Hey There UFC Fans,
Breaking news says that the UFC and Randy Couture are close to settling their differences by throwing out the current contract and having Randy sign a new 3 Fight contract. Word is that the first fight on the new contract would be on the November pay per view card and would be against the UFC's new big name, up and comer, Brock Lesnar. This is obviously Dana White's bet that the monster from Minnesota can end the Couture mystique right there. Then at the big Super Bowl weekend show would come the Couture pay off in the form of a UFC - M1 co-promotion that would finally allow Randy his shot at the #1 heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko. Then, no matter what happens, Couture will still owe the UFC one more match which would be in the spring or summer against current UFC heavyweight champion "Big Nog" AKA Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. That way at the end of the day Dana White can say, "Hey! Our Guy beat him too." It'll all be fun to watch, so let's hope the deal goes through. And - Ah .. Oh Yeah -- I think that Big Brock has a good chance of being able to absorb his smaller opponent's punches, stuff the older guy on to the mat ... and keep him there. What do you think?
On Saturday September 6th the UFC will present their next pay per view show entitled BREAKTHROUGH. A quick look at the card confirms that the event as been aptly named. In the main event undefeated, former TUF star and outstanding collegiate wrestler Rashad Evans will try to Breakthrough to the upper most levels of the talent laden light heavyweight division of the UFC, with a win over former champ, Chuck "The Iceman" Liddell. this will be a big bite for the wrestler to chew on. "The Iceman" wants his title back and will plan to evade Evans masterful take down attempts with his equally masterful take down defenses, catch the wrestler getting frustrated and knock him out. The young wrestler's chance of breaking through will lie in weather or not in his late thirties Chuck's legendary partying has finally caught up with him ..... but that's not to likely to happen next Saturday night.
In the Co-Main the former middle weight champion from Ohio will meet the up and coming kid from Ohio, when Matt "The Hammer" Hamill trys to break in to the upper eschelon of the UFC's middleweight ranks by defeating the former math teacher from Cincinnati, Rich Franklin. Hamill's stint on The Ultimate Fighter reality show didn't win him a lot of fans with his attitude that because he is handicapped with deafness and still became a top college wrestler that he somehow had become a superior being. Tito Ortiz buying into it and making the deaf lad his pet didn't help to much either --- But, since joining the UFC's regular roster "The Hammer" has proven proven his worth with determined performances. His only loss was very very questionable and the lad from Loveland Ohio might actually be ready to breakthrough into realm of the elite. On the other hand, Rich Franklin has repeatedly demonstrated that no one in the middle weight division can defeat him ..... except Anderson Silva .... and the former champ is ready to do it again and prove once and for all who the best fighter in Ohio actually is!
Also on the card, the legendary former simultaneous two weight class champion Dan Henderson will attempt to stop the young fighter from Rio, Roosimar Palhares from breaking through into the ranks of known UFC contestants. Its a bit sad to think that "Hendo" has become a gate keeper, but what a tough gate. If Dan uses his tested wrestling skills, heavy hands and over all MMA savvy to the utmost, he'll destroy a few of these up and comers and be fighting for a title again in no time.
The Karo Parisyan - Yoshiyuki Yoshida match is more one of fighters on an equal level. Parisyan's experience and well rounded MMA skills combined with his extra slick judo techniques make him a hard one to handle. He should make it through this one and keep headed toward a welter weight .... or middle weight title shot.
Added to the card after the other matches, came The Battle of The Jasons. Jason "The Punisher" Lambert of Long beach CA. will try to over power the slick jujitsu of Canadian Jason "The Athlete" Mac Donald. The outstanding feature of this bout is that Mac Donald is returning from being choked out by Demian Maia in the previous UFC pay per view, less than a month ago. This time the slender Canadian grappling wizard is exhibiting some rather large cajones along with his expert submission skills and it would be difficult not to root for him.
This has the potential to be yet another outstanding presentation by Dana White and the UFC crew .... and then, in less than two weeks ... Spike Fight Nite with Nate Diaz vs. Josh Neer ... and later that same evening (WED. Sept. 17th) will be the first episode of the new season of THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER with heavyweight champion Rodrigo Nogueira and his #1 contender Frank Mir coaching teams of light weights and light heavy weights. Till then -----
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Randy's Got A Brand New Bag -- And Should Stick to It!
Greetings Fight Fans,
I saw the new, straight to DVD, movie "The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior" the other day and was pleased to enjoy a good old Saturday afternoon matinee type action, adventure and revenge flick. It was the standard boy sees evil king kill his dad ---- boy grows up to be a great warrior --- boy kills evil king tale, but it had the requisite bad looking dudes, hot chicks and lots of weapons and empty hand close quarters combat.
The acting was allll -- right, but the costumes and sets were cool and the fight choreography was stellar. Many of the combat scenes were amped up by the presence on the screen of none other than former two time light heavy weight and two time heavy weight UFC champion Randy "The Natural" Couture. Couture plays the evil King Sargon, who kills the father of young Mathayus, a youthful version of The Scorpion King character of the Mummy movie series. The original, albeit older, Mathayus was brought to the screen by professional wrestling legend Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but in sequel the part is played by young unknown actor, Michael Copon and the lead focus is on the bad guy, King Sargon --- Randy Couture.
Randy was definitely up for the task. His Sargon was unquestionably the baddest man on the screen and undoubtedly the baddest man on the set also. His screen fighting matches his prizefighting skills and this is no easy task as the arts have different goals. Many great prizefighters have not only exhibited embarrassing acting skills, but many have also shown an inability to not actually pound on their fellow actors, as pulling punches and missing them deliberately goes against their instincts. Randy Couture on the other hand has become a master of screen fighting as well as prizefighting.
Randy's acting was a wee bit wooden, but like Dwayne Johnson as the original Scorpion King and before that Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, Randy was playing a rather wooden character, so his acting skills were up to the task. Both of those other sportsman cum actors went on to improve their acting skills and perform in many motion pictures. Dwayne Johnson's acting skills and performing reputation improve with every project and when Arnold's acting skills topped out he went on to become The Governator. I could easily see Randy as the governor of Oregon ---- perhaps the president of SAG ---------- from there -- who knows!
Randy Couture could seriously have a great and lengthy career ahead of him as an actor. He started slowly playing characters similar to his real life in venues like "Redbelt" and has now moved on to the realm of action movie star. If he should apply himself to the art of acting with the same intensity that he has applied to all other activities in his life his acting skills are sure to grow and their limits are still unknown.
If Randy Couture wants to be sure that he will stay healthy enough to perform his own stunts and remember his lines though --- he should give up the idea of meeting World MMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko in the prizefight arena. Randy already did his old champion returns from retirement and defeats the new young champion for the title, when he came back to the UFC and took the heavyweight title from six foot eight Tim Sylvia. He even then defended it against a young, tough and big, up and coming youngster, when he decisioned Gabe Gonzaga. The fact that he won that one with a broken arm should have been the writing on the wall.
Since then Randy has let contract disputes keep him out of action for over a year and that year was between his ages of 44 and 45. Ring rust just has to be all over him now. Yes, Big George Foreman was a heavyweight champion at those ages, but his ten year lay off/rest was five or six years behind him and the interim years had been filled with small fights to get him back in the groove. Then big George saw something in Michael Moorer and went for it ---- just like Randy saw something in Tim Sylvia and went for it .... but he's already done it now! Also after beating Moorer, Big George knew enough to adroitly avoid the likes of Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Lenox Lewis, whereas Randy wants to come off a middle aged long lay off and take on the undisputed baddest man on the planet.
Randy fought hard and long to take Tim Sylvia's belt. Fedor walked into the ring, whacked Big Tim a few times and then choked him out in ever so slightly over a Half Minute! If Randy Couture faces Fedor Emelianenko the match will simply be yet another example of a great champion staying in one too long and getting humiliated by the younger champion. Boxing fans have seen it over and over again as in Floyd Patterson vs. Muhammad Ali, Muhammad vs. Larry Holmes, Larry Holmes vs. Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson vs. Lenox Lewis, etc. Obviously its not an uncommon scenario and the fans will always come out to see the torch passed, but its never a competitive match and it usually doesn't bode well for the older fighter's future.
If Randy vs. Fedor comes to happen, I'll probably be one of the fans who is curious enough as to how the drama will play out to fork out for the pay per view. But frankly (and I'm always Frank - ly) I'd be just as happy to see Randy Couture up on the big screen as an Action Hero For The Ages.
That just how I see it -------- You can think whatever you want------
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
I saw the new, straight to DVD, movie "The Scorpion King 2: Rise Of A Warrior" the other day and was pleased to enjoy a good old Saturday afternoon matinee type action, adventure and revenge flick. It was the standard boy sees evil king kill his dad ---- boy grows up to be a great warrior --- boy kills evil king tale, but it had the requisite bad looking dudes, hot chicks and lots of weapons and empty hand close quarters combat.
The acting was allll -- right, but the costumes and sets were cool and the fight choreography was stellar. Many of the combat scenes were amped up by the presence on the screen of none other than former two time light heavy weight and two time heavy weight UFC champion Randy "The Natural" Couture. Couture plays the evil King Sargon, who kills the father of young Mathayus, a youthful version of The Scorpion King character of the Mummy movie series. The original, albeit older, Mathayus was brought to the screen by professional wrestling legend Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, but in sequel the part is played by young unknown actor, Michael Copon and the lead focus is on the bad guy, King Sargon --- Randy Couture.
Randy was definitely up for the task. His Sargon was unquestionably the baddest man on the screen and undoubtedly the baddest man on the set also. His screen fighting matches his prizefighting skills and this is no easy task as the arts have different goals. Many great prizefighters have not only exhibited embarrassing acting skills, but many have also shown an inability to not actually pound on their fellow actors, as pulling punches and missing them deliberately goes against their instincts. Randy Couture on the other hand has become a master of screen fighting as well as prizefighting.
Randy's acting was a wee bit wooden, but like Dwayne Johnson as the original Scorpion King and before that Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan, Randy was playing a rather wooden character, so his acting skills were up to the task. Both of those other sportsman cum actors went on to improve their acting skills and perform in many motion pictures. Dwayne Johnson's acting skills and performing reputation improve with every project and when Arnold's acting skills topped out he went on to become The Governator. I could easily see Randy as the governor of Oregon ---- perhaps the president of SAG ---------- from there -- who knows!
Randy Couture could seriously have a great and lengthy career ahead of him as an actor. He started slowly playing characters similar to his real life in venues like "Redbelt" and has now moved on to the realm of action movie star. If he should apply himself to the art of acting with the same intensity that he has applied to all other activities in his life his acting skills are sure to grow and their limits are still unknown.
If Randy Couture wants to be sure that he will stay healthy enough to perform his own stunts and remember his lines though --- he should give up the idea of meeting World MMA Heavyweight Champion Fedor Emelianenko in the prizefight arena. Randy already did his old champion returns from retirement and defeats the new young champion for the title, when he came back to the UFC and took the heavyweight title from six foot eight Tim Sylvia. He even then defended it against a young, tough and big, up and coming youngster, when he decisioned Gabe Gonzaga. The fact that he won that one with a broken arm should have been the writing on the wall.
Since then Randy has let contract disputes keep him out of action for over a year and that year was between his ages of 44 and 45. Ring rust just has to be all over him now. Yes, Big George Foreman was a heavyweight champion at those ages, but his ten year lay off/rest was five or six years behind him and the interim years had been filled with small fights to get him back in the groove. Then big George saw something in Michael Moorer and went for it ---- just like Randy saw something in Tim Sylvia and went for it .... but he's already done it now! Also after beating Moorer, Big George knew enough to adroitly avoid the likes of Mike Tyson, Riddick Bowe and Lenox Lewis, whereas Randy wants to come off a middle aged long lay off and take on the undisputed baddest man on the planet.
Randy fought hard and long to take Tim Sylvia's belt. Fedor walked into the ring, whacked Big Tim a few times and then choked him out in ever so slightly over a Half Minute! If Randy Couture faces Fedor Emelianenko the match will simply be yet another example of a great champion staying in one too long and getting humiliated by the younger champion. Boxing fans have seen it over and over again as in Floyd Patterson vs. Muhammad Ali, Muhammad vs. Larry Holmes, Larry Holmes vs. Mike Tyson, Mike Tyson vs. Lenox Lewis, etc. Obviously its not an uncommon scenario and the fans will always come out to see the torch passed, but its never a competitive match and it usually doesn't bode well for the older fighter's future.
If Randy vs. Fedor comes to happen, I'll probably be one of the fans who is curious enough as to how the drama will play out to fork out for the pay per view. But frankly (and I'm always Frank - ly) I'd be just as happy to see Randy Couture up on the big screen as an Action Hero For The Ages.
That just how I see it -------- You can think whatever you want------
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Back From The Mountains To Seek and Destroy
Hi There MMA Maniacs,
I returned from Ba Gua in the boonies, just outside of Boone, North Carolina in time to view the UFC brand's latest spectacle, number 87, Seek and Destroy. Dana White and his crew did not disappoint me and the techniques, violence and flow of the show welcomed me back from the rigors of a pathologically peaceful setting, like a warm blanket on a chilly evening ...... or perhaps more like a cooling fan on a hot night.
It was Canada versus Brazil when Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald squared off against Brazil's Damian Maia. The first round exhibited back and forth high level grappling, but Maia began to take over in the second, where he took the Canadian down and kept him there under a ground and pound attack for most of the round. Then in the third, MacDonald scored a take down, but Maia quickly reversed him and promptly choked him out. This Brazilian Middleweight is one worth keeping an eye on.
The Ultimate Fighter veterans Manny Gamburyan and Rob Emerson met in the shortest encounter of the evening, when Manvil The Anvil ran his stocky little body right over to Emerson and unloaded a lightening blast of sloppy punches. Emerson threw three quick, straight counter punches and Manny found himself asleep at 12 seconds of the first round.
Cheick Kongo, the fearless African Warrior who was born and brought up in Paris, reasserted his presence in the UFC's lackluster heavyweight division with a first round stoppage of Dan "The Viking" Evensen. Kongo caught the Norwegian with a straight right, right on the button and then smoothly and quickly finished The Viking. Kongo is back and ready to take on the best the UFC has to offer. He probably also does a war dance to the gods every night to thank them for keeping Fedor out of the UFC.
Speaking of the UFC's heavyweight division, Big Brock Lesnar brought his wrestling skills and 1 - 1 record to the big dance and did the light fandango with 28 - 13 & 1 No contest, widely traveled veteran Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring. Herring had met the best of MMA, but he just couldn't contend with the raw power of the home town Minneapolis (where the show was live) boy. Lesnar showcased his tremendous take down and ground control skills by keeping Herring under him and eating few but powerful ground and pound strikes for most of the encounter. It was all Lesnar and he took an unquestionable decision, but the big man needs to learn to finish on the ground and to refine the raw power of his standing strikes before he engages the best in his class.
Boston's Kenny Florian became the number one contender for the UFC's lightweight crown with his extremely convincing decision win over the popular Roger "El Matador" Huerta. Florian simply shut down Huerta's offence and seemed to be able to take down El Matador at will. The question is what will Kenny do now if light weight champ B.J. Penn gets his shot at welterweight champion Georges St Pierre. Will "Ken Flow" [get that boy a new fight name] wait it out and perhaps get rusty or will he risk a fight before the title shot?
Yep, GSP defended his title with an ease that I never would have thought possible when he was facing the tough Jon Fitch. On paper Fitch had all the skills needed to give the French Canadian a rough night and Fitch had repeatedly demonstrated these skills ...... but somehow he was just no match for the welterweight champion. GSP knocked his man down repeatedly, took him down, controlled him on the ground and just didn't let Fitch get off anything. Fitch showed his toughness by losing a decision, but lasting the entire fight. I think that most fans hope that GSP will answer the challenge of the lightweight champion, Baby Jake Penn next as that would be a contest.
The UFC entertained me yet again and has left me absolutely ready to see The Ice Man take on Rashad Evens and for Rich Franklin to show his skills against the deaf hammer Matt Hamil on September 6th ---- UFC 88.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
I returned from Ba Gua in the boonies, just outside of Boone, North Carolina in time to view the UFC brand's latest spectacle, number 87, Seek and Destroy. Dana White and his crew did not disappoint me and the techniques, violence and flow of the show welcomed me back from the rigors of a pathologically peaceful setting, like a warm blanket on a chilly evening ...... or perhaps more like a cooling fan on a hot night.
It was Canada versus Brazil when Jason "The Athlete" MacDonald squared off against Brazil's Damian Maia. The first round exhibited back and forth high level grappling, but Maia began to take over in the second, where he took the Canadian down and kept him there under a ground and pound attack for most of the round. Then in the third, MacDonald scored a take down, but Maia quickly reversed him and promptly choked him out. This Brazilian Middleweight is one worth keeping an eye on.
The Ultimate Fighter veterans Manny Gamburyan and Rob Emerson met in the shortest encounter of the evening, when Manvil The Anvil ran his stocky little body right over to Emerson and unloaded a lightening blast of sloppy punches. Emerson threw three quick, straight counter punches and Manny found himself asleep at 12 seconds of the first round.
Cheick Kongo, the fearless African Warrior who was born and brought up in Paris, reasserted his presence in the UFC's lackluster heavyweight division with a first round stoppage of Dan "The Viking" Evensen. Kongo caught the Norwegian with a straight right, right on the button and then smoothly and quickly finished The Viking. Kongo is back and ready to take on the best the UFC has to offer. He probably also does a war dance to the gods every night to thank them for keeping Fedor out of the UFC.
Speaking of the UFC's heavyweight division, Big Brock Lesnar brought his wrestling skills and 1 - 1 record to the big dance and did the light fandango with 28 - 13 & 1 No contest, widely traveled veteran Heath "The Texas Crazy Horse" Herring. Herring had met the best of MMA, but he just couldn't contend with the raw power of the home town Minneapolis (where the show was live) boy. Lesnar showcased his tremendous take down and ground control skills by keeping Herring under him and eating few but powerful ground and pound strikes for most of the encounter. It was all Lesnar and he took an unquestionable decision, but the big man needs to learn to finish on the ground and to refine the raw power of his standing strikes before he engages the best in his class.
Boston's Kenny Florian became the number one contender for the UFC's lightweight crown with his extremely convincing decision win over the popular Roger "El Matador" Huerta. Florian simply shut down Huerta's offence and seemed to be able to take down El Matador at will. The question is what will Kenny do now if light weight champ B.J. Penn gets his shot at welterweight champion Georges St Pierre. Will "Ken Flow" [get that boy a new fight name] wait it out and perhaps get rusty or will he risk a fight before the title shot?
Yep, GSP defended his title with an ease that I never would have thought possible when he was facing the tough Jon Fitch. On paper Fitch had all the skills needed to give the French Canadian a rough night and Fitch had repeatedly demonstrated these skills ...... but somehow he was just no match for the welterweight champion. GSP knocked his man down repeatedly, took him down, controlled him on the ground and just didn't let Fitch get off anything. Fitch showed his toughness by losing a decision, but lasting the entire fight. I think that most fans hope that GSP will answer the challenge of the lightweight champion, Baby Jake Penn next as that would be a contest.
The UFC entertained me yet again and has left me absolutely ready to see The Ice Man take on Rashad Evens and for Rich Franklin to show his skills against the deaf hammer Matt Hamil on September 6th ---- UFC 88.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
A Multitude of Mayhem
Hello Fellow Fight Fans,
I have finally returned to civilization from my exile on the beautiful Blue Ridge and it seems like a multitude of mayhem has passed by while I was trapped in nature. But as the venerable Whitey Bimstein said, "I like the country. Its a nice .............. spot".
The MMA promotion wars of July 19th proved that each promotion's top fighter is still the best in their class -- classes for Anderson Silva. The UFC's middleweight champ cruised into the light heavy weight division with ease by catching and trapping a kick of James Irvin's and then blasting the hapless Irvin off his remaining base of support with a perfect straight shot to the face and ending the match in a hair over a minute with eight ground and pound punches. Sandman Irvin was a top contender in the 205 LB division and the easy manner in which the Spider disposed of him points out that Anderson Silva is as big a threat at light heavy as he is as 185 LB.
Of course, most fight fans consider the heavyweight champion of their sport to be the number one fighter in the world because as the adage goes, "A good big man always beats a good little man." This is absolutely true in sport fighting which is why there are weight classes. The ways in which little people have a chance to beat big people just aren't sporting. On the night of July 19th, in the inaugural promotion of the Affliction brand, St. Petersburg's warrior, the invulnerable Fedor Emelianenko reasserted his dominance of heavyweight sport fighting with his 32 second destruction of six foot, eight inch, 265 pound, two time former UFC heavyweight champion Big Tim Sylvia. A few big punches followed by a masterful choke and zip zop, it was all over in a very thin hair over half a minute. Considering his two wins over current UFC heavyweight champ Big Nog Nogueira, there is no denying Fedor the top of the heavyweight heap. Its going to be fun getting to watch him play King of the Hill.
The remainder of the Affliction card held up also as the other two former UFC heavyweight champs won their respective matches when Andre Arlovski managed to struggle past the IFL's Big Ben Rothwell and Josh Barnett got revenge on a worn out Pedro Rizzo. The overall show seemed to go well and if Affliction can manage to start actually making money they might be around for a while.
Competition often breeds excellence as evidenced by the UFC's free Spike card that same evening. Along with Silva's short work on Irvin the show featured Clarence B. Dollaways dominance of loud mouth Jesse Taylor which ended in a beautiful choke out. The evening also presented the light heavyweight debut of former heavyweight Brandon Vera, of the fighting Vera's. Brandon's wife kick boxes and his brother Brian is a middleweight boxer. Vera completely controlled wrestler and IFL vet Reese Andy and ground out a methodical decision. New Jersey's Frankie Edgar kept up an intense pace as he outgunned the veteran Brazilian Hermes Franca in what turned out to be the match of the night. The show was for many a welcome escape from losing more pay per view bucks.
The following Saturday Elite XC took to the airwaves with a show that began on Showtime and then transferred to CBS. The SHO part of the venue show cased victorious Brazilians as Wilson Reis decisioned Cowboy Karate exponent Bryan Caraway, Rafael Feijao flattened Canadaian Travis Galbraith with a wonderful knee and punch combination and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva pounded out Justin Eilers to take the EXC Heavyweight Title.
The CBS show began with Brazilian rising super star Chris Cyborg (wife of the other Brazilian MMA Cyborg) blasting Shayna Baszler into oblivian in the 2nd round. What do you want to bet that the EXC doesn't get around to matching Gina Carano with Chris Cyborg any time soon? Jake Shields handily captured the new welterweight title from Nick "The Goat" Thompson with a guillotine choke and Ruthless Robbie Lawler defended his middleweight title with a 2nd round stoppage of game Scott Smith. Nick Diaz easily stopped Thomas "Wildman" Denny early in the second round and hopefully will get another title shot soon.
The next Saturday World Extreme Cagefighting presented a three title fight card of the VS channel. Lightweight Champ Jamie Varner put his boxing skills on display and knocked Marcus Hicks unconscious in the very first round. Welterweight Champ Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit struggled a bit with the judo throwing ability of Hiromitsu Miura, but landed a big knee in the fourth round and finished nicely with some superb ground and pound. Light Heavyweight Champ Brian Stann didn't fare so well and was caught by surprise by his former losing foe, Steve Cantwell. Cantwell had figured Stann out between fights and this time stopped the burly ex marine in the second round and took his title.
While all the MMA mayhem was going on there was also a couple of Big upsets in the Boxing world. On July 26th two time welterweight champion Antonio Margarrito met the up coming golden boy of boxing, the undefeated Miguel Cotto. This was supposed to be a warm up for Cotto to meet Oscar De La Hoya in a mega millions fight in December, but someone forgot to tell Tony. Margarrito took the best Cotto had to offer and came back to convince the boy wonder's corner to throw in the towel in the next to last round. This makes Margarrito the unquestionable number one guy at 147 LBS in boxing.
The following Saturday, the underdog African Warrior from The Bronx, Joshua Clottey won a technical decision from former welterweight champ and native of Brooklyn Zab Judah. Clottey was leading on points when the bout was stopped due to a huge cut on Judah, deemed to be caused by an accidental head but. Judah, as always had a million and one whines as to how he really won the fight and was robbed ........... again. Later in the week light weight champ Nate Cambell was guest hosting a boxing program and remarked that the only controversy he saw in the Clottey - Judah match was that he thought the cut came from a clean punch and that Clottey should have won by TKO.
Perspective is everything in prize fighting.
Good Night -- Good Fight
Frank "The Snake"
I have finally returned to civilization from my exile on the beautiful Blue Ridge and it seems like a multitude of mayhem has passed by while I was trapped in nature. But as the venerable Whitey Bimstein said, "I like the country. Its a nice .............. spot".
The MMA promotion wars of July 19th proved that each promotion's top fighter is still the best in their class -- classes for Anderson Silva. The UFC's middleweight champ cruised into the light heavy weight division with ease by catching and trapping a kick of James Irvin's and then blasting the hapless Irvin off his remaining base of support with a perfect straight shot to the face and ending the match in a hair over a minute with eight ground and pound punches. Sandman Irvin was a top contender in the 205 LB division and the easy manner in which the Spider disposed of him points out that Anderson Silva is as big a threat at light heavy as he is as 185 LB.
Of course, most fight fans consider the heavyweight champion of their sport to be the number one fighter in the world because as the adage goes, "A good big man always beats a good little man." This is absolutely true in sport fighting which is why there are weight classes. The ways in which little people have a chance to beat big people just aren't sporting. On the night of July 19th, in the inaugural promotion of the Affliction brand, St. Petersburg's warrior, the invulnerable Fedor Emelianenko reasserted his dominance of heavyweight sport fighting with his 32 second destruction of six foot, eight inch, 265 pound, two time former UFC heavyweight champion Big Tim Sylvia. A few big punches followed by a masterful choke and zip zop, it was all over in a very thin hair over half a minute. Considering his two wins over current UFC heavyweight champ Big Nog Nogueira, there is no denying Fedor the top of the heavyweight heap. Its going to be fun getting to watch him play King of the Hill.
The remainder of the Affliction card held up also as the other two former UFC heavyweight champs won their respective matches when Andre Arlovski managed to struggle past the IFL's Big Ben Rothwell and Josh Barnett got revenge on a worn out Pedro Rizzo. The overall show seemed to go well and if Affliction can manage to start actually making money they might be around for a while.
Competition often breeds excellence as evidenced by the UFC's free Spike card that same evening. Along with Silva's short work on Irvin the show featured Clarence B. Dollaways dominance of loud mouth Jesse Taylor which ended in a beautiful choke out. The evening also presented the light heavyweight debut of former heavyweight Brandon Vera, of the fighting Vera's. Brandon's wife kick boxes and his brother Brian is a middleweight boxer. Vera completely controlled wrestler and IFL vet Reese Andy and ground out a methodical decision. New Jersey's Frankie Edgar kept up an intense pace as he outgunned the veteran Brazilian Hermes Franca in what turned out to be the match of the night. The show was for many a welcome escape from losing more pay per view bucks.
The following Saturday Elite XC took to the airwaves with a show that began on Showtime and then transferred to CBS. The SHO part of the venue show cased victorious Brazilians as Wilson Reis decisioned Cowboy Karate exponent Bryan Caraway, Rafael Feijao flattened Canadaian Travis Galbraith with a wonderful knee and punch combination and Antonio "Big Foot" Silva pounded out Justin Eilers to take the EXC Heavyweight Title.
The CBS show began with Brazilian rising super star Chris Cyborg (wife of the other Brazilian MMA Cyborg) blasting Shayna Baszler into oblivian in the 2nd round. What do you want to bet that the EXC doesn't get around to matching Gina Carano with Chris Cyborg any time soon? Jake Shields handily captured the new welterweight title from Nick "The Goat" Thompson with a guillotine choke and Ruthless Robbie Lawler defended his middleweight title with a 2nd round stoppage of game Scott Smith. Nick Diaz easily stopped Thomas "Wildman" Denny early in the second round and hopefully will get another title shot soon.
The next Saturday World Extreme Cagefighting presented a three title fight card of the VS channel. Lightweight Champ Jamie Varner put his boxing skills on display and knocked Marcus Hicks unconscious in the very first round. Welterweight Champ Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit struggled a bit with the judo throwing ability of Hiromitsu Miura, but landed a big knee in the fourth round and finished nicely with some superb ground and pound. Light Heavyweight Champ Brian Stann didn't fare so well and was caught by surprise by his former losing foe, Steve Cantwell. Cantwell had figured Stann out between fights and this time stopped the burly ex marine in the second round and took his title.
While all the MMA mayhem was going on there was also a couple of Big upsets in the Boxing world. On July 26th two time welterweight champion Antonio Margarrito met the up coming golden boy of boxing, the undefeated Miguel Cotto. This was supposed to be a warm up for Cotto to meet Oscar De La Hoya in a mega millions fight in December, but someone forgot to tell Tony. Margarrito took the best Cotto had to offer and came back to convince the boy wonder's corner to throw in the towel in the next to last round. This makes Margarrito the unquestionable number one guy at 147 LBS in boxing.
The following Saturday, the underdog African Warrior from The Bronx, Joshua Clottey won a technical decision from former welterweight champ and native of Brooklyn Zab Judah. Clottey was leading on points when the bout was stopped due to a huge cut on Judah, deemed to be caused by an accidental head but. Judah, as always had a million and one whines as to how he really won the fight and was robbed ........... again. Later in the week light weight champ Nate Cambell was guest hosting a boxing program and remarked that the only controversy he saw in the Clottey - Judah match was that he thought the cut came from a clean punch and that Clottey should have won by TKO.
Perspective is everything in prize fighting.
Good Night -- Good Fight
Frank "The Snake"
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