Anastasia screamed in vain...Danzig vs the Misfits

So I just read on 5oz that Fedor's next opponent won't be juiced-up loudmouth Josh Barnett or sideshow-attraction Hobg Man Choi. No, Fedor is going up against the Brazilian OG Pedro Rizzo. Now, let's be honest; Rizzo's last meaningful win was 5 years ago, when he decisioned Ricco at UFC 45. And cruel as it may sound, he was already over the hill. Like so many others before & after, his peak came during his matches with Randy Couture.

What this tells me is that Fedor is terrified of losing the mystique that accompanies his undefeated record. His last meaningful win was over Cro Cop in '05. Since then he's gone on a tear & fought several game but unqualified takers in a vain attempt to sustain his own hype.

Is Fedor a great fighter? Yes. Is he one of the best? No! He WAS one of the best, & for all we know he still might be. But the truth is we'll never know, since Fedor's "management" won't let him near an opponent who has a chance against him.

One last cheap shot to illustrate the case in point...
Fedor's last fight was against Matt Lindland, who fights two weight classes lower. Fedor took a nasty right hand that cut hip open, & had to grab the ropes to stuff Lindland's takedown. Until Fedor tkes a chance, gets back in the mix & beats another HW who in turn has beat a top-ranked HW in the last 2 years, he's just another crazy Russian.

--------------------------

A quick note on the TUF front, it was no suprise to see Mac Danzig run through that ragtag band of drunken apes. I mean the guy was the KOTC LW champ when these other dingbats were still ditching study-hall. The only other guy on that show who should be in the cage is that Aussie with the Greek name. I can't wait for the new format that we've been promised for SE7. Hopefully one of the revisions is they only hire fighters, not posers.

There's STILL only One Ricky Hatton!

I don't care if Floyd Mayweather Jr. knocked out Ricky Hatton on Saturday night, I still say that Hatton is the man. I watched the fight, and I saw Hatton giving Mayweather Hell for the first 8 rounds of the fight. And I saw Mayweather actually fighting back, not just playing his defense game. The other thing I saw, was Joe Cortez and the Nevada State Athletic Commission being incredibly biased towards Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Joe Cortez deducted a point for Ricky Hatton because Hatton allegedly hit Mayweather on the back of the head. What the fuck. Mayweather turned his back on Hatton while a flurry of punches were being thrown at him, and he turned to avoid getting his face smashed in. Hatton was pushing Mayweather, and Joe Cortez didn't want any of it. But when Mayweather was in the corner looking like a fucking Muay Thai expert with his elbows, Joe Cortez didn't do shit. And when Hatton was getting his body shots in on the inside with Mayweather, Cortez would break it up and separate them. I used to think Cortez was a good ref, I mean he did a real good job with Mosley-Cotto, but come on, Mayweather was fouling and holding like crazy, why not deduct a point from him? I guess being Vegas' pound for pound legend must make you exempt from the rules.

The other injustice was the ridiculous scores for Mayweather. I had Mayweather up by like 2 points, and that was only because of Hatton's point deduction. The judges, however, had Floyd ahead 89-81, and 88-82. I guess ring generalship just doesn't apply anymore, because Hatton pushed Mayweather for at least 6 of the first 8 rounds. Yeah, Mayweather got more punches in, but they really didn't do anything until rounds 8 and 9. Prior to that, they were just light jabs that he needed to use so he could keep running away and tying Hatton up. If Hatton had been able to pull off rounds 10 and 11, he should have won on points, but according to the NSAC, he would have lost.

I know that Hatton got KO'd by Floyd, and I know that this technically makes Floyd pound for pound the best boxer in the world, but come on, Hatton was very impressive in this fight, and he really pushed Floyd like we haven't seen in quite awhile. I think Hatton should get a rematch sometime in 2008. The bottom line is, Hatton moved up in weight to take the fight, trained his ass off, and fought a real good fight. So fucking what if Mayweather won, and so fucking what if Mayweather is pound for pound and undisputed. The fans in attendance in Floyd's hometown let the world know who the people's champion really is. And they were right all night long.

There's only one Ricky Hatton.

-o

"Step into my parlor", said the spider to the fly.

Michael Bisping has started expressing interest in stepping down to MW, & who's hot on his heels? Dan Henderson, that's who. That puts two more big names in a division that's been demolished by Anderson Silva. Can either one of them stop Silva? My answer is an emphatic "fuck no".

The person who does eventually beat Silva will be someone who can go toe to toe with him. He's proved that he can survive on the ground & his Muay Thai is the best in MMA right now. While these two are both tough cookies, neither has the winning formula, at least not yet.

Henderson can wrestle, yes, but Silva has been boning up on his wrestling too, training Stateside at a SoCal college, no less (sorry guys, I wasn't able to find out where). So I'm confident that he'll be ready for any matwork Henderson tries to tangle him up with. And while Henderson was able to KO Wanderlei Silva, that was more of a musclebound free-for-all. When these two go at it we won't see that same kind of brawl. It'll be reminiscent of Silva/Franklin; a cruel lesson in the fundamentals of Muay Thai.

Bisping, oddly enough, has a better shot against Anderson Silva...that is, if he drops to MW, trains hard, really tightens up his striking & gets his cardio up to full speed. I'd say in a year or two he'd have the tools to do it. He's a big strong dude with nice stand-up & enough BJJ to hold his own. Right now Silva would bust him up & make it look easy but in time, The Count could be a legit contender. Unfortunately, I don't think the MW talent pool is deep enough to buy that kind of time for Bisping. I predict he gets a title shot right after Hendo loses. And I predict more of the same from Silva: ref stoppages & classy post-win speeches.

So I guess the fight with any real meaning is Silva/Bisping II. In the meantime, enjoy the show...I know I will.

Validated but TUF jaded.

Ok, I'll do us all a favor & keep this UFC rundown quick:

-How the Hell did Joe Lauzon's opponent get cleared by the NJSAC?
-Ed Herman needed the luck of the Irish to beat Doerkson. I haven't seen somone that saved by the bell since Zack, Screech & AC got hotel jobs over the summer.
-And a PPV headlined by two TUFers & two TUFers are on the undercard, too? I thought there was going to be a CSI marathon after the main event, followed by Manswers & TNA Impact.
-That wasn't the same Ryo Chonan that submitted Anderson Silva. It was his evil twin with a more fucked-up haircut.
-Getting injured & having to withdraw from a title fight against Hughes was the best thing to ever happen to Karo Parisyan. He wouldn't have made it past the first round alive.
-If Bisping was awarded point for escaping from those takedowns he would have won the fight. He had the cardio, the chin, the BJJ...the only thing Evans brought to the cage were those NCAA takedowns.

-Sorry, Dana...they're both on their way but neither Bisping or Evans are ready for the LH elite. That was my opinion before & the fight validated it.

Nicked Diaz...& the best thing since Sliced bread?

After seeing EliteXC's "Renegade", I have to wonder if the Sacto stoner will keep getting cut in the same place. The gashes that Noons opened up on him appeared to be the same ones scored by Aina in Diaz's last fight. The scar tissue may just not have been fully healed up due to continuous sparring, but it looks like Nick's next opponent will know where to aim.

And Kimbo's fight was quicker than ANY of his internet brawls. Is Cantrell just that much of a can that he got TKO'd faster than AfroPuff, Big Mac & the Bouncer? WTF?! Maybe he gassed after that spinning backfist. If the Tank Abbott fight ever happens, we'll see Tank get the same kind of ass-kicking he used to hand out back in the day.

---m

Boxing's Not Dead, but Mosley's Career Might Be

Those who say that Boxing is all but dead were obviously not at Madison Square Garden last night, when Miguel Cotto put his WBA welterweight belt on the line against veteran pugilist Sugar Shane Mosley. The roar of the packed house let those watching know that to many, boxing is still alive and well. Going into the fight, it was unclear who the favorite really was, as Sugar Shane had the experience and the bigger fights, while Cotto's notorious body shots are known to have stopped men dead in their tracks. Another factor in determining a favorite was the age discrepancy of 9 years in favor of Cotto's youth. Regardless of who the better man was on paper, the packed Puerto Rican crowd let both men know that they supported their native son Miguel Cotto.

The opening rounds saw both men bring an intensity not usually seen prior to the closing rounds. Mosley seemed to be going for a knockout, and despite several efforts to outbox Cotto, he would continually go back to fighting him, and would pay the price for it in devastating body shots. Mosley also seemed to ignore numerous opportunities to throw uppercuts on the inside, instead choosing to tie up Cotto. This could have easily been a deciding factor in the outcome of the fight, as Mosley could have easily pushed the pace more in these inside exchanges. After the fight, Mosley said he didn't know if he was going to hang up the gloves or keep fighting, but it didn't look as though a rematch was the first thing on his mind.

Cotto looked very impressive in this fight, though not as impressive as in other fights, as he did not put on a dominating performance in the later rounds like he normally does. He seemed to lack the ring generalship he usually commands, but to be fair, he has never been tested by an opponent as formidable as Shane Mosley before. Still, Cotto definitely earned his Unanimous Decision, and showed the world that he is ready for some big name fights in the future. Personally, I think he might need another tune up fight before he goes and trades leather with the likes of Hatton, Mayweather and De La Hoya, if anything, just to get back his KO confidence. It was a good fight, however, and both fighters definitely left everything they had in the ring that night.

In the undercard, The Tijuana Tornado Antonio Margarito put on a truly dominating performance against Golden Johnsen, knocking him down 3 times in the first round for the win. Margarito wanted to show the world he is back, and he certainly did just that. Hopefully we will see him have some bigger fights in the near future. I think a Margarito-Cotto fight would be a great showcase of talent and heart, but only time will tell if this fight will happen.

Another great fight was between Victor Ortiz and Carlos Maussa, in which Ortiz KO'd Maussa in the first round. It was a quick, brutal, and very one-sided fight.

The night's biggest travesty, however, was the split decision victory for Joel Casamayor against Jose Armando Santa Cruz. Santa Cruz clearly dominated at least 9 of the 12 rounds, and even had a first round knockdown. He outboxed Casamayor, landing more punches, and boxing much more effectively than Casamayor. The commentators all had it scored for Santa Cruz, and so did everyone in attendance at MSG, but the inexperienced judges that the NYSAC picked scored it for Casamayor. Hopefully, the Santa Cruz camp will apeal the decision, as it was clearly an injustice on the part of the NYSAC. In my eyes, and in everyone else who saw the fight's eyes, Santa Cruz is the new Interim lightweight champion, not Casamayor.

All in all, I say that boxing is still alive, and wont be going away anytime soon.

-o

Kimbo Slice: YouTube Comes Alive...more Elite than the Ultimate?

I have to admit I was pretty taken aback by Kimbo's promo on Proelite.com. The only time I'd heard him talk before this was when he was grunt at the camera after literally breaking some guy's face. So I was shcoked to see a well-spoken, soft-spoken dude who can also do some pretty talking with his hands. Do I think he'd be a contender in the UFC? No. At least not right now. Do I think EliteXC is the best place for him? Hell yes.

The more I see from these guys, the more I like 'em. They're carving out a certain niche for themselves that in my mind has made them a surprisingly close # 2 to the UFC, leaving the IFL waaaay waaaay behind. I like that they were able to wrangle a cable deal, which is one thing that the UFC couldn't pull off. Signing Kimbo was just as savvy as signing Brock Lesnar. I'm sure it cost way less, & will put just as many asses in the seats. Bottom line: A few of the fight cards for EliteXC: Renegade, even if you don't count Kimbo's MMA debut, could easily outshine UFC 78: Validation's main event. We'll see if I have to eat my words but between Diaz/Noons, Shields/Pyle, & Kimbo vs that poor, brave man...? It wouldn't surprise me if "Renegade" shoxc the competition.

---m

TUF 6 Review: Serra's Streak Continues

So last night on The Ultimate Fighter, it was Jared 'J-Roc' Rollins versus George Samalamadingdong, or whatever his last name is. Going into the fight, we saw Matt Hughes clearly overtraining all of his guys, including J-Roc, as punishment for the 5 fight losing streak they've been on. As Matt Serra pointed out, that is a purely egotistical move, as the training only served to frustrate and tire Team Hughes, and also injure J-Roc's ribs before his fight.

Conversely, Matt Serra and his team of trainers worked closely with George, and gave him a chance to learn what he needed to learn in order to be successful in the fight. And what happened? George countered most of J-Roc's punches, and ended up getting the KO.

I see several reasons why J-Roc lost, and I would say that the number one reason he lost is that he is not a real fighter. If you look at him, it is painfully obvious that he likes the image of being a fighter, and being tough, but as far as skills go, he just doesn't have any. I'll give him credit for grappling and maybe even BJJ, but his standup is simply atrocious, as we saw on the show, he was getting picked apart by jabs and didn't know what to do. It seems to me that despite his impressive 9-3 record, he is really just some washed up jock who is looking for fame and adoration. No wonder Matt Hughes picked him.

George, on the other hand, is the smartest guy I have seen on the show, and he is currently my pick to win it all. Why, you ask? Because he knows why he's on the show, and he knows what he needs to do in order to win. He's not on the show to make friends with the other fighters or promote his vegan lifestyle, he's on the show to work his ass off and learn as much as he can so he can be the next Ultimate Fighter. The fact that Ben Saunders was pissing and moaning that he didn't wake everyone up at 10 was bullshit. Why should it be on George to wake everyone up? I think Saunders wanted George to pat his back and wipe his ass for him while he was at it. George is there to train and to win, not to be Ben Saunders' fucking nanny.

Anyways, the fight was really good, in that George showed patience, and was able to counter punch effectively. He got caught with a brutal leg kick, but it really didn't seem to phase him. J-Roc, however, pulled a couple punches and kicks, and really was not the same guy who tried to mad dog George at the weigh ins. He looked scared, and was way too tentative. George's patience flushed J-Roc out, which was exactly what George wanted. J-Roc really should have tried to use that leg kick, since he didn't know what to do with all of George's jabs. If he was smart, he would have thrown that leg kick each time he got caught with a jab to even out the score in the judge's eyes. But instead, he got caught up and then knocked out. His tantrum in the dressing room and then outside only proves that he is not a real fighter. He's just some guy who wants to be famous and have everyone like him.

It seems there's a lot of guys like that on TUF this season. And one of them is a coach.

-o

Old Japan Pro-Wrestling...Rickson by armbar?

Speaking of Saku, he's actually scheduled to fight recently un-retired Masakatsu Funaki soon. KazSak was recently diagnosed with vertebrobasilar damage (yes, it's as bad as it sounds) & Funaki...well, Funaki was bruised & battered before Zuffa bought the UFC. In Pancrase, he "submitted" Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock & Bas Rutten, 3 of the most overrated "mixed martial artists" alive. This "superfight" has all the "appeal" of a "hot water enema".

And speaking of Funaki, his biggest claim to fame on the international stage is scoring a rough takedown on Rickson Gracie before getting choked into unconsciousness. So, naturally, who else do you think is planning on staging a comeback of their own? You guessed it; the 400 + win superstar himself. Now...if Rickson faces an opponent with a winning record, & wins via submission, then he has a shot at solidifying the legend that surounds him. That means NOT fighting a Japanese wrestler, NOT having special rules/time limits, & NOT fighting in a corrupt organization.

Unfortunately, FEG, who own K-1/Hero's, has secured the right to promote Rickson's comeback. To make matters worse, they're planning on having Rickson fight the winner of Sakuraba/Funaki. Yet another in a series of recent fights that would have been exciting, or at least relevant, 10 years ago. Can Rickson shake off enough of over a decade's worth of ring-rust to handle a broken-down catch-wrestler? Probably. But as boorish as it may sound, I'll probably be watching a re-run of Ultimate Fight Night when it happens.

---m

K-1 Antiheroes

Just a quick update from the 38th parallel...



Two "next big things" in MMA were sidetracked last night in Korea in K-1 "Hero's". Marcelo Garcia, the young BJJ phenom who was finally entering the MMA fray (MMfray?) lost to hometown slugger Kim Dae Won (that's about as Korean a name as you can have) in round 2 by doctor's stoppage. If you've checked out Garcia on Youtube you know he's the real deal on the mat, but it I'm reminded of something I heard during a recent UFC broadcast..."Once you punch a BJJ black-belt in the face, they become a brown-belt. Hit 'em again & they're a purple-belt."



Not to be outdone, message-board messiah Denis Kang was TKO'd in the 1st by Yoshihiro Akiyama. Remember Akiyama? He's the dude who beat Sakuraba, then got disqualified for having greased himelf up to avoid submissions. Who needs unified rules when you have the kabuki-esque antics of these overseas promotions?

---m

TUF 6 Review: Barrera vs. Saunders

So when did the UFC let meth addicts be contestants on The Ultimate Fighter? Because watching Barrera on TUF 6 was like watching an hour long DARE commercial.

First of all, who the fuck gets up at 4 am to work out for 2 hours, when they're already doing 2 a days to train for a fight? And what the fuck was he doing staring at himself in the bathroom mirror during practice? I call 'em like I see 'em, and that man is either a recovering addict, or is taking a lot more than Xience. His wife didn't do him any favors either, calling to say she hasn't slept or eaten in days. And Matt Hughes didn't do him much good by all but breaking his hand.

Anyway, on to the fight.

Round one had Barrera looking like a punching bag out there, as he just couldn't get past Saunders' reach. The only real damage he did was knock Saunders down with a straight shot to the jaw. Had ANYONE on the UFC active roster landed that punch, the fight would have ended in a KO. That Saunders was smiling and laughing about it only goes to show that Barrera's stand up game sucks ass. That was pretty much all that Barrera did in that round, as he wouldn't let Saunders back up, and ended up letting him recover. I had Saunders winning the round 10-9, but I could see how some might have felt the knockdown was worthy of a 10-9 round for Barrera.

Round Two was brutal. Saunders punished Barrera with kicks, punches and knees for 5 straight minutes. Herb Dean almost ended the fight when he thought Barrera couldn't go on. It was easily a 10-8 round for Saunders, which gave him the majority win.

At the end of the fight, Barrera looked as though he had gotten hit by a bus. Saunders just looked happy. Two of the judges ended up giving Saunders round 1, which irked Matt Hughes enough that he complained to Kieth Kizer and questioned the training of the judges. That's always a good idea, complaining to the man who basically runs the sanctioning of your sport. The bottom line is, had the fight gone a 3rd round, Barrera would have gotten his ass handed to him like in round 2.

The fight was a good one, very entertaining to watch. Although, it was painful to watch Barrera talk about his faith and his horses, and then lament over his personal and financial problems, all the while twitching and shadow boxing. I truly believe that he is addicted to meth or some other illicit substance. Mark my words, when he gets more fghts in the UFC he will piss dirty at least one time.

As for Matt Hughes, all I can say is this: he's an idiot, and a crappy coach.

-o

Thus, that & the other.

Why does Jatinder Dhoot use the word "thus" in every piece he writes for this Ultimate Grappling Magazine? He'll even rewrite people's answers during interviews to include the word "thus".


That's all, just wondering.

Nemesis

Those beautiful words have finally been written on Zuffa stationary...Liddell vs Silva.

This matchup is intersting on several different levels. Besides pitting the UFCs & PRIDEs two best-known knockout artists, it also matches up two stand-up fighters who have lost their last two fights AND who have traditionally struggled against other stand-up fighters. Here's why Liddell will come out on top:

PRIDE fighters, as a rule, have a difficult transition when joining the UFC. I don't know if it's the fact that they can get pinned to a cage without having a bunch of screaming Japanese refs slapping their hands, or those pesky unified rules that forbid soccer-kicking a downed opponent in the face, or the hands-down safer saner unbiased refereeing in general.

If you subscribe to the theory of MMAth, you're probably already aware of the fact that a young Tito Ortiz had no problem manhandling Silva a few years back. Chuck > Tito > Wanderlei.

And finally, let me just point out...I'm a rabid Liddell fan who was never a huge fan of Wandy so I have to pick Chuck, even though he's lost his last two matches to fighters with styles similar to Silva's, & even though he's traditionally performed better with lots of extra time between fights. (This will be his 3rd fight this year...May, September, December.) So I'm going to say that the PRIDE factor is reason enough to go against Silva (remember Forrest vs Shogun, people).

This fight, if it goes the way I think it will, should finally put to rest the mystique of PRIDE.

Oh yeah, & Serra will successfully defend his title against Hughes. More on that later.

---m

UFC 77: History repeats itself

"What can I say?"
Franklin's honesty was as brutal as the beating Silva had given him. After being saved by the bell when Silva all but KO'd him in the closing seconds of the first round, it became apparent that this was going to play out very closely to the first meeting between these two. Franklin's cornermen had to physically pick him up & put him on his stool. When the second round started, Silva did some pretty fancy bobbing & weaving while Franklin threw whatever he had left. And then we were all taken on a trip down memory lane as Silva rushed Franklin, trapped him against the cage, & broke his nose with a sharp knee that put the ex-MW champ on the mat & out of title contention indefinitely. Ace better hope that contract negotiations to extend Silva's contract break down. As long as The Spider has that belt, the division has nothing more to offer Franklin & vice-versa. I'm reminded of Frank Trigg's 2nd loss to Matt Hughes. It kind of put Trigg in Limbo, & that's where Franklin is right now. I hear he's considering hanging it up after this. I think a drop to WW would be the only other option I can think of offhand.

Meanwhile, Brandon Vera was exposed as the overhyped lout he really is. Not that Sylvia is the be-al end-all of MMA, but after having won the HW belt twice & fighting world-class competition, it was no surprise that he was able to control the fight. I also think this is a good indicator of how much work MFS fighters put into their gameplans. All in all, I'd rather have Pat sketch out a strategy than listen to Lloyd Irvin ramble on & on...I get enough spam from him anyways.

The rest of the fights, I thought, were pretty unremarkable. Bonnar got tomato sauce on his Ouanos & Mini-me Gurgel had his face re-arranged. No big surprises.

I probably won't get any more PPVs until the New Year's card...but there are still plenty of TUFs plus the season finale in the meantime. To be honest, the only other UFC fight that sounds intersting is Karo Parisyan vs Ryo Chonan in November. I remember seeing a bloodied Chonan rally for the win against Anderson Silva in PRIDE, so I think this ought to be an intersting matchup.

Speaking of TUF...I was doing my cool-down stretches yesterday at Legends MMA & when Mac Danzig walked in. That's all, just thought I'd name-drop.

---m