Posted by Bill Thompson on 9th March 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
What do a Bear, a Smiley, a White Bear, an Ashikan Judan, a Kong, the Buzz and the World’s Most Dangerous Man all have in common? They are all a part of a rich history in combat sports that usually goes unnoticed, but really shouldn’t. Some fighters are so confident in themselves that they go only by their real name. Other fighters don’t see the need for a nickname and find them frivolous or stupid. But most fighters realize the roots of having a nickname in a combat sport and how important it is. Well, actually they don’t, that’s just a case of me being a pretentious bloke. They have nicknames for the same reason that most men do anything, they are cool. Not only are they cool, but they are fun, fitting, unusual, scary, hilarious, and sometimes just downright stupid. Some are predominant, some are completely original, and some go along with the name while others don’t seem to make much sense at all. Let’s enjoy a fine romp through what the kids want to be called these days, shall we?
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 2nd March 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
The best is something that can be very fluid. Sometimes what is the best can be quantified, and other times it can’t. Within MMA the best in a certain division can be quantified by taking a look at results within that division. However, how does one quantify the best current fighter in all of MMA? Or the best fighter ever in MMA? I don’t really believe there is a way to quantify either in an exact non-contentious fashion, and that is why in the latter category you will get one person arguing for Frank Shamrock, another for Randy Couture, one person for Matt Hughes, and yet another for Fedor Emelianenko. As of this past Saturday a new name has entered that mix, Anderson Silva. A few years ago I never would have thought this was possible, and then Silva amped up his game and started his current run. But, does Silva really qualify as the best of all time in the short lived history of MMA, or am I a bit ahead of myself? Let’s take a look, shall we.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 24th February 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada was the host for another Maximum Fighting Championships, MFC, card on Saturday night. It wasn’t a special card that featured any must see bouts. However it did have a fighter in the main event that is a known commodity in the MMA world, and a fighter that spurred the idea for my topic this week. Pete Spratt was choked unconscious by Ryan Ford, a promising young Canadian fighter, in the second round of their contest. The question in regards to Spratt is how did a man that was once scheduled to face Matt Hughes for the UFC’s welterweight title end up being fodder for young up and coming talents? The answer lies in Spratt’s journeyman status, a fighter that is good enough that beating him means you do have more than just potential. However, the bigger question is why did Spratt become a journeymen fighter? How did such a promising fighter become relegated to this level of competition. Lack of skillset would be the answer to that question, but that leads to an even bigger question. Why would a fighter in this day and age have a limited skillset to work off of? There are a few reasons for this, some are damning to the fighter while some are the harsh reality of combat sports.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 17th February 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
EXC wants to be taken seriously, they want to be viewed as an equal to the UFC. A part of being taken seriously is that you have to appear to be serious. Being a rather big promotion like EXC is I am sure that somewhere along the line the memo that stated this fact was lost. Should EXC be taken seriously, or are they nothing more than a freak show promotion? I believe they should be taken seriously, but a quick poll of MMA fans will show myself to be in the minority on this issue. There are a few minor ways that EXC can change this stigma and make it so that they are a promotion that the MMA world feels should be taken seriously.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 10th February 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
This week I figured I’d delve into a big match-up that was been announced for the future. Nothing elaborate, but I will give a few thoughts into the fight, the impact it will have on the individual fighters, and their futures in the light heavyweight division. Without further ado, let’s take a look ahead
Chuck Liddell vs. Mauricio Rua
This match-up was just announced for UFC 85, and it is a fight a few years in the making. As soon as Mauricio “Shogun” Rua went on his tear through the Pride middleweight, our version of light heavyweight, grand prix in 2005 his name skyrocketed to the top of the light heavyweight ranks. Also around this time Chuck Liddell was in the middle of running through Jeremy Horn, Tito Ortiz, Randy Couture, and Renato Sobral to cement himself at the top of the light heavyweight mountain. In some places the argument over whether Rua was number one or Liddell was number one boiled down to the infantile “Pride is better than the UFC/UFC is better than Pride” line of thinking. However in most intelligent conversations there wasn’t a clear cut answer to the question because both men had proven themselves to be among the best in the sport. The only clear way to solve the debate was for the two men to square off, something not thought possible until the day that Pride was bought out by Zuffa, parent company of UFC. Unfortunately for both men their careers did not continue down the dominant path. Liddell was knocked out by Quinton Jackson and decisioned by Keith Jardine in consecutive fights, while Shogun was thoroughly manhandled and eventually choked out by Forrest Griffin in his one and only UFC bout to date. Liddell managed to bounce back from his setbacks with a decision win over another top light heavyweight in Wanderlei Silva. Then came the announcement this past week that these two would finally be facing off, a few years and fights too late, but a marquee match-up none the less.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 3rd February 2008
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By: Bill Thompson
Powerful, energetic, exciting, fast, freakish, and highly skilled are all adjectives that can be used to describe Brock Lesnar. All of this was put on display last night in his bout against Frank Mir. From the start people wanted to dismiss the UFC’s signing of Brock as nothing more than a sideshow attraction. Their signing of Brock was certainly nothing more than an attempt to make a few bucks off of a former professional wrestling superstar, correct? Last nights fights should have shown that not to be the case, that Brock Lesnar is all the adjectives described above and that he is a great addition to the UFC’s heavyweight roster. Unfortunately I think somewhere along the line the UFC themselves forgot this fact and as described above decided to try and make a quick buck off of Brock instead of waiting for the long term investment to develop. There is still time to rectify that erroneous assessment, but the real question lies in whether or not the UFC will be smart enough to take advantage of the best heavyweight to possibly ever come down the pipe line or if they will watch him fall to the wayside.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 27th January 2008
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by: Bill Thompson
Mixed martial arts is a sport that is growing at an exponential rate. With that growth comes a whole new set of problems, growing pains if you will. Possibly the biggest problem currently confronting MMA is the idea of unification. This idea is ignored by most, glossed over by others, and not given a thought by the rest of the MMA community. However, it is becoming readily apparent that unification in MMA is something that needs to happen. Unification in and of itself is perplexing and what makes it so perplexing to most is that they don’t completely understand what unification means for the sport. Unification in MMA deals with a few different fronts.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 20th January 2008
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Last night in Newcastle, England the Ultimate Fighting Championship, UFC, held an event, but this wasn’t just an event, it was a warning to the rest of the MMA community. B.J.Penn is back, and it is a very scary prospect for the rest of the MMA world indeed. However that wasn’t the warning that the UFC sent out, their warning consisted of exciting fights, titles awarded, new faces discovered, and the prospect of a big time lightweight showdown. In an environment where everyone is after the UFC they took the time last night to make sure that all of their pursuers once again realized who the big dog is and why it’s not always the best idea to make the big dog mad.
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Posted by Bill Thompson on 13th January 2008
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For many years people have posited whether or not there can be “too much of a good thing.” I have always been in the camp that responds with the simplicity of “too much good can never be bad.” It’s funny how a sport like MMA can cause a man to completely reevaluate his position on a subject such as this one. But, I guess I should thank the World Cagefighting Organization and Valor Promotions, henceforth referred to as WCO and Valor, for bringing this subject to light in MMA.
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