Archive for September, 2009

Don Frye rules. We all know that. From wrestler to EMT to fighter to pro wrestler to actor to legend, the path Frye took was anything but linear. Heavy.com, whose MMA content of late has been great (some Jonathan Snowden fellow), posted an interview with Frye, the whole thing worthy of quotes. Frye talks about many things, what sticks out the most was how compassionate of an EMT he was.

“We got the call, around midnight. We roll in there and put the fire out, find a couple of hotspots here and there. Then we find a suicide note,” Frye said. “That pisses you off because they are endangering your life and the lives of all the other fire fighters.”

This was worse than people calling for an ambulance at two in the morning with mild discomfort, which is how EMT’s spend 95 percent of their time. This was dangerous and irresponsible, and a furious Frye began searching the house for the perpetrator.

“I walked into the bedroom and found the son of a bitch on the bed,” Frye remembered. “I grabbed him by the ankles and yanked his ass right on the floor. Boom! He screamed and I drug him down the hallway. I hit him against every wall on the way out the door. Boy, it’ll be the last time he tries to commit suicide by fire. I picked him up and threw him out on the lawn. You lose your compassion real quick when people do stupid shit like that.” 

Remember a while back the whole “Andrei Arlovski wants to kill himself” rumor that was floating around? Andrei Arlovski admitted to playing a game of Russian Roulette after his crushing loss to Brett Rogers. Arlovski sets the record straight on this. It wasn’t because he was depressed he lost to Brett Rogers, he was simply bored or stuck in some existential netherworld.

“Some guy on Internet said I played Russian roulette because I was depressed about losing,” Arlovski said. “Let’s get real here, guys. I didn’t play Russian roulette because I was depressed that I lost to Brett Rogers. I wasn’t depressed. I was just in a bad mood.” 

When I’m in a bad mood I don’t usually hold a revolver to my head with a set number of bullets in it to see if I can get lucky. Maybe I’m just not in the Belarussian mindset like Arlovski, or maybe he is suffering from PTSD and just can’t leave behind the world which I’ve grown accustomed to. He also has made a tough decision to focus on MMA and put the boxing dreams aside.

“MMA now is number one priority for me,” Arlovski assured fans during a video chat, but he hasn’t buried his squared circle aspirations, adding, “Definitely, I want to try [boxing].” Arlovski also announced he’s considering competing at a North American Grappling Association event, saying, “I’ve been working on my jiu-jitsu.” 

Oh, but he wants to fight Sylvia again. Ouch. Nobody wants that.

Paul Buentello, the fighter best known for falling asleep on Andrei Arlovski during Arlovski’s cleaning out of the stagnant Heavyweight division in UFC a few years ago and double legging himself has been released from his Strikeforce contract. Why? He wouldn’t fight Fedor Emelianenko, so says Scott Coker to Sherdog.

“We offered Paul a six-figure contract to fight Fedor, but he turned it down,” Coker said. “His decision is understandable considering Fedor’s level of skill but, at the same time, Paul didn’t really fit into our plans. He’s been a solid journeyman fighter and we wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors.”

Now, beyond the obvious here that Coker just offered to put Paul in a bathtub full of ones and give him a rag on a stick to cleanse himself, the funny part is that he then insults Buentello for not being on Fedor’s level. Coker has reached Dana White levels of dumb statements in a very short amount of time. We all know Buentello would get murdered by Fedor, but at least he’d get a comfortable payday and we’d get to see Paul maybe phantom armbar himself or even a heel hook. The part that hooked me was Buentello’s email to Sherdog.

“I have made as little as $1 to fight the UFC champion and been paid as much as six figures to fight an up-and-coming fighter.”

I’m really not sure it would be worth it, but I’d pay Paul Buentello a dollar to fight a homeless man in my backyard. Granted, he’d have to provide his own travel.

Dan Henderson is a guy that is generally rather soft-spoken and doesn’t cause a big hassle. Of course, after his devastating knockout of Michael Bisping at UFC 100, it is arguable that his stock has risen quite a bit for the casual fan. Rumors are spreading around the net right now, mostly from Josh Gross’s twitter account that Dan Henderson’s contract with the UFC was up after that fight.

“According to a source close to Hendo, Dan is a free agent. The source said Dan wants to remain in the UFC. It makes the most sense,” Gross recentlyTweeted. “But as of right now he doesn’t have a contract with Zuffa. Negotiations were characterized as “slow.” Dan’s main focus is fighting [Anderson] Silva.”

Gross also shot down a rumor that Henderson could fight Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the main event of UFC 105, writing that Little Nog was “never mentioned as a possible opponent” for Henderson.

It should also be noted that UFC stooge Kevin Iole dropped in his mailbag that the Anderson Silva surgery rumors were untrue.

I spoke to Ed Soares, Silva’s manager, and contrary to published reports, Silva has not had surgery on his elbow and is not in any way incapable of fighting in November if he’s offered a fight.

I don’t know about you, but watching this is actually not only entertaining, but exciting. It looks like UFC will actually deliver with this season of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The show has never been about the best fighters fighting for a spot in the UFC; most of the “best” fighters end up in the UFC without appearing on a reality television show. The early seasons did a great job of finding talent, but at this point, the pool has been drained. This time it around it looks like they know what sells; big fighters and big personalities. Perfect.

This clip shows just how this show is going to play out; Rashad and Rampage do not like each other, and Dana White will act like he is ticked off by it, but knows that those two butting heads throughout the season is nothing but great television.

Then there is Kimbo. Kimbo is not the best fighter on the show, and everybody knows it, but Kimbo is the guy that will make this show worth watching. The target is painted on him as soon as he is trotted out there and told to get into line. With fighters like Roy Nelson or Wes Sims who have a wealth of experience in the ring on this season mixed in with Kimbo and some giant former NFL players it should be extremely interesting.

In case you haven’t been following the world of MMA lately, Alistair Overeem is basically a large area of confusion. Overeem is the current Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion. What is funny about Overeem; Strikeforce Champion is that he hasn’t fought in the promotion, nay, the United States, since November 2007. So, of course, the internet is getting up in arms over it. Overeem as champion wasn’t a big deal until Strikeforce moved into the obligatory #2 spot in the United States. Then the questions started coming; why wasn’t Overeem fighting in the US? Why won’t he defend his title? Is he on the roids and afraid of drug tests? Overeem claims its a contract thing;

My contract with Strikeforce was only made about three months before the incident, I think they let me fight against (Vitor)Belfort and Paul (Buentello) to lose, but I won. Normally in a contract it says you have to defend your title within a certain period. But my contract just ended there. As I had a long term contract with FEG, I kept fighting for Dream and K-1. It’s ironic that we finally got an offer from Strikeforce and reached an agreement, and I get in some stupid brawl and cut my hand. In jail it got infected and it took longer than expected.

He has been fighting for FEG for quite a while, and is scheduled to fight for Golden Glory on October 17. Of course, he is also taking part in the K-1 World Grand Prix. Overeem and Strikeforce will collide eventually, but honestly, don’t hold your breath.

Two weeks ago, Total-MMA had the pleasure of visiting two of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu’s legends at a seminar at Marcelo Alonso’s Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Seattle. We enjoyed the wisdom of Carlson Gracie Jr. in part one. Today we turn the focus to Ricardo “Rey” Diogo.

You might not expect it from a man who goes by the Portugese word for “King,” but asked about his recent victory at the 2009 BJJ Pan American Championships, Ricardo “Rey” Diogo sounds more humble than boastful. To hear him describe it, the victory sounds like just another day at the office, not unlike appearing at a seminar:

“I felt very good,” he begins in his strong Brazilian accent. “But mentally I prepare myself for all events I go through.. Proper training, proper rest, proper conditioning. You have to do all these things right. It’s what I try to do when I compete, have total confidence in myself. I have a few movements in my game that I have total confidence in, and that’s what I want to show in my seminars.”

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