Rumor has it, from Rampage Jackson himself, that he is done with MMA, most notably of course his home in the UFC. Dana White is a master of the PR wars, often times doing whatever it takes, including making himself a target, to get what he wants in the end. Rampage is playing a dangerous game engaging Dana in a battle like this, especially after his incident where he Rampaged through SoCal streets in his custom-decal-laden truck. Dana and the UFC were there to bail out their star. Rampage sounds conflicted when talking about his decision to
leave the UFC.
The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them. The UFC bought WFA to get my contract & they saved my life, so I felt loyal to them. They pushed me into a fight with Chuck Liddell even when I clearly stated I wasn’t ready to fight for the belt because the American fans didn’t know me but I took the fight and didn’t complain & after I won the American fans booed me for the first time which changed the way I saw them & it hurt me deeply.
Rampage, truly out of character (but still clearly himself) in a blog posting, declares how hurt has has been over certain things, namely Dana White joking about Rampage’s relationship with his father and decision to make this movie. The A-Team film can be huge for Rampage, no doubt. If it is a smash hit and is signed on for sequels, merchandising, TV spin-offs and whatever else, Quinton Jackson will be a household name. If it opens up the door for other action films and he becomes a Hollywood darling, even better.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Quinton Rampage Jackson, UFC | 2 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 20th September 2009
Oh the irony of it all. Last night saw UFC counter-program the return of boxing’s Pretty Boy; Floyd Mayweather, Jr. Floyd, the oft-controversial performer came back after a two-year retirement after seeing Manny Pacquiao take his place on the top of the food chain in the media’s fickle eyes after destroying Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Floyd saw this and saw dollar signs, while UFC saw this as their chance to take another jab at the sport they and their rabid fans see as a dying art and proclaim dominance that they could do well against boxing’s biggest star.
The numbers aren’t out yet, but the results are in, and they can be weighed against each other. UFC saw no real surprises on their main card; Cro Cop is washed up, Hermes Franca isn’t very good, Martin Kampmann was overrated and Vitor Belfort when he trains for a fight can beat a gatekeeper handily (with illegal blows to the back of the head). The undercard was just rather dull and the card featured some of the worst preliminaries UFC has offered on a PPV. The card was easily the least entertaining since UFC 55; Andrei Arlovski vs. Paul Buentello.
Mayweather vs. Marquez on the other hand saw a lively undercard as Chris John took Rocky Juarez all twelve rounds for a decision, Michael Katsidis overwhelmed a scrappy Vincente Escebedo and Cornelius Lock devastated Orlando Cruz with a left hook. All three of these bouts were incredibly exciting and put on this card to prove that they can not only compete with UFC quality-wise, but put on a better overall show.
A lot of talk right now from UFC fans is that the Mayweather fight was a “multi-million dollar sham” of a fight; Mayweather was fighting a lighter fighter who stood no chance against him. The truth of the matter is, after coming back from a two year layoff, taking on a fighter like Manny Pacquiao would be a giant risk, as would a fight with Shane Mosley. Plus, from a business perspective, a multi-million dollar warm-up fight before the big fight makes perfect sense. Instead of people asking the question “does Floyd still have it?” there will be no doubt that he still has it when he goes into his next fight against whomever it is.
Posted in Boxing, Dave Walsh, UFC | 8 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 16th September 2009
When push comes to shove, we never tire of the Diaz boys. Tonight will be no exception as Nate Diaz will square off with cocaine-abuser Melvin Guillard. Coke vs. Weed will happen tonight.
After being a it over last night, Nate Diaz made weight on his second try, so all is prepared for tonight.
Heavy.com has a preview (by some dashingly handsome writer) for the main event.
The Diaz brothers are known for being brash, arrogant, loud-mouthed and talented enough to back up everything they say, but somehow Nate Diaz finds himself with two losses in a row in a company that generally issues a pink slip to fighters after they suffer three losses in a row. The challenge that faces Nate Diaz is Melvin’s wrestling (Nick and Nate are not exactly known for takedown defense) and hard-hitting muay thai skills. Nate, like his brother, has a hard time turning down an invite to a firefight standing up and prides himself on his boxing skills. After the tough loss to Joe Stevenson, whose wrestling made a fool of Nate last time around, Nate needs to not lose faith in his jiu-jitsu. Especially against Guillard.
Melvin Guillard has a wrestling background to go with his crushing muay thai, but it seems like his wrestling has only led him into deeper waters that he was not yet ready for, as 6 out of his 7 losses were to submissions. Clearly both men are going to need completely different gameplans for this fight; Guillard looks to keep Nate standing up and knock him out, and Diaz to take this to the ground and gain another Submission of the Night honor and ensure some job security. The real test is to see if Nate can stick to his guns and use his superior jiu-jitsu against Guillard.
Posted in Dave Walsh, UFC | No Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 14th September 2009
The debut of Satoshi Ishii, Beijing 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist at heavyweight for Judo in Mixed Martial Arts is official. He’ll make his debut on the World Victory Road: Sengoku New Year’s Eve special against other former Japanese national hero and Olympic Judoka, Hidehiko Yoshida. While the date is not set in stone yet, watch for it to be on the 31st or the 3rd.
If on the 31st, it is a bold move, competing with a possible DREAM/K-1 Dynamite! show and the other array of Japanese entertainment that happens on New Years Eve. NYE in Japan is a big deal for television, with combat sports formerly being some of the main attractions. Dating back to the wrestling boom days up until about the death of PRIDE, there has always been an attraction to ring in the new year, but eventually, as Japan is a fad-based culture, it wore off.
The Japanese audiences have lots of choices when it comes to programming on New Years Eve, and most are simply looking to watch what will be the most-talked about program. It will take a lot for MMA to become this most-talked about program again, is Ishii the man to bring this change? On top of that, Sengoku is generally very careful when it comes to prospects, and are throwing Ishii immediately into the fire against a veteran, which smells of desperation. Yoshida’s debut was against a fellow Judoka as well, the man we know and love, Don Frye.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Sengoku, judo | No Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 12th September 2009
If you know this site and myself, you know that the Diaz brothers are regarded as some of the best around. Both are incredibly skilled, yes, both also exude this natural aura around them; they do what they want and could care less what you or anybody else thinks. But the reality is that they are two hard working guys who came from a modest background. The San Joaquin Magazine has what I would regard as an incredible fluff piece on two guys I would never imagine being written about this eloquently. Ridiculous.
Enter Nick Diaz. Almost like the MMA gods were punching out cookie-cutter molds of young men and decided this would be the ideal model for a fighter, both boys are slim where they need to be and all muscle where you’d expect them to be. Long hyped in the media since they broke onto the fighting scene, they both wear the tentatively healed wounds of a fight for ‘every three months since they were 16’.
Inside the ring they’re all nightmare—two separate men, two separate fighters, two different levels of the sport, all bound by blood. Whether it’s their own blood or that of their opponents, MMA affords the fan plenty of both. Where wrestling and boxing both limit fighters to what’s legal and illegal in a brawl, MMA draws the line only at the most inhumane eye gougings and crotch shots. In other words, when you step into the ‘cage’ someone’s leaving on their own accord and someone might have to be carried off the floor. Pummeling opponents with a flurry of punches, kicks, attacks, and takedowns, the sport is relatively new and has become popular in recent years based on a few simple merits—it’s brutal (Nick has been bloodied so many times above the eye that he underwent a new surgery to reduce the ability for that rehealed cut to bleed), and it’s as high adrenaline as a sport can get.
Very understanding of the fact that there’s ‘life inside the ring’ and ‘life outside the ring’, this is where the similarities meet the differences. Polite but not warm, the boys seem to have a calculated amount of personality they are willing to show to a journalist. Never raising their voices above a conversational tone even amidst the thumping of workout music playing in the background, the boys offer up answers to everything I want to know and nothing extra. More important than the Q and A of understanding their training (they compete in Ironman triathlons), and what it’s like to have a brother in the same sport (‘It’s great, I get to learn from his mistakes”), our short sit-down reveals one very apparent thing—they know their goals and they’re here to accomplish them.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Nick Diaz, Strikeforce, UFC | 5 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 11th September 2009
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.
Posted in Andrei Arlovski, Dave Walsh | No Comments »
Nick Diaz is a polarizing character; you either hate him or you love him. When it comes to him there really isn’t much of a grey area. Nick Diaz is one thing that you cannot argue; Nick Diaz is a fighter. In a world that is full of fighters who were trained in the rigid world of “Mixed Martial Arts” Nick Diaz is different, Nick Diaz is a martial artist. Diaz might not fit into the traditional view of a Martial Artist, Nick doesn’t go off on long tales of honor, he doesn’t practice any mystical arts. In fact, he is rather straightforward and has an attitude that upsets many.
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