UFC visits MACE

Several UFC warriors head out to the US Marines hand-to-hand combat school.

Watch them get owned...

UFC 111 Results

So I called Carwin v. Mir exact.  I can see Carwin and Lesnar being the cause of a tsunami soon.  I think Shane will emerge victorious!

GSP v Hardy was disappointing.  GSP used his superior wrestling to keep Hardy on the ground - a tactic that was necessary to maintain the belt and very expected...Unfortuantely, GSP wasn't able to demonstrate any real BJJ skill.

Both the armbar and the kimura that GSP attempted seemed to be lacking in technical skill.  It looked like GSPS was trying to muscle Hardy into submission.  I am sure that GSP knows the correct technique for both of those moves - I think that he sucumbed to emotion as he tried to finish Dan off.

I feel that GSP was so scared of a Serra repeat and of losing his belt that he tried to play it safe with a lay and pray groundgame that culminated in two sub-par submission attempts done within a frenzied mindset of fear that he might lose to a kid with a mowhawk.

GSP kept his belt at the end of the night but he may have lost some fans.  To me, a real victory for GSP, one where he could have come out with his head held high, would have happened IF he had decided to stand and bang - regardless of who left with the belt.

Some champs get "keep the belt" syndrome...Anderson did for awhile.  Some guys see the belt as secondary to an intangible glory - testing oneself aganist the best that another man has to offer.  BJ Penn and Fedor come to mind. 

I hope that the next time we see GSP he will have learned a strong lesson from this lackluster performance about what make a champion a champion - and it isn't a title belt.

GSP, the Gatorade Gangsta

One-legged fighter wins ass-kicking contest again...

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=news.detail&gid=226678

thats some crazy stuff...

UFC 111 Predictions

So the next UFC is only a few days away.  As many of you know I don't even have basic cable so watching it via PPV will not happen.  Nevertheless, I follow these things pretty close on the internet and I wanted to make some quick predictions and comments about the event.  I will post a follow-up blog next week discussing where my predictions hit and where they missed.

Frank Mir v. Shane Carwin
for the Interim Heavyweight Belt

Shane is just about the size of Brock and he is a much better striker.  He was the NCAA II Wrestling Champ in 1999 and he has a purple belt in BJJ.  If Frank had real trouble with Brock in their last fight - I am unsure how Mr. Mir will get past Shane Carwin.

The only thing that Mir has going for him IMO is his experience.  He has been in the cage aganist much better opponents thru his career and that could factor into the equation.  I have been happy to see that both men seem to have respect for the other in this match-up.  That WWE stuff makes me nauseous.

Since Carwin is undefeated and has never gone to either the 2nd round or to decision...

I predict Carwin by ref stoppage due to strikes in the 1st.

GSP v. Dan Hardy
for the Middleweight Belt

When I first heard about this fight I thought "another win for GSP."  To be honest as of now - I ain't so sure.

GSP is good...more than that - he is one of the best pound for pound in MMA.  Dan Hardy is a punk looking, trash talking kid from the UK.  But, lets think about a few things...

1)  GSP has been the champ for a couple of years...is the fire diminishing.  Hardy is probably more hungry for the win that GSP and that can mean alot.

2)  Hardy is a better striker I think and we know that GSP can be put on his rear with a good bomb (see Matt Serra).

3)  GSP is an amazing wrestler but Hardy no slouch, he is a BJJ brown belt under Eddie Bravo.


I think that GSP will have to try and avoid standing with Hardy to win - I am rooting for the underdog on this one...

I predict Hardy by KO in the 2nd. 

Jon Jones Elbow

is nothing to be reckoned with...ask Brandon Vera.

Watch the top video - slow motion of the finishing shot 5:00 in.

http://www.mmaroot.com/brandon-vera-vs-jon-jones-fight-video-ufc-on-versus-1/#more-8603

Update

Hey gang - 

I updated the fight links section with a few new links, including the homepages for BJ, GSP, and Anderson.  Check it out.  I hope that my blog has provided you with a deep repository of links that have increased your knowledge and love of the combat arts.


- Jason

Hardy Interview

Dan Hardy giving an interview in the UK in which he doesn't sound like a retard.  He actually explains his martial arts history and it looks as if he really is a martial artist despite GSPs comments.  Of course, he still doesn't stand a chance against Rush.

War machine coming to GA

Local MMA sinks to a new depth...

http://www.cagepotato.com/war-machine-returning-mma-april-still-out-his-damn-mind

America, are you not entertained?

Torres gets his gash fixed...do not watch while eating.

Miguel Torres Surgery from Harris Masood on Vimeo.

Happy St Pattys Day

Honoring the recent death of Peter Graves...

The first minute or so has one of the funniest and most memorable moments ever...

Today in History

In 44 B.C., on the "Ides of March," Julius Caesar was assassinated in Rome.

Freddie Roach on BJ Penn

Freddie Roach, one of the best trainers in all of boxing, had this to say about BJ Penn...

"Great guy. I think he's one of the best strikers I've ever worked with. He can really punch."

Allistar...lay off the 'roids

See what happens next...
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=news.detail&gid=223671

Anniversary of Mask's death

On 11 March 2009, after midnight, Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis was heading home from the gym when his Ferrari was struck by a drunk driver, sending it into a fatal spin.

Mask began with an idea, a car full of t-shirts, and the greatest friend and partner conceivable, Dan ‘Punkass’ Caldwell. Mask slept on couches and lived on hope, and when he made a little money, he sponsored fighters, with every dollar.

Mixed Martial Arts too was once as young, iMask’s words:

“There was nothing that you could put on in that day that meant what we were feeling like. Mixed Martial Arts and fighting didn’t have any identity. You couldn’t put on a uniform and feel the way we felt in the gym. So, just as a need to identify what I was feeling on the inside of myself, so I came up with a T-shirt.”

In 1999 the business grossed $29,000. By 2008, shirts could be purchased in over 20,000 retail stores worldwide, and Tapout grossed a staggering $100,000,000.

Mask is dead and will be mourned forever and ever.

But when you love this sport, you honor Mask. You honor Mask when you train your heart out in the gym, and you understand better than any scholar what Shakespeare meant when he wrote “For he today that sheds his blood with me, Shall be my brother.”

When this sport fills you with a feeling like no other, you may not have a word for it, but there is one – TapouT.
Charles ‘Mask’ Lewis 1964-2009
May you rest the way you lived, Inyaface

Personal note:

When I was getting ready to compete in my first grappling competition I ordered a Tapout tee shirt to wear the day of.  That shirt arrived promptly in the mail and I wrote the folks at Tapout to say thanks and tell them why I had ordered it.  I expected either no reply or a generic one at best.  I'll never forget what I actually got back in my email inbox...

"Gut those muthafuckers! - Mask"

It was crude, but it was personal and motivating.  I took third in my weight class at that tournament. 

MMA Hat Thievery!

James Toney signs with the UFC

Bad move Dana...

“Lights Out” is a former professional middleweight, super-middleweight, and cruiserweight boxing champion, while currently being listed as the active NABO and IBA heavyweight title holder.

Toney’s decorated professional boxing record currently stands at 72 victories and only 6 defeats, with 3 draws and 2 no-contests. James has stopped 44 of his 72 victims via knockout for an impressive 61% knockout ratio.

He is also the worst possible style of boxer to sign in the UFC.  Heavy hands with little movement...he will get taken down quick and submitted (by someone like Mir) or he'll be ground and pounded (by Lesnar or Couture) or he'll get destroyed on his feet with Thai kicks (maybe Vera)...

This is just as stupid as the Kimbo thing.  Worst of all, Toney hasn't even had to compete in one single MMA match and he just got a UFC contract.  Bulls__t!

Maybe Dana is trying to either:

a)  Snub the boxing world by signing one of their big boys and then having him destroyed in the Octagon

or

b)  Trying to recruit the last few boxing fans who don't already like MMA to the sport

Who knows what goes on in DW's mind.  It certainly isn't the purity and honor of the sport.  I think his head is filled with these:

$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$......

The Pacific

I wish I had HBO...

If you liked Band of Brothers, watch this...