
Gina Carano was handed her first loss in Mixed Martial Arts. We all saw it, and if you didn’t see it live, chances are you’ve read countless articles condemning women’s MMA and Carano. With some of the hype leading up to this fight seeing such a fickle reaction isn’t exactly shocking, some of the people it is coming from is. The world needs a hero and women’s MMA is no different. The truth is, Gina Carano wasn’t able to be that hero at this point in her career, but a lot was riding on her shoulders, all of which she handled with grace and dignity, even in defeat.
Today we are hearing how
Gina relates to Kimbo Slice; all hype and no substance, being fed lower-ranked competitors in hopes of propelling her to stardom due to her looks and personality, not her ability. Yes, they were both the creation of Gary Shaw’s hype machine, one that has worked for countless boxers throughout history, and they were both beaten by game opponents. There is a difference though, that a lot of people seem to be overlooing; Gina wanted this fight and wanted this challenge.
Kimbo went into the last EliteXC show ever expecting Ken Shamrock, an old, beaten down shell of a former top fighter who needs painkillers to get out of bed in the morning. Shamrock’s name value and limited skillset was going to help build up the Kimbo legend and EliteXC brand name on national broadcast television. It is hard to really blame Kimbo or his management, as for a business decision the Shamrock fight was golden; there was money to be made, he has name value and a legend of his own.
Carano was treated much in the same way by Shaw and EliteXC; she was given game but inexperienced opponents and pushed as an elite women’s MMA fighter, while she was still a bit fresh into her career as a fighter. Women’s MMA in the United States is still in its infancy, so it is hard to look down on her or her opponents for not having a wealth of experience. The big difference between Carano and Kimbo was attitude and outlook; while Kimbo’s camp was looking for money fights and to keep the Kimbo brand alive, Carano was looking to prove herself and take on a challenge.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Gina Carano, Strikeforce | 4 Comments »
Posted by Tommy Hackett on 20th June 2009

What do you ask for from a regional MMA show?
Do you come to see a few good local prospects get a chance to step up in class? Are you hoping to see a few veterans hungry to get back to the big stage? Maybe… just a good, competive fight or three?
The last Strikeforce show in the Seattle area failed to deliver on these hopes more often than not, as I reported for Total-MMA last year. That night, the co-main events fizzled out quickly, and a undercard heavy on local talent mostly underwhelmed the Tacoma crowd and HDTV audience.
But last night at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Strikeforce washed away any memories of that night as this edition of their new “Strikeforce: Challengers” Showtime series provided solid bell to bell action all night long. Inspired performances from Joey Villasenor and Tim Kennedy led the way, both of whom marked their return from recent inactivity with solid wins.
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Posted in Strikeforce, Tommy Hackett, Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 11th June 2009
I won’t lie and I’ll come out and say it; Andrei Arlovski has been one of my absolute favorite fighters for years now. Part of what made him special was his showmanship on top of his raw power and ability. Not only was there a guy with an incredibly solid build who is fast on his feet in a world of Paul Buentello’s and Ricco Rodriguez’s knocking people out with his heavy and fast hands, but he had crazy hair, a beard and fangs. His interviews were awesome, stuff like “I have a strong arm, can smash” and so on. Andrei Arlovski was a rabid wolf among wild boar and made a name for himself as Heavyweight Champion in the United States when there were no heavyweights to look up to.
It is 2009 now and things have changed. Andrei seems to be done with his mighty Affliction deal involving upwards of 7 figures for him to step into the ring (if you think most guys were locked into three fights, he had two Affliction bouts and an EliteXC paid-for-by-Affliction fight) and seems to be testing the waters with Strikeforce. The only problem is, after an impressive post-Tim Sylvia win streak, he has two losses in a row. One to easily the best Heavyweight in the history of the sport after a great effort, Fedor, the other to, well, Brett Rogers.
I am not attempting to take anything away from Rogers, because Rogers did as he probably planned to and he won. The thing is, Rogers has never shown anything other than his ability to smash somebody in the face with his fists, which is exactly what he did to Andrei. It is hard to say if Rogers is actually a good fighter or not because we don’t know what he looks like in later rounds and we don’t know what he looks like against a top fighter who is ready to fight. Andrei was not ready to fight.
Andrei not being ready to fight is not Rogers fault, it is clearly Andrei’s, and it has cost him a lot. His boxing debut which was weeks away has been postponed due to his medical suspension for being knocked out, and it isn’t clear what or who he could fight in MMA at this point. The heavyweight scene outside of the UFC right now is very grim, while UFC’s is rather bright. Outside of the UFC he did everything he could possibly do, which was fight 3 emerging challengers in Rothwell, Nelson and Rogers, and fighting the best in the world. The only fights he really has left are a rematch with Rogers and a match with Barnett.
I want to see the Pitbull of old, I want to see Andrei have another run at the top, but I’m just not sure he has it in him anymore.
Posted in Andrei Arlovski, Dave Walsh, Strikeforce | 4 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 13th April 2009
Around the age of 12 I began to realize that I was never going to become a professional athlete. I decided that being a sports journalist would be the next best thing, so that became my new dream. After two semesters of college I realized that the odds of becoming a sports journalist were not much better than those of becoming an athlete and pushed that particular dream aside, seemingly forever. Well, a decade later the chance to be a journalist (in the loosest of terms) fell into my lap. For one glorious weekend I lived my dream. Here is my account.
I arrived to the HP Pavilion in San Jose at 2pm, a full two and a half hours before the gates opened. Why? Why the hell not? I had the A’s game on the radio and a good book (TOTAL MMA by some cat named Jon Snowden) and the time flew by. Around 4:00 I simply couldn’t wait any longer and headed down to the media entrance. There was a line of about 6 people, all holding expensive looking cameras and laptops. I held my note pad and crappy Kodak. No matter, I was there for the story and my pen and paper were more than enough to achieve that goal. When I made it to the front of the line I produced my ID then sat there as the man working the door riffled through a seemingly endless pile of tangled credentials. Mine was sitting on top, and I pointed this out to the gentleman several times. Eventually he found it and I was officially IN. Laminated plastic with MY NAME on it and a kick ass lanyard. Sweet.
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Posted in Strikeforce | 8 Comments »