Posts from — January 2010

Before I get into the meat of things make sure you check out the video below. It’s really one of the best UFC promos ever. No annoying voiceover from the UFC’s equivalent of the movie trailer guy (“In a world where…), cool taiko drums, set a mood for what should be a classic clash. [Ed. note: Scott Wallace over at the BJJ blog ScottOnTheNet confirmed my suspicions that this is a fan promo by Socawarrior. There's no way the UFC would come with something this cool.] Okay, onward:

UFC president Dana White doesn’t think much of the way professional boxing handles itself. It’s a joke, in his eyes. But that’s not stopping him from getting the hell out of the way when he sees a freight train headed his way.

UFC 113, originally scheduled for May 1 in Montreal, will move to May 8 because the previous date is also when Floyd Mayweather will headline a pay-per-view against Shane Mosley. Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua II will still be the main event at UFC 113, although the long-awaited, much-hyped clash between Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is expected to move to UFC 114 on May 29 in Las Vegas. That date, of course, puts it just a couple of weeks in advance of the June 11 release of the A-Team movie in which Rampage co-stars.

Brock Lesnar insulted the Canadian health care system yesterday, referring to it as “Third World.” The UFC heavyweight champ made the remarks during a press conference to answer questions about his current health and possible return to fighting (he’s fine; he will return).

So here’s his story: Lesnar was at a hunting lodge somewhere north of the border when his diverticulitis went into full gear. Correction: when his diverticulitis that his U.S. doctors had misdiagnosed as mononucleosis went into full gear. Unsatisfied with the treatment he was receiving at a small Canadian hospital (which he refuses to name), his wife, WWE superstar Sable, drove him “at a hundred miles an hour” across the Canada-U.S. border, where he claims the doctors were eventually able to properly diagnose his illness. He was later treated at the prestigious Mayo clinic, one of the foremost medical facilities on the planet.

Don’t worry, fellow Canadians. Despite feeling we have “Third World” health care, Lesnar claims to “love Canada,” adding it has “some of the best people and hunting in the world.” (I’m assuming the people and hunting are mutually exclusive.)

Lesnar who refers to himself as a “conservative Republican,” used the experience to criticize President Barack Obama’s health care reforms.

Lesnar blames the onset of his diverticulitis on “a total protein diet, not enough fiber.” Lesnar, the last man on earth anyone would accuse of being a sensitive New Age kind of guy, made the following comments: “I’m a carnivore. I’m not a fan of PETA. I’m a member of the NRA, and whatever I kill, I eat.” He also attributes his healing to a change of diet, natural medicine and praying.

Praying and a dollar will get you a cup a coffee at Starbucks in much the same way praying and a doctor can cure diverticulitis. I thank god I live in a country where everyone can pray and see a doctor and not pray to see a doctor.

If there is a moral to this story it’s to eat your vegetables. If you don’t eat your vegetables and get diverticulitis, being a former WWE superstar and UFC heavyweight champion helps to pay the bills. But seriously, eat your fucking vegetables.

Have to admit I’m excited about this: Sarah Kaufman will fight Takayo Hashi for the inaugural Strikeforce women’s 135-pound title on February 26. Kaufman made the announcement on her Facebook page just moments ago. The Victoria, BC, native is a strong striker with a solid ground game who’s accumulated a 10-0 record, including impressive wins over Shayna Baszler and Miesha Tate at back-to-back ShoMMA events last year. Her opponent is a 12-1 Smackgirl and ADCC vet. The two were originally supposed to meet at a Strikeforce: Challengers event last November.

Elvis Presley was an honorary fed. Steven Seagal is a walking a beat in Louisiana. Now, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck and their American Kickboxing Academy coach and former UFC fighter Bob Cook were sworn in as honorary police officers in Coal Township, Pennsylvania. Read the whole story here. Seems they’re model-citizen types who give talks to school kids about not doing drugs (although I expect they spend far more time answering questions about fighting Georges St. Pierre). I just can’t get past the look on Koscheck’s face, a class clown kind of smirk, like he’s getting away with something or he’s expecting Ashton Kutcher to interrupt the proceedings. Maybe they should take the Seagal route and start their own reality series.

The UFC has two huge targets for expansion in 2010: New York and Ontario (Toronto, specifically). MMA is currently illegal in both jurisdictions. But that’s about to change, at least in New York.

On Tuesday, NY governor David Paterson unveiled a bill that would lift the thirteen-year ban on MMA in the state, paving the way for the UFC to take Manhattan by the end of the year (assuming the bill clears the necessary hurdles to go into effect).

Now that just leaves Ontario, which is beginning to look increasingly behind-the-times and stodgy and out-of-touch with its refusal to sanction the sport.

Below is a plea to legalize MMA in New York. It’s a flashy promo/documentary created by filmmaker Bobby Razak (the guy behind the cool slow-mo Robert Drysdale flying triangle/armbar TapouT commercials) in conjunction with Mark Ecko of Ecko Unlimited. The problem is the doc just doesn’t work.

It’s preaching to the choir and would do little to convince non-MMA supporters to get behind the sport. It relies on fighters only fans would recognize (Frank Shamrock, Migel Torres) and provides no real information about the sport. And it muddies the water by bringing the situation in Ontario into the picture while relying on commentary from fighters in Montreal (which makes sense if you know the sport up north but again, would be useless in enlightening anybody else). Overall, it makes a nice commercial for Ecko, though.

Now, there’s a possibility that Razak might be making a similar film about legalizing MMA in Ontario. Sounds great – if he can give us more insight into the sport and maybe actually make a solid argument for its legalization, one that non-fans can understand and appreciate.

Talk about Brazilian pride. Check out this video of fighters – Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, Anderson Silva, Paulo Thiago, Royler Gracie, Jose Aldo, Thales Leites, etc – sending best wishes to Wanderlei Silva as he prepares to face Michael Bisping at UFC 110. I don’t recall ever seeing such a public declaration of support for a fighter en masse like this, especially preceding such an insignificant fight (there’s no title on the line and the winner is not in line for the next crack at the title).

This public show of support tells me a couple of things – that everybody really wants Wanderlei to win and that Wanderlei needs to win. And he does. The former PRIDE terror (23-4-1) is 1-3 since rejoining the UFC and he’s coming off losses to Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and Rich Franklin. And while he’s not in immediate danger of being dropped by the promotion – he’s too big of a fan favourite – he needs to start winning before he stops believing he can win. His friends know it and I’m sure he does, too.

I’m not a huge fan of the word “miracle.” It gets thrown around as carelessly as “genius.” Neither of which apply to Brock Lesnar. Nevertheless, the UFC heavyweight champ is calling his recovery from a hole in his gut (aka diverticulitis) miraculous. Lesnar and UFC boss Dana White were on ESPN’s SportsCenter this morning to say that the fighter has been given a clean bill of health and should be back in the cage to defend his title by this summer.

Former champion Frank Mir and Shane Carwin, who was supposed to fight Lesnar way back at UFC 106, will square off for the interim belt at UFC 111, with the winner advancing against Lesnar upon his return. If neither of those two fighters are able to fight Lesnar (i.e. they’re too injured to be ready for a summer bout), then the winner of Cain Velasquez and Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera will get the shot.

Okay, that’s all well and good. I’m glad Lesnar has recovered and is healthy, and I’m sure White is breathing a huge sigh of relief. But let’s put this in perspective for a second. Lesnar contracted a terrible illness (originally misdiagnosed as the flu and mononucleosis). He was hospitalized, underwent surgery and lost something like forty pounds. Now, he says he’s since packed back on thirty pounds, but it doesn’t take a genius to realize there has to be a greater physical and psychological toll. It remains to be seen exactly what kind of fighter Lesnar will be once he’s back in the cage. Maybe he’ll be exactly as he was, an unstoppable behemoth. Then again, maybe not. So I’d hold off on crediting his recovery to divine intervention.

Can you imagine a rematch between Strikeforce champ Alistair Overeem and Chuck Liddell? The result would not be the same the second time around, especially when you consider Liddell’s a bit past-his-prime and Overeem is about twice as big as he was when they first fought. Of course, you would never see UFC president Dana White send his best fighters over to Strikeforce to prove which promotion’s tougher. Wish he would, though. That would result in some amazing cross-promotional battles and would be good for everybody, especially the fans.

Get out your scorecards, time for another round of match-up updates.

As expected, Frankie Edgar will be the next to challenge lightweight champ BJ Penn at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi. Penn confirmed his opponent on his website. And Vitor Belfort’s manager has confirmed Belfort’s fight with middleweight champ Anderson Silva on the same April card. Meanwhile, middleweight Kendall Grove could face “Filipino Wrecking Machine” Mark Munoz.

Patrick Cote announced his long-awaited octagon return on Facebook yesterday. He’ll face Alan Belcher in front of a hometown crowd at Montreal’s UFC 113 on May 1. Cote has been on the DL since he blew out his knee during his October 2008 loss to middleweight champion Anderson Silva. Also on the card, the rematch between Lyoto Machida and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, a possible collision between Ultimate Fighter adversaries Rashad Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, and Cote compatriot Jonathan Goulet against Marcus Davis.

The first-ever UFC on Versus event set for March 21 is shaping up. Brandon Vera vs. Jon Jones will headline the first of two UFC events to air on Versus in 2010 as part of a deal between the cable station and the UFC’s sister promotion, WEC. And the co-headliner will see Junior dos Santos face Gabriel Gonzaga, a bout originally slated for UFC 108 until Gonzaga came down with a staph infection and dos Santos went on to turn Gilbert Yvel’s lights out. Others filling in the blanks include Anthony Johnson vs. John Howard, Spencer Fisher vs. Duane Ludwig, Chase Gormley vs. Brendan Schaub and Eliot Marshall vs. Vladimir Matyushenko.

UFC 111 is rumoured to be adding Martin Kampmann vs. Ben Saunders and Kurt Pellegrino vs. Fabricio “Marango” Camoes to the March 27 New Jersey card co-headlined by Georges St. Pierre vs. Dan Hardy and Shane Carwin vs. Frank Mir.

And Kenny Florian says he still hasn’t heard anything about a rumoured fight with Japanese import Takanori Gomi. Sometimes, though, the fighters are the last to know.