Your round-tablers today:
Lee Casebolt (LC)
Dave Walsh (DW)
Alan Conceicao (AC)
Chris Henderson (CH)
Topics being discussed:
- Josh “The Punk” Thomson “punks” top fighter Gilbert Melendez out.
- Cung Le vs Kazuo Misaki rumored for Strikeforce.
- Bisping vs. Leben to Main Event UFC 89 in the UK. Read the rest of this entry »
After what we’ll consider too long of a delay, we return to the podcasting game with Total MMA Radio. This is the June 26 edition of Total MMA Radio. Alan and Iain discuss this past week’s boxing, we go into depth on the Ultimate Finale 7, discuss tonight’s Strikeforce event with Luke Stewart and also feature an exclusive look at Bas Rutten on the “Total Legends” segment.
From this week forward, I’ll be doing my best to try and run down all the major events of the weekend ahead here in this section in the world of combat sport. Whether its boxing, K-1 kickboxing, or MMA, this will hopefully become the one stop shop for where and when you can see the best (and occasionally far from best) action for the weekend.
Boxing’s #1 fighter, Strikeforce’s world class lightweight champ, and the most dominant K-1 heavyweight ever all take to the ring and/or cage this weekend.
As you know, Dave Meltzer covers the business of mixed martial arts better than anyone. But, as you might also know, his technical knowledge of the sport is very much a work in progress. This is true of all of us, of course, whether we’re casual fans, devotees, or martial artists who train in grappling or striking arts ourselves. Mixed martial arts is a sport marked by such rapid technical innovation and evolution that we’ve all found ourselves behind the curve at one time or another. We’ve all had our, “wait, what on earth was that?” moments as we’ve been exposed to techniques for the first time. But unlike most of us, Dave Meltzer unfortunately has his “wait, what?” moments recorded for posterity. And the June 23rd edition of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter has a real doozy.
Recapping the June 15th Dream 4 event, Meltzer offers this somewhat baffling analysis of the finish to the Shinya Aoki / Katsuhiko Nagata Lightweight Grand Prix match: “[Aoki] remained on top, doing very little until using what was called a gogoplata from the mount, but really wasn’t, as it was more of a forearm choke except using the shinbone instead of the forearm.”
Your round-tablers today:
Lee Casebolt (LC)
Dave Walsh (DW)
Alan Conceicao (AC)
Iain Liddle (IL)
Topics being discussed:
- Affliction planning future shows already - brave or foolhardy?
- Nick Diaz vs. Thomas Denny booked for CBS - the correct decision?
- Have you been able to watch the Kim Couture fight?
- Will you miss Ivan Salaverry?
IL: Iain Liddle(UK)
DW: Dave Walsh(USA)
AC: Alan Conceicao(USA)
LC: Lee Casebolt(USA)
KS: Kendall Shields(CAN)
JS: Jonathan Snowden(USA)
MS: Marc Staehling(CAN)
Jake Shields vs. Nick Thompson for the first Elite XC Welterweight Title Live on CBS
DW: As fun as it is to make fun of EliteXC or anything involving Gary Shaw, this is unquestionable content. I can’t wait to see it, but this really isn’t going to wow a CBS crowd. As much as people complain about subpar displays like Kimbo Slice, that is what your average person in the audience is expecting to see.
JS: think the Shields-Thompson matchup is great and should add some much needed technical prowess to the Elite XC CBS show. Read the rest of this entry »
Your roundtable:
DW: Dave Walsh
AC: Alan Conceicao
LC: Lee Casebolt
JS: Jonathan Snowden
TUF Final: CB vs. Amir
LC: Picking the finale is (almost) always hard. A case like this, where you’ve got two guys with very little previous experience, is even harder. Anybody who watched the show has seem Amir’s entire career, and now he’s had, what, six weeks to change up his game. CB’s case isn’t quite as dramatic, but isn’t far off. I’d have to go with Amir, though. He won the first fight, he trains at a better camp, and he appears (disclaimer about the dangers of television editing HERE) to be way less cocky. Amir by decision.
AC: If the finale itself is as good as their first fight, all bets are off. I’m thinking CB will look back at this performance on the show and work his cardio and then wrestle down Amir repeatedly. Amir’s gonna give as good as he gets for awhile. What does bother me is the question of where Amir goes from here, regardless of whether he wins or loses. He beat a lot of very solid pros on the show with no actual pro MMA experience. A slight bump up in competition puts him in really deep water very fast.
DW: I only know of what I’ve read in Kendall’s posts, so I must say go Amir. That is all.
JS: There is no reason that CB shouldn’t win this fight. When you take two relatively inexperienced fighters and put them in together, the rule of thumb is always bet on the wrestler. So I’m betting on the wrestler. But my heart will be with Amir.
Your roundtable:
DW: Dave Walsh
AC: Alan Conceicao
LC: Lee Casebolt
JS: Jonathan Snowden
The Ultimate Fighter: CB Loses, CB Wins
AC: Among the better episodes of the show ever. There were two fairly decent, well contested fights that weren’t merely subpar pugilism. I think there’s been a fair amount of criticism regarding CB’s stamina, but it should be noted that the guy fought 5 fights in the course of about 2 months. Not only that, the rematch between him and Amir should be spectacular based on their initial clash in the semifinals. My assumption going in is that it will finish the way I expected their first confrontation would go with a decisive CB win either by stoppage or unanimous decision.
LC: It was pretty much one fight for the price of two last night. CB/Amir and CB/Credeur were basically the same fight - more or less competitive standing, with CB able to hit a takedown more or less at will and follow up with decent but unspectacular ground and pound while the bottom man threw up halfhearted submission and sweep attempts. The difference, of course, being that Amir’s late attempts got more desperate instead of less, and consequently one of them worked.
JS: It’s interesting that CB didn’t learn anything from his loss to Amir. It should have been a lesson in humility. Instead, when given a second chance, he was still talking about how he “deserved to be in the finals.” No. The person that wins the fight deserves to be in the finals.
LC: The creative editing (there’s always creative editing) on Amir has worked - I like the kid. He’s got that Forrest Griffin self-deprecating tough guy goofball thing going on and sincere or not I prefer that persona to stereotypical drunk tough frat boy, which is generally the only alternative on TUF. Plus he’s the only guy this side of Semmy Schilt who uses the front kick as an actual strike instead of a push and that wins a couple points from me. Read the rest of this entry »
I can offer nothing by way of introduction that would set the stage more fittingly for the no doubt earth-shattering events about to unfold on this, our season finale of The Ultimate Fighter, than these words from Dana White himself. BEHOLD:
We’re all of us accustomed to “Boom, another hit is landed,” but “Boom, the shit hit the fan,” that’s something else altogether. Something I don’t know if I’m ready for. Something I don’t know if we, as a people, are ready for. But stiffen the sinews! Summon up the blood! Lend the eye a terrible aspect! Other stuff too! This is a once more into the breach situation, basically.
