Everyone who works at anything can have an off day ... or night .... and boy did Anderson Silva have one of those this past Saturday. The UFC middleweight champion and supposed best fighter on the planet appeared to have arrived on the wrong set and seemed to think that evening he was competing on Dancing With The Stars. The first two rounds saw "The Spider" dance around the cage like a Brazilian rumba king. Good smooth, entertaining dance though. He could have scored points had he been on the correct show. Unfortunately for us fans, we Thought we had tuned in to see the best FIGHTER in the world. Occasionally Silva would land a few leg kicks and knee strikes, just to remind people that he was capable of such action, but then he would segue right back into his ultra slick dance routine.
For his part, Patrick Cote did manage not to do an imitation of Florence Henderson and attempted to play his usual part of "The Predator". Unfortunately Silva's movement skills are so far above those of his young opponent that he left Patrick looking like a smallish Canadian bear pursuing an elusive prey across a very slippery iced over pond. The youthful Predator did manage to throw one entertaining spinning back fist, but mostly he just chased and chased and chased ....... and never managed to catch the dancing master.
The third round began with Cote celebrating the fact that he had actually lasted a couple rounds against Silva and apparently missing the fact that it had been a couple rounds of a dancing contest. Then he was right back to lumber .. lumber ... hop .. lumber --- never even approaching the Rumba King. Then thirty nine seconds into the round Cote's bum knee decided to end the dance and it was Hop --- Pop ... and the cartilage in Patrick's knee blew out like an old tire. The instant swelling made it obvious that the kid was really hurt and that the dance was over.
Anderson Silva seemed embarrassed by his cheap TKO victory. He was probably planning to pull off some kind of spectacular finish on his non threatening foe, but Cote's bad knee had robbed him of the chance and left him looking like a frustrated dancing contestant. I would imagine that "The Spider" will be out to pull the trigger quickly and regain his reputation in his next match ................. whenever that happens. Currently the UFC's dance card looks full all the way through next February.
Meanwhile, the welterweight match of the evening was a veritable War. Josh Koscheck may have come in as a late substitute for Diego Sanchez, but he came in shape and ready to win. Standing in his way was a vicious Pit Bull by the name of Thiago Alves who had decided that having just defeated the great Matt Hughes, no other welterweight was capable of blocking his path to a title shot. These cage warriors exhibited three full rounds of back and forth action that left the fans clamoring for more. Koscheck survived an early first round knock down and came back tough, working hard for take downs, which Alves was managing to stuff with perfect sprawls. The second round saw good stand up action with both men scoring, but Alves was still stopping Koscheck's take down attempts. In the third round the warriors traded accidental eye pokes with apologies all the way around and continued their stand up war. Alves' slamming leg kicks seemed to keep him a bit ahead of his determined foe. In the end Thiago Alves walked away with a unanimous decision, but both fighters had acquitted themselves admirably. Dana White declared Josh Koscheck to be the best wrestler in the UFC and noted that Pit Bull Alves will get a title shot at the winner of St. Pierre and Penn.
The lightweights of the evening, former champion Sean "The Muscle Shark" Sherk and young Tyson Griffin also put on a good show with another back and forth war. Both men are great wrestlers and their skills in that area almost cancelled each other out. Sherk did manage a couple take downs, but Tyson Griffin managed to get right back up each time. The resulting stand up war was close and fun to watch. These wrestlers may not have the striking finesse of boxing trained fighters, but when in good condition and evenly matched they sure can beat the hell out of one another in a thoroughly entertaining manner. Sherk walked away with the decision, probably based on his take downs, but we will see more of young Tyson Griffin. Sherk will have to wait and see if lightweight champion B. J. Penn is successful in his welterweight title rematch against Georges St. Pierre and if so, if B.J. decides to stay in the welterweight division. If that scenario plays out I imagine that Sherk will get the winner of Florian - Stephenson in a lightweight title match. Should Penn lose to GSP he will have Sherk or the "Ken Flo" - "Daddy" winner to chose from for his next lightweight title defense.
Fabricio Werdum entered his match with the unknown Jr. Dos Santos as a huge favorite and a heavyweight contender just waiting for a well deserved title shot. Werdum was at his heaviest carrying 256 pounds on his six foot four frame and making his 6'3", 234 LB. opponent look diminutive in comparison. Could Werdum have had Brock Lesnar on his mind? Where ever his mind was, it wasn't on Little Two Saints, which cost Fabricio his valued position in the heavyweight rankings. Just a little past a minute into the match Jr. threw a looping uppercut from way out side, just like the one that got Chuck Liddell got knocked out by throwing it at Rashad Evans ---------- but -- instead of meeting this sloppy attack with a crisp right counter punch as Evans had done ------- Werdum bobbed right into the shot --- and was knocked cold! Now Werdum will have to get back in line and work his way back towards a title shot and we'll get to see if Little Two saints, AKA: Jr. Dos Santos is a real contender ... or simply a lucky fighter.
Thales Leites smartly moved up the middleweight ladder by choking out veteran Drew McFriedres with in the first couple of minutes of the very first round of their match. Leites performance was flawless and left fans wondering how he might have done against the dancing middleweight champion on this lovely fall evening. A Leites vs. Anderson Silva match may be in our future, but the chances of the champ having another dancing performance night are pretty slim and Thales is likely to meet the Real Spider.
Randy Couture's fighter, the wrestler Gray Maynard put on a clinic of how to win ugly and lose fans. Maynard lived up to his moniker of "The Bully" as he completely controlled TUF vet Rich Clemente, taking him down almost at will and completely controlling Clemente on the ground. Although Maynard clearly deserved his decision win, he simply didn't have what it takes to finish an out classed opponent and left the fans feeling as if they had just experienced "fightus interuptus".
The next big show for the UFC will feature "The Next Big Thing" Brock Lesnar taking on the Timeless Champion, Randy "The Natural" Couture. Whatever the outcome, its a safe bet that this fight will be exciting!
Good Night - Good - Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
THE BEST OF THE BEST RETURNS: UFC 90
Saturday night (Oct. 25th) the reputed Best Pound 4 Pound Fighter In The World, Anderson "The Spider" Silva will headline Ultimate Fighting Championship #90, when he defends his middleweight crown from the Crunching Canuck, Patrick "The Predator" Cote. I guess one might debate whether or not Anderson Silva is the very best pound 4 pound fighter of any kind in the entire world ..... but there is no denying that he is without a doubt the best middleweight MMA fighter on the planet. His Muy Thai knee strikes are some of the best ever and his Thai kicks are like baseball bat hits. Silva has power in both hands and is a Brazilian Ju Jitsu black belt who trains under the Nogueira Twins. Silva's all round MMA skills are as good as anyone has ever seen, but what makes him a super champion is his relaxation within total focus. The Spider sees everything and always seems to make the proper response to what ever his opponent does.
Patrick Cote's MMA career got off to a bit of a rocky start, but then even Anderson Silva lost a couple fights at the beginning of his career. The young Canadian challenger is riding a five fight winning streak and has complete confidence in his sledge hammer punches and granite chin. On paper Cote doesn't stand a chance against The Best There Is - The Best There Was ............ and perhaps The Best There Ever Will Be ------------- But the proverbial Puncher's Chance is always a reality when a fighter has KO power and Patrick Cote has a solid chin and a big dream to go with his wallop.
UFC 90 will also present significant welterweight and lightweight matches. Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves trained to match his kick boxing based skills against the Ju Jitsu wizardry of Deigo Sanchez, but three weeks before the fight Sanchez tore rib cartilage and big time college wrestler and TUF star Josh Koscheck stepped in to face the Pit Bull and vie for the number one welterweight contender slot. Alves finds himself facing a fighter who is even higher in the rankings than Shanchez, but coming off his destruction of legendary welterweight Matt Hughes, Alves' confidence is at an all time high. This match could steal the show and either man could win himself a shot at GSP and the welterweight title.
The winner of the match between former lightweight champion Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk and the up and coming Tyson Griffin should find himself near the top of the line of lightweight contenders. Both fighters can wrestle superbly and both can strike with authority. This one will be a classic confrontation of experience versus youth.
Fabricio Werdum will also be on the UFC 90 card and the Brazilian sensation will be looking to unload his frustration on one Jr. Dos Santos. Little is known about Mr. Two Saints, but he had better be able to fend off one wound up master of mayhem if he plans to survive this match with his person and his reputation in working order. Werdum is a BJJ master who has trained his standup with Mirco Cro-Cop and Curibita, Brazil's famed Chute Box Academy. When he defeated Gabe Gonzaga recently. Werdum seemed to be next in line for a title shot at heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but then came the Nogueira - Frank Mir TUF season which mandated a match between those two .... and the return of Randy Couture, who will face wrestling monster Brock Lesnar next month. So now Werdum will have to wait for those two matches -- and for the winners to face each other before he can get his title shot. It will be very interesting to see if the skills of Jr. Two Saints will be able to fend off the Frustration of Fabricio.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Patrick Cote's MMA career got off to a bit of a rocky start, but then even Anderson Silva lost a couple fights at the beginning of his career. The young Canadian challenger is riding a five fight winning streak and has complete confidence in his sledge hammer punches and granite chin. On paper Cote doesn't stand a chance against The Best There Is - The Best There Was ............ and perhaps The Best There Ever Will Be ------------- But the proverbial Puncher's Chance is always a reality when a fighter has KO power and Patrick Cote has a solid chin and a big dream to go with his wallop.
UFC 90 will also present significant welterweight and lightweight matches. Thiago "Pit Bull" Alves trained to match his kick boxing based skills against the Ju Jitsu wizardry of Deigo Sanchez, but three weeks before the fight Sanchez tore rib cartilage and big time college wrestler and TUF star Josh Koscheck stepped in to face the Pit Bull and vie for the number one welterweight contender slot. Alves finds himself facing a fighter who is even higher in the rankings than Shanchez, but coming off his destruction of legendary welterweight Matt Hughes, Alves' confidence is at an all time high. This match could steal the show and either man could win himself a shot at GSP and the welterweight title.
The winner of the match between former lightweight champion Sean "Muscle Shark" Sherk and the up and coming Tyson Griffin should find himself near the top of the line of lightweight contenders. Both fighters can wrestle superbly and both can strike with authority. This one will be a classic confrontation of experience versus youth.
Fabricio Werdum will also be on the UFC 90 card and the Brazilian sensation will be looking to unload his frustration on one Jr. Dos Santos. Little is known about Mr. Two Saints, but he had better be able to fend off one wound up master of mayhem if he plans to survive this match with his person and his reputation in working order. Werdum is a BJJ master who has trained his standup with Mirco Cro-Cop and Curibita, Brazil's famed Chute Box Academy. When he defeated Gabe Gonzaga recently. Werdum seemed to be next in line for a title shot at heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, but then came the Nogueira - Frank Mir TUF season which mandated a match between those two .... and the return of Randy Couture, who will face wrestling monster Brock Lesnar next month. So now Werdum will have to wait for those two matches -- and for the winners to face each other before he can get his title shot. It will be very interesting to see if the skills of Jr. Two Saints will be able to fend off the Frustration of Fabricio.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Be - Hop Beats 2 ---- The Middleweight Champion .... and .. Father Time
Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins was at the twilight of his illustrious career. Hopkins had amassed twenty successful title defenses along the way to becoming the longest reigning middleweight champion of all boxing history. He had defeated other legendary middleweights and stunned Antonio Tarver and relived the Floridian of his light heavyweight strap. Bernard's position in Boxing's hall of fame was already secured, but in his previous match the undefeated 168 LB champion, Joe Calzaghe had completely frustrated Hopkins and made the Philadelphia Warrior suddenly look shop worn, while taking his light heavyweight title. Before defeating Tarver, Hopkins had appeared out of sync and significantly slower than usual while dropping two matches and the middleweight title to young Jermaine Taylor.
Prize fighting promotions being what they are, last Saturday evening Bernard Hopkins (Be - Hop to the In Crowd) found himself facing the undefeated middleweight champion of the world, Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik. The Hopkins name and Bernard's persona could still sell a lot of tickets and Pavlik had twice defeated Jermaine Taylor and commandeered the middleweight belt. The kid had become a fan favorite with his ever advancing, power punching style and at six foot two the catch weight of 170LB would be no problem .... and .. Kelly Pavlik was only 26 years old, seventeen years younger than the 43 year old Hopkins. This was going to be one of the most classic passing of the torch, young fighter defeats old champion, speed and power of youth overcome the experience of age matches in recent times.
Unfortunately for "The Ghost", apparently "The Executioner" didn't seem to be aware of this scenario. All night long the older warrior gave the young stalker angles, slipped his punches, slid past Pavlik's relentless attacks and popped counter punches into the middleweight's mush. Hopkin's masterful timing and positioning completely stymied Pavlik's dogged aggressiveness and the older fighter's sharp counter shots would have discouraged and dropped a lesser opponent.
The unanimous decision for Bernard was unquestionable and Kelly Pavlik's manager vowed never to take his man out of the middleweight division again. One must wonder though if Pavlik could have defeated Hopkins at any weight that evening. One could wonder if anyone anywhere near his weight could have taken Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins on THAT Evening. Do I see a reincarnation of Archie "The Old Mongoose" Moore in the house?
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Prize fighting promotions being what they are, last Saturday evening Bernard Hopkins (Be - Hop to the In Crowd) found himself facing the undefeated middleweight champion of the world, Kelly "The Ghost" Pavlik. The Hopkins name and Bernard's persona could still sell a lot of tickets and Pavlik had twice defeated Jermaine Taylor and commandeered the middleweight belt. The kid had become a fan favorite with his ever advancing, power punching style and at six foot two the catch weight of 170LB would be no problem .... and .. Kelly Pavlik was only 26 years old, seventeen years younger than the 43 year old Hopkins. This was going to be one of the most classic passing of the torch, young fighter defeats old champion, speed and power of youth overcome the experience of age matches in recent times.
Unfortunately for "The Ghost", apparently "The Executioner" didn't seem to be aware of this scenario. All night long the older warrior gave the young stalker angles, slipped his punches, slid past Pavlik's relentless attacks and popped counter punches into the middleweight's mush. Hopkin's masterful timing and positioning completely stymied Pavlik's dogged aggressiveness and the older fighter's sharp counter shots would have discouraged and dropped a lesser opponent.
The unanimous decision for Bernard was unquestionable and Kelly Pavlik's manager vowed never to take his man out of the middleweight division again. One must wonder though if Pavlik could have defeated Hopkins at any weight that evening. One could wonder if anyone anywhere near his weight could have taken Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins on THAT Evening. Do I see a reincarnation of Archie "The Old Mongoose" Moore in the house?
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
NEWSFLASH: THE EXC IS DEAD ....Did Kimbo kill it?
Seventeen days ago on a huge venue in front of millions of fans on network television Elite Xtreme Combat's premier heavyweight contestant and most popular fan attraction was knocked silly with one quick, off balance punch, by a lightheavy weight last minute substitute; and KO'd in just 14 seconds of the first round. Now, seventeen days later, the EXC is dead, gone, never to be seen again!
Yep, even the much advertised Nov. 8th event featuring Nick Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez for the light weight title and Robbie Lawler defending the middle weight title from "Smokin'" Joe Villasenor and to be shown on Showtime TV IS OFF. Elite Xtreme Combat has completely vanished. Is this really the fault of Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson? Probably not, but paying their star a half million dollars to ruin the promotions reputation of hosting the Baddest Streetfighter On The Planet, devalue their product and guaranty lower television ratings in the near future couldn't have helped though.
The problem goes much deeper than that though as EXC's parent company Pro Elite has filed for bankruptcy claiming a 55 million dollar overall loss for the EXC. Pro Elite is also the parent company of second tier MMA promotions, King of the Cage and England's Cage Rage, so one could stick a fork in these promotions as they are absolutely done. Fighters under contract to the Pro Elite promotional group might get to fight for other groups immediately, but depending on the terms of their contracts some fighters will have to wait and see who acquires their contracts in the bankruptcy proceedings.
There will be less MMA on TV for a while, but NBC has already inked a contract to show taped matches from the Strikeforce promotional group and talks on live venues are on going. CBS attempted tp purchase the EXC, but negotiations broke down. Speculation now is that they might try to strike a deal with the upcoming Afflication promotional team which now includes not only the T shirt guys and Donald Trump, but also their new promotional partner, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
Of course The UFC will continue to be all over Spike TV's airwaves and their upcoming pay per view venues already hold the interest of the MMA viewing public at large. Expect the UFC guys to be right in the mix when it comes to vying for a TV network contract, with Dana White explaining his view to the network executives how All the other MMA promotions are destined to wither on the vine and die, leaving only the UFC in tact ............... and how Elite Xtreme Combat has just proven his point.
I love the UFC's programing, but competition is good for every business, so let's hope that Some other MMA promotion can weather the economic storm, make the grade .... and survive.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Yep, even the much advertised Nov. 8th event featuring Nick Diaz vs. Eddie Alvarez for the light weight title and Robbie Lawler defending the middle weight title from "Smokin'" Joe Villasenor and to be shown on Showtime TV IS OFF. Elite Xtreme Combat has completely vanished. Is this really the fault of Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson? Probably not, but paying their star a half million dollars to ruin the promotions reputation of hosting the Baddest Streetfighter On The Planet, devalue their product and guaranty lower television ratings in the near future couldn't have helped though.
The problem goes much deeper than that though as EXC's parent company Pro Elite has filed for bankruptcy claiming a 55 million dollar overall loss for the EXC. Pro Elite is also the parent company of second tier MMA promotions, King of the Cage and England's Cage Rage, so one could stick a fork in these promotions as they are absolutely done. Fighters under contract to the Pro Elite promotional group might get to fight for other groups immediately, but depending on the terms of their contracts some fighters will have to wait and see who acquires their contracts in the bankruptcy proceedings.
There will be less MMA on TV for a while, but NBC has already inked a contract to show taped matches from the Strikeforce promotional group and talks on live venues are on going. CBS attempted tp purchase the EXC, but negotiations broke down. Speculation now is that they might try to strike a deal with the upcoming Afflication promotional team which now includes not only the T shirt guys and Donald Trump, but also their new promotional partner, Oscar De La Hoya's Golden Boy Promotions.
Of course The UFC will continue to be all over Spike TV's airwaves and their upcoming pay per view venues already hold the interest of the MMA viewing public at large. Expect the UFC guys to be right in the mix when it comes to vying for a TV network contract, with Dana White explaining his view to the network executives how All the other MMA promotions are destined to wither on the vine and die, leaving only the UFC in tact ............... and how Elite Xtreme Combat has just proven his point.
I love the UFC's programing, but competition is good for every business, so let's hope that Some other MMA promotion can weather the economic storm, make the grade .... and survive.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Monday, October 20, 2008
THE COUNT Reigns over THE CRIPPLER while THE DEAN schools THE TRUTH - UFC89
England's Native son Michael "The Count" Bisping made The Queen's Country proud this past Saturday evening when he completely out fought his note worthy and doggedly tough opponent Chris "The Crippler" Leben. Bisping was simply one step ahead and two beats faster all night long. The Crippler landed a couple good counter shots and one powerful take down, but mostly he demonstrated his new found, hard trained stamina with his continuous stalking of Bisping. even though the end result of said stalking was Leben eating a steady barrage of counter shots. Occasionally this routine was punctuated with a Bisping take down of The Crippler, but soon the battlers would be up again and back to their chase and counter routine. Even Leben had no complaint with the unanimous decision for Bisping and in fact played the part of the gracious loser with academy award winning aplomb. The call immediately went out for a possible title fight for Bisping, but The Count knows he needs a little more experience before tackling the best pound 4 pound fighter in the world. For anyone else who may need convincing, Anderson Silva's skills will be on display Next Saturday at UFC 90.
Kieth "The Dean Of Mean" Jardine looks like one of the goblins from Lord of the Rings and unfortunately for his opponents he can fight like one too. The move down from heavyweight to light heavyweight was expected to make Brenden "The Truth" Vera unstoppable in his new weight class, but apparently someone forgot to inform The Dean of this. Just before the bell Jardine fired himself up with the new Greg Jackson camp nipple twist. We have seen St Pierre (GSP), Rashad Evans and now Jardine, pull this trick ...ahh .nipple --- and then they all proceeded to win their respective matches, so there might be something to this. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how many other tough guys twist their titties on their way to mayhem and then how they do at said mayhem. Jardine used his twist energy to hang tight in a tough back and forth battle which saw both men rocked and scored upon. The Dean bled early from a scalp cut, which is of course the basic weakness of the shaved head, but the loss of claret didn't slow Jardine down a bit. In the end Jardine actually just edged out a split decision over a tough and competitive Brenden Vera. Something got him just over the top ----------- could it have been ???
Brazilian kick boxer Luiz Cane continued to move up the light heavyweight ladder when he weathered an early storm of powerful strikes by "The African Assassin" Rameau Sokoudjou and then late in the second round dropped Sokoudjou with a perfect cross and then jumped on his fallen foe for a quick ground and pound finish. Cane can really crack and may become a force to be reckoned with in the UFC's talent laden light heavyweight division.
Chris "Light Out" Lytle and England's own Paul Taylor received fight of the night honors for their back and forth war. This match was a series of hard exchanges all the way through. Both men gave the match every ounce of their energy and put on a great show. In the end the judges saw Lytle as a bit better overall and gave him the decision.
Englishman Paul Kelly didn't fair as well as his countrymen and was tapped out by Maine's own warrior Marcus "The Irish hand Grenede" Davis in the 2nd round. The first round was very slow and pretty uneventful, but in the second round Davis trapped Kelly in a picture perfect guillotine choke and put an end to the Englishman's undefeated record.
Yet another entertaining show from the folks at the UFC --- and next Saturday --another one.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Kieth "The Dean Of Mean" Jardine looks like one of the goblins from Lord of the Rings and unfortunately for his opponents he can fight like one too. The move down from heavyweight to light heavyweight was expected to make Brenden "The Truth" Vera unstoppable in his new weight class, but apparently someone forgot to inform The Dean of this. Just before the bell Jardine fired himself up with the new Greg Jackson camp nipple twist. We have seen St Pierre (GSP), Rashad Evans and now Jardine, pull this trick ...ahh .nipple --- and then they all proceeded to win their respective matches, so there might be something to this. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how many other tough guys twist their titties on their way to mayhem and then how they do at said mayhem. Jardine used his twist energy to hang tight in a tough back and forth battle which saw both men rocked and scored upon. The Dean bled early from a scalp cut, which is of course the basic weakness of the shaved head, but the loss of claret didn't slow Jardine down a bit. In the end Jardine actually just edged out a split decision over a tough and competitive Brenden Vera. Something got him just over the top ----------- could it have been ???
Brazilian kick boxer Luiz Cane continued to move up the light heavyweight ladder when he weathered an early storm of powerful strikes by "The African Assassin" Rameau Sokoudjou and then late in the second round dropped Sokoudjou with a perfect cross and then jumped on his fallen foe for a quick ground and pound finish. Cane can really crack and may become a force to be reckoned with in the UFC's talent laden light heavyweight division.
Chris "Light Out" Lytle and England's own Paul Taylor received fight of the night honors for their back and forth war. This match was a series of hard exchanges all the way through. Both men gave the match every ounce of their energy and put on a great show. In the end the judges saw Lytle as a bit better overall and gave him the decision.
Englishman Paul Kelly didn't fair as well as his countrymen and was tapped out by Maine's own warrior Marcus "The Irish hand Grenede" Davis in the 2nd round. The first round was very slow and pretty uneventful, but in the second round Davis trapped Kelly in a picture perfect guillotine choke and put an end to the Englishman's undefeated record.
Yet another entertaining show from the folks at the UFC --- and next Saturday --another one.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Friday, October 17, 2008
The Count vs The Crippler - UFC on SPIKE TV
This Saturday evening, Oct. 18th, the Ultimate Fighting Championships will present UFC 89, from Birmingham, England ---- Free on Spike TV. Continuing to stay a couple steps ahead of their competition promotions, the UFC will follow this free event this weekend with a pay per view event next weekend, featuring the #1 pound 4 pound MMA fighter Anderson Silva and one of their biggest shows of the year next month, when Randy Couture will return to the Octagon and face the gigantic wrestling sensation Brock Lesnar and the condiment on this delicious meal of mayhem is the continual showing of the new season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, currently focused on the antics of the ferocious lightweight clown Junnie Brown -- ing.
The opening stanza of this three event blast will showcase England's own Michael "The Count" Bisping squaring off with most noticed fighter on TUF #1, Chris "The Crippler" Leben. Leben didn't win TUF #1, but he proved to be a tough and entertaining competitor in the cage and a nut job who peed on the smelly kid's bed. His career has been a bit up and down since then, but no one has ever forgotten him. Bisping on the other hand was a TUF winner and has continued on his winning ways. He's a good all around fighter, with great hand speed and except for a gift decision over Matt Hamil, has looked sterling. Leben has recently moved to Hawaii and rededicated himself to hard training and less partying. His hard punches and good chin make an upset win for him a possibility, but its more likely that Bisping's speed will be too much for The Crippler.
The exciting, toss up match of the evening will be between veteran lightheavy weight Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine and smallish heavyweight contender, reborn as a larger lightheavy weight Brenden Vera. Vera is quite quick at this weight and his unorthadox skill set could be confusing to Jardine, but The Dean of Mean has proven that if he can touch you, he can take you out. This one could go either way and will be great fun to watch.
The African Assassin Rameau Sokoudjou will try to stop the streaking Brazilian sensation Luiz Cane and Chris "Lights Out" Lytle and Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis will test the local talent when they face The Paul's - Taylor & Kelly.
This event has the potential to be a very fast paced and entertaining show -- and its only the tip of an upcoming MMA Iceberg.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
The opening stanza of this three event blast will showcase England's own Michael "The Count" Bisping squaring off with most noticed fighter on TUF #1, Chris "The Crippler" Leben. Leben didn't win TUF #1, but he proved to be a tough and entertaining competitor in the cage and a nut job who peed on the smelly kid's bed. His career has been a bit up and down since then, but no one has ever forgotten him. Bisping on the other hand was a TUF winner and has continued on his winning ways. He's a good all around fighter, with great hand speed and except for a gift decision over Matt Hamil, has looked sterling. Leben has recently moved to Hawaii and rededicated himself to hard training and less partying. His hard punches and good chin make an upset win for him a possibility, but its more likely that Bisping's speed will be too much for The Crippler.
The exciting, toss up match of the evening will be between veteran lightheavy weight Keith "The Dean of Mean" Jardine and smallish heavyweight contender, reborn as a larger lightheavy weight Brenden Vera. Vera is quite quick at this weight and his unorthadox skill set could be confusing to Jardine, but The Dean of Mean has proven that if he can touch you, he can take you out. This one could go either way and will be great fun to watch.
The African Assassin Rameau Sokoudjou will try to stop the streaking Brazilian sensation Luiz Cane and Chris "Lights Out" Lytle and Marcus "The Irish Hand Grenade" Davis will test the local talent when they face The Paul's - Taylor & Kelly.
This event has the potential to be a very fast paced and entertaining show -- and its only the tip of an upcoming MMA Iceberg.
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Monday, October 13, 2008
Dawson Takes Tarver To School - Sam Peter Quits On His Stool!
Saturday evening Showtime Network presented the best and the worst aspects of the Boxing game. While Chad Dawson and Antonio Tarver exhibited the skills expected in a classic boxing passing of the torch match, defending WBC heavyweight champion Sam Peter proved that some amateur boxers never quite understand what it means to be a professional prize fighter, no matter how exulted their professional careers might have become.
In the build up to their Lightheavy Weight title match, Antonio Tarver did his usual promotional motor mouth routine, which helps to sell tickets and sometimes manages to unnerve his opponents. For his part Chad Dawson started out portraying the quit unbeaten champion who lets his fists do the talking in the ring, but eventually Tarver's, "I've been the man for a decade and this kid can't carry my jock strap." rap wore away on the lad from New Haven and he was drawn in to uncharacteristic verbal retaliation. The youngster won the war of words when at the final instructions and touching of gloves one upped Tarver's famous, "Did you bring any excuses tonight Roy!" line to Roy Jones with, "No more time for talking Antonio; Time to go to work!".
Then the younger boxer began to back up his words by out speeding Tarver and landing repeated five punch combinations on his 39 year old antagonist throughout the first two rounds. The Magic Man demonstrated a little of his old magic when Tarver landed solid uppercuts, hooks and straight lefts to take the third stanza. For the next couple of rounds Bad Chad looked masterful as he enticed the usually laid back counter puncher Tarver into chasing him and then counter punched the older champion with ease. For some reason Dawson seemed to take round six off, simply played a defensive game and let Tarver take the round, while Dawson took no damage at all. Perhaps he was simply trying to tire the older fighter out? Dawson then took the next two rounds with his draw in and counter strategy and pulled out a lackluster ninth round with quick scoring combinations at the end. The 10th round was a carbon copy of rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, & 8, with a retreating Dawson peppering Tarver with quick counter shots. Tarver had a talent flashback in the 11th round, scored very well and walked away with the round, but Dawson wasn't putting up with that type of behavior from his long toothed foe and dropped The Magic Man, in the 12th with a quick punch that caught Tarver off balance and caused him to touch his glove to the canvas. Although Tarver rallied to take the remainder of the final round it wasn't nearly enough and young Bad Chad Dawson remained undefeated and went home with the IBF Lightheavy Weight crown. Both combatants put on a great show! Antonio Tarver is only done if he wishes to retire, but he could still defeat most of the Lt. Heavyweight division and Chad Dawson has earned a shot at either the winner of Hopkins - Pavlick or the winner of Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones.
Earlier in the day, over in Berlin Germany WBC Heavyweight Champion Sam "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter and his combacking opponent, WBC Heavyweight Champion Emeritus (What ever the hell that means) Vitaly Klitschko exhibited why boxing matches are sometimes to slow for the pace of life in the twenty first century. With Peter coming off the destruction of Oleg Maskiav and Vitaly coming off an injury laden almost four year lay off, most people, including myself expected the young Nigerian to wear down his older and rusty foe. Instead, for eight rounds we saw the older Klitschko brother circle with his hands down by his thighs, popping continual jabs, occasional thundering crosses and even the once and a while pounding hook into the big head of the Nigerian Nightmare as Peter chugged sluggishly forward, but Never managed to get inside the large Ukrainian's long arms. Someone should have schooled Peter with a library of Rocky Marciano fight films. The Rock had the shortest arms of any heavyweight champion and still managed to be the only heavyweight champion so far to retire undefeated. "Hit their long arms and then work your way in Sam ---- Hit the arms!" But no --- Sam Peter simply rolled forward into successive long arm counter punches until at the end of the eighth round, with his lip badly split and gushing blood and his eyes nearly swollen shut Sam Peter quit on his stool! Aw Man! It would have been the logical outcome of an amateur match, but Peter was paid to give his all for the fans and he didn't do that. He wasn't hurt real bad, he was simply discouraged with his inability to get inside Klitschko's long reach. His corner should have been able to tell the Nigerian lad how to accomplish that. Sam Peter's training program will need a lot of reworking to keep him from fading away like Danny Williams and Kirk Johnson did after the older Klitschko defeated them.
Now boxing's heavyweight division belongs to the Eastern Block. There will be no heavyweight title unification as long as the Klitschko brothers hold three quarters of the titles as Vitali and Wald will never fight each other, but eventually one of the Ukrainian brothers will meet the WBA champion, the Russian giant Nicolai Valuev in a war of Slavic giants. Before that there are two eastern block challengers and a Cuban to be obliged ................... but where are the American heavyweight boxers?
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
In the build up to their Lightheavy Weight title match, Antonio Tarver did his usual promotional motor mouth routine, which helps to sell tickets and sometimes manages to unnerve his opponents. For his part Chad Dawson started out portraying the quit unbeaten champion who lets his fists do the talking in the ring, but eventually Tarver's, "I've been the man for a decade and this kid can't carry my jock strap." rap wore away on the lad from New Haven and he was drawn in to uncharacteristic verbal retaliation. The youngster won the war of words when at the final instructions and touching of gloves one upped Tarver's famous, "Did you bring any excuses tonight Roy!" line to Roy Jones with, "No more time for talking Antonio; Time to go to work!".
Then the younger boxer began to back up his words by out speeding Tarver and landing repeated five punch combinations on his 39 year old antagonist throughout the first two rounds. The Magic Man demonstrated a little of his old magic when Tarver landed solid uppercuts, hooks and straight lefts to take the third stanza. For the next couple of rounds Bad Chad looked masterful as he enticed the usually laid back counter puncher Tarver into chasing him and then counter punched the older champion with ease. For some reason Dawson seemed to take round six off, simply played a defensive game and let Tarver take the round, while Dawson took no damage at all. Perhaps he was simply trying to tire the older fighter out? Dawson then took the next two rounds with his draw in and counter strategy and pulled out a lackluster ninth round with quick scoring combinations at the end. The 10th round was a carbon copy of rounds 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, & 8, with a retreating Dawson peppering Tarver with quick counter shots. Tarver had a talent flashback in the 11th round, scored very well and walked away with the round, but Dawson wasn't putting up with that type of behavior from his long toothed foe and dropped The Magic Man, in the 12th with a quick punch that caught Tarver off balance and caused him to touch his glove to the canvas. Although Tarver rallied to take the remainder of the final round it wasn't nearly enough and young Bad Chad Dawson remained undefeated and went home with the IBF Lightheavy Weight crown. Both combatants put on a great show! Antonio Tarver is only done if he wishes to retire, but he could still defeat most of the Lt. Heavyweight division and Chad Dawson has earned a shot at either the winner of Hopkins - Pavlick or the winner of Calzaghe vs. Roy Jones.
Earlier in the day, over in Berlin Germany WBC Heavyweight Champion Sam "The Nigerian Nightmare" Peter and his combacking opponent, WBC Heavyweight Champion Emeritus (What ever the hell that means) Vitaly Klitschko exhibited why boxing matches are sometimes to slow for the pace of life in the twenty first century. With Peter coming off the destruction of Oleg Maskiav and Vitaly coming off an injury laden almost four year lay off, most people, including myself expected the young Nigerian to wear down his older and rusty foe. Instead, for eight rounds we saw the older Klitschko brother circle with his hands down by his thighs, popping continual jabs, occasional thundering crosses and even the once and a while pounding hook into the big head of the Nigerian Nightmare as Peter chugged sluggishly forward, but Never managed to get inside the large Ukrainian's long arms. Someone should have schooled Peter with a library of Rocky Marciano fight films. The Rock had the shortest arms of any heavyweight champion and still managed to be the only heavyweight champion so far to retire undefeated. "Hit their long arms and then work your way in Sam ---- Hit the arms!" But no --- Sam Peter simply rolled forward into successive long arm counter punches until at the end of the eighth round, with his lip badly split and gushing blood and his eyes nearly swollen shut Sam Peter quit on his stool! Aw Man! It would have been the logical outcome of an amateur match, but Peter was paid to give his all for the fans and he didn't do that. He wasn't hurt real bad, he was simply discouraged with his inability to get inside Klitschko's long reach. His corner should have been able to tell the Nigerian lad how to accomplish that. Sam Peter's training program will need a lot of reworking to keep him from fading away like Danny Williams and Kirk Johnson did after the older Klitschko defeated them.
Now boxing's heavyweight division belongs to the Eastern Block. There will be no heavyweight title unification as long as the Klitschko brothers hold three quarters of the titles as Vitali and Wald will never fight each other, but eventually one of the Ukrainian brothers will meet the WBA champion, the Russian giant Nicolai Valuev in a war of Slavic giants. Before that there are two eastern block challengers and a Cuban to be obliged ................... but where are the American heavyweight boxers?
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Heavy & Lt. Heavy Boxing Titles On The Line TONIGHT
Today we will get to experience one of those now rare evenings in which Two major Boxing title matches will be on display -- and even on subscription cable TV. Here in the twenty first century, fights such as those presented this evening are usually viewed at the top of a pay per view card and below them would be two or three fights featuring near nobodies and complete nobodies. But this evening Showtime network will present a contest for one of the major heavyweight titles and a match for the major light heavy weight title.
The light heavy weight tiff will feature the return to the big time of current IBF & IBO Light Heavy Weight Champion Antonio "The Magic Man" Tarver. Years ago Tarver enthralled the boxing world with his magic when he knocked out the boxing icon of the time Roy Jones and went on to seem invincible in his title reign, but that was another time. Then came the time of Mason Dixon and rubbing shoulders with Hollywood and Sylvester Stallone. Tarver seemed to leave his magic in Hollywood and his career seemed to careen off course after that until his recent title win over Englishman Clinton Woods. Tarver seemed to revive some of his old magic in that one, but the Englishman seemed to have bought in to the Tarver hype and appeared defeated as he entered the ring. Will Tarver's experience lead him over his young opponent tonight? At just a month shy of forty years old that becomes a long leap.
Across the ring from Tarver will be the young New Haven super star "Bad" Chad Dawson. Dawson is the epitome of a young fast fighter on the rise and he has the mind of the great former world light heavy weight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in his corner. Dawson has been down, but he's never failed to get up and win. The young champion relinquished his WBC belt to get this shot at Tarver and he won't be over awed of The Magic Man's reputation as Woods was. Look for this one to be a decision for Bad Chad --- if he doesn't wear Tarver down in the late rounds for a TKO stoppage.
Also on this Showtime venue will be a tape delay viewing of today's WBC heavyweight title fight between the returning Big Brother Klitschko, Vitaly and the reigning WBC heavyweight champion "The Nigerian Nightmare" Sam Peter. Vitaly is the older brother of current IBF and Ring Magazine champion Waldimir Klitschko. The Nightmare wanted and deserves a rematch with the younger Klitschko who he knocked down three times in route to a decision loss. Which was by the way actually a legitimate decision as Wald boxed Sam's ass off and kept that long jab in the Nigerian's face for all the time that Wald was on his feet. Of course there was those three times that he wasn't on his feet, but Sam came to understand this type of win when he himself walked away with a decision over Jamil McCline after tasting the canvas a trio of times himself.
But --- Big "V" wanted to come out of retirement and he actually managed to get through a training camp without being injured as had happened the last couple times Vitali attempted to come out of retirement, so big money said that Big "V" gets the Big Nigerian.
This is two big men who both can really bang, so this might be a thrilling slugfest, that could end in a brutal knock out in either direction. Vitaly might keep Sam on the end of his long jab and then repeatedly slam his sledge hammer right into the Nigerian's big head, till the nightmare awakens on the canvas to find himself no longer champion. But, The Nightmare could slip inside Vitaly's long and stiff arms, pin the tall fellow to the ropes and punish his liver and spleen until the big Ukranian doubles over, thereby bringing his face into range of Peter's powerful hooks and ending Vitaly's comeback.
As entertaining as these scenarios are we should remember how little Chris Byrd made the then 28 - 0 with 28 KO's Vitaly Klitschko repeatedly just miss Byrd's jaw by an inch or less until Vitaly punched so hard that when he missed he threw his own shoulder out. An unheralded masterful defensive technique by Byrd, by the way. But then came Vitaly's lay off which with his political career and his training injuries has kept Vitaly out of action for four years. I think that his inactivity which is complicated by his being prone to structural injuries may lead to an ending of tonight's heavy weight title match with Big Vitaly Klitschko sitting on his stool with a bum shoulder, pulled back, twisted knee or some such. That's the ending I see --- but we will all know the outcome of tonight's boxing double header in a few hours.
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
The light heavy weight tiff will feature the return to the big time of current IBF & IBO Light Heavy Weight Champion Antonio "The Magic Man" Tarver. Years ago Tarver enthralled the boxing world with his magic when he knocked out the boxing icon of the time Roy Jones and went on to seem invincible in his title reign, but that was another time. Then came the time of Mason Dixon and rubbing shoulders with Hollywood and Sylvester Stallone. Tarver seemed to leave his magic in Hollywood and his career seemed to careen off course after that until his recent title win over Englishman Clinton Woods. Tarver seemed to revive some of his old magic in that one, but the Englishman seemed to have bought in to the Tarver hype and appeared defeated as he entered the ring. Will Tarver's experience lead him over his young opponent tonight? At just a month shy of forty years old that becomes a long leap.
Across the ring from Tarver will be the young New Haven super star "Bad" Chad Dawson. Dawson is the epitome of a young fast fighter on the rise and he has the mind of the great former world light heavy weight champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad in his corner. Dawson has been down, but he's never failed to get up and win. The young champion relinquished his WBC belt to get this shot at Tarver and he won't be over awed of The Magic Man's reputation as Woods was. Look for this one to be a decision for Bad Chad --- if he doesn't wear Tarver down in the late rounds for a TKO stoppage.
Also on this Showtime venue will be a tape delay viewing of today's WBC heavyweight title fight between the returning Big Brother Klitschko, Vitaly and the reigning WBC heavyweight champion "The Nigerian Nightmare" Sam Peter. Vitaly is the older brother of current IBF and Ring Magazine champion Waldimir Klitschko. The Nightmare wanted and deserves a rematch with the younger Klitschko who he knocked down three times in route to a decision loss. Which was by the way actually a legitimate decision as Wald boxed Sam's ass off and kept that long jab in the Nigerian's face for all the time that Wald was on his feet. Of course there was those three times that he wasn't on his feet, but Sam came to understand this type of win when he himself walked away with a decision over Jamil McCline after tasting the canvas a trio of times himself.
But --- Big "V" wanted to come out of retirement and he actually managed to get through a training camp without being injured as had happened the last couple times Vitali attempted to come out of retirement, so big money said that Big "V" gets the Big Nigerian.
This is two big men who both can really bang, so this might be a thrilling slugfest, that could end in a brutal knock out in either direction. Vitaly might keep Sam on the end of his long jab and then repeatedly slam his sledge hammer right into the Nigerian's big head, till the nightmare awakens on the canvas to find himself no longer champion. But, The Nightmare could slip inside Vitaly's long and stiff arms, pin the tall fellow to the ropes and punish his liver and spleen until the big Ukranian doubles over, thereby bringing his face into range of Peter's powerful hooks and ending Vitaly's comeback.
As entertaining as these scenarios are we should remember how little Chris Byrd made the then 28 - 0 with 28 KO's Vitaly Klitschko repeatedly just miss Byrd's jaw by an inch or less until Vitaly punched so hard that when he missed he threw his own shoulder out. An unheralded masterful defensive technique by Byrd, by the way. But then came Vitaly's lay off which with his political career and his training injuries has kept Vitaly out of action for four years. I think that his inactivity which is complicated by his being prone to structural injuries may lead to an ending of tonight's heavy weight title match with Big Vitaly Klitschko sitting on his stool with a bum shoulder, pulled back, twisted knee or some such. That's the ending I see --- but we will all know the outcome of tonight's boxing double header in a few hours.
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
KIMBO SLICED by Pink Haired Substitute
The main event for CBS's Saturday Fight Night was a comedy of errors. Four point three million viewers tuned in to see the main event spectacle of internet street fighting sensation Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson dissecting ancient MMA legend Ken Shamrock. But ---- the first thing they heard was that the Kimbo vs. Ken match wasn't going to happen because Shamrock had managed to sustain a six stitch gash in his eyebrow while warming up for the fight and had thereby rendered himself ineligible to compete. As announcer Frank Shamrock, sort of brother of Ken (Ken is Irish and from the Carolinas while Frank is Hispanic and from California, but they were both adopted by wayward boys home manager Bob Shamrock) said, "How Stupid Is That! Ken Never goes light, so why was he warming up like that just before a major match?" Maybe we will get to see that Ken vs. Frank fight one of these days.
Meanwhile EXC and CBS still needed a Kimbo main event. Their only other heavyweights on the card were on loan from Afflication Promotions (more on them later), so they couldn't move either of these guys into the main event, but they did have a lightheavy weight match in which one of the opponents had previously competed at heavyweight --- enter Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli. Petruzelli had been a heavyweight semi finalist in the 2nd season of The Ultimate Fighter, but had just taken a year off from fighting to start a business and had in doing so become pretty much an MMA non entity. A fight with Kimbo was a quick route back into the limelight so the 28 year old accepted the match even though he had entered the arena that evening expecting to face veteran lightheavy weight Arron Rossa in a preliminary bout. Petruzelli entered the cage with a somewhat dubious look under his pink and black patched hair and bounced around nervously as he waited for the Floridian street fighter, who had forty pounds on him. Kimbo looked a bit uneasy as he entered the cage and one had to wonder if the substitution of a live lightheavy weight journeyman instead of stuffed and propped up heavyweight relic was making The Slicer nervous.
As the fight began Kimbo tore across the ring with a charge that Petruzelli later described as feeling like a truck was trying to run him down. The pink haired kid backed up to the limits of the cage wall and as Kimbo bore down on him Petruzelli reacted with the instincts of someone who has practiced Karate since the age of seven and threw a light front kick at the charging behemoth in hopes of backing the monster off. Then Kimbo made a common amateur mistake and reached down to block the kick thereby leaving his head wide open. The kid promptly shot out a straight right punch, which is being described as a jab, but was actually more of a straight Karate punch as Petruzelli had learned in his youth ............... and the big man's eyebrow split open --- and he collapsed on his face. Being an actual MMA veteran, Petruzelli leaped on his fallen opponent and rained down punches unti the ref had to stop the match as the Star performer was just laying there taking a beating. Substitute Seth Petruzelli had stopped Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds of the 1st round!
Petruzelli was humble in his post fight interview, saying that neither of them had any time to prepare for each other making this more like a street fight than a professional prize fight and that he would gladly give Kimbo a rematch, in which he would be very happy to come in to about twenty pound heavier as stripping to light heavy had been arduous. But as Kimbo has been billed as the "Fight anyone anytime street fighter" Petruzelli's explanation didn't really help Kimbo's reputation. I'm sure the kid was happy to get his $35,000. for the match and another $15,000 for winning, which is probably three or fout times as much as he would have received for fighting Rosa. For his part, Kimbo seemed to blow the entire fight off with, "Things happen -- its all good -- come to the after party". I guess he was happy with the five hundred grand that he was to receive for his 14 seconds of ineptitude.
Hopefully Kimbo Slice will now receed to his natural position on the MMA heavyweight ladder and appear on undercards facing the likes of Butterbean, Kurt Angle, Kimo, Dan Severn or --- Ken Shamrock ........ but don't count on it. EXC and CBS seem to think that Kimbo's internet popularity will always translate into good ratings and this card did double the viewers that tuned in last summer to see the middleweight title rematch of Robbie Lawler and Chris Smith. Therefore don't be surprised if the next we see of Florida's number street fighter is a main event rematch with Seth Petruzelli, which at least would be superior to a revival of the Ken Shamrock - Kimbo Slice main event. You know that Kimbo will be there --------- where else will he make a half mil in a few seconds? But as for us fans -------- Come on CBS & EXC -- We want to see Cung Li!
EXC and CBS's other star attraction managed to win, but wasn't all that exciting either. Gina "Conviction" Carno took on former Bodog Fight mid level contender Kelly Kobald. Both girls are kickboxing based, but Carno is the bigger of the pair as has become usual in her matches. She even had to strip naked at the weigh in to make the 141 LB limit, which while entertaining (to a limited extent as they held towels around her) once again proved that she has to really strip weight (and clothes) to make weight and is always bigger than her opponents. The fight was pretty much a snorer as mostly Kobald pinned Carano to the cage and Carano couldn't seem to escape from her smaller opponent's grasp. In her few moments off the cage Carano peppered Kobald with kicks and punches, bloodied Kobald and took a boring but unquestionable decision.
On the undercard Chris "Cyborg" Santos beat the hell out of Yoko Takahasi, who for her part turned out to be tough as nails and lasted the entire match. Cyborg is naturally the same size as Gina Carano, so hopefully the EXC will match her with Carano soon, so that we can find out how much "Conviction" Gina has when facing a highly trained fighter who is her own size. Is Gina the real deal ... or just a female Kimbo?
Afflication Promotions loaned Elite Xtreme Combat both former UFC champion Andrei "Pitbull"Arlovski and former IFL champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson. This was a good match and kept both heavyweights in action instead of having to wait for Afflication's next card that isn't until the first of the year. Nelson is unique in that he looks like just a big old country bar fighter with a belly like Butterbean, but he can move and he can fight. In the first round Big country managed to stun Arlovski with a big looping punch and to land on top after Arlovski tripped him and use his weight effectively to pin the former UFC champ to the canvas for quite a while. The ripped six foot four inch Arlovski wasn't going to stand for this treatment for long though and in the second round the number six ranked heavyweight caught Nelson with a solid shot in the middle of an exchange, dropped the big man and took him out for a 2nd round TKO win.
Afflication Promotions took their pound of flesh for the loan though. They bought up a good percentage of the advertising time of the show and ran thirty second ads with about twenty seconds of the Fedor vs. Tim Sylvia Fight, which had only lasted thirty two seconds. This ran with both the t shirt ads and the promotion ads and served to constantly remind viewers that Afflication, not the UFC or EXC has the #1 heavyweight in the world under contract. Watch for Arvlovski to fight Fedor fairly soon ----------- in an Afflication venue, not an EXC show.
Saturday night the undercard matches saved the show. The on loan heavyweights were entertaining and the EXC Welterweight Title Fight, that by all rights should have been the main event was a well contested match. Welterweight champion Jake Shields made an exciting defense against English Cage Rage Promotion's welterweight champion Paul Daley. The first round saw Daley control the stand up, Shields score the take down, Daley sweep to mount and do a little ground and pound. In the second Daley continued to control the standup till Shields got the take down. The EXC champ then applied a little ground and pound of his own to set up the perfect armbar, which submitted Daley. Both these boys put on a great show and Shields demonstrated that he will be a credible opponent for the middleweight title if the ECX allows him his wish for his next fight.
In the opening TV fight Chute Box veteran from Brazil, Murillo "Ninja" Rua faced IFL vet Benji Radach. Rua needed a win and went out to get it with his surperb kickboxing skills, but Radach had other ideas. The first round was all Radach's wide punches and Rua's leg kicks, knees and a bit of grappling. Raddach did manage to stun Rua at one point, but also looked like his legs might be hurting from the pounding Ninja was giving them. The second round was more of the same till Rua attempted a flying knee and Benji caught him with a solid punch in mid air and dropped the Chute Box warrior. Radach then pounced on his fallen foe and finished him for a 2nd round TKO win. It will now be interesting to see who gets to EXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler first, Benji Radach or welterweight champion Jake Shields? Of course Lawler must first get by his next contender, " Smokin' Joe" Villasenior, who could easily become the middleweight champion that Shields and Radach are chasing. Ohhh -- a Villasenior vs. Benji Radach match would be a striking fan's delight.
So Elite Xtreme Combat's third foray into the world of network television had its ups and downs. It was certainly good enough to hold the interest of dedicated MMA fans, but was it enough to bring in the casual and new fans who are needed to keep the suits at CBS happy? Probably not! Don't be surprised to see the next CBS/EXC show be the last one and for EXC to return to SHO only. I bet right about now the suits at CBS are wishing that they had been able to deal better with Dana White!
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Meanwhile EXC and CBS still needed a Kimbo main event. Their only other heavyweights on the card were on loan from Afflication Promotions (more on them later), so they couldn't move either of these guys into the main event, but they did have a lightheavy weight match in which one of the opponents had previously competed at heavyweight --- enter Seth "The Silverback" Petruzelli. Petruzelli had been a heavyweight semi finalist in the 2nd season of The Ultimate Fighter, but had just taken a year off from fighting to start a business and had in doing so become pretty much an MMA non entity. A fight with Kimbo was a quick route back into the limelight so the 28 year old accepted the match even though he had entered the arena that evening expecting to face veteran lightheavy weight Arron Rossa in a preliminary bout. Petruzelli entered the cage with a somewhat dubious look under his pink and black patched hair and bounced around nervously as he waited for the Floridian street fighter, who had forty pounds on him. Kimbo looked a bit uneasy as he entered the cage and one had to wonder if the substitution of a live lightheavy weight journeyman instead of stuffed and propped up heavyweight relic was making The Slicer nervous.
As the fight began Kimbo tore across the ring with a charge that Petruzelli later described as feeling like a truck was trying to run him down. The pink haired kid backed up to the limits of the cage wall and as Kimbo bore down on him Petruzelli reacted with the instincts of someone who has practiced Karate since the age of seven and threw a light front kick at the charging behemoth in hopes of backing the monster off. Then Kimbo made a common amateur mistake and reached down to block the kick thereby leaving his head wide open. The kid promptly shot out a straight right punch, which is being described as a jab, but was actually more of a straight Karate punch as Petruzelli had learned in his youth ............... and the big man's eyebrow split open --- and he collapsed on his face. Being an actual MMA veteran, Petruzelli leaped on his fallen opponent and rained down punches unti the ref had to stop the match as the Star performer was just laying there taking a beating. Substitute Seth Petruzelli had stopped Kimbo Slice in 14 seconds of the 1st round!
Petruzelli was humble in his post fight interview, saying that neither of them had any time to prepare for each other making this more like a street fight than a professional prize fight and that he would gladly give Kimbo a rematch, in which he would be very happy to come in to about twenty pound heavier as stripping to light heavy had been arduous. But as Kimbo has been billed as the "Fight anyone anytime street fighter" Petruzelli's explanation didn't really help Kimbo's reputation. I'm sure the kid was happy to get his $35,000. for the match and another $15,000 for winning, which is probably three or fout times as much as he would have received for fighting Rosa. For his part, Kimbo seemed to blow the entire fight off with, "Things happen -- its all good -- come to the after party". I guess he was happy with the five hundred grand that he was to receive for his 14 seconds of ineptitude.
Hopefully Kimbo Slice will now receed to his natural position on the MMA heavyweight ladder and appear on undercards facing the likes of Butterbean, Kurt Angle, Kimo, Dan Severn or --- Ken Shamrock ........ but don't count on it. EXC and CBS seem to think that Kimbo's internet popularity will always translate into good ratings and this card did double the viewers that tuned in last summer to see the middleweight title rematch of Robbie Lawler and Chris Smith. Therefore don't be surprised if the next we see of Florida's number street fighter is a main event rematch with Seth Petruzelli, which at least would be superior to a revival of the Ken Shamrock - Kimbo Slice main event. You know that Kimbo will be there --------- where else will he make a half mil in a few seconds? But as for us fans -------- Come on CBS & EXC -- We want to see Cung Li!
EXC and CBS's other star attraction managed to win, but wasn't all that exciting either. Gina "Conviction" Carno took on former Bodog Fight mid level contender Kelly Kobald. Both girls are kickboxing based, but Carno is the bigger of the pair as has become usual in her matches. She even had to strip naked at the weigh in to make the 141 LB limit, which while entertaining (to a limited extent as they held towels around her) once again proved that she has to really strip weight (and clothes) to make weight and is always bigger than her opponents. The fight was pretty much a snorer as mostly Kobald pinned Carano to the cage and Carano couldn't seem to escape from her smaller opponent's grasp. In her few moments off the cage Carano peppered Kobald with kicks and punches, bloodied Kobald and took a boring but unquestionable decision.
On the undercard Chris "Cyborg" Santos beat the hell out of Yoko Takahasi, who for her part turned out to be tough as nails and lasted the entire match. Cyborg is naturally the same size as Gina Carano, so hopefully the EXC will match her with Carano soon, so that we can find out how much "Conviction" Gina has when facing a highly trained fighter who is her own size. Is Gina the real deal ... or just a female Kimbo?
Afflication Promotions loaned Elite Xtreme Combat both former UFC champion Andrei "Pitbull"Arlovski and former IFL champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson. This was a good match and kept both heavyweights in action instead of having to wait for Afflication's next card that isn't until the first of the year. Nelson is unique in that he looks like just a big old country bar fighter with a belly like Butterbean, but he can move and he can fight. In the first round Big country managed to stun Arlovski with a big looping punch and to land on top after Arlovski tripped him and use his weight effectively to pin the former UFC champ to the canvas for quite a while. The ripped six foot four inch Arlovski wasn't going to stand for this treatment for long though and in the second round the number six ranked heavyweight caught Nelson with a solid shot in the middle of an exchange, dropped the big man and took him out for a 2nd round TKO win.
Afflication Promotions took their pound of flesh for the loan though. They bought up a good percentage of the advertising time of the show and ran thirty second ads with about twenty seconds of the Fedor vs. Tim Sylvia Fight, which had only lasted thirty two seconds. This ran with both the t shirt ads and the promotion ads and served to constantly remind viewers that Afflication, not the UFC or EXC has the #1 heavyweight in the world under contract. Watch for Arvlovski to fight Fedor fairly soon ----------- in an Afflication venue, not an EXC show.
Saturday night the undercard matches saved the show. The on loan heavyweights were entertaining and the EXC Welterweight Title Fight, that by all rights should have been the main event was a well contested match. Welterweight champion Jake Shields made an exciting defense against English Cage Rage Promotion's welterweight champion Paul Daley. The first round saw Daley control the stand up, Shields score the take down, Daley sweep to mount and do a little ground and pound. In the second Daley continued to control the standup till Shields got the take down. The EXC champ then applied a little ground and pound of his own to set up the perfect armbar, which submitted Daley. Both these boys put on a great show and Shields demonstrated that he will be a credible opponent for the middleweight title if the ECX allows him his wish for his next fight.
In the opening TV fight Chute Box veteran from Brazil, Murillo "Ninja" Rua faced IFL vet Benji Radach. Rua needed a win and went out to get it with his surperb kickboxing skills, but Radach had other ideas. The first round was all Radach's wide punches and Rua's leg kicks, knees and a bit of grappling. Raddach did manage to stun Rua at one point, but also looked like his legs might be hurting from the pounding Ninja was giving them. The second round was more of the same till Rua attempted a flying knee and Benji caught him with a solid punch in mid air and dropped the Chute Box warrior. Radach then pounced on his fallen foe and finished him for a 2nd round TKO win. It will now be interesting to see who gets to EXC middleweight champion Robbie Lawler first, Benji Radach or welterweight champion Jake Shields? Of course Lawler must first get by his next contender, " Smokin' Joe" Villasenior, who could easily become the middleweight champion that Shields and Radach are chasing. Ohhh -- a Villasenior vs. Benji Radach match would be a striking fan's delight.
So Elite Xtreme Combat's third foray into the world of network television had its ups and downs. It was certainly good enough to hold the interest of dedicated MMA fans, but was it enough to bring in the casual and new fans who are needed to keep the suits at CBS happy? Probably not! Don't be surprised to see the next CBS/EXC show be the last one and for EXC to return to SHO only. I bet right about now the suits at CBS are wishing that they had been able to deal better with Dana White!
Good Night - Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Saturday, October 4, 2008
MMA ON CBS ---Again
Tonight at nine o'clock Elite Xtreme Combat will once again bring their Mixed Martial Arts show to network television. Unfortunately they have again decided to headline the CBS venue with a spectacle fight instead of a high level sporting match. The EXC promoters and CBS suits are convinced that internet street fighting sensation Kimbo Slice is a bigger draw than the established stars of MMA. This time they have Kimbo in with MMA veteran star Ken "The Most Dangerous Man In The World" Shamrock. A decade ago Shamrock would have taken Kimbo to school and submitted the slugger in an early round .......... but unfortunately its 2008 not 1998 and Ken has lost all of his fights for the past few years and most of them by knock out. His last time out Shamrock was KO'd in about a minute by British Cage Rage fighter Buzz Robinson. Who is Buzz Robinson you might ask? Good question, as Robinson was never heard of on this side of the pond before or after his minute with Ken Shamrock. Ken has been around since UFC #1 in 1993 and is well known to all MMA aficionados, but his winning ways seem to be long over and he has become simply a name to draw in the fans. So once again promoters are working their magic to make Kimbo Slice look invincible by feeding him an aging star whose chin is gone. Of course if Shamrock should come up with a talent flashback and defeat the Floridian street fighter, the Kimbo Legend might become unrepairable, but that is unlikely to happen. I wonder if the EXC will ever give Brett "The Grim" Rogers the shot a Kimbo that he deserves. Probably not as "The Grim" would most likely slice up The Slice thereby eviscerating the EXC money train, while not yet being a household name himself. Perhaps in the future if Rogers grows a rep we will get to see "The Grim" reap The Slice.
Luckily for us fans, the EXC tends to fill out these cards with credible and entertaining matches and tonight will be no exception. The EXC welterweight title will be defended tonight when Jake Shields puts his belt on the line against Cage Rage welterweight champion Paul Daley. With Shields ranked 5th in the world and the Englishman unranked it looks like a good defense is in store for the American, but one never knows what these small show champions are like until we see them fight. After all, the previously mentioned Buzz Robinson is also from Cage Rage. This one should be a competitive go around.
The surprise fight of the card was announced late as these heavyweight boys were scheduled to fight (not each other) on the Los Vegas Affliction card that was to be next weekend, but was cancelled in favor of a January date and California location. This left former UFC champion Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski and former IFL champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson free to fight each other on this card. This should be a stand up war with the loser ending up on his back and trying to rediscover consciousness. Arlovski's 6th place ranking suggest that he has more talent than his chubby rednecked opponent, but when two Big Bangers get together anyone can go at any time. This one should be an entertaining fight and I'm really looking forward to it.
The EXC is also showcasing their "Face of Women's MMA" Gina Carano on tonight's card. Gina is an experienced Thai Style Kickboxer and undefeated 145 LB MMA fighter, but her claim to be the number one woman fighter in the world is heavily contested by Tara LaRosa and Megumi Fujii, to name a couple of the best of the more experienced women fighters. But most of these other women fight at 135 LBS or less and Carano has proved that the smaller women just can't seem to handle her. Tonight she will face a solid 140LB fellow striker in Kelly Kobald, who is relatively unknown, but hopefully will be able to give Gina a run for her money. Perhaps in the future we will get to see Gina face off with Chris "Cyborg" Santos, who is a tough, winning 145 LB woman fighter from Brazil. As Chris Cyborg is on the undercard tonight against Japanese woman fighter Yoko Takahasi, perhaps the EXC actually has plans for a Carano - Cyborg match in the future.
Also on this card Murillo "Ninja" Rua will take on former IFL star Benji Radach. Ninja Rua is trying to catch up to the record and fame of his brother Maurico "Shogun" Rua, but Radach should be able to test the mettle of the Brazilian Chute Box Team member. This match should be fast, technical and tough.
On the undercard Edson Berto of the Fighting Berto Family will attempt to carry on his family tradition and give his family a second win with in a week. Last Saturday evening Edson's boxing brother Andre Berto defeated Stevie "Two Pound" Forbes and moved up boxing's welterweight ladder. Edson hopes to do the same tonight against Mike Aina.
With one spectacle and four good fights .... and maybe more if there are some quick stoppages in the main matches, this should be a good line up and entertaining evening ---- and its Free On CBS ......... So Enjoy!
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
Luckily for us fans, the EXC tends to fill out these cards with credible and entertaining matches and tonight will be no exception. The EXC welterweight title will be defended tonight when Jake Shields puts his belt on the line against Cage Rage welterweight champion Paul Daley. With Shields ranked 5th in the world and the Englishman unranked it looks like a good defense is in store for the American, but one never knows what these small show champions are like until we see them fight. After all, the previously mentioned Buzz Robinson is also from Cage Rage. This one should be a competitive go around.
The surprise fight of the card was announced late as these heavyweight boys were scheduled to fight (not each other) on the Los Vegas Affliction card that was to be next weekend, but was cancelled in favor of a January date and California location. This left former UFC champion Andrei "Pitbull" Arlovski and former IFL champion Roy "Big Country" Nelson free to fight each other on this card. This should be a stand up war with the loser ending up on his back and trying to rediscover consciousness. Arlovski's 6th place ranking suggest that he has more talent than his chubby rednecked opponent, but when two Big Bangers get together anyone can go at any time. This one should be an entertaining fight and I'm really looking forward to it.
The EXC is also showcasing their "Face of Women's MMA" Gina Carano on tonight's card. Gina is an experienced Thai Style Kickboxer and undefeated 145 LB MMA fighter, but her claim to be the number one woman fighter in the world is heavily contested by Tara LaRosa and Megumi Fujii, to name a couple of the best of the more experienced women fighters. But most of these other women fight at 135 LBS or less and Carano has proved that the smaller women just can't seem to handle her. Tonight she will face a solid 140LB fellow striker in Kelly Kobald, who is relatively unknown, but hopefully will be able to give Gina a run for her money. Perhaps in the future we will get to see Gina face off with Chris "Cyborg" Santos, who is a tough, winning 145 LB woman fighter from Brazil. As Chris Cyborg is on the undercard tonight against Japanese woman fighter Yoko Takahasi, perhaps the EXC actually has plans for a Carano - Cyborg match in the future.
Also on this card Murillo "Ninja" Rua will take on former IFL star Benji Radach. Ninja Rua is trying to catch up to the record and fame of his brother Maurico "Shogun" Rua, but Radach should be able to test the mettle of the Brazilian Chute Box Team member. This match should be fast, technical and tough.
On the undercard Edson Berto of the Fighting Berto Family will attempt to carry on his family tradition and give his family a second win with in a week. Last Saturday evening Edson's boxing brother Andre Berto defeated Stevie "Two Pound" Forbes and moved up boxing's welterweight ladder. Edson hopes to do the same tonight against Mike Aina.
With one spectacle and four good fights .... and maybe more if there are some quick stoppages in the main matches, this should be a good line up and entertaining evening ---- and its Free On CBS ......... So Enjoy!
Good Night -- Good Fight,
Frank "The Snake"
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