The Surprises Continue

Being a big Rampage fan, and having followed his career closely since he made his debut in Pride, I was not surprised to see him beat Chuck Liddell a second time. To me, the match seemed like a tossup, though I would have given Liddell a slight edge. I was VERY surprised to see him KO the Iceman midway through the first round.

While Mike Goldberg did say "Rampage has KO power in both hands," I'm not sure I would have agreed with that until this fight was over. Sure, he KOd Randleman, and he did knock out Cyril Abidi in K-1, but he's usually not known as a KO puncher. Most of his TKO's came the same way he beat Chuck Liddell the first time - steady pressure, slams, and then a barrage of punches. Effective, brutal, but not the one-shot KO that Liddell is known for.

Rampage's movement looked awesome in this fight, making Liddell move, but not over-extending and exposing himself to the Iceman's counters. In retrospect it's easy to say Liddell was foolish for throwing that body-shot out of the blue, but the man's never been KO'd before, and he can usually take a punch. This one was right on the button though, and Rampage followed up beautifully.

I am confused, however, by the UFC's decision to bring in Dan Henderson as the next challenger. UFC fans are barely familiar with Rampage. A win over Henderson won't boost his image much in their eyes, and a loss could be devastating. And what about Pride? Is their plan to take all of the top talent away and leave Pride as a mostly-Japanese organization? I can see some benefit in that, vis-a-vis having the top fighters all compete for one belt, but Japan is a big market, and I can't imagine they wouldn't be miffed to have their organizatoin, which was once the undisputed top dog, relegated to second-class status.

Most of the other fights on the card last night were awesome as well. Houston Alexander absolutely crushed Keith Jardine, and it was just brutal the way he slumped head-first into the canvas after that uppercut. Another huge upset for 2007. Come to think of it, Terry Martin knocking out Sallavery with a slam was pretty surprising as well. What is it about this year that insists on turning all MMA expectations on their head. If I'm ever going to take on Fedor Emelianenko, this might be the time, cause who knows what can happen these days?

MMA In The New York Times

I love MMA, so I'm always happy to see it get more exposure in the popular media. The New York Times has an article on Johnny Morton, and ex-NFL player I'd never heard of, training for his MMA debt, and all in all, it's a good read. Certainly I'm excited about the possibilities when guys as athletic as this dude (benching 400 lbs as a reciever) want to step into the cage.

But then you get a line like this:

Together, they are teaching Morton how to compete in mixed martial arts, one of the few sports that may be more violent and more dangerous than professional football.

Now, it's a throwaway line, and it has the qualifier "may", but it's yet another example of people's reflexive view that MMA is really, really, dangerous, despite lack of any evidence. Now, MMA doesn't have nearly the participation rate, and hasn't been around as long as something like football (so it's hard to make a direct comparison), but there's substantial evidence that football is QUITE dangerous, particular for neck and spine injuries, and people have died while playing and practicing.

Of course there's danger in a sport where you Mirko Crocop can soccer kick you in the head, but there's hardly a physical activity that doesn't involve some risk of serious injury or death. To me, it seems fairly obvious that the biggest injuries come from being hit with a lot force from behind or from an angle you can't see - something much more likely to happen in football than in MMA.

New Art Of War

Having been out of Jiujitsu for the past month due to an ankle injury, I was unaware there was a new Art of War in the making, and it looks pretty good.

This time the theme appears to be "foreigners", as there is at least one lao wai involved in each of the bouts on the poster. There's a couple Koreans, including a Tae Kwon guy (I love you man, but I hope you have insurance), a few Japanese, an Italian, and, most surprising, two Indians (Ghandi, not Sitting Bull).

I had no idea there even were mixed martial arts fighters in India, but apparently there are at least two willing to come to Beijing and mix it up. I'm very excited to see if they're any good.

Speaking of which - why isn't India a sports powerhouse? They have nearly as many people as China, and they're plenty good at pressuring their kids to become doctors, bankers, or programmers, why not atheletes?

My guess is it has something to do with Commmunism, and a resulting tendency to create all sorts of special sports schools which can create top atheletes even when a lot of the population is too poor to train or eat properly.

But at some point, India almost has to become a sports powerhouse - the question is when. 2020? 2050?

What to do with Fedor?

Pride's recent aquistion by the UFC creates a whole slew of interesting fight possibilities, but the recent exchanges between the two orgs seem as one-sided as the last couple years have been in the opposite direction. The UFC has acquired Rampage, Crocop, Assuerio Silva, and now Nogueira, and not a single big name has left for Pride.

I dearly hope that Fedor, who is now riding high on a near universal concensus that he is the baddest man on the planet, will not be forced to coast through his remaining prime years without top competition - that would be a complete travesty.

The heavyweight picture needs to be shaken up - the UFC now has too many of the sport's best, and Pride too few. And while simply switching the two division will create more interest temporarily among newer fans, for the hardcore bunch, it will be a string of rematches in a different ring/cage.

Sending Tim Sylvia to Pride might be a good start. He's huge, which Japanese fans like, and his ego will be assuaged there because they will never boo him no matter what stupid shit he says. Matches with Fedor, Alex Emelianenko, or even Japanese pro-wrestlers would be entertaining. I fear a matchup with Mark Hunt would end up with Sylvia conservatively using his reach to out-point Hunt.

Arlovski might also be interesting if sent to Pride, and the new set of competitors would let both him and Sylvia at least a couple fights in before their inevitable fourth encounter, which Japanese fans would probably appreciate more anyway.

At any rate, let's hope that the Fertittas plan on sending someone good for Fedor to fight so that the greatest fighter of all time does not languish for lack of good matchups. And if recent rumours are right that there the Fertitta's acquisition deal may not ultimately go through, let's hope they are able to acquire Fedor and bring him to the UFC.

Arlovski Not Next

www.ufcmania.com is citing a Chicago tribune article in which Dana White is quoted as saying Andrei Arlovski will not be the next challenger for the heavyweight title after Gabriel Gonzaga. Although White hinted that Andrei would be next before the Werdum fight, the lackluster action in Manchester apparently put off Andrei's title hopes for a while.

Like UFCMania, I have to agree that putting on exciting fights is a legitimate criteria for advancing fighters. As much as I like Andrei both personally and as a fan, the fight was not very good after the first round.

I don't ascribe Andrei's lack of aggressiveness as much to fear of being KOd (like many Sherdoggers) as a justified fear of going to the ground with Werdum. Fortunately, Werdum didn't seem to be doing much to take the fight there. While he may have been confused by Werdum's strategy, Andrei certainly should have stepped it up in round 3 and looked for the KO.

Of course, we should put even more blame on Werdum - did he think he was going to knock Andrei out with that bitch slap?

Despite having to wait at least one more fight for a shot, I think Andrei did the right thing. A win is a win, and he'll get a shot eventually - there are only so many top heavyweights. I think the best matchup for him now may be Crocop.

Of course, nobody has been talking about the real reason Dana White can postpone Andrei's title shot - Nogueira. You might say you make fights with the fighters you have (thank you, Donald Rumsfeld), and until now, Dana only had so many legit heavyweights, particularly after Crocop was left in a heap by a jiujitsu man. My hunch is that Dana is itching to make Nogeuira the next UFC champ, and then set him up for a string of fights with Arlovski, Cropcop, etc, before finally bringin in Fedor - because after all, who can Fedor fight in Pride these days?

UFC 72 - LIVE!

According to ufc.com, UFC 72 will be broadcast live on Spike TV.

Halle-fuckin-lullah.

Granted, I haven't been paying for my UFC pay-per-views, but now I can dispose of whatever shred of guilt I was supposed to have about that.

This is what we MMA fans have been waiting for. Enjoy, my brothers and sisters.

Mirko Not Crippled

According to UFCJunkie, apparently he only has ligament damage to one of his ankles. It seems I was right that his shin was basically in line with his knee and didn't twist, but I'm not at all surprised that he hurt something - that foot was turned back well over ninety degrees. Having experienced some ligament damage in my own foot while training jiujitsu recently, I feel at least part of Filipovic's pain (the part not in his head). Let's hope this means we'll see him back in the UFC fairly soon, hopefully against Kongo, Arlovski, or Sylvia.

Crocop's Future

What to do with Crocop now? The UFC cannot afford to let this guy the just signed to a huge contract just fall by the wayside, so he needs a good fight. The feed-someone-to-him approach didn't work too well with Eddie Sanchez, who avoided getting high kicked into Mirko's entrance footage, so I suggest giving him a good stand up war. If he loses, he's not fit for the top tier of the heavyweight division anyway, so better find out now. I say give him Check Kongo or Tim Sylvia - either one will almost certainly end by KO (with the off-chance of a decision), and be an instant fan-favorite. If Sylvia beats Crocop, he's right back in the title picture, if Crocop wins, he's a couple fights from being back in line.

Arlovski would also make an exciting matchup for Crocop, but something tells me Andrei is in position to fight for the title after Gonzaga unless the Fertittas bring in Nogueira or another star heavyweight from pride, and Crocop's stock with the casual fan may have dropped enough that a victory over him wouldn't do that much for Andrei, and if Crocop wins, he can't fight for the title one fight after getting KTFOd.

It may be some time before we see Crocop in the Octagon again though, considering how his leg looked after he fell in a heap. Hopefully this time he'll actually train with a cage. . . At any rate, Crocop should get a real challenge this time - he needs to prove he's worth what the UFC paid to lure him here.

When Will It End?

Up until the Crocop-Gonzaga fight I thought I was going to get a good card with exciting fights, but unsurprising results. Then Gonzaga dominated Crocop and knocked him out IN THE FIRST ROUND WITH A HIGH KICK. Jesus, that's 3 UFCs in a row where a huge underdog has taken out the favorite in spectacular fashion. Arguably the least surprising of the 3 was Couture beating Sylvia because he did it via decision, although no one saw him knocking Sylvia down in the first.

I was impressed with Gonzaga before this fight, mainly because each time he shows up in better shape and finishes quicker, but I really think he may be the next heavyweight champion. He's definitely a bad matchup for Couture - a big man, with a great groundgame, and now some heavy striking to add to that. The elbows he was throwing against Crocop were awesome - he would grab Mirko's hand, push it down, and then throw the elbow with the same arm. That technique seems almost impossible to stop using a defensive, holding guard. The only thing I can think of is to start working for a sweep or armbar because the arm is extended, which is good for Gonzaga in other ways - at any rate I hope other fighters start using this technique as well.

It's unbelievable to me that we're going to see a heavyweight title fight where both challenger and champion were not even ranked at heavyweight a couple months ago. Except for Fedor at the top, the heavyweight rankings are in chaos - the only real winners from tonight were UFC heavies in general, as two top Pride heavies failed to deliver.

Speaking of which, what exactly was Fabricio Werdum's game plan? I know he can strike a little, and I did worry when he came with those flurries, but he only tried to take the fight to the ground like twice. Did he really think he was going to knock Arlovski out? Andrei did not deliver the riveting performance we've come to expect from him, but he won, he used good tactics, and he stuck to his game plan, which has been a problem in some previous fights. His english seems to be getting better, as he was able to do the interview with no interpretation, so I was happy to see that. Let's just hope he doesn't start sinking into a decision rut like Sylvia has. This is only his second decision in his career though, so there's no need to worry - yet.

Also, how fucked up must Crocop's leg be? Rogan kept talking about his knee, but my guess would be that his ankle is totally screwed. His shin seemed to be in line with his thigh when he was down, but his ankle was turned back 90 plus degrees, as if he'd gotten inverted heel-hooked. The way he went down was eerily reminiscent of the way Silva fell to his high kick several months ago. And why did that kick land like that anyway? It wasn't crazy fast, and there wasn't a whole lot of set up, just a kick and BOOM! Crocop must have had a very off day - aside from that middle kick he didn't have anything in that fight.

Fedor "The Rock Of Gibraltar" Emelianenko

Oh, Fedor who art wherever it is in that corrupt, cold country of yours that you liveth, hallowed be thy name. Thank you for keeping our faith alive, and providing a haven of stability for we MMA fans who have been so shaken by recent events. You didn't lose spectacularly to a huge underdog (though I almost wouldn't have been surprised these days), no, you armbarred him in the first.

In 2007 first Silva was toppled, then Sylvia, then St. Pierre, and along the way Minotoro and Arona were knocked out cold in the first minute by an unkown Judoka. But Fedor still reigns supreme. He's been untouchable for almost five years now, and despite looking like your average guy at the bar, is unquestionably the baddest man alive.

More MMA Drugs

Now Melvin Guillard gets busted for recreational drug use, but this time it's cocaine, which actually could enhance your performance, both as a stimulant and as a pain killer.

Cocaine's effects are relatively short-lived, however, and my best guess would be that Guillard was partying it up in Vegas rather than trying to give himself a physical edge (like he needs one?).

These drug tests detect the presence of metabolites, not the presence of the drug itself, and while cocain'es metabolites don't last nearly as long as marijuana, it's still unclear whether any was actively effecting him at the time of the test.

Granted, knowing they are going to be tested for these substances it's beyond retarded that these fighters put their careers in jeopardy by not staying clean for a reasonable time before the fight.

In my view there are 3 main problems with the doping regime in sports. First, the innane inclusion of purely recreational drugs like marijuana, which have no demonstrable performance enhancing properties. Second, the fact that you're testing for byproducts, so in many cases it's hard to know whether the chemical in question is still in the atheletes system and able to affect his/her performance. Lastly, the decision of which drugs or supplements are unacceptable inevitably seems somewhat arbitrary. There are plenty of supplements that are widely considered performance enhancing but completely legal to use. The reasoning behind steroid prohibition has more to do with their percieved danger than performance enhancement. And as science advances the detection and regulation regimes will always lag slightly behind the latest doping methods. In the end (many years from now)I suspect people are going to accept that atheletes have not been "natural" for a long time and will just let them do whatever they want.

Stoppages

While the stoppages in the Art of War here in China tended to be on the early side (although many turned out to be tapouts on tape review) I have to comment on the late stoppages in the latest round of Pride and UFC.

I cannot believe that Mike Swick did not get stopped against Okami in the third round. He was mounted and taking lots of punches, and while he was blocking them and trying to roll to his back, he was having only limited success through a substantial barrage of blows. For most fighters this fight would have been stopped. I understand and agree with the rational that fighters who have proved themselves competent in such situations get a little leeway (such as Tito not getting stopped in the first against Liddell), but this deprived Okami of the TKO that was rightfully his. Fortunately, Swick did escape, and he didn't get beaten to within an inch of his life, which somewhat vindicates the decision to let it continue.

There is no excuse, however, for letting Don Frye take a minute of uncontested punches from a monster like James Thompson just because he looks like Magnum PI and the ring ropes were holding him up. Frye was clearly out on his feet (and that only because he got knocked against the ropes with each punch), and his efforts to flail back at Thompson indicated how out of it he was. Yes, I know Frye has balls of steel and this is probably the way he would want to lose, but c'mon. I eagerly tell people how safe MMA is compared to boxing and how no one has ever died in the ring. Don't make me a liar guys.

Also, people are ripping on the refs for this, but what about the corner? Swick's corner would have little reason to do so, but why didn't Frye's corner throw in the towel? It's no stain on the fighter's toughness if his corner sees him getting mauled and decides to spare him further injury, so why don't they? Yes, fighters want to win at all costs, but in some situations you know there's almost no possiblity of winning - if that coincides with taking a massive beating, corners really should be throwing in the towel.

Finally, people on Sherdog who say such late stoppages make them sick seem very odd to me. Yes, on retrospect I think there need to be some changes, but until the end I was loving it seeing Frye get tooled, especially after they both went for the Frye-Takayama-hold-your-opponent's-head-and-punch routine. It was comical seeing him flail like that and I unashamedly admit I laughed at the sight. That doesn't mean I think that's what should have happened, I don't. But c'mon - at least one reason you watch MMA is to see people get absolutely knocked silly, and Frye-Thompson delivered. Don't act like you didn't like it.

My Head Really Is Going To Explode

The Nevada State Athletic Commision just changed Nick Diaz's amazing gogoplata win over Takanori Gomi to a No-Decision because Diaz had high levels of THC metabolites in his urine.

Allow me to wretch.

Dr. Tony Alamo is officially retarded. He actually thinks that Diaz was so stoned at the fight that he didn't feel Gomi's punches, and yet he was able to whether the storm, give Gomi a beating on the feet, and then win with a gogoplata, which he presumably made up while smoking blunts back stage. Groan.

Does this guy not understand that the presence of metabolites does not equal THC in your bloodstream? Or that THC is not exactly Morphine?

And are we really going to believe that Nick Diaz would otherwise have tapped because getting punched hurts (being KOd or stopped by the ref would almost certainly be EASIER if you were either stoned or on real painkillers)? Has Alamo ever seen any of Diaz' other fights?

The fact that someone this stupid can be licensed to practice medicine in our nation fills me with dread, revulsion, and a desire to take at least 6 bong rips to get this fool out of my head.

My World Is Collapsing Around Me

Can someone please explain to me what is going on? First Couture utterly embarasses Sylvia, and now Matt Serra, who until last night had most of his wins by decision and not a single KO or TKO, TKO's Georges fuckin' St. Pierre. In like two minutes. In Pride, Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou knocks out his second top 10 light heavyweight in as many fights. Hasn't someone told him this isn't how it works?

The UFC welterweight division is entirely upset at this point. Hughes and St. Pierre just suffered losses, Diego (was going to be the next challenger) just lost, and Serra is at the top of the heap. Who is he going to fight? I think eventually Hughes will regain the title and be toppled again by St. Pierre, but if the UFC follows its usual formula this will take probably a year. Hell, Kendall Grove could be the next champ - he was the only welter that performed to expectations.

Fedor better be kept under lock and key, there's something in the air (nervousness about the Pride acquisition) that's taking our champions down. I was happy to see Sylvia go, but no one looks safe now.

I had mixed feelings about Diego losing. A year ago I would have been delighted, but not only has it been revealed that he's a pot smoker, but Koschek fought a very conservative, boring fight strategy (although he did nail some nice jabs). Diego definitely not bring his A game - he looked tentative and afraid to let go, which seemed odd because forcing Koscheck to take him down would have been good for him. The one time they did go down he swept to mount and almost to back. Maybe he was stoned. . .

That Okami guy sure is tough, Swick had some moments at the end of the second, but he basically got schooled. Roger Huerta is a badass. That's all for now. . .

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