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Posted by Lee Casebolt on 19th March 2008
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by Lee Casebolt
Two things happened for the very first time last night:
1) I watched a full hour of BET and, not coincidentally,
2) BET introduced MMA programming with the debut of Iron Ring. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Charles Bennett, Iron Ring, Jermaine Andre, Lee Casebolt, Shonie Carter, Television | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marc Staehling on 19th March 2008
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With the recent confirmation of the North American Debuts of Korea’s Dong Hyun Kim, and Japan’s Yoshiyuki Yoshida at UFC 84, I thought it would be appropriate to take a glance at last few years of international(Asian) acquisitions made by the UFC and WEC.
Posted in Japan, Marc Staehling, UFC, WEC | 1 Comment »
Posted by Iain Liddle on 17th March 2008
By Iain Liddle
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If you’ll allow me to be self-indulgent then I’ll use this week’s entry to throw out a question that has been niggling away at me of late.
March has already produced another installment in two great boxing rivalries. On March 1st Israel Vazquez and Rafael Marquez stepped into the ring together for the third time. They were tied at 1-1 in their rivalry having fought twice before in the previous thirteen months and both had been nominated for ‘Fight of the year’ for 2007. In fact, most boxing writers who I respect are unanimous in the view that the second encounter was the best to have taken place last year, despite Kelly Pavlik vs Jermain Taylor eventually taking the official boxing writer’s award.
As they prepared to lace up the gloves one more time, fan and promoter expectations were high. Gary Shaw had been proclaiming this fight as the antidote to February’s Klitschko-Ibraghimov snoozefest before it had even taken place. Showtime placed both of the preceding bouts on their website to justify the hype and show fans just how good the sport can be and will be again. It never seemed to cross anyone’s mind that the two Mexicans may disappoint us.
Posted in Boxing, Chuck Liddell, Iain Liddle, MMA, Randy Couture | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 16th March 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
I wouldn’t be writing about mixed martial arts if it wasn’t a sport that I love. MMA was a natural extension for me of my amateur wrestling and jiu-jitsu roots. At a time when there didn’t appear to be anything for a wrestler or jiu-jitsu player to do beyond train and enter some small tournaments with little to no acclaim, MMA came along. The early UFC’s showed that there was a place for the high school or collegiate wrestler to go when those days were coming to an end. It showed that jiu-jitsu enthusiasts weren’t relegated to rolling in the gym and competing in small tournaments in dingy high school gyms. The UFC showed that MMA was an outlet for these elite athletes to show their skills to the world. Why is it then that all these years later the UFC appears to be showing the world something completely different? Why has the UFC gone the route of striking as the norm and forcing wrestlers, judokas, and jiu-jitsu players to turn into sloppy boxers and kickboxers over night? The UFC used to flourish in the natural ground skills put on display by its fighters, but now they put forth a product where ground skills are behind your image, and your ability to engage in a wild slugfest. This shouldn’t be the case at all, but sadly that is the state of the present day UFC.
Posted in Bill Thompson, UFC | No Comments »
Posted by Thomas Hackett on 16th March 2008
It’s good to see that despite some disappointing recent performances, the Pacific Northwest is staying ahead of the game. While some other states are still struggling to legalize the sport, the good people of Oregon may just elect one of their MMA heroes to public office: Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in MMA, Matt Lindland, News Updates, Tommy Hackett | No Comments »
Posted by Iain Liddle on 13th March 2008
Cage Rage today announced the name of the first fighter to have fallen foul of their recently introduced drug testing policy.
John Phillips (6-1-0 1NC) tested positive for what was only identified as a banned substance and the result of his recent fight against Jake Bostwick (3-4-0 1NC) has been officially changed to a no contest.
Posted in Cage Rage, Drug Testing, Iain Liddle | No Comments »
Posted by Kendall Shields on 13th March 2008
by Kendall Shields
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This weekend’s DREAM 1 event is really our first look at the new reality of Japanese MMA. The entertaining and competitive March 5 World Victory Road Sengoku card (match-by-match coverage here, videos of most matches here) gave us Hidehiko Yoshida, Takanori Gomi, Josh Barnett, Kazuyuki Fujita, and Kazuo Misaki, all of whom are significant fighters and draws — and it was a great show — but DREAM is clearly on a different level. Between their concentration of promising young talent and proven draws on the one hand, and their network TV slot with TBS on the other, FEG’s HERO’S replacement looks set to be the premiere power in Japanese MMA. The March 15 debut show offers a mix of truly ridiculous mismatches and competitive Lightweight Grand Prix tournament bouts. If you’re a fan of Japanese MMA, you probably see the appeal of both kinds of contests.
Posted in Japan | 1 Comment »
Posted by Iain Liddle on 12th March 2008
By Iain Liddle
Despite his status as a former Olympic medallist and the fact that he is widely regarded top five middleweight in the sport, the UFC appears to have no interest in recalling Matt Lindland to compete in their octagon. They seem to have no such qualms though in using his pedigree as a competitor to reflect beneficially on themselves.
Posted in Iain Liddle, Matt Lindland, New York, Zuffa | 1 Comment »
Posted by Marc Staehling on 12th March 2008
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Of the ten(the list started at eleven, but as I accurately predicted, Jake O’Brien lost) active fighters with unblemished octagon records, four are them are from the light heavyweight division. For several years the 205 lb. class has been the prestige division. Guys like Liddell, Ortiz, and Couture are responsible for the biggest shows(from an economic standpoint) in the company’s history. These four “UFC Warriors”, as Bruce Buffer would say, show the depth and diversity of the UFC’s marquee division.
Posted in Marc Staehling, UFC | 1 Comment »
Posted by Jonathan Snowden on 11th March 2008
By Alan Conceicao
The world of sports loves a dominant champion. Always has, always will. Dominant champions are the kind of thing that make for quick editorial pieces in print and highlight packages on Sportscenter. Can’t think of something to cover? Shit, Tiger Woods is doing something right now, right? Does King James like his french fries waffle cut or does he prefer the more traditional shoestring? Barring that, the next best thing are personalities. You don’t necessarily have to be great or even that good at what you do to be one of those. Anna Kournikova made shitloads and never won a tournament. As an American, you’ve probably seen plenty of Danica Patrick, but wouldn’t be able to pick Kimi Räikkönen out of a lineup (even if the rest of the world can). Fuck, you can’t even pronounce the guy’s name.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Alan Conceicao, Boxing, K-1 | No Comments »