Archive for January, 2009

(Visit Tracy Lee’s site for more great MMA photography like this.)

Tonight’s UFC is stacked like few MMA shows in history. Besides the rematch between BJ Penn and Georges St Pierre, UFC 94 features a strong undercard featuring two undefeated light heavyweights in a likely title bout eliminator, and a good lightweight bout to open. Since my Affliction predictions went pretty well last week, I’m giving my picks on the top four fights again. Actually, my first and most important prediction is that this will be worth your money. Beyond that…
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People get all kinds of tattoos for all kinds of reasons, but the fighting world seems to have a special affinity for the art. Dutch Muay Thai standout Melvin Manhoef sports the above scroll with a listing of all his KO’s in both Muay Thai and MMA competition on his rib cage; I suppose he updates it regularly. Closer to the source, in Thailand it’s not uncommon to see all kinds of traditional talismans protecting practicioners of Muay Thai from hexes and the like. In this video, several castmates of Contender Asia including Yodsenklai Fairtex receive yantras: sacred designs inked by Buddhist monks to offer protection.

But then, there’s the following fighters whose tattoos are in a class all their own. Any big MMA fan has seen what happens when odd ink happens to great fighters, and I am no exception. So, what follows is a listing of my top bizzare tattoos sported proudly by MMA elite:

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There are times when it takes a while to come down off of a buzz, and for the second time, a fight card presented by a t-shirt company has done just that. The internet will be abuzz, as usual, with talk of production values, buy rates and attendance. I think pushing all of that aside for a moment what you will see is an ultimately satisfying fight card, with each of the fights providing excitement rarely seen on your average $45 PPV card. Capped off by a fight for the ages, an emotional rollercoaster that was Andrei Arlovski challenging Fedor Emelianenko for the WAMMA Heavyweight Championship.

Affliction’s second card has been plagued since the day it was announced, being cancelled due to poor ticket sales and Affliction trying to seal a deal with Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions to help create a buzz around the show. The talk was always that Fedor was not a draw in the United States, but when push came to shove, the card not featuring Fedor was not selling tickets. When Barnett vs. Arlovski was no longer the featured main event, instead Arlovski vs. Fedor a few fans grumbled that Barnett was the better fighter and more likely the better fight for Fedor.

Instead Affliction chose the more memorable UFC Heavyweight Champion to headline against Fedor, and ultimately, it was an incredible decision. Not many fights get me excited anymore. Mixed Martial Arts is growing, and as a part of the growth comes a lot of cards featuring a lot of good, not great fighters facing off against each other. Even if the fighters facing off are great, the match ups are not exciting, they are competitive. They are guys with similar skillsets cancelling each other out, or simply guys with opposing skillsets trying to avoid the other’s strength. But this fight was different, this was two guys who aren’t afraid to engage, who are explosive, and easily the best heavyweights in the world. 

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What’s cooler than a “Scarface: The World Is Yours” snowglobe? Well… let’s be honest, pretty much nothing. Really. I mean, that’s pretty much it. I can’t top it. But I hope my picks for the headliners for this weekend’s Affliction PPV are worth a read anyway. Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes you don’t need words to express excitement. 

Perhaps never in the history of MMA has such a long awaited and yet still vital bout come with such little discussion. Reading the diatribes on the internet, one would think that Andrei Arlovski is merely another mediocre lamb led to slaughter. Some have actually argued he is a “UFC reject” who doesn’t belong at the top of the sport. Its a stunning statement about the man once considered the UFC’s most untouchable heavyweight during the pre-Spike era, particularly given his recent performances.

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I shit you not. If you understand how the finance markets work in the United States you understand just how surreal this is. I can safely say that this was the work of the Donald, but I am still completely baffled by this.

While it is kind of amazing to see Fedor and Tito ringing the opening bell for the Nasdaq market, something that is primarily reserved for politicians, board members of large public companies, companies with a new IPO and so on, having a fight promoter and fighter declare one of the world’s premier markets as open is just weird. Not only is it weird, it is a strange PR move. If you think about this logically, what fight fan outside of your random finance nerds really pay attention to the Nasdaq opening bell daily? Affliction tends to spend a lot of money and time on promoting their shows in places where their audience could not care less.

Do you care about this? Will your average UFC fan who might be interested in this show but has yet to see a television or magazine advertisement see this and get excited? Outside of the “EDOR IS COMING” ads during the last EliteXC show and Arlovski fighting there has been no mainstream press for this event. As Zach Arnold has pointed out, Oscar De La Hoya is the center of attention for the recent press conferences, with passing mention to some obscure ‘Martial Arts’ show he is promoting. Merely a parlor trick, a new passing interest for the biggest name in boxing.

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Is it sport if you aren’t really trying to win?

One thing that was brought up regularly in the post fight talk of UFC 93 is how awful Mark Coleman looked. Sam Caplan was but a single (and the most coherent) voice among many who has written in the last 24 hours about his wish to see Mark Coleman retire. That, sadly, is not going to be part of the reality for Coleman, just as it is not for so many other competitors from the “dark ages” of the sport. After all, who in their right mind believed Coleman had anything left going in except those easily bought by well edited video pieces?

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Another UFC is in the books and this event above all others will be remembered for…well…ummm…I don’t know. Perhaps the most unremarkable card since UFC 55, the latest expedition into fighting prowess, UFC 93: Words that Mean Bad Things, was a exposition on the fragile nature of life and love. Or not. Perhaps it was just some guys in a cage throwing punches and slamming each other. With that less than philosophical approach taken, its worth noting just what we came away with that was perhaps not so blatantly obvious.

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