Friday, May 25, 2007

Performify's picks, other notes

Another superb article by Performify at UFCJunkie.com.
He has the fights pretty much going the way I felt, at least the ones I had thought about. I'm looking forward to Thiago Silva & Sean Salmon's fights. Chris Leben is going too, I find myself pulling for the guy. He's a tough kid...I don't doubt that whatever happens, he'll land on his feet.

Sam Caplan from CBS Sportsline & Five Ounces of Pain has his 71 preds online. Has the media coverage of Chuck been un-freakin'-believable or what? I saw him on ESPN, FSN, and Spike all in the course of about an hour last night, and have been hearing about him non-stop. Amazing. MMA has grown even since I got into it, about two years ago. Not a long time for such growth. I just noticed that Sherdog is reporting a Sportscenter report<.a> tonight on the rematch. Wow!

The WEC is on Versus June 3rd, keep that on your calendar. With the big-number cable channels (Like Bodogfight on "ION", whatever that is...channel 96 on Cox) it's easy to forget. WEC has Mayhem Miller and Razor Rob, so that's some stuff to look forward to.

Busy Memorial Day fight weekend.
5/26/2007 - KOTC: Damage Control

5/26/2007 - KOTC: Eclipse

5/26/2007 - UFC 71: Liddell vs. Jackson

5/26/2007 - Shooto: Battle Mix Tokyo 3

5/27/2007 - GCM: Cage Force EX Eastern Bound

5/27/2007 - K-GRACE: K-GRACE 1

5/30/2007 - Pancrase: Rising 6

Copied Directly from Sherdog.com. As usual.

Monday, May 21, 2007

mystery solved

My general response to someone asking me anything is "GFE", meaning "Google f-in exists". SO I took my own advice (hard to do sometimes) and hit the two best friends an MMA fan has, Google and Youtube.
One thing that had been bugging me was the shifting results listed for Fedor Emilianenko's bout against Tsuyoshi Kohsaka at RINGS King of Kings in December 2000. Sherdog had it listed as a NC at first, then as a TKO loss. He has one other no contest, for an accidental cut against Minotauro Nogueira.
So I looked it up on google, then youtube. Here's the whole fight. Apparently he got cut in a previous fight, and from what I can se Kohsaka threw a punch and his elbow grazed Fedor's brow, reopening the cut. The ref stepped in and it was all over. Apparently elbow strikes were illegal in RINGS, but since Fedor could not go on, Kohsaka got the win.
The screwed up part is that had Fedor continued, and won the fight, he would have met up with Randy Couture. That's something people still want to see. Fedor-Randy seven years ago would have been about the height of greatness.
As an aside, here's Fedor beating Kohsaka five years later in Pride.

interesting TUF note

just randomly wandering through Sherdog as is the norm, and I noticed that Rob (best fight we've ever had!) Emerson had already fought his opposing coach Jens Pulver way back in his first fight in 2002. Of course, this was Rob's first pro fight in an org called "Ultimate Wrestling", and Pulver's...fifteenth, after he'd already posted wins over B.J. Penn, Caol Uno, and Joe "Daddy" Stevenson. It's easy to forget that MMA has been going on for quite a while, and that a lot of fighters have a long history in promotions other than the "Big Two" Pride and UFC. Jens is a good example, but Joe "Daddy" is a good one too...with 34 professional MMA fights under his belt, Stevenson has fought some real fighters: Mishima, Guillard, Neer, Cummo, Denny, Dewees, and Jens. So before we saw him lay a brutal choke on an over excited Melvin recently, he had a long and impressive resume as a mixed martial artist. The way the UFC promotes fighters, you'd think they were making their debuts when they enter the Octagon.
I'd recommend doing a search on any fighters you're interested in on Sherdog, Wikipedia, and of course Google to see what else they've been up to. You may run into some interesting results. Also, consider finding a way of contributing to the great free sites like Wikipedia. They're an amazing resource that costs very little to access, and it's a good feeling to help them get better. A LOT of articles on combat sports originate in non-English-speaking countries, and it's a small thing to help, say, clean up an article about a kickboxer or SAMBO champ you admire.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

Interesting MMAWeekly.com article

MMAWeekly.com has an interesting article on the myths surrounding MMA up. Rami Genauer says he's going to take on the myths surrounding MMA one at a time, and discuss whether they're real, imagined, or even relevant. First up is the idea that the cage is safer than the ropes. What do y'all think?
Personally, I like the cage. I call it a cage, not an octagon, which is hard to say and remember to say. A cage is a cage. Rami makes a good point about the negative aspects of the term "cage" in people's minds, but there's other things that the cage is connected to mentally that are either neutral or positive (though I'm having trouble making a positive connection), stuff like bird cages, toll cages, etc. Positive: batting cage. Hm. Just thinking out loud.
I alos like the fact that you almost never need a restart in the cage. In Pride, with the long first round, the restart isn't a huge deal, but I still hate the idea of pausing the action. I think the ref should count to three on the ground, and if one fighter isn't improving position or delivering blows, then they stand up. Action is what gets the sport where it's going.
I'd love to hear other opinions, though.

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

damn

Okay...Sean Salmon, who i've taken a distinct liking to from his "Full Time Fighter" posts at UFCJunkie.com, had an opponent cancel due to injury less than two weeks before UFC 71. And then another opponent steps up. Up for the fight, and up a weight class. This could be a brutal pummeling inflicted by Salmon...he's a very, very strong wrestler, with outstanding body control. Alan Belcher is a game fighter, but I don't see him standing up to Salmon for more than a round. He'll be out of breath completely unless he keeps it on the feet and strikes with Sean.
So, not as good a fight, but a fight, and after watching Sean train (through the magic of the tubes) for the last few months, I'm happy for him to get his time in the cage. I'm bummed for Eric Shafer, who by all accounts is a good guy, and for Belcher, who by all accounts should get his head caved in fighting light heavy on two weeks notice. Of course, I thought Babalu would destroy Jason Lambert....

shows what I know. Good luck Sean, let the chips'n'punches fall where they may.

Monday, May 14, 2007

har har

Okay, I know no one wants to hear anything about Gabe Ruediger again, but this is effin funny:


thanks "Punch Drunk Love" at 411mania.com

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

The Smashing Machine



I am at this moment watching a DVD called The Smashing Machine, which tells the story of a few years of Mark Kerr's fighting career. So far we've seen his introduction to MMA from wrestling, his successes in UFC and Pride, and his battle with drug addiction. I'm at this moment watching him beat Enson Inoue in the 2000 Pride GP's first round. The raw emotion of this film is very affecting. Seeing the legends like Coleman, Vovvchanchyn, Rutten, Wanderlei Silva, and Royce Gracie just casually walking around makes it seem kind of unreal. The backstage and training footage is amazing, the sounds are unbelievable.
There was a scene where Coleman and Kerr were waiting during a pre-fight press conference of some kind, and Coleman is staring at Kerr, with pure pain in his eyes. They're both in the tournament, and you can see Mark Coleman praying to any god he can think of to not have to fight Mark Kerr.
They really are careful, tender almost about his drug use, and his fights and conflict with his girlfriend Dawn.
Well not right just now..."...As far as me having a couple beers, every now and again...what's the big deal? I was jamming needles into my arm ten times a day."
They do a VERY good job of showing the sheer drudgery of training. Over and over, up the stairs with a weight vest on, kicking the pad until you're staggering tired, situps, weights, running, grappling. I imagine all of the tasks that I do day after day in my job, repeating the same or similar movements and mental exercises, and think, could I possibly handle this kind of pure physical strain, and the mental fortitude it takes to handle it? Kerr handled with drugs before, they're showing him (as far as I know to this point) handling it sober.
The way they portray Bas Rutten is interesting too, as a concerned mentor. He's one of the original MMA superstars, and continues to be a figure in it though his fighting time is slowing to a trickle, through announcing and commentary, as well as training. So to think of him with a camera in front of him as a concerned mentor with no other thoughts seems a bit disingenuous. He is a media figure.
They're showing the second round of the Pride GP, Coleman's bout, and Kerr watching. Coleman delivers body shots that make huge contusions on his opponent's ribs...and wins a decision. I can look up all these fights on Sherdog, of course. I lie this set up.
Kerr enters the ring against Fujita. Fujjita has a thicker skull than other humans. He is legend in his ability to take punishment. The Smashing Machine delivers massive blows after taking his man down. Fujita take sKerr down, takes his back and delivers punishment. kerr turtles up. The ref watches...the movei goes to soundtrack with no ambient. Fujita is merciless with knees to the body. The fight ends with Kerr on the ground eating knees and punches, and Fujita wins the decision.
Showing Coleman Vovchanchyn's final match, interposed over Kerr getting a wicked cut in his chin stitched up. Coleman has Igor on his back and delivers vicious knees to the head (now illegal) from north-south. I know we've all seen this before, but it's like I'm seeing it all over again. Coleman wins the tournament, and the $200,000, which will feed the mouths he talks about.
I'm gaining a greater respect for Mark Coleman and his work and training. The man was pretty well dominant for his time, and he beat some great fighters. The juxtaposition of his victory and Mark Kerr's wounds being tended to after his loss was heartbreaking. Marrk has not fought since July 2001, states the documentary, but Sherdog, as usual, has the updated facts. Mark has fought six times since the loss to Fujita, with a record of 1-6, losses coming from Heath Herring, Mike Whitehead, and Vovchanchyn. Five straight losses.
The credits end with "In Loving Memory of Bubba T. Moose".
DVD extras...
Bonus Film, "Fight Day". Renzon Gracie in a wild and wolly ring, with screaming fans and some great ju-jitsu. Renzo lives in New Jersey. I've seen him talking about it on IFL broadcasts. He has an infectious smile...you want to grin with him.
I'd recommend the hell out of this whole DVD. Amazing. The rawness of it stunned me a little...that is one facet of MMA and combat sports in general that I've always loved, so I was waiting for it, but it was still powerful. These men are unbelievable athletes and to see them humbled like this, and not being able to walk away from it and watch the winner like they do in MMA & boxing broadcasts, it makes a difference.

Friday, May 4, 2007

ah crap

I wrote a long post covering Mike Freeman's post of racist, idiot hatemail he's received (while conveniently ignoring the respectful, unhappy email he got from people like me). Then Safari took a dump on me and I lost the whole thing. I'm redoing in Firefox. Summary: Freeman is a moron who deserves no more attention.

Also, Sean Salmon has a post up at UFCJunkie.com. Good stuff.

Better head kick knockout this year?
Gonzaga?
Or Rashad?

Enter "MMA" in a Youtube search and you'll be entertained for HOURS.

I want Mike Freeman to fight one of these guys:

Chuck Liddell hit Babalu so damn hard Renato started fighting Big John McCarthy.

Randy Couture: "Captain America", or "The Natural". When you got two nicknames you MUST be good.

Takanori Gomi lost a fight, and the other guy had a completely broken face. And tested positive for like 500x the illegal amount of THC after the fight.

Thursday, May 3, 2007

CBS Sportsline columnist gets it all wrong **UPDATED

Mike Freeman at CBS Sportsline.com got about every factual aspect of his column wrong, and additionally spouted some of the weakest trash I've ever had to slog though.


Mixed martial arts will never be as good as boxing on its worst day. Many of the ultimates are nothing but thugs and ruffians. All that league has done is take a few former nightclub bouncers, knuckle crackers and parolees, put on some fancy TV graphics and told them, "Kick the other guy in the nuts."

Apparently he's never heard of Olympic wrestling, one of many groups that supply Mixed Martial Arts fighters, or Jiu-jitsu, or uh BOXING, muay thai, and too many others to list. Apparently, he thinks in boxing no one's ever been kicked, elbowed or punched in the gents. Apparently, he hasn't seen an MMA competition since, I don't know, an underground show in OK in 1994?
The article seems to me basically an attempt to stir the turd, to get people barking, which it has. I saw it over at UFCJunkie.com (of course), and while dishing out weak smack like a gramama Freeman mentions something about another columnist, who states in comments that he's going to "kick your ass tomorrow". So this might be an elaborate send-up. I couldn't find a post with the guy's name in it, but I'm keeping my eyes open.

UPDATE:
Yep. Here's the riposte from Doyel.

 
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