Posts from — August 2010

This video shows exactly why the UFC is one of the biggest, most fan-friendly sports organizations in the world. Can you imagine if other sports owners or business owners or – dare I say it – politicians made a similar bold move and set up a hotline for people to call and that the boss actually answered? Sure, it’s a short-term day-of-fight kind of deal, but it’s genius in terms of bolstering the fan-promotion connection.

Chuck Liddell gets his mohawk shaved for charity, but the shape of his skull isn’t what caught my attention. I’ve seen quite enough of him already, thank you. It’s Liddell’s mumbling, spacey speech. We’ve seen this before, haven’t we?

No surprise that Montreal has been announced as the venue for Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck. UFC 124 will rock the Bell Centre on December 11 in the wake of the GSP- and Koscheck-coached 12th season of The Ultimate Fighter, which begins airing on September 15 on Spike. Actually, there’s a little surprise since Koscheck was vehement that he wouldn’t face GSP on GSP’s home turf following UFC 113, which saw Koscheck beat Paul Daley, get sucker-punched and then trash the Montreal Canadiens. I’m sure UFC president Dana White subsequently reminded Koscheck that Montreal is the UFC’s biggest market (at least until Toronto hosts its first event) and that will mean greater attention (and earnings) for all of the fighters.

Newly acquired Boston Celtic Shaquille O’Neal has dabbled a little in MMA. So has Tito Ortiz. But this is nothing more than a goof, a lark, a photo op and a chance to grab a few headlines. Still, there’s always something car-wreckishly appealing about David and Goliath stories, especially when it involves an athlete way out of his depth.

While James “Lights Out” Toney and Randy Couture grab all the headlines heading into tonight’s UFC 118 in Boston, there’s a bout a little further down on the card that has me most curious. Not Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard despite the fact that it’s a lightweight contender bout with Fight of the Night potential. Likewise Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis, neither of whom I can stand (Davis because of some appalling comments he made regarding Dan Hardy and Diaz because he’s a Diaz and bat-shit crazy).

Nope, I’m looking forward to Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda. I love Maia, love his jiu-jitsu, and really want to see how he rebounds after his loss to middleweight champ Anderson Silva, where Silva acted like an ass and Maia gave a gutsy performance that saw him stand and bang as much as Silva would let him.

As for Miranda, he’s 1-1 in the UFC and coming off a TKO win over David Loiseau, which really isn’t much of an accomplishment at this point in Loiseau’s career. A Maia win doesn’t put him back in title contention, not by a long shot, but it assures his place among the top three or four contenders, which means bigger tougher fights ahead, and that’s good to see.

The more I watch boxing champ James Toney in interviews, the more I hope he shocks everyone and knocks Randy Couture out at Saturday’s UFC 118. There’s something about his over-blinged, marble-mouthed, thug-parody personality, it’s like some weird performance art that I can’t look away from.

Frankie Edgar’s lightweight title victory at UFC 112 went almost unnoticed. The Demian Maia/Anderson Silva controversy made much more noise than the belt change in the media. And I have to say that Edgar is the UFC’s most underappreciated champion. Even Jose Aldo from the WEC gets more recognition than him.

I am not sure what the UFC expected when they booked the immediate rematch. The first fight was good without being exciting, and the prospect of a fight between Randy Couture and James Toney – which has been ridiculously hyped as the final arbiter in the boxing vs. MMA debate, which is pointless, especially given each fighter is past their prime – has garnered most if not all of the attention leading up to Saturday’s UFC 118. Even the Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard lightweight contender bout is getting more attention.

The only reason why Edgar vs. Penn II is happening is because BJ Penn is the UFC’s spoiled brat of a child.

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You might’ve noticed something strange at Saturday’s Strikeforce: Houston event. I’m not talking about Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal losing his light heavyweight title to a hard-slugging Rafael Cavalcante or Bobby Lashley losing steam and falling to Chad Griggs. Both Lawal and Lashley have been more hype than execution so far in their MMA careers.

No, what I’m referring to are the oxygen bottles King Mo and KJ Noons sucked from between rounds in what would appear to be a clear violation of the rules. Check out MiddleEasy.com’s full breakdown of the matter. The only argument I can see in favour of allowing the cardio-boosting oxygen puffers is that they merely deliver a more concentrated version of what the fighters and every other mammal on the planet already inhale. But if the rules ban them, then why were Lawal and Noons allowed to use them?

Because I’ve kind of missed Forrest Griffin’s way with words:

“I hope I am not fighting Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. I might be. Fuck it; if I am, I am. I will do it, but I am not even training right now. That is a bad dude. That dude will whoop my ass. Fuck it. What is the worst, I mean, it could not be worse than Anderson Silva. It should not be worse than that, right? Every fight I go into, no matter what happens, it could not be worse than Anderson Silva. Because that shit was a year ago and literally every day people ask me something about that – ‘What happened? What happened?’ [Anderson punched me in the chin] Repeatedly and I was very confused. I tried to punch him and he literally moved his head out of the way and looked at me like I was stupid for doing it. He looked at me like – ‘Why would you do such a stupid thing?’ He looked at me like – ‘Oh, did you really think you were going to hit me? What a stupid thing to think, you slow slow white boy.’ Then he punched me. I felt embarrassed for even trying to punch him.”

What do we make of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic’s admission that he won’t be 100 percent when he steps in to replace the injured Antonio Rogerio Nogueira against Frank Mir at UFC 119?

This is what he tells Fighters Only:

“I am aware that I am not going to be 100-percent for this fight because in this sport five weeks notice is basically last-minute notice. But I know the UFC had no other solution and so I could not refuse the owner of the UFC, who has made me financially secure, or the UFC fans, who I do not want to disappoint.”

He’s taking the fight on five weeks notice, which isn’t a lot of time compared to the 8-12 weeks a training camp usually consists of,  and it’s common knowledge that fighters rarely – if ever – go into a fight at 100 percent. The toll of training is just too great. But hearing the Croation sensation and former PRIDE terror admit as much, especially given his recent mental lapses, doesn’t fill me with enthusiasm or hope that he’ll take Mir’s head off (or even pose much of a challenge at all). It’s like he’s laying the groundwork for the excuse he’ll give after he loses. I hope I’m reading this wrong and we see some of the Cro Cop of old, but I don’t like to hear any fighter talk about weakness in such blatant terms, even if it is refreshingly honest.