Archive for June, 2010

Tonight, Strikeforce and M-1 Global offer a huge show for any MMA fan — as the greatest of all time, Fedor Emelianenko, takes on one of the world’s top ten heavyweights in Brazilian jiu-jitsu luminary Fabricio Werdum. The bout will be broadcast live 10 pm EST from the HP Pavillion in San Jose, CA on Showtime, delayed on the West Coast, and likely streamed illegally everywhere else.

Earlier this week, I enjoyed a Fedor Emelianenko interview — and yes, I realize there’s nothing unusual about that. He’s had some classics, like earlier this year where he took some of his fellow sportsmen for “forgetting their flags,” describing his religous faith, and more. His quiet integrity is what makes me a Fedor fan, the qualities that Dave Meltzer references when he dubbed the man the “anti-Brock Lesnar” recently.

But what struck me about this interview, which was sent from Strikeforce’s office and posted on Youtube, was that Fedor Emelianenko, the greatest of all time, appeared almost as burned out as I am about MMA lately. Among other things, he admits he doesn’t enjoy watching MMA fights; and essentially struggles to say anything at all about his opponent.

Still, the fights are on — and they should be well worth watching.

The show will mark the first time the world’s #1 male and female fighters will appear on the same show. There’s still honor in this game.

As Fedor puts it in that very interview, “I do not consider myself to be the strongest fighter or be a very special person… there are a lot of people who pray for me and that’s why I want to be the representative of my country… I just want people to remember me as the honest person, the person who loves his country, his motherland and who glorifies the Orthodox Russia.”

My predictions follow.

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The Scottish Fight Challenge (SFC) returns this weekend with another great card, following on from the success of their first event in February.

At the Albert Halls in Stirling this Sunday, the 27th of June, the SFC will put on their second event, entitled ‘Retribution’. Headlining the event is a 4-man eliminator for the SFC Lightweight Title, featuring four of Scotland’s best lightweight competitiors: Dave “Gladiator” Galbraith, Robert Whiteford, Bobby “Black Mamba” McVitie and Johnny Martin. All four are hoping to earn the crown of first SFC Lightweight Title holder, but first must negotiate one another….

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Coaches Liddell and Ortiz

We don’t usually do Fight Nights and such but thought I’d throw this one out there for fun. It was an entertaining season in my opinion even though I don’t believe it will yield many long term UFC prospects. The main attraction of the season was a bit anti-climactic as we already knew that Ortiz and Liddell would never square off and that Tito would be replaced at some point. It was also a bit annoying as they teased the moment Tito would be replaced for about six episodes in a row. I really liked the wild card format and how there was always an opportunity there for a fighter to get back into the action and it ended up making the season much more compelling. Anyway, on with the predictions.
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UFC 115, which will be broadcast live on PPV at 10 pm US EST tonight from GM Place in Vancouver, British Columbia, was never hailed among ZUFFA’s top shows of the year. The main event of Chuck Liddell vs Tito Ortiz wouldn’t have made sense in 2007 when both were closer to their primes — as Chuck stopped Tito twice in two lopsided bouts in the mid-2000’s. Today, with both in the twilight of their careers, it’s even less palatable. But Ortiz has been replaced by Rich Franklin, offering a bit more compelling a bout — if not much of a more relevant one. A mediocre undercard isn’t much of a help. This would be an interesting UFC Fight Night, but a PPV it ain’t… particularly on a World Cup weekend.

However, two masochistic stateside Total-MMA staff members find themselves drawn to this show. Please join us. So, sit down, enjoy a recommendation from the world’s greatest wine reviewer, Sadat X of Brand Nubian fame, and let’s get down to it!

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Rampage and Rashad stare-down at UFC 96

This wrap up comes a little late but the show still deserves its due publicity so here we go.

The main event featured one of the most anticipated grudge matches in UFC history. Rampage has had a problem with Rashad Evans ever since he fought Rampage’s teammate Hector Ramirez back in 2004. Ramirez suffered an injury in a fight the day before and basically fought Evans on one leg. Rampage felt Rashad did a little too much showboating in the fight and let him know about it when Rashad approached him after the fight about training with him. The bad blood started there and continued after Rampage beat Rashad’s teammate Keith Jardine at UFC 96 and continued into The Ultimate Fighter show.

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(Author’s Note: This article had been planned since Strikeforce: “Heavy Artillery” but was pushed back due to scheduling issues.)

It’s a tough time to be a fan of Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski.

Two of his last three fights have seen him on the receiving end of vicious knockouts, with his last fight causing many to wonder just how many years Arlovski has left in a sport that, like so many other former champions, may have finally caught up to his level of skill and, in fact, passed him by. Still, Arlovski remains one of the most popular Mixed Martial Artists actively competing- his ovation at Strikeforce: “Heavy Artillery” easily surpassed any of his fellow fighters. Arlovski also remains one of the most marketable fighters in the sport- as seen during his “Heavy Artillery” entrance, Arlovski may be the first and only fighter to ever land famed clothing company Dolce & Gabbana as a sponsor. So where did it all go wrong, and more importantly, how and why? Does Arlovski still have enough left in him to turn things around in the face of a three-fight losing streak, or will his popularity and marketability truly be put to the test as Arlovski continues his free-fall from the Heavyweight rankings?

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