep anyone in the world down except Chuck. It's strange but true.

Chuck is going to be Chuck. He's going to go in there, defend any take downs and look for that big punch. If he lands it, that's it. If Couture does begin taking him down he will get up, he just has to remain patient and let that part of the game take place without letting it effect him.

The Prediction - Randy "The Natural" Couture. Come on, you knew I was gonna go with the Oregon boy. I think Randy is smart enough to understand what his mistake was and try to do everything to prevent it again. Chuck can always land that punch though so the excitement will be there.

All in all I would like to see Randy win because he probably wont be around much longer. Chuck, if he looses, will be back again. He'll be around a while. I'd like to see Randy go out in style and on top.

OK that's it, happy UFC'ing.

UFC 57 - Liddell vs. Couture 3

2006-01-30T19:38:00.000-06:00

This Saturday night brings us the next UFC, and possibly the most anticipated fight ever. With the growing talent in the MMA community many names stand out, but few shine as bright as Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Tonight I'll be talking about a couple of the undercard fights, check back with me for the main event. If you like the big boys who swing for the knock out this is your night. 4 of these fights are heavyweight match ups with 4 others being light heavyweight bouts.

9 fights in all on this Saturday night, let's check them out.

The Card
Keith Jardine VS Mike Whitehead

Nick Diaz VS Joe Riggs

Jeff Monson VS Brandon Lee Hinkle

Paul Buentello VS Gilbert Aldana

Brandon Vera VS Justin Eilers

Alessio Sakara VS Elvis Sinosic

Renato Sobral VS Mike Van Arsdale

Frank Mir VS Marcio Cruz

Chuck Liddell VS Randy Couture

First up let's talk about the undercard match up between the former TUF season 2 fighters.

Keith Jardine

Keith Jardine fought in The Ultimate Fighter 2 in the Heavyweight division. Many picked him to win the whole thing. He brings some TV PPV experience via the King of the Cage tournaments where he is known for bringing a fast and furios pace to his fights. Keith is pretty well rounded as a fighter but prefers to end his fights fast and bloody with kicks and strikes. 5 of his 9 victories come from KO or TKO.

Mike Whitehead

Mike Whitehead was also in the heavyweight category fighting at 255 during The Ultimate Fighter. He is now slimmed down and fighting at 205. Although he is from Crater High School in Southern Oregon, rival to my own beloved Eagle Point High School (GO EAGLES!!!!) I do like Mike as a fighter. He didn't put on a good performance in the show and he'll be looking to correct that during his 1st UFC fight. Of his 4 losses keep in mind that 2 of them come from Tim Sylvia, he's kinda good being a former champ and all. Mike will not have an easy opponent in Keith Jardine but I do look for him to win the fight.

I really don't look for this fight to make it out of the 1st round. Both these fighters have plenty to show and regretably didn't show it during The Ultimate Fighter. The jitters should be gone and they should be ready to put on a show. Too bad this will be an undercard fight.

Next up we have Nick Diaz VS Joe Riggs.

Nick Diaz
Nick Diaz has been around the block. As Joe Rogan would say, he's got crazy gumby legs and a sick ground game. Don't let that ground game fool you, this lanky boy can throw some blows as well. If I were Nick Diaz I wouldn't try and trade with Joe Riggs. After Matt Hughes put a clinic on Riggs and made him look like a fish out of water on his back Diaz should look to get this to the ground quick.

Joe Riggs

Joe "Diesel" Riggs comes to throw punches. He's incredibly well rounded for being known as just a striker, 52% KO's and 43% submissions if you add up his victories. After a dissapointing loss to Matt Hughes came 1 night after loosing his shot at the title due to not making his weigh in (1 pound over) he will be looking to get himself another shot at the title. Hughes made quick work of him, seemed to control him from the very begining of the fight until the submission.

I look for Diaz to take it to the ground early and be too much for Riggs. Diaz has thought for quite sometime that he deserves a shot at the title. A quick win over someone who just fought Matt Hughes may get him that opportunity in the near future.

Jeff Monson VS Brandon Lee Hinkle.

Jeff Monson
Jeff "The Snowman" Monson is a wrestler out of Washington. He's had a couple of fights in the UFC back in 2000 and 2002. 2 of his 3 fights he ended up on the wrong end of Chuck Liddel and Ricco Rodriguez. But he did got the distance with Chuck, something only a couple of people have been able to do. With only 1 KO in his 19 victories you can bet he'll be looking to take the fight to the ground early.

Brandon Lee Hinkle
Brandon Lee Hinkle had a less than impressive performance with a TKO victory over Sean Gannon at UFC 55. Both Hinkle and Gannon looked to be terribly out of shape upon entering this fight. Hinkle was able to end it inthe 1st round which was probably good for both of them, I don't know that either one of them would have got off their stools for the 2nd round.

I look for "The Snowman" to put the freeze on "The Iron Lion" at UFC 57.

Paul Buentello VS Gilbert Aldana.

Paul Buentello
Paul "The Headhunter" Buentello will be looking to make up for his 15 second 1st punch KO loss to Anrdei Arlovsky. If Arlovsky through a punch at me last fall I probably wouldn't be up yet! Buentello is. Buentello is known for having a rock hard chin and a big punch. Only 1 of his 27 fights have gone the distance so if you like knock outs you should tune in for this one.

No Picture Available.
Gilbert Aldana
Gilbert Aldana is getting a great opportunity here. With only 5 fights (5 wins and 5 KO's) to his name he is fighting someone who was in the ring with the champ just a couple months ago. If you add them up his 5 fights lasted a total of 3 minutes and 43 seconds. That's right, he don't like to go the distance either.

This should be a great fun fight, and ummmmm. DON'T BLINK! I am going to go with an underdog pick of Aldana on this one. Buentello will be fired up after his loss but this kid has everything to gain and not to much to loose in this fight.

I'm hoping to have the rest of the fights mapped out tomorrow evening so check them out! Thank you to Sherdog for the profiles and some of the pictures, the UFC provided the rest of the pictures.

A translation of Rap song lyrics from Ebonics to standard English.

2006-01-18T18:25:00.000-06:00

Artist: Notorious B.I.G.
Album: Ready to Die
Song: One more chance (remix)
Lyrics:

First things first, I poppa, freaks all the honeys
Dummies - playboy bunnies, those wantin’ money
Those the ones I like ‘cause they don’t get nathan’
But penetration, unless it smells like sanitation
Garbage, I turn like doorknobs
Heart throb, never, black and ugly as ever
However, I stay coochied down to the socks
Rings and watch filled with rocks

TRANSLATION:

As a general rule, I perform deviant sexual acts with women of all
kinds, including but not limited to those with limited intellect,
nude magazine models, and prostitutes. I particularly enjoy sexual
encounters with the latter group as they are generally disappointed
in the fact that they only receive penile intercourse and nothing
more, unless of course, they douche on a consistent basis. Although I
am extremely unattractive, I am able to engage in these types of
sexual acts with some regularity. Perhaps my sexuality is somehow
related to my fancy and expensive jewelry.

Lyrics:

And my jam knock in the Mitsubishi
Girls pee pee when they see me, Nava-hoes creep me in they tee pee
As I lay down laws like I lay carpet
Stop it - if you think your gonna make a profit

TRANSLATION:

I enjoy playing my music loudly on my car stereo. Apparently, women
enjoy this also because they become sexually aroused when they see me
driving. Oddly enough, when I visit the Native American reservations,
some of the more sexually promiscuous Indian women attempt to seduce
me in their homes. Their intent is to divest me of my earnings. Such
actions are unacceptable.

Lyrics:

Don’t see my ones, don’t see my guns - get it
Now tell ya friends Poppa hit it then split it
In two as I flow with the Junior Mafia
I don’t know what the hell’s stoppin’ ya
I’m clockin’ ya - Versace shades watchin’ ya
Once ya grin, I’m in game, begin

TRANSLATION:

Understand this fact: you can have neither my money, nor my weapons.
I suggest that you inform your peers that we engaged in violent
sexual acts. Currently, I am rapping with my associates, the Junior
Mafia. I’m having some difficulty understanding why you refuse to
approach me. I am attempting to make eye contact with you through my
expensive glasses, and as soon as you respond with a smile, I will
approach you.

Lyrics:

First I talk about how I dress and this
And diamond necklaces - stretch Lexuses
The sex is just immaculate from the back I get
Deeper and deeper - help ya reach the
Climax that your man can’t make
Call and tell him you’ll be home real late
Let’s sing the break

TRANSLATION:

I prefer to open the conversation with light banter about my wardrobe
and jewelry, then I like to discuss my collection of expensive cars.
This is more than enough to convince you to have sexual intercourse
with me. I am able to insert my penis further into you when I enter
you from behind. Furthermore, you will be able to reach orgasm. I
understand this to be a problem with your current sexual partner. He
needn’t be concerned about your whereabouts. Please phone him and
inform him that you won’t be home for a while. By the way, please
sing the chorus of the song for me also.

Lyrics:

She’s sick of that song on how it’s so long
Thought he worked his until I handled my biz
There I is - major pain like Damon Wayans
Low down dirty even like his brother Keenan
Schemin’ - don’t bring your girl ‘round me
True player for real, ask Puff Daddy

TRANSLATION:

Your current love interest no longer wishes to hear your fabrications
about the length of your member. After I had sexual intercourse with
your woman, she became enlightened as to the proper way it is
supposed to be performed; violently and immorally. It would be in
your best interest to keep your woman away from me as my sexual
prowess is very strong. If you are unconvinced, ask Puff Daddy.

Lyrics:

You - ringin’ bells with bags from Chanel
Baby Benz, traded in your Hyundai Excel
Fully equipped, CD changer with the cell
She beeped me, meet me at twelve

TRANSLATION:

Despite the fact that you attempted to win her at her doorstep with
bags full of expensive clothes and a car (the lower end model
Mercedes Benz which you financed by signing over your current
vehicle) containing an expensive stereo and a cellular phone, your
woman has contacted me through my pager indicating that we should
rendezvous at midnight.

Lyrics:

Where you at? Flippin’ jobs, playin’ car notes?
While I’m swimmin’ in ya women like the breast stroke
Right stroke, left stroke what’s the best stroke
Death stroke - tongue all down her throat
Nuthin’ left to do but send her home to you
I’m through - can ya sing the song for me, boo?

TRANSLATION:

You, on the other hand, jump from job to job, barely able to maintain
payments on the Mercedes Benz you purchased for your woman.
Meanwhile, I continue to engage in sexual intercourse and commit lewd
osculatory acts with your women. My only remaining option is to
request that she leave my home and return to you because I have
reached orgasm and no longer have a need for her presence.

Lyrics:

So, what’s it gonna be? Him or me?
We can cruise the world with pearls
Gator boots for girls
The envy of all women, crushed linen
Cartier wrist-wear with diamonds in ‘em
The finest women I love with a passion
Ya man’s a wimp, I give that ass a good thrashin’

TRANSLATION:

The ultimate decision rests with you. Whom do you choose as your
sexual partner. I can take you on cruises around the world. I will
dress you in the finest jewelry and footwear. You will be envied by
women worldwide in your fine clothes and jewelry. There is a special
place in my heart for beautiful women. I will defeat your man in an
altercation because he is effeminate.

Lyrics:

High fashion - flyin’ into all states.
Sexin’ me while your man masturbates.
Isn’t this great? Your flight leaves at eight.
Her flight lands at nine, my game just rewinds.
Lyrically I’m supposed to represent.
I’m not only the client, I’m the player president

TRANSLATION:

You will be dressed in finest clothes on the runways of Paris. I will
fly you to every state to shop for fine clothes and jewelry. You will
enjoy sexual intercourse with me and your man will be forced to
pleasure himself through manual stimulation. What a life! I’ll return
you to LaGuardia in time to catch your 8 o’clock flight. The timing
is perfect because I have scheduled a date with a second woman who
arrives at the same gate at 9 o’clock. I’ll seduce her in the same
way that I seduced you. I rap well and I am a positive reflection of
my home town. Not only am I a sexually deviant, misogynistic,
immoral, wealthy, male prostitute, but I also sit on the board of
directors of the organization that governs others of my kind.

5-3 on the night

2006-01-16T23:09:00.000-06:00

inthe final match Sylvia defeated Silva, say that 3 times fast! It as an unimpressive fight for Sylvia who usually throws his jab with a little more conviction. he used his height and reach to control the shorter man very successfully, just doesn't make it so exciting. And hey, the little guy can take a punch.

Sylvia by unanomous decision.

Stephan Bonnar claims victory

2006-01-16T22:09:00.000-06:00

Great tactiacl fight that really showcases the ease of Brazilian Jui Jitsu. Irvin, a striker by nature has literally no power and no options from his back. Once Bonnar took him to the ground he just eased into the submission. This also shows how a weaker person, Bonnar, can easily submit and control a stronger person by using leverage. Irvin was defensless after Bonnar got the Kimura in.

Nice Victory.

I'm now 4-3 on the night with my 5 prediction to come true shortly!

Big Announcement

2006-01-16T21:52:00.000-06:00

OK, cool announcement but not historic. The UFC is bringing back Royce Gracie, who won 3 of the 1st 5 UFC's. The Gracie's brought the UFC to the USA. Iwas fortunate to see the 1st 2 events live as they werein Devner, CO. royce will come back to fight the Welterweight Champion Matt Hughes.

I'm a little excited about all this, sorry!

Burkman with the victory!

2006-01-16T21:36:00.000-06:00

Josh Burkman lands an early guillitine choke to take the victory and bring me back to even on my predictions.

Leben wins

2006-01-16T21:14:00.000-06:00

Leben bring mynight back to the good side with a win inthe 1st round over Jorge Rivera. just when it looked like Rivera had landed a cople Leben unloads a left hand that sends him to the canvas.

If you are not watching you should be.

Melvin loses!

2006-01-16T20:34:00.000-06:00

Josh Neer lands a triangle choke on Melvin Guillard at 4:20 in the 1st round. I am now 1-3 in my predictions. Tough night! Started off 2006 good and now I'm slacking off. Melvin has had a tough year. Broke his hand during The Ultimate Fighter show and then returned home only to get mauled by Hurrican Katrina, he's from New Orleans. He's been training with a fellow Ultimate Fighter out of his house in Salt Lake City, UT.

UFN update

2006-01-16T20:02:00.000-06:00

Another incorrect prediction, not doing so well coming off my 11-1 predictions during PRIDE on New Years Day. Ludwig gets dropped at 11 seconds of the 1st round by a punch from Goulet, fight over.

Ultimate Fight Night 2nd fight

2006-01-16T19:29:00.000-06:00

The second fight of the night brings my 1st bad prediction. Spencer Fisher was able to stop Aaron Riley at the end of the 1st round. The Doctor recommended that Riley not continue the fight at the begining of the second round.

The Ultimate Fight Night Begins

2006-01-16T19:08:00.000-06:00

OK, so it's jsut the undercard that begins but it's a good one for the schwam of mma. In the 1st fight Jason Von Flue defeats Alex Karalexis at 1:17 of the 3rd round by rear naked choke. Now this was a TKO choke which normally means he did not tapout, he actually went unconcious (or however you spell that!).

If you are not tuned into SPIKE, right now they are showing the replay of the best of UFC 2005. At 9:00 (nashvegas time) they will begin the live fighting.

Fight #1 brings a correct prediction.

Ultimate Fight Night 3

2006-01-15T08:22:00.000-06:00

On Monday, January 16, Spike TV will bring it's next installment of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to cable television. This card looks to be a good one. I will again encourage anyone who has never seen it to check it out. It's a good way to learn about the sport without having to fork over that 30 bucks for a PPV. Here's how the card breaks down. If the fights aren't enough and you are in it for the drama the UFC has promised that it will make it's biggest announcement ever during this broadcast. (On a side note I do not like the fact that Dana White has choosen to go the WWE route with some of this announcement stuff, but he makes a lot more money than me so whatever!)

Undercard - Will only get aired if time permits. (Which is usually never!)

Melvin Guillard vs Josh Neer
This will be a classic striker vs grappler. Melvin will come out early looking to dominate with explosive punches, Neer will have to last through that 1st part of the match and then try and get Melvin on the defensive by taking him down. Although Melvin is seen as a striker he was a wrester growing up so it's not completely foriegn territory for him. I give the edge to Melvin in this one.

Jonathan Goulet vs Duane Ludgwig
Ludwig has only fought a couple of times the last 2 years, he may be a little rusty. His last win was in April of 2003. He is also giving up a couple of inches of height to Goulet. Goulet is coming in with 10 straight wins in MMA. I look for Goulet to control this fight, get it on the ground and pummel untill he comes away with a TKO.

Alex Karalexis vs Jason Von Flue
Alex Karalexis has never impressed me, since his debut on The Ultimate Fighter 1 to his fights since. To me he just doesn't have the heart to be in there. Which is odd because it takes a tremendous amount of heart just to step in that octagon. Von Flue on the other hand doesn't know the word quit. He's willing to take a beating to give one. On this night I don't believe he will need to take a beating, his pace should be enough to kepp Karalexi going backword and not posing much of a threat.

Chris Leben vs Jorge Rivera
Leben, a team Quest fighter is going to be my favorite, you know this! Rivera has a good record and has beat some good opponents, I haven't been impressed with him when I've seen him but I know he's got some skills I haven't seen. He went almost a full 3 rounds with Rich Franklin so you know he's got a chin. Leben and Rivera are both willing to stand and trade blows, this should be an exciting fight and I hope that it is the 1st televised fight rather than the last undercard fight but I'm not 100% sure which it is.

Drew Fickett vs Josh Burkman
Another classic striker vs grappler. Like the earlier fight Burkman will need to jump right on Fickett and try to end it quick. Fickett will look to get this on the ground and work his BJJ magic. In his last fight Fickett was dominated by Koscheck for about 14 and 1/2 minutes. Unfortunately for Koscheck these fights last 15 minutes and he was Rear Naked Choked with 22 seconds left in the fight. You can't take a break with the good submission artists, it only takes a second. Fickett has the skill and the experience but I'm looking for an upset from Burkman. This will do a lot for his career.

Spencer Fisher vs Aaron Riley
This should also be a pretty good match up. Riley has been working the international circuit of fighting while Fisher has stayed home. Riley has about twice the experience and has been in the ring with some big punchers. This may turnout to be one of those "boring" fights if you don't like the technique involved in the ground game, I love them. I look for Rileyto still be fresh late in the game and dominate the 3rd round for victory.

Stephan Bonnar vs James Irvin
I hope Bonnar kicks Irvins ass! Rare for me to say as I pretty much like most all the fighters, I don't like Irvin. I don't like the few fighters that come off so arrogant and don't bring the respect into the ring that drew me to this sport from the very begining. After his flying knee knock out, one of the best in UFC history, he just came off like an ass. Bonnar put on one of the best fights in the UFC when he went the distance with Forrest Griffin, he lost the close decision in that fight. He will stand and through blows with anyone. I want to see him turn the lights out on the Sandman.

Tim Sylvia vs Assuerio Silva
How do you fight Tim Sylvia? He's 6 foot 8 inches and 260 pounds. Arlovsky beat him by landing a big punch early and catching him with an Achilles lock. Mir beat him with a surprizing arm bar that actually broke his arm, although he protested and wanted to continue. He's freakishly strong and tough. Personally I would bring a hand full of sand in with me and through it at him, and then run away like a little school girl! That may be the only way Silva comes out of this thing alive. Silva has been fighting internationally and has a good record. But coming in 9 inches shorter this grappler will have to have some magic to get The Maniac to the ground. I look for Sylvia's jab to work, over and over and over again!

That's it kids!

Peace and Humptiness forever!

So you think my sport is too violent?

2006-01-13T15:10:00.000-06:00

It is very common for people to tell me that Mixed Martial Arts, the sport I train in and write about, is too violent. The human cock fight. Modern day gladiator games. Just to name a few things I hear on a fairly regular basis. Now that another year has passed and another year with 0 deaths in my sport. At least 8 people lost their lives in boxing and toughman this year alone.

Before we get into other sports let me go through some things you may or may not know.

The Gloves -
In MMA (mixed martial arts) we wear 4oz gloves. These are designed, like boxing gloves, to protect the hand not the head. Boxers typically where 12-16oz gloves, tough man competitions will typically 18oz gloves. All gloves are designed to protect the hands! More padding = more safety, right? Wrong! It is medically safer to get knocked out cold than it is to continue taking those shots. The 12-18oz gloves due make the punch softer and lighter, but not by much. Just enough to take some of the edge off and prevent more KO's. A knock out is a physical reaction to trauma, just like any other bodily reaction, natural.

The Standing 8 count -
Depending on the state you may have seen a standing 8 count. If the referee deems a fighter is not protecting himself he will seperate the fighters and count to 8 while examining the boxer and asking him if he wishes to continue. You may or may not know this but men are pretty stubborn! It is incredibly rare to see a boxer give up or quit. If he is standing and responding to the questions he is allowed to continue. This is done because it is safer for the fighter, right? Wrong! This allows the boxer to 'get his whits about him' sure, but should he continue. For a moment let me get away from boxing and see if I can illustrate this a different way. Let's say you are out at a bar and have had to much to drink. You are snokkered! How many times have you done or seen someone who claims they can drive stand real still and with full determination take a few deep breaths and try to convince you they are OK. If you've had this happen you know that for a second they appear fine. You may notice this reaction if you've been pulled over after a few. I wont claim to know all that goes on inside the body but your adreneline will kick in and help you. But does it make you sober? NO! Neither does the standing 8 count. The fighter knows in order to continue he needs to appear coherant. He puts his full concentration into it and is allowed to continue. In MMA if the fighter is 'wobbled' the fight continues, he is either about to get knocked out or he wasn't hurt that bad. If a fighter is not protecting himself at any point during the fight it is stopped. Either way there is no 8 seconds to regain a little composure.

The 10 count -
In boxing if you are knocked out you are given 10 seconds to try and get to your feet. I won't go through all the stubborness again but that applies here also. If you can take a step or 2 in the direction of the ref and answer his questions you are allowed to continue. In MMA when you are done you are done. If you are knocked down and not defending yourself the fight is over. Period!

The 3 knock down rule -
In boxing they have a 3 knock down rule. This states that if you get knocked down 3 times in a round the fight is called. This is to protect the fighter from continuing to come back. Well that's all fine and good but it's 2 come backs too many! (see stuborness above) Again, in MMA when you are done you are done!

Let's compare a scenario. Two fighters going at it, one gets wobbled and goes to the canvas. For this scenario we will assume that the downed fighter is hurt pretty bad but still coherant.

In MMA - The other fighter jumps on his opponent and finishes him typically ends the fight with 1 or 2 more punches resulting in a KO or a ref stoppage. Watch some MMA, you will see this play out time and time again.

In Boxing - The fighter is allowed 10 seconds to regain his composer. He steps back into the center of the ring and takes a combo that sends him to the canvas again. he is given another 10 seconds to regain, takes another punishing combo and the fight is ended. If you watch boxing you have seen this play out as well.

The boxer not only takes more punches but he takes them in that critical time when he is hurt. The martial artist is KO'd, a natural reaction. The boxer is revived just enough to get pummeled again.

Another thing you typically hear after a boxing death was that it was a one sided fight. In the most noted death of the year in boxing Levander Johnson, then chapion, collapsed after losing his belt to Jesus Chavez. Johnson's father and cornerman urged his son to quit in the 8th round. Doctors checked him out in the 10th and allowed him to continue. The ref stopped the fight in the 11th. In a similar situation, I saw both fights, Jeremy Horn was getting completely out matched by Chuck Liddell (UFC Champ). Both Johnson and Horn had severe swelling around 1 eye. Horn stopped the fight himself. Johnson continued. In MMA there is no shame in giving up. The fighters have pride and want to win but there is something to be said for someone who can say to themselves that they are beat. There should be know shame in boxing but there does seem to be a difference.

Every year there are many deaths in boxing. There have been 0 deaths as the result of a sanctioned MMA fight, that's right 0. The boxing commissions continue to discuss fighter safety and hold on to popular myths about fighter safety while the numbers keep racking up. They need only take a look at their distant cousin MMA for a lesson.

Kudos to the Predators Fans!!

2006-01-12T13:17:00.000-06:00

So I think my cry was heard. Earlier this year I wrote an article (if you can call it that) on what I did not like about the Predators game experience compared to what I'm used to in Colorado. I want to give credit where credit is due. To briefly rec ap, I don't like the country music, this is hockey! Don't confuse the Finish players. I also didn't like the absence of the random "Red Wings Suck" chants I'm used to hearing in Colorado. Now, you don't actually need to be playing the Red Wings to use this chant. It's just always appropriate.

On Tuesday I went to the Islanders game and the old faithful up in Cell Block 303 started a Red Wings Suck chant. It brought a little tear to my eye. I don't know if some of you that read and commented on my previous article reside in Cell Block 303 but if you do.....BIG KUDOS.

I do like the rowdiness coming out of that group, the chants are good and the crowd seemed more into this game than the other 10 I've been to this year. I still could do without the country music but I find that if I walk around during the intermission that doesn't bother me so much. At the Islanders game it was more of a rock cover thing anyways.

Now, if I could just get the locals here to start "Red Wings Suck" chants at Kroger and in fine eateries I'd feel like I was home.

Just cuz I know I'll here about it.....Yes, I am a Preds fan. Avs will always be my #1 but I'm solid in routing for the Preds outside of that game! We have a great team here, they are young, fast and the have the toughness. Voukon is playing some good hockey as well. Get out to those games and support them.

PRIDE Shockwave - Review

2006-01-02T11:33:00.000-06:00

Wow, what a night of fights. Good action, great card. I wish they could have shown them all but 12 fights is a lot.

Bruceleeroy, the MMA version of the Schwam, ended up 10-2 on his predictions on this night of fighting.

Let me quick run through the fights they did not show on the PPV.

James Thompson over Giant Silva by TKO at 1:28 of the 1st round.

Charles "Krazyhorse" Bennett over Ken Kaneko by armbar sub at 4:14 of the 1st round.

Aleksander Emelianenko over Pawel Nastula by RNC at 8:45 of the 1st round.

Sanae Kukuta over Makoto Takimoto with a unanimous decision.

Kazuhiro Nakimura over Yuki Kondo by unanimous decision. (I missed this one)

And now for the night of fights.

They startd out the action with Fedor Emelianenko vs Zulu
Fedor landed his 1st punch and it was a big one, sending Zulu to the ground. Fedor jumped right in and landed some big blows just pummeling Zulu. After a few seconds Zulu managed to get to his feet only to be knocked down again. The second time Fedor jumped on Zulu he tapped. Fedor was just WAY to much for Zulu to handle.

Fedor Emelianenko over Zulu by tap due to strikes at :26 of the 1st round. Yes, that's 26 seconds!

Next we move on to Hidehiko Yoshida vs Naoya Ogawa.

These to have a prety long history with each other. This would be one of the grudge matches for the evening. This was actually the last fight of the night but things were re-ordered for the PPV here in the states. I typically don't like it when a couple of Judo guys get in there, sometimes they forget they can punch in MMA. These two went at each other during the 1st round in pretty boring fashion. Very tactical with not a lot of 'punching action'. I do like those kind of fights as they are interesting to watch but it can get to be like watching a football game taht ends 6-3, appreciate the defense but wake me up for the second game! As Ogawa, the bigger man, seemed to use his size and strength to control the match Yoshida was able to sink in a very nice armbar to end it.

Yoshida over Ogawa by Armbar submission at 6:04 of the 1st round.

Dan Henderson vs. Murillo Bustamante

Another grude match here. Henderson won the first meeting, after the fight Bustamante claimed it was an illegal headbutt missed by the ref that caused the damamge and ultimately lost the fight for him. He was out to prove that he could beat Henderson. The 1st round saw a few takedowns for Bustamante, 1 for Henderson. Bustamante wass on top for most of the round but didn't seem to push the action from the top like he should have. The stand up battle that should have favored Henderson was pretty even. The second round brought us a knock down by Henderson with a big punch and a follow up knee, they scrambled back to there feet where Henderson landed another knee and Bustamante pulled guard. I personally thought henderson won this fight but would be interested in hearing comments from people who thought Bustamante won. It was definately a close fight and I would have loved 1 more round. Both fighters were pretty tired.

Henderson over Bustamante by split decision.

Takanori Gomi VS. Hayato Sakurai

I was really looking forward to this. I love watching Gomi fight. He was the fan favorite for fighter of teh year by PRIDE viewers, and rightfully so, what a year of fights he's had. Sakurai is just a legend. Great fighter. Interesting twist in this fight is that these guys come from thesame Dojo. Gomi is in many ways a little brother to Sakurai. This would also be the 1st time a Japanese fighter would be crowned a PRIDE fighting Champion.

These two came to fight as everyone knew they would. Sakurai controlled the early action with big leg kicks to Gomi, he landed some good ones. As they came together and clinched Sakurai was able to get Gomi's head and take him down. They were a little close to the ropes so the throw could not take full effect, Gomi ultimately came out the back door and gained Sakurai's back. He got the hooks in and began to pummel. Sakurai rolled a couple of times while Gomi continued to land what seemed to be punches that would not cause a lot of damage. When Sakurai managed to escape, a very nice escape in my opinion, he was noticably stunned. Gomi jumped on him and went in for the kill. Gomi just hits to damn hard for someone who weighs 155-160. He's great to watch.

Gomi over Sakurai by KO at 3:56 of the 1st round.

Kazushi Sakaraba vs Ikuhiso Minowa

Another fight I was looking forward to. Sakaraba represents a lot of the old school of PRIDE where Minowa is the new generation. The crowd was pretty divided.

Sakaraba controlled the early action although it was back and forth. Pretty exciting fight with the technical aspect like the early judo fight but they were also mixing in punches keeping the action going. Sakaraba tried several times for a Kimura, his trade mark move. As they rolled and reversed each other the Kimura was finally landed by Sakaraba and just to deep for Minowa to escape. Minowa tried to hold out til the end of the round but his shoulder would have definately been destroyed by that time.

Sakaraba over Minowa by Kimura submission at 9:39 of the 1st round.

Mirko Crocop Filipovic vs Mark Hunt (the other one I predicted wrong)

The fight began with Crocop in control, he landed his trademark left kick to Hunt's head, thigh and mid section. I seemed as though Crocop would be able to land that at will and end the fightthe way we are used to seeing him end fights. Somebody forgot to tell Mark Hunt that those big leg kicks hurt like hell. He just seemed to walk right through the kicks as if he was being kicked by a kindergartener. If you've seen Crocop fight you've seen him KO people with those kicks, just 1 of those kicks. Hunt took many of them and didn't seem to mind much. After the 1st 3 minutes or so the tide began to change, Crocop seemed a little winded with throwing all those big kicks. And, no doubt frustrated that his big kicks didn't seem to slow down Hunt. Hunt began to control the action, continuing to move forward and chase Crocop around the ring. Round 2 saw Cropcop try and take control of the action again but only for a moment. Crocop landed a beautiful Axe kick that could have destroyed a small village, Hunt shook it off like it was nothing. Hunt then took control of the pace and chase Crocop around the ring. Round3 was more of the same, Crocop was able to land throughout the fight but nothing that seemed to phase Hunt. Hunt controlled the action, backed Crocop up and landed big punches of his own. I can only wonder why Crocop didn't try and take Hunt down early and often. Hunt, visibly frustrated with Crocop's backing up, rushed in with about 45 seconds left and Crocop got a takedown, but didn't have the time to do anything with it. An impressive performance from Hunt indeed. Someone shoudl check his head for cement!

Mark Hunt over Mirko Crocop by unanimous decision.

Ricardo Arona vs Wanderlei Silva

Big big fight with 2 guys who don't like each other. Wandy's only 205lb loss in 5 years comes from Arona. (Wandy lost to Mark Hunt last year in a bout with no weightlimit, Wandy was giving up about 40 pounds in that fight) Arona came out using his speed and got a quick takedown, Silva scrambled to his feet and returned the favor. Silva dontrolled about 7 minutes of the round from the top position. I also liked the fact that during his 'top time' his punches had bad intentions, Arona's 'top time' saw him landing pitty pat punches. Wandy also got 1 or 2 more takedowns in the 1st round. Arona was given a yellow card for stalling.

One note to remember, a difference between PRIDE scoring and UFC/Boxing scoring, the judges score points on who's trying to end the fight. This can be with submission attemps or punches. The pitty pat style does not usually go over well with the PRIDE judges.

In round 2 Arona controlled a little more of the action, scoring 1 or 2 more takedowns and keeping the 'top time' for the second round in his favor. Wandy was given a yellow card in the second round.

In the end I felt like Wandy won the fight. I would be interested in hearing from those who thoguth Arona won the fight. My gut tells me that if you thought Bustamante won the ealrier fight you thought Arona won this one, that may be the style you like and that is fine.

For me it breaks down like this......
here are some of the things the judges look for.

Takedowns - These were pretty even, Arona may have had 1 more.
Stand Up - Again, pretty even, I would give an edge to Wandy.
Ring control - I would give an edge to Wandy only because Arona used the counter which typically allows the other person to control the pace.
Yellow cards - 1 each.

This leaves 'trying to finish the fight'. Wandy definately was swinging to KO Arona. Arona has been called a wet blanket in the past, while I don't think he was doing the lay and pray he may have done in the past I do think he could have put some more mustard on those punches and beena litle more agressive to try and finish Wandy. I feel the same way about Bustamante.

Wanderlei Silva over Ricardo Arona by split decision.

Predictions Part 3

2005-12-29T16:40:00.000-06:00

We have 5 fights still to cover. Have I ever mentioned that one of the main reasons I like PRIDE a little bit better than the UFC is the number of fights they have on a card. 12 fights, are you kidding me? UFC will usually show 5 and you are lucky to get 3 with boxing anymore.

Anyhow, back to the predictions. I jumped around a little last night so we could finish strong.

Mark Hunt VS. Mirko Crocop

Mark Hunt is a kickboxer at heart. He is pretty new to the MMA scene. He does have a victory over Wanderlei Silva which is impressive. He'll need all he can get in this match up since he won't be fighting a light-heavyweight this time.

Crocop has been all over PRIDE. He has recieved a couple of title shots and not come through on them. Despite his losses in championship bouts he is among that level of fighter, just cant get over the hump. He does deserve to fight with those guys and another victory or 2 will put him up there to try again. Items to watch for....Crocop's left leg, it is devastating to say the least. He will throw it and at somepoint it will land. I'm picking Crocop.

Alexsander Emelianenko VS. Pawel Nastula

Alexsander is the brother of the Heavyweight Champ, he trains with him in Russia. Although he's not had as many fights he does display the same type of talent that apparently runs wild in there family. Of his 7 wins only 2 have gone to decision.

Pawel Nastula is a Judo Player that's lost his one and only MMA fight this past summer. I don't know what it is about these Judo guys but a lot of them don't seem to fair to well out of the gates. I respect Judo and all that it has to offer but with the exception of Karo Parysian I can't think of one who has done especially well. Seems like the skills after the throw are lacking.

I look for the 1st Emelianenko brother to pound his way to victory in this fight. Should be pretty bloody!

Charles Bennet VS. Ken Kaneko (no profile)

Charles "Krazyhorse" Bennet is a thrill to watch. His 50/50 (ish) record would indicate that he is not a top contendor but he comes to fight. He's a wrestler by nature with a lot of pure power and if you've never seen him you are in for a treat. He's quite possibly the most charismatic fighter on the sceen. I thnks Krazyhorse's experience will carry him against Kaneko for the victory.

Fedor Emelianenko VS. Zulu (no profile)

Fedor is the Champ. He should remain the Champ. If this is who I think it is Zulu is a very large man from Brazil who studies Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Fedor will be much quicker than he is and quite possibly more powerful. I love to watch Fedor fight, right now I think that if he could get a fight lined up with Andre Arlovsky from UFC we'd be in for a great show. (I could be wrong about Zulu and who he is. It's difficult to find info on PRIDE fights sometimes)

Kazushi Sakuraba VS. Ikuhisa Minowa

Kazushi "The Gracie Hunter" Sakuraba gets his name by winning matches against Royce, Royler, Renzo and Ryan Gracie. He handed Royce and Royler their 1st losses, basically was the 1st guy to show that the Gracie's are indeed human. (Note- Royce does have another loss before this, but it was because he could not continue in a tournament. There was no fight, it was a forfiet loss.) His overall record is 18-9-1. 3 of those losses come at the hands of Wanderlei Silva, 1 to Crocop and 1 to Vovchanchyn. If you are going to have some losses, those are the guys to have them to.

Ikuhisa "The Punk" Minowa has also been around the block a time or 2. With over 50 fights and a list of wins and losses against a virtual who's who of MMA he is always someone to be recognized as a great fighter.

This should be a classic match with 2 great fighters. I believe that Sakuraba will defeat Minowa but it should be fun to see how.

Have a great New Years Day and have fun watching some MMA!!!!!

PRIDE SHOCKWAVE Predictions Part Deaux

2005-12-28T19:09:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we covered the 1st 4 fights for the upcoming event. Let's do a couple more, this is almost like Christmas!!!!

We'll start off with Makoto Takimoto VS. Sanae Kikuta

These two fighters are relatively unknown. OK, so one of them is relatively unknown. I have seen Takimoto fight in PRIDE against a very tough Dong Sik Yoon. It was a pretty even and uneventful fight. Yoon took a lot of punishment, this could also indicate taht Takimoto has no power. Other than that I don't know much about him.

Kikuta on the other hand has been around the block a few times. He has been from Pancrase to UFC to PRIDE. Racking up a 24-6-3 record along the way. Unfortunately I don't think this will be much of a fight. Takimoto didn't impress me last time I saw him and I don't think he will impress me on this card. This may be a quick one.

Next we move on to Kazuhiro Nakamura VS. Yuki Kondo

This one has a good chance to be the yawner of the night. I like Kondo but he just doesn't seem to finish, Nakamura is the same. I don't even know if this will be one of those technical fights, just plain old boring.

Come on guys, prove me wrong, I'd love to see it.

Let's finish off strong with a couple of big boys....

James Thompson VS. Giant Silva

No typo here..... Silva is 7 ft 5 and comes in at 360 while Thompson is a mere 6 ft 5 and 264! If you haven't seen him you will want to, Thompson can put on a show. A lot of the big boys are slow and gas out easy. Thompson is not slow and we don't know what's in the gas tank because he either has a knock out or has been knocked out. Silva comes from a Pro Wrestling background and will depend on his size to slow down Thompson. Although I think Thompson will win I am alway interested in watching someone take on another person so much bigger. That is one of the reasons I admire Royce Gracie, I know a lot of people don't like him but he took on a lot of people much bigger than he. If you've never grappled with someone, even with little or no experience, who is that much bigger you should try. It's not that easy to move someone a foot taller and 100 pounds bigger.

That's all for now! five more fights to go!!!! There should be some good ones left.

PRIDE Predictions, Part 1

2005-12-27T18:49:00.000-06:00

PRIDE SHOCKWAVE is coming this New Years Day. It will be offered on Direct TV PPV at 8pm (Nashville Time) on January 1, 2006. Since there are 12 fights lined up for that night I am brining my predictions in 3 parts.

Click fight card for a complete list of fights from Shockwave. This will also give you links to Sherdog's fighter profile. In this article the fighter profile will be from the PRIDE website. Generally speaking Sherdog has more complete information.

This is a great card, tonight I will be focusing on 4 of the fights. I will note that the order on the website is not neccesarily the order they will show on New Years. Since this is held in Japan we are not watching the live event like you would with a UFC.

For the 1st fight we will focus on finale of the lightweight tournament.

Takanori Gomi VS. Hayato Sakurai

I am really looking forward to this fight. Gomi is one of my favorite fighters today. He's exciting to watch, loves to throw big punches and he can take a great shot. I was hoping that he and Yves Edwards would make it to the finals. Unfortunately Yves was eliminated in a very close decision. Gomi comes in with wins over Luiz Azeredo (unanimous decision) and Tatsuya Kawajiri (rear naked choke). Gomi is 22-2-0 overall and has been beating all in his path lately. The decision against Azeredo was one of 2 decisions in his last 9 fights, the others mostly ending in some king of KO. Gomi's notable losses are to BJ Penn and Joachim Hansen both in 2003. His notable wins are Azeredo (twice), Charles 'crazyhorse' Bennet and Jens 'little evil' Pulver.

Sakurai is no stranger to fighting. He had to get through Jens 'little evil' Pulver (victory by TKO) and Joachuim Hansen (unanimous decision) in the tournament to earn this spot in the final. With an overall record of 27-6-2 he's a pretty accomplished fighter. Notable losses to 2 of the Gracie Family members, Matt Hughes and Ryo Chonan wont put too much of a tarnish on any record. No shame in those losses. Notable wins include Frank Trigg, Caol Uno and Luiz Azeredo.

Ultimately I believe Gomi will prevail in this fight. I like his style and he's been on a roll lately. Nothing against Sakurai though, this may be the fight of the night with to guys who can flat fight!

Second on my list of fights for New Years is the other tournament final.

Dan Henderson VS. Murilo Bustamante

Henderson comes from Team Quest out of Oregon so those of you who read regularly should already know this pick. His notable wins come over Kondo, Babalu, Rua and Ryo Chonan (who he defeated to earn his spot in the final). His 4 losses come at the hands of Wanderlei Silva (the champ), Nogueira (twice) and Ricardo Arona (who is fighting for the championship). Henderson beat Chonan and Gono both by 1st round KO's, he beat Chonan in 22 seconds. He also holds a victory of Bustamante back in 2003.

Bustamante come in with wins over Masanori Suda and Ikuhisa 'the punk' Minowa. He also won both inthe 1st round, 1 by KO and 1 with an armbar. Bustamante's notable wins include Dave Menne, Matt Lindland (a fellow team quest member) and Ryuta Sakurai while his losses were to UFC Champ Chuck Liddel, Quinton Jackson, Nakamura and Henderson.

This should also be an excellent fight. Bustamante has good defense and doesn't mind working from his back. Henderson would prefer to use his wrestling background and control from the top. Although these guys are both ground fighter it will stay up on it's feet until someone gets uncomfortable, they are both warriors who don't mind trading blows. I'm going to be pulling for my fellow Oregon boy Henderson in this one.

Next on my list is the Championship bout.

Wanderlei Silva VS. Ricardo Arona

What can be said about Silva that hasn't been said. The guy is awesome. 29-5-1 overall record and he goes out and throws some punches. There was a point where he had 10 of 12 victories in a row by some sort of KO. As of late his immortal status has been tarnished. Last New Years Eve he lost his 1st PRIDE fight to Mark Hunt. he lost to Arona, yes the one he's fighting for his championship, back in August.

Arona is coming off his win over Wandy and a loss over Mauricio Rua. He's 12-3-0 overall and has been performing very well. He's been in with a lot of great fighters, he's 4-1 in his last 5 fights with wins over Wandy, Lister and Sakuraba.

I don't think that Arona can defeat Wandy twice. I look for Wandy to get back on track and be very focused coming in. I'm predicting a 1st round KO.

Last but not least on my 1st round of Predictions is the fight between Hidehiko Yoshida (not listed on PRIDE) VS. Naoya Ogawa

I don't know a whole lot about either one of these fighters. Hidehiko has a lackluster record but has fought Silva 2 times for 2 losses and lost to Rulon Garnder who was a pretty darn good wrestler. Ogawa's 1 loss was in 54 seconds to Fedor Emelianenko who is also pretty darn good. I'm sorry I don't have more to offer on these 2 but I just haven't seen them.

I am picking Hidehiko just off the information available to me.

Check back tomorrow evening for the next installment.

PRIDE: Shockwave 2006

2005-12-26T20:03:00.000-06:00

PRIDE is bringing in the new year with a great card of fights on January 1st, 2006. This will be aired on PPV, if you don't have plans you can come on down.

I will be breaking these fights down throughout the week so keep an eye out. There is a lot to work on and I'm getting a late start. I will say that this will be an outstanding night of fighting. There are some incredible fighters on this card. This 1st three fights listed are for soe kind of championship, either a tournament or a belt! Emelianenko (fedor) is also a champion but I cannot find out if this is for his belt, it may be another belt on the line.

The fight card is as follows....

All profiles are from Sherdog

Takanori Gomi VS. Hayato Sakurai

Dan Henderson VS. Murilo Bustamante

Wanderlei Silva VS. Ricardo Arona

Hidehiko Yoshida VS. Naoya Ogawa

Makoto Takimoto VS. Sanae Kikuta

Kazuhiro Nakamura VS. Yuki Kondo

Mark Hunt VS. Mirko Filipovic "Crocop"

Fedor Emelianenko VS. Zulu (no reference on Sherdog)

Charles Bennet VS. Ken Kaneko (not on Sherdog)

James Thompson VS. Paulo Cesar Silva

Aleksander Emelianenko VS. Pawel Nastula

Kazushi Sakuraba VS. Ikuhisa Minowa

To all my international readers.........

2005-12-26T19:36:00.001-06:00

I took a lot of flack for referring to the UFC as "The Big Show".

Thank you for your comments and let me be the 1st to say, You are right. Now just convince all the other fans of mixed martial arts!

It amazes me that everytime I throw a little party for a PPV event that I get a great turn out for UFC and a next to nothing turn out for PRIDE.

Like many of you who commented I also think that PRIDE is the BIG show! But here in America, yes where I live, it doesn't get the respect I think it deserves. I like the minor rule changes, the yellow card system and the way the judge the fights better than in the UFC. I also enjoy the crowd excitement of PRIDE, I think the average PRIDE attendee knows more and enjoys more that the average UFC attendee. Of course I am generalizing and expect to here comments now from the UFC fans. No worries, I can take it!

I have said before and I will say again, I think UFC has the top level Best fighters. Meaning I believe that the champs from UFC could beat the Champs from PRIDE. Yes, I said it! But I also believe that PRIDE has the best all around fighters. Meaning I think PRIDE has more overall talent.

Now I will also make a plea to Dana White....

Dana, Bring back the lightweights, they are far to exciting to be ignored! One area PRIDE is ruling you in is the mini's. Edwards, Gomi, Bennet and Pulver just to name a few, would put on a far better show that Gonzaga and Buentello on their best days. Those lightweight fighters can flat throw down and they do NOT gas out like the big boys. They rule the undercard and always will.

One commentor said that we American's only know and watch what we have, meaning UFC. On one hand I agree with you, most my friends who do not eat, drink and sleep fighting only know of and watch UFC. But we are learning. The Ultimate Fighter has began a shift in mixed martial arts viewers, it is becoming more mainstream. I believe in the next few years our industry will change more than it has in the past 11 when the UFC began.

Last Minute UFC Update

2005-11-19T18:06:00.000-06:00

In a shocking turn of events Joe 'diesel' Riggs failed to make the weigh in by 2 pounds. The fight between Matt Hughes and Joe Riggs will still take place but it will not be for the title. This will also change the format for a championship match of 5 rounds to a normal 3 round fight.

It is unbelievable that this happened. This is either a huge mental mistake or it could very well indicate something physically wrong with Riggs. These fighters are very well trained in the art of losing all the water weight out of their body. It is not uncommon for someone to mis weight when they 1st hit the scales. If that happens they get 20 minutes. It is VERY uncommon for someone to fail losing a pound or 2 ifthey get the 20 minute grace. Former wrestlers can tell you that 2 pounds is about 2 cups of spit, sweat or anything else you can squeeze out of your body. Riggs actually weighed in at 171, went away to drop the 1 pound, and came back at 172. Very odd.

I'm trying to like the Preds but.........

2005-11-18T18:23:00.000-06:00

I moved to Nashville in July of 04. Last season was a strike year so there was no hockey. I have been needing a hockey fix for quite some time. Having spent the last 13 years of my life in Colorado and Wyoming has only strenghtened my love of the Colorado Avalanche, they will always be my favorite team. But after moving to Nasvhille I thought it would not be a bad idea to route for them, they could be a close second to the Avs. I mean Hey, we all hate the Red Wings, and that is what's most important.

Now that the season has started and I've been to a couple of games I am a little dissapointed. I didn't expect it to be like Denver where the Avs have sold out every game since moving there in 1996. Didn't expect the same electricity in the air that comes from having won 2 championships. But I didn't expect what I did see either. I know that Nashville is new to hockey so I figured I would point out a couple of items that will make this a better hockey town and could quite possibly make the Preds play better.

1) After a goal you CANNOT play country music. I respect the fact that I now live in Nashville, country music capitol of the world but does it really need to be played during the hockey game. The answer is NO! 100 times NO!
a - Nashville, you are confusing the Finnish players. Look at poor Timonen's face after a goal is scored, he has no idea what's going on. It's cruel and unusual, like ringing loud bells in a lion's ear at the zoo. If you want to play the entertainment between the periods and that embraces the country music feel of Nashville that's fine, but not during the game. It's just as innapropriate as blasting a Marylin Manson CD in a church parking lot.

2) I was at the game Tuesday and they actually took time to announce results of the CMA's. No no no! This is hockey! More people actually cheered for whoever won single of the year than for some of the goals scored.

3) Fan Support - this may be rude and straight to the point but dammit, if you have season tickets go to the damn game. If you can't, find someone that will. Give them to a charity and right it off. Both games I've been to have been well below sold out. You have a good team in Nashville, cherish it or it may go away!

4) Fang Fingers - I've thought long and hard about how to word this politically correct but I think it just needs to be said. That is the gayest thing I've seen at a hockey arena. The music, the whole idea is gay! Knock it off. If that gets around it will be the laughing stock of the NHL. I know I am not the only one who feels this way, make it go away. Again, you are scaring the Finnish players. And the Czeck's aren't to comfy either.

5) Learn the game of hockey Nashville fans. Hockey is a rough sport and not for whimps. Just because someone tugs at a player with their stick it is not hooking. Just because they whack at each other with their sticks it is not slashing. There is a lot to learn if you are new to the sport, take someone who knows. Your gaming experience will be much better. Don't boo everytime someone gets taken down in front of the net, it's not always a penalty.

6) I have not heard 1 "red wings suck" chant. It is appropriate at anytime to chant this over and over. In Denver it is not uncommon to hear this chant at hockey games, board meetings, church functions, family gatherings, anytime you see the color red and even at a baseball game. True story - I was at a Rockies/Expos game a couple years ago. The Rockies were getting crushed to the crowd just started chanting "red wings suck" for about a 1/2 an inning. The Expos were as confused as a Finnish hockey player hearing country music after a goal!

All in all we have a great team, the fans just need a little education on the game. If you have not been to a live hockey game do try it out. I ate, drank, played and watched football my whole life. Hockey is the fastest and roughest sport around, it's great live.

UFC 56 - Full Force

2005-11-17T17:04:00.000-06:00

Prediction time! Another pre-fight prediction.

Saturday night brings us the 56th installment of the Ultimate fighting Championship. This should be a great night of fights, if you've never checked one out this may be a good one for you to try. If you don't have a place to watch you can come on down to the Bruceleeroy party. 8 fights in all, 6 will make the PPV and the other 2 will be aired at the end if there are a lot of KO's. This night should bring us some KO's and submission. There is a very good chance that none of these fights will go the distance. This is a good field of aggressive fighters who do not want to leave anything in the ring.

The Undercard - Aired if time permits

Thiago "the pitbull" Alves (13-3-0) vs Ansar Chalangov (7-0-0)

Alves is a Brazilian Thai Boxing Champion and a purple belt in Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. He's is a good striker and loves to throw low kicks. Chalangov will counter that striker style by utilizing his extensive background from the ground. In a classic striker vs grappler match up I look for the grappler to come out on top. Chalangov has only went the distance 1time in his 7 victories, 3 KO's and 3 submission's. I look for him to take this figh to the ground and work until he ends it.

Nick "the goat" Thompson (22-8-0) vs Keith "the polish connection" Wisniewski

Thompson is an extremely busy fighter, this will be his 15th fight in 2005 (11-3 this year). He is unorthodox and unpredictable. Wisniewski likes to controlthe fight from the ground at a little bit slower pace. This is the one fight on the card that cold be a yawner! If Thompson is as aggresive as everyone hopes he will be Wisniewski might be content to fight very defensively and wait on a mistake. If that mistake doesn't come, which I don't feel it will, Thompson will win the decision.

Main Card

Sam "the alaskan assasian" Hoger (6-1-0) vs Jeff "the karate kid" Newton (4-1-0)

Hoger was the least likable character on the 1st series of The Ultimate Fighter. He is likable in the ring. Hoger's got a lot of attitude and we shall see if he can back it up. Newton has an extensive Martial Arts background he spent most of his time in competitive sport Karate. This is his 6th MMA fight and his first in jsut over 2 years. He has looked impressive against lesser opponents. As much as I'd like to see Sam loose I don't believe he will on Saturday. I think Newton's only chance is to land big and early. I believe Hoger will win this fight.

Kevin "the shaman" Jordan (7-3-0) vs Gabriel "napao" Gonzaga (4-1-0)

Jordan is fun to watch because he is not afraid to stand toe to toe and take a few to give a few, those make for the most exciting of fights. I was a little dissapointed in his conditioning the last time out. Gonzaga is a BJJ black belt that also has some good striking skills. We should all hope he chooses to stand up and punch this one out with Jordan, it will be a 1st round KO for 1 of the fighters if that happens. I'm looking for Jordan to improve on his conditioning and be prepared to go in this fight.

Jeremy "gumby" Horn (85-14-6) vs Trevor Prangley (11-2-0)

Horn has one of the more impressive records in MMA history, he stays very active and competes year round. He is a skilled striker and grappler. Prangley is a very skilled grappler with a strong wrestling background. I don't like Horn in big fights, he was incredibly lucky to beat Chuck Liddell in their 1st fight in 1999. Chuck owned him in the last fight and I think Prangley will own him tonight. This fight goes to the ground early and Prangley pounds him to a stoppage.

Georges "rush" St Pierre (10-1-0) vs Sean "muscle shark" Sherk (28-1-1)

Wow, great match up!!!!! Both of these fighters have 1 loss, both lost to Matt Hughes in a UFC. St Pierre can do it all, he likes to take his opponent and work the ground and pound while looking for a submission. In his last outing he demolished Frank Trigg, who had referred to him as a 'b' list fighter. Sherk is a very accomplished wrestler. For the 1st time in his career St Pierre may be the weaker fighter, the Muscle Shark is strong. The winner of this fight will surely be fighting for the title in about 6 months. I'm looking for St Pierre to improve his status in an incredibly close and technical match up. If you don't know what grappling is all about pay attention to this one!

The Main Events

Welterwieght Championship Match

Matt Hughes (39-4-0) vs Joe (diesel) Riggs (26-6-0)

Champion Matt Hughes will be fighting in his 14th UFC. He is an incredibly decorated collegiate wrestler who has molded himself in to an almost unbeatable MMA monster. Hughes has victories over a who's who of the welterweight class. His trademark slams are a thrill for everyone to see. Riggs is a strong 170 pounder. He used to fight at well over 250. When he steps into the ring at 170 he will look like a body builder. Riggs will come out and throw for the fences, unfortunately I think that is really the only chance he's got. If he lands a clean shot he has the chance to KO anyone, I just don't think he will do it against Hughes. Hughes is one of the best and I don't think anyone out thier can beat him right now. St Pierre gave him a good run for his money but i don't think Riggs will do the same.

Middleweight Championship

Rich "ace" Franklin (20-1-0) vs Nate "rock" Quarry (14-1-0)

Franklin is coming of wins against MMA legend Ken Shamrock and his title earning performance over Evan Tanner. Franklin is a well rounded fighter who prefers to keep it up and strike. Quarry will be more than happy to accomodate Franklin's style of striking. Coming from team Quest Quarry should be in tremendous shape in body and mind. He will need all of that to defeat Franklin. I like both of these fighters but this is my big upset pick of the night. I think Quarry will shock everyone with an upset victory over Franklin. Quarry has come out and say that he believes Franklin has a weak chin, I don't know that I agree with him but we will surely find out on Saturday.

Happy UFC'ing.

SPORTS NEWSFLASH!!!!!!!!!!

2005-11-08T11:27:00.000-06:00

In an incredibly foreseeable turn of events........Terrell Owens is an ASS!

This should be the longest story we should have to read about Terrell.

The Ultimate Results

2005-11-06T11:43:00.000-06:00

Last night brought the culmination of the Ultimate Fighter, Season 2. In the finale, only the 3rd live MMA event on cable television, we saw 4 good bouts. We also missed the undercard which looked to be pretty good as well.

The UnderCard

Keith Jardine TKO victory over Kerry Schall
Jardine ended Schall's road to recovery at 3:28 of round number 2 with multiple low kicks to the thigh. An effective and, in my opinion, underused weapon in MMA.

Melvin Guillard TKO victory over Marcus Davis
many felt that Guillard would only try to take Davis down. He has better striking than people give him credit for. The Doctor stepped in and stopped the fight due to cuts at 2:55 of the 2nd round.

Josh Burkman KO victory over Sammy Morgan
In a quick 21 seconds Burkman ended the fight with a vicious slam which left Morgan out for the count. So to speak.

Kenny Florian SUB victory over Kit Cope
Although Florian did seem to be the weaker man he was able to be effective on the ground and control the action, especially in the 2nd round. His BJJ is excellent and that led him to victory. I still feel like he would be very dominant at 155 instead of 170. He was able to gain the mount, strike effectively forcing Cope to roll over. he then tookCope's back and sunk in a rear naked choke at 37 seconds of round number 2.

Joe Stevenson DEC victory over Luke Cummo
This was a good technical fight. They were back and forth the entire match. And, while I felt Stevenson won every round that is not to say that this fight was one sided.

Stevenson was crowned The Ultimate Welter Weight and earned a 6 figure contract and all that goes with that.

Rashad Evans DEC victory over Brad Imes
This was an incredibly interesting fight. Brad Imes controlled the majority of the action but 2 times Rashad was able to land big blows and send Imes to the mat. Since the UFC scores rounds similar to boxing this enabled Evans to gain the victory. Had this been a PRIDE match where you don't score the rounds but the fight in it's entirety we may have seen a different decision. I personally thought Evans won the fight either way. He proved his heart in this fight and when it seemed he was about to be finished he was able to dig deep and pull through.

Rashad Evans was crowned The Ultimate Heavy-Weight

The Main Event

Diego Sanchez DEC victory over Nick Diaz
I will say it again, Diego takes you down, Diego pummels you! Although he was unable to end this fight with Diaz he did completely dominate the ground. For those who don't like or understand the grappling side of MMA Diego would be a good one to watch. Normally when you are in the guard position it is fairly nuetral. When Diego is in someone's guard he is constantly active, up, down, striking. Making it nearly impossible for a submission expert like Diaz to work anything. Diaz is a tough fighter and while I thought he was dominated he did do an excellent job not getting KO'd by the stronger fighter. There were some moments where Diaz controlled the fight, mostly in the stand up. Ultimately Diego was able to take Diaz down at will and remain active the entire fight.

All in all itwas a great night of fights. They were all very active and if you are new and go a chance to watch I'm sure you enjoyed. If you did not you can continue to check listings on SPIKE TV, they will replay it. Hopefully they will air the undercard soon as well.

Ultimate Fight Night Live

2005-11-05T12:48:00.000-06:00

Tongiht on SPIKE TV we will witness the 3rd installment of Ultimate Fight Night Live. The event will feature the 2 championship matches of the 2nd season of the Ultimate Fighter 2 as well as 5 other match ups. Only 4 of the 7 matches are scheduled to air but with a little luck, or more appropriately, with a couple of early KO's they will go back and show the pre-card fights.

Pre-Card Fights
Josh Burkman vs Sammy Morgan
I think Burkman will win this fight. Sammy looked good in his semi-final bout with Luke Cummo but I don't think he will repeat that. I look for this fight to end in the 1st round with these to coming right at each other.

Melvin Guillard vs Marcus Davis
This should be an excellent match as well, to guys who love to slug it out. Melvin was my early pick to win the welterweight division. He suffered a broken hand early in his first fight. Although he finished the fight he was virtually ineffective with the broken hand and lost by decision. Marcus also lost during this season of The Ultimate Fighter. At that time he had stated he would not fight again. Let's hope that isn't true, he's got heavy hands and he likes to go straight ahead. A quality that brings us the exciting knock outs we love so much.

Keith Jardine vs Kerry Schall
Jardine was picked by many to win the heavyweight division. In all honesty the heavyweights were extremely dissapointing all season. None of them seem to have the heart and desire it takes to drive someone into this type of sport. I look for Jardine to get back on track in this fight. He has been on some big stages before, KOTC and the likes. Who knows what Schall will bring to this fight. We didn't get much of a look at him during the show as he was eliminated due to a knee injury. He's a large man at 265 with a wrestling background and KO power. We'll see if he can bring something to the ring.

Main Card

Kenny Florian vs Kit Cope
Cope has a long list of credentials and is looking to add "UFC winner" to them in his 1st trip to the Octagon. Kenny Florian was the runner up to Diego Sanchez in The Ultimate Fighter season 1. I like Kenny as a fighter but I still believe he should be fighting at 155. He just seems small to me. he was overpowered easily in season 1 by Diego and Chris Leben. I think he will be overpowered again. I look for Cope to win this fight early.

The Ultimate Fighter Final - Welterweights
Luke Cummo vs Joe Stevenson
The is a classic UFC type match up. Luke Cummo is a natural striker and seemed to emerge as a fan favorite during the show. Luke, at 1st, appears to be someone you would find reading in a library. He is quiet and unassuming to see. Once he steps in the ring he is throwing for the fences. He knocked out Sammy Morgan for the shot at the final and the UFC contract. Joe Stevenson is a natural grappler. At 5'7'' he was the shortest of the competetors. He was able to take down his opponents and pummel him. Classic striker vs grappler match up. I have to lean toward Luke if they stay standing and Joe if it goes to the ground. I think Luke will win this fight.

The Ultimate Fighter Final - Heavyweights
Rashad Evans vs Brad Imes
Rashad has been impressive during the show, he was the 1 heavyweight who seems to have that drive that will enable him to get to the next level. he will need that drive against the MUCH bigger Brad Imes. Although the size advantage highly favors Imes I believe we will see an upset here. If Imes comes in with the effort of his last fight I don't believe it will be enough. Rashad needs to come in with a fast pace and try to take this into the later rounds.

The Main Event
Diego Sanchez vs Nick Diaz
These 2 just don't like each other which should make for a great fight. Sanchez is coming off a UFC victory and his season 1 Championship. As I have stated before....Diego steps in the ring, Diego takes you down, Diego pummels you till they stop the fight. He has done it every time. Nick Diaz is someone who most feel is in line for a title shot with Matt Hughes. He does not feel he should even be fighting someone like Diego, and he sure doesn't like the fact that Diego will be bringing in more money due to the popularity of the Ultimate Fighter and his Championship 6 figure contract with the UFC. They have similar styles and should have a similar approach to this fight. All in all I think Diego will win the fight.

Have a great night, the fights start at 9pm EST on SPIKE TV. Be sure and tune in.

and now for something completely different

2005-11-01T15:11:00.000-06:00

The Larch.

So I took a night off from watching the fights to head down to the NIN concert. I am very glad I did! What a great show that was.

I landed a couple tickets in a luxury suite from a work contact and took a friend of mine who is a huge fan. So we ate some steaks and had someone drop us off downtown. Being that this was a concert on a Monday night combined with it being Halloween we figured we'd just take a cab home. Don't drink and drive kids!

The opening band was absolutely terrible, couldn't understand a word the guy was screaming. Queen's of the Stone Age came out 2nd and did a show worthy of a headliner. I would have been content just to see them. They sound much better live than they do on their CD. Nine Inch Nails was incredible. Great sound, great feel. A few visual effects thrown in here and there. Plenty of freaks wondering around at the GEC. Guys in dresses, black clothes as far as the eye could see. Goth!

Where else can someone see Neil Diamond and NIN 2 weeks apart? Gotta love Nashvegas!!!!!!!!!!

We will now get you back to regularly scheduled blog.

The Ultimate Explaination

2005-10-28T17:31:00.001-06:00

This is for Aunt B. She approached me at the blogger gathering and asked if I was the ultimate fighting blogger guy. Or something like that. then she proceeded to ask me why the fighters where gloves, apparantly that is kind of sissy! We briefly discussed this but I will now go through the whole scenario as well as I know it. Some of this may not be 100%, just my understanding of what has happened in the UFC.

Late 1993 the 1st UFC began. At the time it was called The Ultimate Fighting Challenge. the format was 8 fighters in a tounrament. In order to win you would need to win 3 fights. These fights were 1 round, no time limit. The rules were simple, no repeated kicks to the groin. (the key word there is repeated, can you say repeated?) I was fortunate to live in Denver, CO at the time where the event was held. Being a travel agent for the cheapest company in the world I bought the $12 ticket in the upper level of McNichols arena. Luckily no one had heard of the UFC, only about 1600 people showed up and I ended up in the 16th row! If you happen to rent this video you can see me standing up in the background as Royce Gracie is presented his check.
The Gracie family, legendary in MMA, created the UFC to bring their sport to the United States. The Gracies maintain that in a 'real' fight, no rules and no holds barred, their family is undefeated! With all organizations now having rounds and a few rules they are able to maintain this fact, although it is highly disputed everywhere they go. I think he's pretty damn good. People have called me crazy. Oh well.

Important notes about the 1st couple of UFC's. They were held in states without an athletic commision and a strong boxing presence.
With the optional shoes and gloves, the stomps to the head and the no holds barred philosophy the athletic commisions would not allow the sport to be held in there state. But the Gracie's were well on their way to brining their art to the US, gyms popping up all over the country.

We now fast forward to 1997 (ish). The UFC comes under new ownership and management. The old goal of Gracie family success - Attained! The new goal - let's make some damn money.

Dana White, current head of the UFC has had a lot to do with the a lot, if not all, the changes in the UFC as of late. In order to make the money they had to get into cities like Vegas and Atlantic City. The went away from the complete no holds barred and made a few minor adjustments to protect the fighters.
#1 Gloves - all fighter wear 4oz gloves. If you've ever boxed (12-18oz gloves) you know that 4oz is like nothing. This is why you get quicker and cleaner KO's in MMA fights.
#2 No kicking a down opponent - Is what it sounds like, if your opponent is down, on a knee or laying down you can't kick or stomp him. (You can still do this in PRIDE, held in Japan).
#3 Rounds - The UFC has gone through several versions of rounds, numbers and length. The current, and more than likely permanent, format is 3 - 5 minute rounds for a normal fight and 5 - 5 minute rounds for a championship fight.
#4 No low blows - hopefully no explaination is needed here!
#5 In addition to the gloves all competitors are required to wear a cup - hopefully no explaination is needed here either! (trust me ladies)

Those are the most noted changes in the format. Since making the changes the UFC's success has been incredible. This year saw a reality show on SPIKE TV and the 1st live MMA fight in US history. A great night of fighting which crowned the 1st 2 "Ultimate Fighters" and 1of the best fights in the history of MMA. Stephan Bonner and Forrest Griffin went toe to toe for 3 solid rounds. If you don't know what this MMA is all about that would be a great fight to find on the web and watch. Talk about a warrior spirit from 2 classy fighters with a ton of respect for each other.

Well Aunt B, hopefully I've started to answer your questions about why all those sissy's wear gloves! Ask all the questions you want.

Where have you beeeeeeeen?

2005-10-28T17:10:00.000-06:00

Alright alright. Thank you for all the emails asking where I've been. It's flattering. And by flattering I mean borderline creepy! I don't even know some of you people, don't you have lives?

So here's the story......

I've been out of training because I cracked my ribs a while back. Two ribs and a lot of pain! This has haulted all Bruceleeroy activity. Since I was out of my classes and even working out in my dojo away from dojo (the garage) I haven't been blogging. The ribs were cracked at the begining of class while practicing a takedown and a knee bar finish. On the 1st drill I got thrown a little different than expected and landed wrong, then of course my partner landed right on my ribs. it felt bad but with all the adrenaline flowing I just thought I knocked the wind out of myself. Finished the drills, finished the class and the sparring afterward. When I got home and had a chance to relax I realized that I could barely breath! It's my hobby and I love doing it but it can be dangerous to even learn this sport.

What have you all missed in my absence......
Several episodes of the Ultimate Fighter, 2PRIDES, 1 UFC and an FFC.
FFC- Me and some of the boys went down to Tunica for a weekend of gambling, fighting and anything else that cannot be repeated since it needs to stay there! The tournament was great, good fights with 1 pretty solid knockout and several submissions. I got to meet Jorge Gurgel from The Ultimate Fighter. Mr Roboto and some of the TNF crew missed out on the Bruceleeroy hookup, ringside seats baby!!!!!
UFC - As I've said before, Andrei Arlovsky looks as though he cannot be beat. The guys an animal. He fought in the main event with Paul Buentello, someone who is known for having a good chin..... 1 punch later he was drooling like a teething baby! Something like 16seconds into the 1st round Andrei proved his superiority.
PRIDE - We've had 2 PRIDE's since I've been gone. A middleweight tournament and a lightweight tournament that went very well. 1 night with 2 tournaments, great night. This past Monday i watched another PRIDE that was a little lacking, unfortunately this happens from time to time. The ref stopped 2 fights a little early in my opinion. MMA has no standing 8 count and no break for a knockdown so the fighter is supposed to be finished completely. It's difficult to fault a ref who's only mistake was thinking that the fighter was really hurt, it happens.

Other than that it has been work and rest. Being out of class is driving me crazy!!!!!!! So I haven't felt like blogging. Tonight I will work out for the 1st time, if all goes well I should be back in class on Tuesday!

Vote for Stacey!

2005-09-11T15:03:00.000-06:00

Do me a fovor and go vote for my good friend Stacey. She's a wonderful girl trying to break through in this contest. She's a huge MMA fan and a very special person. (Plus I've been trying to get her to marry me for about 6 months!)

You can vote for Stacey at www.ktfo.tv/kog/kogirls.asp

Go Dolphins!!

2005-09-11T14:20:00.000-06:00

So the Dolphins have been my favorite team for ever. I did dis-own them at the end of the 03 season when they chose to keep Dave Wannestad as their head coach. Then the whole Ricky Williams thing happened and I really didn't follow them last year. But Wannestad is now gone and the ricky thing is hopefully over so I sat down and watched them today for the 1st time in over a year. Plus I hate the Broncos so I had to see if they could beat the crap out of them.

And beat the crap otu of them they did! The Dolphin defense looked superb shutting down that offense. Gus Frerotte did a pretty solid job at the QB spot. The running game is still lacking and the recievers dropped a couple of balls but they were an underdog in this game and came out with the big "W" against the team I hate most. They can lose all other games this year and I'll still be talking about this one!

To all my friends back in Denver and WY who are Bronco fans...............

HA!

HBO Boxing After Dark

2005-09-11T10:28:00.000-06:00

Saturday Night was a night for 2 great fights. Eric Morales squared off against Zahir Raheem right after Manny Pacquiao fought Hector Velazquez.

Manny Pacquiao 40-3-2 w/ 31 ko's Vs. Hector Velazquez 42-11-2 w/ 31ko's
This fight was a terrific one. They came out and traded blows for the 6 rounds it lasted. The normal firecracker start from Pacquiao was extinguished by a fully charged Velazquez. Velazquez seemed to have Pacquiao in trouble several times during the 1st couple rounds. Pacquiao, a true warrior of boxing, came back and ultimately knocked Velazquez down at the end of the 6th round. He was able to get to his feet before the 10 count ended and as the round ended with the 10 count he was going to get a chance for a break. Lou Moret, referee for the evening, watched as Velazquez staggered back to his corner and he ultimately called the fight. Manny Pacquiao won by TKO.

With phase one of the ultimate plan excicuted successfully it was time for Morales to come into the ring and do what he does best to set up the big pay day for Morales vs. Pacquiao II. But, in an error of judgement but the management, nobody gave Zahir Raheem the script!

Eric Morales 48-3 w/ 34 ko's Vs. Zahir Raheem 26-1 w/ 16 ko's

Morales was to go out and do what he does best to set up this rematch. Throughout most of his carreer Morales has seemed to out class everyone. His 3 losses came in some of the best boxing to ever be seen. This opponent was to get outclassed like the rest. As I said before, apparently nobody told Raheem about the plan. Zahir Raheem was a young standout and had a good chance for gold in the Olympics on our home soil in Atlanta. he lost a tough match and never seemed to recover. Last night the recovery took place in full force. In unbelievable fashion Raheem was able to do to Morales what nobody has done. Raheem dominated Morales. final punch stat numbers showed him landing double the punches. There were times in the fight when Raheem would land 7-8 unanswered punches as Morales couldn't seem to get anything going. All three judges saw the fight in favor of Raheem by a couple of rounds in a fight that could have seen every round go against Morales. He got dominated in this fight, I couldn't believe my eyes.

If Raheem gets to go on now and face Pacquiao in what was to be Manny's chance for revenge against Morales it may be another impressive night. Raheem's control of Morales does not look to be in good favor for Pacquiao. Watch out Manny, that guys good!

Are you ready for some Football

2005-09-10T20:45:00.000-06:00

Wahoo, in addition to being a huge fight fan. I loves my football. Grew up playing, eating, sleeping and living football. My book reports in school - football. My senior project - football. My girlfriend - not a football oddly enough!
The NFL Ticket will be in the hizzouse for shizzle tomorrow! Cooking up the nachos, drinkin some beer. Scream at the refs "hey you #$^#$#$%^@ that's a lousy call." Did a little bit of that today for the college games.

Word Verification

2005-09-10T12:47:00.000-06:00

Regular readers and commentors will notice a word verification when entering a comment. I am getting a lot of unwanted spam comments. That sucks! So I am sorry you have to go through an extra step but they'll spam anyway they can't won't they?

The Ultimate Fighter 2

2005-09-08T18:46:00.000-06:00

On Monday's installment of The Ultimate Fighter we got to take our 1st look at the heavyweights. Brad Imes and fought Rob MacDonald.

During the entire episode Rob was whining about his shoulder being hurt but kept insisting he would not use it as an excuse, then he'd mention his shoulder again. He went to his coach, Welterwieght champ Matt Hughes and discussed the injury. Matt let Rob know what a lot of fighters, or people who compete on some level, it is extremely rare to go into a competition 100%. If you choose to fight you should get in there and fight. He choose to go into the ring and fight for his right to stay. Very admiral but his choice would prove to be an unfortunate one.

He seemed to be controlling the action when he was able to gain postion and sink in a Guillitine Choke, which would require a lot of strength from that injured shoulder. He qas quickly defeated after sinking the choke and having his shoulder give out on him. In the end he had his a lot of damage to his shoulder and arm. Part of his bicep muscle tore from the shoulder and balled up in the middle of his arm. Looked pretty nasty!

OK, if you are any kind of professional athlete you need to understand the difference between being hurt or being injured. if you are hurt you can still compete, if you are injured you cannot. If you are hurt you need to tape an aspirin to it and move on. In the immortal words of my high school football coach, "Bruceleeroy! Why are you complaining about that broken rib, you have like 13 more!? Get in there and hit someone!" Although on some level you have to be responsible to yourself. Men are proud and stubborn to a fault. Rob showed a tremendous amount of heart that many would not, but in this case he may have caused some perminant damage to himself. I truly hope not.

It was also learned in the begining of this episode we also learned that not only did Melvin Guillard break his hand in the losing effort against Josh Burkman, but Burkman also ended up out. Josh Burkman broke his elbow blocking a kick from Melvin. Now Burkman is out as well. I am sorry to hear about all these injuries during this season. It would kill me to get that far in a competition and be eliminated by an injury instead of by getting knocked out far and square.

FFC XVI

2005-09-05T15:14:00.000-06:00

The FFC is comking back to Tunica and I'll be there again. There are rumors that some of the TNF crew will be heading down there with me which could make for an interesting weekend to say the least. This tournament, held on September 24th at The Grand Casino, will feature the 170 lbers, 8 of them to be exact. More than likely they will also announce 1 or 2 superbouts to give the fighters time to rest between rounds of the tournament. The 8 fighters who are competing in the tournament break down like this....

Kurt Pellegrino 8-1-0 Miami, Florida As member of the vaunted American Top Team, you can expect Pellegrino to be among the best prepared fighters in the tournament. He has trained with some of the finest Jiu-jitsu fighters in the including Renzo Gracie and Richardo Almieda, and had his boxing skills honed former Olympic Gold Medallist and World Champion Howard Davis.

Jake “Man of Steel” Short 9-7-0 Detroit, MI. Former AAU Greco Roman All American, Short is one of the gamest fighters in the 170lb division. A three time FFC Veteran, Short has faced the pressure of a big fight and has a great style to go deep into the tournament. Solid wrestling skills and an ever-improving striking game.

Chris Conley 1-1 Birmingham, AL. One of the most well rounded fighters in the tournament. Conley feels comfortable on his feet as well as on the ground. He is constantly looking for a way to finish the fight and that makes him one of the most exciting fighters you will ever see.

Derek Keasley 2-0 Detroit, MI. Another tough young fighter from the Motor City. Trained by Mash Team Founder James Lee, Keasley comes in well versed in wrestling, submissions and Muay Thai Kickboxing. Great athlete, very durable.

Dustin Hazellett 2-0 Cincinnati, OH. Haslett burst onto the pro scene last June by scoring an impressive victory over the heavily regarded Jason Ireland. Making the victory more amazing was the fact that he choked out a notoriously great ground fighter in the first round. Fast finishing skills are a must for a tournament fighter, and Haslett has definitely got them.

John David Shackleford 6-0 Memphis, TN Temporarily put his fighting career on hold to compete in Sport Jiu-jitsu tournaments. Years of specific submission training at the famed Memphis Judo and Jiu-jitsu academy have honed his skills and many consider him to be the best pure submission artist in the tournament.

Nick Thompson 17-8-1 Minneapolis, MN. Thompson has moved down from the 185lb division. Thompson won the FFC Middleweight Tournament held last September at Caesars Indiana and you can bet that the experience gained there will be valuable. A solid striker with a wrestling background at 170 pounds he could be a terror.

Victor Moreno 7-3 Desmoine, IA. Like Thompson, he recently moved down from the 185lb division. A strong grapple who finishes 60% of his fights via submission. He is a veteran of the midwest fight circuit so he is no stranger to a tough fight.

Figher bios obtained from www.FFC.tv

It's difficult to find solid information on these up and coming fighters. I will go with Jake Short in this tournament just because I believe he's been in the ring/cage with a better group of fighters. Short has a notable win over TUF 2's Melvin Guillard and a notable loss against TUF 1 champ Diego Sanchez. Nick Thompson should be in there in the end as well. His most notable win comes against Brian Gassaway (loser to Diego Sanchez in UFC 54), Thompson has kept himself incredibly busy this year with 10 fights already, posting a 7-3 record since January 2005.

This guy thinks they deserved it?

2005-09-04T07:50:00.000-06:00

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina we here stories of people all over the world pitching in to help. We here stories of fat cat oil companies making large profits even though our government has got their eye out for price gouging. (Hey Mr Government, if your looking for price gouging I know it's hard to find but let me give you a hint.....THERE'S ONE ON EVERY CORNER!!!! It's kind of surprizing that the people of the fast food industry missed out on the whole mad cow thing, why didn't they raise the price of burgers 30-40%??? Not very smart, beef prices did go up? But back to my story.) I now have heard stories of how the people of New Orleans and LA deserved it. WHAT? You read right. Here in the middle of this terrible tragedy someone from the Christian Right has said the unthinkable. "this act of God destroyed a wicked city." At www.repentamerica.com/pr_hurricanekatrina.html you can find a loving report on how the people of New Orleans have let the gays have festivals such as Southern Decadence. There are many other articles that show why God did this. It's good to know there are still people out there who can explain why God does things. Unfortunately Charlie Manson is locked up, he used to tell us what God was doing and why but we can't here him anymore. Bummer!

A question for this great Christian. If God destroyed New Orleans for a bunch of wickedness and sin where gays can go and be happy......Why does Vegas still stand? San Francisco? Any major city? Better yet how about the countries in Africa where dictators are killing hundreds of thousands? (As far as I know 'the gays' aren't killing people by the hundreds of thousands) Didn't God consider the fact that the people who live in New Orleans, the people he CHOOSE to wipe out, aren't the people who participated in these parades? Aren't those people usually tourist?

All in all there are many people in this world doing horrible things to other people yet this country seems to focus on 'the gays'. Imagine if we spent as much time focusing on education or drugs or gangs? What could we accomplish?

The new guys in class

2005-09-04T07:27:00.000-06:00

With McKenna's departure and a week to recover from not having her around I decided to get my but back into class. I hadn't been in almost 4 weeks. Since I've been out there are some new faces. If it's one thing about Nashville MMA it's the fact that they do an excellent job of not only recruiting but keeping people coming. They really do a good job of making everyone feel welcome. The class size seems to grow every time I go. Normally I'm by far the biggest one in the class. Back in April when I started I was 270 with some weight to lose! Now walking around at 230 with a little more to go. The majority of the people in the class are under 200 which has saved me in a lot of matches with more experience people. I could simply overpower the other people. There was one guy who's been coming for about 2 weeks now and he's about the same size as I am. The other guy that started on Wednesday is about 6ft 7 inches and told me he weighed 340. He's pretty damn big. Although he's new at BJJ he has been taking Judo and moves pretty well for a guy his size, once he gets on top of you it's hard to do anything with him! It's great to finally have people my size to spar with, everytime he's there I am going to try and match up with him. Hopefully he does not kill me!

A $10 bottle of ketchup!

2005-08-31T20:32:00.000-06:00

While in the wake of one of our nation's worst, if not THE worst, natural disasters in history the stories of the rich getting richer are already. We do get the feel good stories of neighbors helping neighbors and our military and cival servicemen rescueing and helping save lives but while all this is going on the rich are getting richer. It breaks down like this.
Rich people #1
In some way or another about 10% of the United State's oil comes through or from New Orleans. Gas prices leaped 15-20% with threats of much much more by this weekend. The repairs to the equipment should be complete in 3 days to a week and the majority of that 10% will be restored. Do you think the gas prices will be restore. If you do I don't know what to tell you but YOUR WRONG! The gas prices are out of control, I make pretty decent money and they are going to affect me before long. I'd hate to be a minimum wage earned and have to come up with an extra $20-40 just to get to work.
Rich People #2
The insurance companies are already chomping at the bit. I've always found it funny how you can pay for insurance month in and month out and then once something happens and you think your covered the rates go up to compensate the people who were supposed to be insuring you. What a scam!

About a month ago there was a USA made for TV movie called Oil Storm. in this movie a hurricane hits New Orleans, taking down the rigs and pipelines and gas prices go through the roof. Hitting $5-7 dollars very quickly.

I wouldn't be surprized to find out that the oil companies paid for this movie to prepare us. Do you think someone in Hollywood had the incredible forsite to see this coming, doubtful!

If, big IF, gas prices do go to just $5 a gallon it would take a pretty average car with a 12 gallon tank $60 instead of today's $33.60 (based on $2.80). If you fill up once a week that over $100 extra per month. Think about all the people you work with, how many do you think could comfortably afford that? This is not even taking into consideration filling up a truck or SUV. I may never drive my truck again!

I say all that to say that our current government will not be coming to the rescue anytime soon. If John Kerry had been elected president and Ketchup prices rose to $10 per bottle he'd have been shot.

It's a good thing Bush is in office, what would we have done if the gays and lesbians were getting married. We may have some kind of crisis on our hands!

Thue Ultimate Fighter

2005-08-29T22:09:00.000-06:00

Argh! I was so excited when Team Franklin choose to challenge Melvin Guillard for the elimination this week. Melvin has been my pick from the start, last week! Josh Burkman, his opponent, is a solid fighter with well rounded skills but I thought Melvin would be able to handle him. In Melvin's own words, he choked. he got to the big dance and froze. He did well the 1 or 2 times he threw a punch in the fight but he never followed through with anything. He definately did not deserve to win and the decision was unanimous from the judges. All in all it was a fairly boring fight. Burkman was noticably tired but Melvin would NOT move forward to attack. There was a comment about him breaking his hand with a big punch he threw but there are other weapons in his arsonel.

Overall I was pretty dissapointed in his performance. Maybe he will get a chance to shine in the finale?

PRIDE Final Conflict 2005

2005-08-28T10:18:00.000-06:00

So it's the morning of PRIDE and since I was lazy all day yesterday I have not put my picks out there yet. Tonights event is featuring 7 fights including 2 championships, the heavyweight title is on the line and there is a 4 man tournament to decide the 205lb division.

Here is how I think it will play out.

In the 1st round of the 4 man tournament we should see a couple of great fights with a lot of action.

Wanderlei Silva (BRA) vs. Ricardo Arona (BRA)
Silva has been at the top of thePRIDE food chain for quite some time. He did lose for the 1st time earlier this year and I think he will get back on track with this fight.

Maricio "Shogun" Rua (BRA) vs Alistair Overeem (HOL)
Another great match up. Overeem has won his last 3 fights all in the 1st round by guillitine choke. His height and takedown defense have given him the chance to land this submission often and with precision. I see Overeem winning this fight. This would probably be an upset in most people's eyes but I think Overeem will have a big night tonight.

The Championship Match - ? vs ?
This is a little odd because if one of my picks do not with this next fight may not even happend. The winner of those 2 fights will fight for the title. The way I have it laid out it will be Silve and Overeem. Bottom line is that I believe Overeem is going to win this whole thing despite the odds against him.

David "Tank" Abbot (USA) vs. Hidehiko Yoshida (JAP)
I don't like Tank Abbot. Yoshido should have zero problems with Tank unless, as many others have, he decides to stand right in front of him. If you don't stand in front of Tank he has nothing, it's that simple! The good ole US of A is not well represented in this installment of PRIDE. Yoshida is giving up a lot of weight and strength in this fight.

Igor Vovchanchyn (UKR) vs Kazuhiro Nakamura (JAP)
This has the makings of a great fight. These guys can both bang and they both have fantastic chins. I am really looking forward to this fight. Although this is a coin flip I'm taking Vovchanchyn for no particular reason.

Fabricio Werdum (BRA/SPA) vs Roman Zentsov (RUS)
I do not know anything about either of these fighters. I got nothin'.

Heavywieght Championship

Fedor Emelianko (RUS) vs Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic (CRO)
Wow Wow Wow. This fight has been in the making for quite some time and now, as they say, IT'S ON! After Cro Cop's last victory he called, in a very respectful manner, Fedor to the ring and challenged him. Emelianko accpeted and.....IT'S ON! I do believe Cro Cop will be victorious even though it will be another upset. At any rate this should be a GREAT fight.

All in all this may be the most anticipated PRIDE for me. A lot of great match ups, this could be a night to remember.

PRIDE vs UFC

2005-08-25T17:16:00.000-06:00

So I am a big fan, if you haven't noticed, of all of the mixed martial arts leagues out there. Some people don't know or understand the differences between these 2 organizations and the people who do know them tend to argue about which one is better and why.

HISTORY

UFC -
The Ultimate Fighting Championship began in 1994, I was lucky enough to be there in Denver when they began, and is basically responsibly for brining MMA to the US and is now making strides to bring it mainstream. The original format was tournament style where if you were to win the championship you would have to fight more than one opponent all in one evening. Back then there was also no time limit and no rounds. By changing to a 1 fight per night format and going to a system with timed rounds, along with some other changes, the UFC has gained more acceptance in the US and is continuing almost every week togain popularity and acceptance.

PRIDE -
PRIDE Fighting Championships began in 1997 and is held in Japan. PRIDE also holds a 1 fight per night format in their Bushido (meaning "way of the warrior") series. PRIDE also holds tournaments over several months to crown a champion in the different weight classes. This style of tournament typically brings 1 fight a night until the last 4 people are determined. In the last round fo the tournament there will be 2 fights and the winner of each will fight on that same night to be declared the champion.

Similarities -
Although both are reffered to as "no holds barred" fighting they each have some rules. Eye gouging, head butts, small joint manipulation (fingers/toes), strikes to the groin or back of the head are all not allowed in either organization. They also do not allow the fighters to hold the ropes/cage at any time. Both organizations have weight classes. (this is not a complete list of rules but you should get the picture.)

Differences -
The 1st and most notable difference between these organizations is that the UFC uses and Cage in the shape of an octagon and PRIDE uses a traditional looking boxing ring. Because of this difference the UFC does not allow kicks to the head or knees to the head of an opponent who is on the ground. A fighter can be pinned against the cage with no give in it and a stomp or kick to the head could result in serious injury. Since PRIDE has ropes the kicks are allowed. Although this is legal in PRIDE they do not allow it if the opponent is face down and in a defensless position. The UFC uses 3, 5 minute rounds for a non-title fight and 5, 5 minute rounds for a title fight. PRIDE uses a 10 minute 1st round followed by 2, 5 minute rounds. UFC is scored just like boxing with judges awarding a score in each round, PRIDE judges give 1 final decision at the end of the fight stating who they feel won. (again, this is not a complete list but those are the big ones.)

What do I like about.....

UFC - The UFC is the big show, they started it all here in the states and I believe on a general level that they bring the best of the best of American fighters. I like the idea of the cage, it has a modern day gladiator feel. They have much better marketing and are begining to branch out to cable television through SPIKE TV and their new reality show.

note - I stated that UFC has the best of American fighters. They allow anyone to fight but the big name international guys seem to go to PRIDE.
Although currently the Heavywieght Champ is Andre Arlovsky, not from the US.

PRIDE - I believe PRIDE has the overall best fighters. A quick glance to the UFC roster will show you a majority of Americans, quick glance on PRIDE's roster will show the opposite. PRIDE uses a red card system for no action. Basically, if the fighters are stalling for any reason in the referee's opinion he will issue a red card, when that happens the fighter loses 10% of his money for the fight. This definately makes for some great fights. I think PRIDE is a little slower to offer another fight to someone who doesn't entertain the crowd with action.

Overall Summary -
You know I like them both. That said I enjoy the show that PRIDE puts on just a little more. They tend to have a little more action and the crowd seems to get into it a little more. It's no secret that martial arts fighting is more accepted in Japan than the US. It's like the difference between college and pro football. UFC is the big show and has the big names, if you love MMA you gotta watch it. PRIDE brings lesser known fighters (here in the states anyway) and tends to have a little more action and excitement.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 2

2005-08-23T15:55:00.000-06:00

Last night on SPIKE TV was the release of the 2nd season of The Ultimate Fighter. If you'll remember from last year it features up and coming fighters for a chance at a 6 figure, 3 year deal with the UFC. This season features the Welterwieghts (170 lbers) and Heavyweights (205+). Last season I was able to pick the winners in both categories going with Deigo Sanchez and Forrest Griffin. I've done my research and I've got my picks for this season.........
Welterwieght - Melvin Guillard
I've saw Melvin fight in Tunica last February where he earned the right to fight for the FFC Championship, I'm sure that's on the back burner due to this opportunity. He is very heavy handed and not afraid to fight on the ground. I think he is well rounded enough to take this to the next level.

Heavyweight - Mike Whitehead
Now I must be honest, this pick is a little bit of me thinking he is the best fighter and a little bit of me wanting to watch someone from my home state win this thing. I've always believed us Oregon boys are just tougher. (so there) As you'll see in Mikes Bio he hails from southern Oregon, he actually went to my rival high school.

Joe Stevensen - Welterweight
The Victorville, CA native and current resident was an all-state wrestler at Silverado, High School just outside of Los Angeles. The 23 year-old has been competing in mixed martial arts since he was 16 and has a current professional record of 24-6. He has held 5 MMA titles in various weight-classes ranging from 155 to 205. Currently a forklift operator, Joe has two kids, Joey (4 years old) and Tyler (2 years old), and lives with his girlfriend Maria who is a lawyer and female boxer.

Jorge Gurgel - Welterweight
Born and raised in Fortaleza, Brazil, Jorge moved to the U.S. eight years ago when he was 20 to pursue his career in mixed martial arts. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu expert is also quite the academic as he received a prestigious scholarship, awarded to only 50 of 14,000 applicants, to study in his native Brazil. After two years of study, he moved to the United States to attend Wright St. University to study international business. Currently living in suburban Cincinnati, Jorge runs seven gyms in the Midwest including ones in Columbus, Dayton, and his main gym in Middletown, OH. Jorge, who is fluent in Portuguese and Spanish, trains with The Ultimate Fighter coach Rich Franklin and The Ultimate Fighter Season I participant, Josh Rafferty.

Anthony Torres - Welterweight
The pride of Hawaii, Anthony is currently a federal corrections officer at a prison in Oahu. The 26 year-old is a member of the prison SWAT Team and is a self defense instructor for the other guards. Anthony was a state wrestling champion in the 198lbs weight class at Roosevelt High School in Honolulu and was among the state’s premier power-lifters. He has been participating in mixed martial arts for the past six years and has a current professional record of 3-0. Anthony attended Chaminade University and is a big fan of the hit series CSI (currently airing on CBS and Spike TV).

Melvin Guillard - Welterweight
The son of a Baptist Minister, Melvin grew up in suburban New Orleans and was a wrestling state champion in the 152lb class at Bonnabel High School in 2002. Voted Best athlete in his high school, Melvin was also a star football player, terrorizing opposing offenses as an outside linebacker. A graduate of Colby College in Kansas with a degree in Criminal Law, he currently works in the family contracting business. Melvin has a 36-2-3 professional MMA record and is inspired by his fiancé, Brittney.

Josh Burkman - Welterweight
Josh was a triple-threat athlete at Cottonwood High School in Salt Lake City making all-state in football (running back), baseball (third baseman), and wrestling (171 lb division). He went to play running back for Dixie State College. To pursue his dream of becoming a UFC champion, Josh moved to Oregon to train with Randy Couture and Team Qwest. He currently has a 14-2 record and dreams to one day open up his own MMA gym.

Marcus Davis - Welterweight
The former pro boxer is no stranger to television, as he fought on ESPN2’s Friday Night Fights while competing for 10 years and compiling a 10-1 record. The 32 year-old native of Bangor, Maine, proudly wears a kilt as a tribute to his Irish heritage. Marcus is a manager of multiple bars and taverns in Maine and is a twice-divorced father to three children. The self-described computer geek is a Star Wars aficionado and lists his favorite movie is the cult classic, “Boondock Saints.”

Sammy Morgan - Welterweight
The Minneapolis, Minnesota native wrestled at Roosevelt High School and attended Denwoody Technical School. The 23 year-old trains in Bloomington for the past 7 years and has current MMA record of 16-5. He currently works as a landscaper and bouncer at a local Minneapolis bar. His favorite movies are “Gladiator” and “The Legend of Josey Wales.”

Kenny Stevens - Welterweight (eliminated day 1)
A butcher by trade, the 23 year-old lives in Slidell, Louisiana with his wife and baby son, Kaden. Kenny was a two-sport star at Ware High School in suburban New Orleans in football (fullback, middle linebacker) and baseball (first baseman). He attended the University of Mississippi for one year and competed in the Kenpo Karate Nationals in 1999. Kenny is also friends with Houston Astros’ pitcher, Roy Oswalt.

Luke Cummo - Welterweight
The 25 year-old Taoist is from New Hyde Park, Long Island and is a graduate of Chaminade High School. He graduated Nassau Community College with a degree in Biology. He currently has a 4-1 professional MMA record and trains with UFC contender Matt Serra. The Bruce Lee fan lists “Sin City” among his favorite movies.

HEAVYWEIGHTS
Rob Macdonald
Rob fulfilled one his dreams in life by becoming a police officer and serving for the past 1 ½ years in his native Mississauga, Ontario. The only Canadian citizen on The Ultimate Fighter Season II, Rob was a nationally ranked wrestler at St. Charles College (high school) in Ontario and also excelled on the football and track teams. He graduated Western Ontario University with degrees in English and Psychology. The 26 year-old has been participating in MMA for three years and trains with Team Tomkins. His current professional MMA record is 3-0. The Toronto Raptors fan is inspired by his father and former railway engineer, Ranald, who passed away. His cousin, Miranda, stars on the cable series, “Degrassi Junior High: The New Class.”
Keith Jardine
Keith previously worked as a real life bounty-hunter for a bail bondsman in Canoga Park, California. The 29 year-old has a 9-1-1 professional MMA record and lives and trains in Albuquerque, New Mexico with among others, Season I middleweight champion, Diego Sanchez. Keith also was a professional boxer with a 3-0-1 record, and professional kickboxer with a 1-0 record. He was a two-sport star in high school, city champion in wrestling in the heavyweight class and All-City Football as linebacker. He attended Pierce College in Los Angeles before playing defensive line at New Mexico Highlands University. The foreign films buff is a big fan of the Coen Brothers.

Kerry Schall (Hurt and out, day 1)
The 33 year-old is the elder statesman for Season II of The Ultimate Fighter. The Kankakee, Illinois native was a football and wrestling star at Herscher High School outside of Chicago. After graduating from the University of Cincinnati with a degree in electrical engineering, he spent the next seven years out of the sports arena as a service engineer at a plastics company. One random night he was talked into competing in an MMA fight in Cincinnati and Kerry knocked out his opponent in 14 seconds. Kerry became hooked and began training to hone his natural MMA talents. Six years later this father of two has a 19-6 professional MMA record and trains with The Ultimate Fighter coach Rich Franklin and Season I participant, Josh Rafferty.

Brad Imes
The 6’7 Columbia, Mo. native has only been participating in MMA for the last nine months and already has a 3-0 professional record. Brad played offensive tackle for the University of Missouri and was a starter his senior year. He went on to play professionally for the Arena Football League’s Iowa Barnstormers. The former Strength Coach for the University of Missouri and Texas Christian University football teams, Brad is a loan officer in Sacramento. In his spare time he is an outdoorsman and enjoys hunting.

Seth Petruzelli
The Cape Coral, Florida native was a three-sport star in high school -- All-State centerfielder on the baseball team, All-State wrestler at 215lbs., and threw the shot put and discus on the track team. Seth is a graduate of The University of Central Florida with a degree in Psychology. He began studying karate at six years old and currently trains MMA at one of the legendary Gracie Jiu Jitsu schools in Orlando. His professional MMA record is 8-2, and when not training he works in his family’s real estate business.

Mike Whitehead
The 3-time All-American wrestler grew up in Central Point, Oregon and gained collegiate fame on the mat while attending North Idaho Junior College, Southern Oregon University, and the University of Missouri. He graduated with a degree in Education. At Crater High School, Mike was a state champion wrestler in the 189lb division in 1999 and played defensive lineman in football. He has since moved to Iowa to train with the legendary MMA Team Miletich Fighting with The Ultimate Fighter coach Matt Hughes and Season I participant, Sam Hoger.

Tom Murphy
The 30 year-old from Cooperstown, New York was a four-time All-State wrestler in high school was third in the country in the 190lbs. division. Tom, an academic who enjoys classical music and reading Descartes, graduated Summa at SUNY Brockport in Human Psychology. He currently lives in Philadelphia where he works for Rail America. He is married and has four kids ranging from 1 ½ to 7 years old. He trains with Gracie protégé Julie Fernandez and has a professional MMA record of 4-0.

Rashad Evans
The two-time All-State wrestler at Wheatfield High School in Niagara Falls, New York was also a standout football player at running back and safety. He attended Michigan State and wrestled in the 174lb division. Rashad graduated with a degree in Psychology and currently works at a hospital in Lansing, Michigan, where he lives and trains.

Eli Joslin (eliminated, day 1)
The 26 year-old Yosemite, Ca native and Oakland Raiders’ fan played linebacker at Mariposa High School. He currently has a 1-0 professional MMA record and breeds American Bulldogs.

Boiling Point reviews

2005-08-20T22:57:00.000-06:00

So in my own mini vicotory tonigh I was undefeated in my predictions, I've had a rough time this past 2 UFC's. What a gret night of fights tonight, it is definately worth catching a replay if you missed the fight.

Undercard -

James "the sandman" Irvin over Terry "I may not ever wake up" Martin
The 1st round of this bout brought us a dominant performance by Terry Martin, he took down Irvin and controlled the action. He did have a couple of submission attempts but nothing to serious. At the begining of the second round Irvin threw the most devastating flying knee in UFC history, couple that with Martin's attempt at a shot and you have KO city. Martin was out cold, no eyes open and both arms paralized up in the air. I think he now resides somewhere in 1927. That knee will definately be on Ultimate Knockouts Volume 4. (it really should be on there 3 or 4 times)

Trevor Prangley over Travis Lutter
They only showed highlights of this fight in the broadcast but it seems as though Lutter controlled the entire fight. Joe Rogan said a couple of times throughout the broadcast that Lutter was pretty dominant.

Matt "the law" Lindland over Joe Doerkson
Very close 1st round, 2 of the 3 judges scored it for Lindland but I did give it to Doerkson. He came out and tookdown a silver medalist in Lindland, something that few have done with success. He did control the 1st round action and looked like his game plan was going to be pretty solid for the fight. In round number 2 and 3 Lindland did what he does best, take down and control the fight. He was unable to ground and pound the way he typically does and dominate Doerkson but I really didn't expect anything less. Doerkson has been in the cage and in the ring with a lot of top flight people, while I don't think he will win those matches very ofter he is definately tough enough to be there.

Live Broadcast Fights -

Georges "Rush" St Pierre over Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg
In the 1st bout of the evening I was excited to see one of my favorite fighters. St Pierre seems to be a classy guy and he definately brings a great show to the Octagon. St Pierre completely dominated this fight. It started with St Pierre landing a couple blows standing up, Trigg attempted a take down but it was stuffed and reversed with St Pierre ending up on top and in the mount. Trigg could do nothing but roll giving St Pierre his back and then roll back into the mount. Trigg did this for the next couple of minutes while St Pierre landed blows from the mount and atempted submission when given back control. Ultimately St Pierre was able to sinc in a rear naked choke and finish the match in the 1st round. This was a good victory for St Pierre and should put him in line for a rematch with Matt Hughes, which he did ask for after the fight.

Diego "Nightmare" Sanchez over Brian Gassaway
If you read my prediction you already know how this fight went. Quite simply Diego went with his usual game plan and stuck with it. he took Gassaway down, gained the mount position and beat the shit out of him! Gassaway did put up a decent fight, in the 1st round Diego was dominant but could not put Gassaway to rest. I can't believe he was able to stay in that long. The 2nd round saw Diego take 1 pretty big punch, which didn't seem to effect him, and then take Gassaway down again. After gaining the mount Gassaway was forced to tap due to the amount of damage he was taking.

Randy "The Natural" Couture over Mike Van Arsdale
This was Couture's 1st fight that didn't involve a championship belt since 1997, that should speak for itself! Regular readers know that he is my favorite but that should give you a little bit of a hint as to why. He is just a great competitor. In round 1 Couture did control most of the action, he was able to go to the ground and pound type offense and control Van Arsdale. There was a lot of very technical back and forth position battles which were pretty even. Van Arsdale's wrestling background is very comparable to Couture's. I thought Van Arsdale was winning the stand up battle but Couture won the round with control of the ground for a longer period of time. overall the 1st round was very close with a slight advantage for Couture. The 2nd round brought more of the same. I do think that Van Arsdale stunned Couture with a couple of big shots in the 2nd, not enough to make me think Couture was in serious danger but he did look a little wobbly. I stick by my prefight assesment of Couture. He is probably the best ground and pound guy in the UFC today if not ever, he has seen some success standing up with people his past couple fights (with the exception of the KO from Liddell of course) but I don't know why he does not stick to his bread and butter. Whe Couture gained position and went to the ground and pound he was in 100% control, looked a little shakey in the stand up game. Round 3 again brought more of the same but Couture was able to submit Van Arsdale with a gator roll choke that he had tried several times throughout the fight.
Can anyone say Couture v Liddell III??????

Tim "The Maniac" Sylvia over Tra "Trauma" Telligman
Sylvia cam out landing good stiff jabs and out boxing the boxer. As I stated before, Telligman is a good solid fighter with excellent boxing skills. Just like Joe Doerkson he is able to get into the cage or ring with anyone but I just don't feel like he is in the same class as Sylvia. With maybe 1 second remaining Sylvia landed a big high kick to Telligman's face sending him down and out. Sylvia has lined himself up for a rematch with Arlovsky if he is (which he will be)victories over Paul Buentello in October.

Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell over Jeremy "Gumby" Horn
In the main event The Iceman was getting an oppoortunity to defend his championship against the 1st man to ever defeat him. The 1st round was pretty even and I was probably leaning towards Horn when Liddell landed a stiff right hand that sent Horn to the ground. Liddell jumped on him with a couple more punches and Horn was able to stay in the fight. I do not know how. Liddell easily controlled the last minute and a half after the knockdown although I will say again and again that when Hron tried the takedowns, even though they were not successful, it seemed to take Liddell out of his game a little. In the 2nd round Chuck landed another knockdown blow, keep in mind these would be knock out blows to normal humans. Horn seems to have superhuman recooperative powers. His locker must be next to Superman's over at the Justice League! By this point in the fight Liddell was clearly controlling the action. Both times Horn was knocked down and stunned he bought time be attempting takedowns that Liddell easily defended. The 3rd round brought no knockdowns and I actually gave it to Horn, he started throwing leg kicks that seemed to again take Liddell of his plan. By the middle of the 3rd round horn had created a lot of redness on Liddell's lead leg. I really cannot explain why Horn would then quit throwing the leg kicks. Although I gave the round to Horn Liddell was in his game plan of head hunting, he is a great striker. Round 4 brought the end of the run for Horn, Liddell landed a great right hand and sent Horn to the ground, while it didn't knock him out Horn did quit stating that he could not see out of his left eye. During the final announcement they showed Horn and his face and head were covered with welts and redness showing truely what kind of power Liddell has in both hands. The damage was clear and so was the winner. Liddell looked superb in his 1st title defens and if people continue to stand in front of him he will hold that belt for a long time. If, and believe me this is a big IF, Liddell has a weakness it seems to be when people try and take him down. Liddell is a great wrestler and few people have acutally got him to the mat. Noone has been able to keep him there. But when attempts are made it seems to give Liddell just 1 more thing to think about and I think that was the difference between his loss and win against Randy Couture. Even in tonights fight the small glimmer of hope that Horn saw was when he was either attempting takedowns or leg kicks, once Liddell realized that Horn was going to stand in front of him it was only a matter of time.

Since the UFC has a definate trend of fighters thanking their sponsers I would just like to take a moment to thank......

Adam, my bosses son, for bringing me back a nice Honduran cigar which I smoked during the main event.

Heineken beer for providing me with a pretty decent buzz during the event.

My daughter McKenna for playing with her friends all day ultimately coming home exhausted at 9pm and going straight to bed so I could watch the fights in peace!

UFC Boiling Point

2005-08-17T20:47:00.000-06:00

That's right, it's time for another fight night. UFC boiling point predictions right here for the taking. Read em while there hot!

Starting out the night and probably not aired unless we see lots of KO's will be...

James Irvin 8-1 vs Terry Martin 12-0
Both of these fighters are relatively unknown (really, on an undercard. Wierd!) Irvin has been the UFC show before in a loosing effort. I believe he will be victorious on this evening. I don't really know anything about Martin so he could be better than he looks, 12-0 isn't to shabby.

Travis Lutter 7-1 vs Trevor Prangley 10-2

I'm looking for Prangley to come out on top in this one although it should be a great fight. Both guys are on the brink of being UFC superstars. Lutter's loss came to Matt Lindland who's fighting later on in the evening and is definately no pushover. He holds a victory over Marvin Eastman who's been in with the best of them. Prangley is also no slouch, 1 of his losses comes to Renato "Babaloo" Sobral and his victory highlights include PRIDE veteren Andrei Semenov. I feel like Prangley will prevail but this may be the closest fight to call of the evening.

Matt "the law" Lindland 14-3 vs Joe Doerkson 27-6
Go Matt, you know I route for all of Team Quest from good ole Oregon. This should be another victory for the team. It's just hard to route for a Canadian, let alone one named Doerkson! Joe is a good fighter but I don't think he's in the same class as the top flight UFC guys, Matt Lindland is one of the top flight UFC guys.

Tim "the maniac" Sylvia 20-2 vs Tra "trauma" Telligman 15-4
Sylvia should get back on the winning track in this one. Tra is another fighter who is good, I don't believe he's Tim Sylvia good. I don't know that anyone but Arlovsky can beat Sylvia (he already did). Not only is Sylvia 6ft8in tall but he may be the toughest man around.
In Tim's 1st loss, to then champ Frank Mir, his arm was broken (yes, he really broke the none load bearing bone in his forearm) and the ref called a stop to the action. Sylvia, who never tapped out on the submission, wanted to continue the fight and was incredibly upset. Even in the post fight interview with Joe Rogan he stated that he didn't tap and still wanted to continue but the Doctor wont let me because they say my arm is broken. That is insane toughness!
Tra Telligman is a great story in the UFC. When he was a child he was in a car accident and has lost most of his right pectoral muscle. His chest looks deflated when he fights. He has overcome this in his life and is an incredible athlete. While I don't think he is in a class with Sylvia, really not many are. Sylvia has beaten some of the best and lost to THE best in Arlovsky and Mir. Telligman also has a proffesional boxing record of 4 -2. I like the story and I will be routing for him but it will definately be an upset if he pulls it out.

Frank "twinkle toes" Trigg 12-3 vs Georges "rush" St Pierre 9-1
This will be a GREAT fight! 3 of those 4 losses posted between these fighters are to the champ, Matt Hughes (Trigg's other loss came to Hayato Sakurai a while back). Trigg is one of the 2 fighters I really just don't like, St Pierre however is a very likeable fighter and I'll be routing for him. I also believe he will win the fight, I think he'll be in better condition and I think he's better on the ground. Why would you give yourself the nickname twinkly toes?

Diego "nightmare" Sanchez 14-0 vs Brian Gassaway 18-9-3
Gassaway is in some trouble here! Sanchez seems to get better and better every fight. He's coming off an impressive run on SPIKE TV's The Ultimate Fighter where he won the car and the six figure contract. I saw him in a King of the Cage fight a while back and he even looked good then. Diego comes in, takes you down, passes your guard and beats the living shit out of you. Period! He's been doing the same thing over and over and over every time he gets in the ring and I don't think he'll be even slowed down until he gets in with some of the elite's like Trigg, St Pierre and Hughes. I'd also love to see a fight between him and Nate Quarry. Come on Dana, I know your reading!

Randy "the natural" Couture 13-7 vs Mike Van Arsdale 9-1-1
I look for Randy to get back on track and back to basics with his ground and pound. Before losing to Liddell he had defeated Liddell and Ortiz by standing and outstirking them. Since Liddell and Ortiz are 2 of the most dangerous strikers I think it gave Randy a little false sense of security. Don't get me wrong, Randy can strike, but I think he game plan should be striking to get to the ground and pound. That's his bread and butter! Van Arsdale is no pushover but I think if Randy does what I've perscribed above that he will have little trouble controlling the fight.

Chuck "the iceman" Liddell 16-3 vs Jeremy "gumby" Horn 85-13-5
1st off let me say that Horn's record is NOT a typo. If you follow MMA or my blog at all you'll notice that few fighters in this sport have over 20-30 fights, let alone 50-70. Jeremy Horn and Shonie Carter (not fighting this night) have over 100. They keep extremely busy! Horn is obviously not a rookie, in fact 1 of those losses in Chucks record belongs to Jeremy Horn a couple years ago. Liddell looks to even things up with Horn and I think he will. Horn has definately got a chance in this one but Chuck will have to make a mistake, which he doesn't really do that often. Chuck should control and ultimately knock out Horn. Horn's chance will come when he takes Chuck down, which I think he'll be able to do. It's just keeping him there! Chuck has this unbelievable ability to just stand up when world class wrestlers are holding him down. If/When Horn gets a takedown he'll need to make the most of it and hopefully frustrate Liddell into rushing things. That's what Couture did in there 1st fight and that's how he was able to win. I don't think that will happen tonight.

Happy Fighting!

They just don't make videos like this anymore!

2005-08-16T19:19:00.000-06:00

OK, be honest, who remembers this Great American Classic?

Quite possibly the worst video ever....hilarious

http://web.bitnet.net/rabies/apache.mpeg

large file - about 40megs you can copy this URL, openwindows media player and go to FILE-Open URL and paste the URL in there andit will attempt to stream it as its downloading if your PC will allow it.