New Reasons to Pan Kimbo

It’s easy for us to bash internet fighting sensation-cum-cage fighting superstar Kimbo Slice. He’s nothing but a brawler who can take a punch. He’s being hand-fed weak opponents who play right into his only strength. As soon as he goes up against an actual mixed martial artist he will get his arm snapped off or get choked out.

ESPN Page 2 writer L.Z. Granderson recently ripped Kimbo too, but not for any of the reasons listed above. Granderson called out Slice for pandering to the basest stereotypes of black men, assuming animalistic poses and facial expressions to create and cash in on a less than wholesome image.

He’s hardly the first or only person to behave this way. Kim Kardashian parlayed a “leaked” sex tape and the small window of instant celebrity into a bad reality TV show. A bunch of ghetto/trailer trash has paraded itself in front of Flavor Flav and Bret Michaels looking for love but willing to settle for several weeks of staged buffoonery in the hope of landing a spin-off, a la I Love New York.

Even in the MMA world we have fighters with little if any talent willing to take a short beating and clown for two months to promote a seafood restaurant or shove a water hose up their their tailpipe just to make their name stand out among a bunch of other unknowns.

So if Kimbo wants to cash in on his internet fame by debasing his entire race, I suppose that’s his right in this country. But if he wants to play the part of a clown in a minstrel show, then that’s the way we should treat his fights.

 

Quick Predictions: Ultimate Fight Night

Main Card

Florian vs Lauzon- Florian SUB RD 3

Parisyan vs Alves- Alves TKO RD 2

Boetsch vs Hamill- Boetsch TKO RD 3

Pelligrino vs Diaz- Diaz SUB RD 2

Edgar vs Maynard- Edgar UD

Alexander vs Irvin- Alexander KO RD 1

Undercard

Gamburyan vs Cox- Gamburyan Lay N Pray UD

Guida vs Schiavo- Guida Sub RD 2

Neer vs Thomas- Thomas Sub RD 2

Mitichyan vs Sotiropoulos – Sotiropoulos TKO RD 3

Aurelio vs Roberts- Aurelio Sub RD 1

Speer vs Johnson- Johnson TKO RD 2

Quick Predictions: Shamrock vs Le

Shamrock vs Le: Shamrock 4th round TKO

Melendez vs Lemley: Melendez 1st round TKO

Fickett vs Lim: Fickett 2nd round Sub

Kyle vs Cole: Kyle 2nd round TKO

Villasenor vs Jensen: Villasenor UD

Its time to make this live again.

ENJOY THIS MOTIVATOR I JUST CREATED TO GET YOUR MIND OFF THINGS..

WE ARE NOT DEAD.

I have been taking some time off, and I apologize for that. I promise, if you stick with us, I will make it worth while. I am creating a resurrection of this site, and it will work.

APRIL 2008.

Middleweight rematch not postponed

So, after a bit of drama, the rematch between Paulo Filho and Chael Sonnen will in fact take place on March 26. The rematch is supposed to end the controversy that surrounded the last match.

The thing is, Sonnen lost that match—outright. I understand that he was dominating up until that point, but he got caught, plain and simple.

We all remember Sonnen’s fight with Babalu, and more specifically the leg lock that caused Sonnen to grab the fence and scream—it was a regular highlight for the show UFC Unleashed. And we should all remember that that fight didn’t end there.

However, Chael Sonnen was about to lose his freaking arm. You can say what you want about Filho’s standup and conditioning. When someone like that gets you in a tight armbar, you either tap out or lose the ability to move any part of your arm below the elbow for a while.

Having said that, I still feel this rematch is a good idea. Had Sonnen elected to keep the fight on his feet, he most likely would have continued to beat on the Brazilian and could have taken him down when he was already stunned. That would have left a great opportunity for the finish.

During the fight, Frank Mir (not the best at post-fight interviews), questioned Sonnen’s continued attempts at ground-and-pound on an opponent who’s only strength was on the ground.

Sonnen has the reach, boxing skills, and takedown defense needed to beat a guy like Filho. Hopefully he uses that in the rematch, and puts a blemish on Filho’s misleading record.

Martin Kampmann is back … but Silva is still here

I was excited to see the other day that Martin Kampmann is expected to make a return to the Octagon. The kickboxing specialist impressed me with his win over the more powerful Drew McFredries. He showed he could not only take a beating, but also that he is well rounded. One has to assume it takes a decent amount of skill to handle a Militich fighter on the ground the way he handled McFredries.

Unfortunately—and this happens every time—my excitement was soon smothered by the ominous sense that no one will ever challenge Anderson Silva.

That’s not to say that I don’t like Silva. Not only do I think he is an exciting fighter—he brings it every time, no matter what game plan his opponent tries—his sportsmanship is second to none. I just want to see interesting match ups, challenging fights and to be able to argue with someone about who will hold the middleweight title after his next defense. There is no one, at least not in the UFC, that stands much more than a puncher’s chance against Silva.

What I can’t decide on is whether this is because Silva is so god-damned good, or that the division is just too light on talent.

If you want to argue that the division is too light on talent, than you would have to argue that it is a worldwide shortage. According to Sherdog.com (an ESPN.com affiliate no less) five of the top six fighters in the division are either in the WEC or the UFC. The only non-UFC fighter is Robbie Lawler, who showed promise in the UFC, but ultimately never even reached a title shot. Most of the others have been crushed by Silva (Franklin, Marquardt, Okami), and Filho showed that he is horrible on his feet.

If you want to argue that he is just so god-damned good, you need look no further than a direct comparison between Henderson’s fights with both Silva and Rampage. While I completely disagree with Henderson’s opinion that he did enough to beat Rampage, it would be hard to deny that he put up a decent fight. His fight against Silva, on the other hand, seemed to be going in his favor, until Silva turned it on with the straight kicks.

I’d like to see Denis Kang come to the UFC. I know he isn’t on anyone’s radar really, but his overhand right and overall strength and speed seem like, at the very least, an entertaining match up for Silva.

Here is hoping someone gives Silva a scare soon.

Evan Tanner is a Deep Dude

I really, really, really suggest you go read his journal at www.evantanner.net. It is a great read even though he was at the short end of the stick at UFC 82.

Here’s an excerpt:

“Five months ago I was struggling with a severe drinking problem. I quit cold turkey, suffered through the detox, moved to Vegas to get back into training and get my life back together. I stayed away from the drinking, worked my ass off, and everything was coming together. I knew though that as well as it seemed things were going, it would be easy to fall back into the drinking. I knew that taking such a huge fight at UFC 82, after such a long lay off was a huge risk, and if I lost, it would be a disappointment that might easily cause me to take up drinking again. I lost the fight, and I really feel bad about that, but I didn’t break down and start drinking again. I haven’t been away from it long, and it would have been easy to fall back into it. That was the big test, and I passed it. I’m solid. I’m back into full time training this week. The fight was a setback, but I’m not done. There’s still a belt to win.”

I can not wait to see Evan Tanner comeback. But I think he needs a MMA gym and MMA fighters to help him get back to top form.

His hard-knocks gym is not a complete MMA training facility. It ’s also important that surround himself with better fighters to get him back to where he wants to be … atop the middleweight division once again.

My Two Cents

Some thoughts on UFC 82 “Pride of a Champion”:

Dominance.

Anderson Silva is in fact the best pound for pound fighter in the world. His handling of Dan Henderson was unbelievable. Yes, Hendo clearly won the first round. But, Silva avoided any real damage and then inflicted his own the very next round. You almost have to feel bad for anyone who fights in that division.

Irony.

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira is the best submission artist in the heavyweight division; he chose to stand up in his fight against Heath Herring. Cheik Kongo is the best striker in the heavyweight division; he chose to take Herring down. I don’t know why this would be in his gameplan. Kongo is a much better striker than Herring. He has more speed, accuracy and power. It doesn’t make sense and it made the fight much less entertaining than it should have been.

The importance of having a large head.

Chris Leben has a huge head. The dude belongs on South Park or something. But, all joking aside, that head can take a punch. Allessio Sakara cracked him over and over again, but Leben didn’t appear the least bit stunned—not once. It is amazing to watch him fight. I would really like to see how many punches he has absorbed compared to the amount that he has landed. I am sure he takes three times as many as he gives. This also supports the theory that Silva is the best in the world.

Jake O’Brien is boring.

I spent the extra two bucks to watch the Arlovski fight. I miss Arlovski and wanted to see his fight after I read that he won. Boy was I disappointed. Jake O’Brien refused to let the fight have any kind of dynamic other than straight up wrestling. The only enjoyment was watching Arlovski turn the tide and take O’Brien down and pound him out. I say bring on Herring next.

Chris Wilson is good.

I knew he was good, but he took it to Fitch. I think the UFC is going to have to make some plans for this guy. Not only did he lose a close one to the second-best fighter in the division, but he did it in a way that most fans love—striking. When the event was over, every single highlight from that fight was Wilson knocking Fitch’s head around. That has to tell you something. I say bring on Chris Lytle.

Why doesn’t anyone like Koscheck?

After watching guys like O’Brien and Matt Hughes constantly fall back on their wrestling—to the detriment of the fight—watching the best wrestler in the division slug it out time and time again makes me wonder how everyone isn’t a fan of this guy. He kicked Dustin Hazlett so hard, and so wildly, that he fell straight on his ass. The dude is an animal.

Boo if you’re retarded.

What the fuck is with the booing? I’m sorry, I know you paid good money for your seats, but what do you want from these guys? They are fighting in the middle of 18,000 people, with the knowledge that hundreds of thousands more are watching on TV. I think every American fan needs to watch a Japanese crowd so they may see the proper way to show your respect to someone who has the guts to do something that would make you shit your pants.

The circus is back in town.

Mark Coleman is fighting Brock Lesnar? A year ago, this would have pissed me off. Now, I harken back to the days of Pride and some of the silly fights they put on. I miss those fights. Good for you, UFC. Mark Coleman is not on track to win the belt again and Brock Lesnar is a freak of nature without much talent. I can’t wait for one of them to beat the other in the most brutal and primal fashion. Plus, putting two wrestlers against each other usually makes for a good fight.

Five on UFC 82

Five on UFC 82

Thoughts:

1. There is only one way that Anderson Silva loses the middleweight title, boredom. The way Silva defeated a game Dan Henderson, no one in the UFC middleweight division will beat him. No one at middleweight outside of the UFC can probably beat Anderson Silva, including Henderson’s Team Quest partner Matt Lindland. Lindland does not have the striking that Henderson has and would have trouble against Silva.

2. It would be a shame if Cheick Kongo vs Heath Herring didn’t receive fight of the night honors. An entertaining bout from start to finish. Kongo ground game looked improved but it isn’t at the level where he will be able to defeat top competition. If he were to fight Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria or Randy Couture, the fight wouldn’t make it past the first round. Great showing nonetheless.

3. “Holy Crap,” was my initial reaction when Mark Coleman stated that he will be fighting Brock Lesner. That match up sounds intriguing and it will be interesting to see if one fighter will be able to take down the other. It could be a passing of the torch from one former NCAA wrestling champion to another.

4. It was sad to see the Evan Tanner comeback story end so bitterly. Yushin Okami was simply the better fighter. It was great to see one of my first favorite fighters reenter the octagon after getting his life back together. It is just too bad that he couldn’t get the victory. Hopefully the loss doesn’t deter the former middleweight champion and we don’t have to wait another two years before Tanner fights again.

5. Though he was unable to finish Chris Wilson, Jon Fitch still put on a strong showing and should be receiving the winner of Matt Serra vs George St. Pierre. Wilson on the other hand, proved he belongs in the UFC and he should receive another top opponent in his next bout.

Fights I want to see:

1. Andrei Arlovski vs Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira: get Arlovski resigned and make it happen. The UFC wanted to see the old Arlovski and it appears that they got it, now pay him and give him a title shot against the interim champ. Though it seems like it will never happen, but the winner might be able to convince Randy Couture to unify the titles.

2. Anderson Silva vs Yushin Okami: the unstoppable champ gets a shot at redemption against Okami, the last man to defeat him. Even if it was controversial victory, it still counts on Silva’s loss column. And really, there isn’t anybody else for Silva.

3. Chris Leben vs Thales Leites: Leites needs someone to fight and it looks like Leben is on his way back up the middleweight rankings. Leben has regained his momentum and Leites is one of the people on the short list of contenders so it seems like natural pairing. The winner would probably get a shot at being Silva’s next victim

4. Josh Koscheck vs Chris Lytle: Koscheck looked good and hopefully this fight will help shed the boring title from his name. Lytle looked strong against Kyle Bradley in December and is need of an opponent. A win for either fighter swings them back up the welterweight rankings.

5. Dustin Hazelett vs Chris Wilson: both fighters looked good in defeat and more importantly the winner will take the title of “best Jon Fitch look alike in the UFC. “

Final thoughts

1. Don’t waste Diego Sanchez on the prelims anymore. Sanchez won the Ultimate Fighter so you might as well have him headline an Ultimate Fight Night since he already has a built in audience on Spike TV.

2. Anytime they show Bruce Buffer introduce a fighter and he points at them with such effort, an angel grows its wings.

3. Its time Alessio Sakara gets kicked off the roster. If they think he is that much of an asset, have him fight David Heath in the WEC. Maybe they are padding his record for The Ultimate Fighter: The Comeback 2. I sure hope not.

4. Great showing by Heath Herring, good to see the Herring that gives a crap back. How about a match against Gabriel Gonzaga in the future.

5. In case you haven’t figured it out, no one is going to beat Anderson Silva. Take a look at the best fighter pound for pound in the world.