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
Sunday, October 28, 2007
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
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
Thursday, October 25, 2007
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
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
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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.
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
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
Sunday, October 21, 2007
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
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
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