Bleacher Report - Articles by Ken Foss

Tiger Woods' Crash Turns News Worthy: Casting Elin As "Nutter With Putter"

Ken Foss — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:22:30 -0500

In a turn towards the actual news worthy portion of the Tiger Woods story, TMZ is reporting that The Florida Highway Patrol are seeking to gain access to Woods' medical records, to determine if the injuries Woods received we're caused by the crash or by a domestic dispute.

Unlike some states, Florida law allows for the case to proceed even without Woods' express consent.

"Whenever a law enforcement officer determines upon probable cause that an act of domestic violence has been committed within the jurisdiction the officer may arrest the person or persons suspected of its commission and charge such person or persons with the appropriate crime. The decision to arrest and charge shall not require consent of the victim or consideration of the relationship of the parties."

While TMZ.com is not exactly a trusted news source, the officer reporting, Daniel Saylor, seemed very skeptical in his interview with AP News. In it he said, “my two officers arrived at the scene, and noticed Tiger Woods laying on the ground with his wife over him rendering first aid...His wife came out of the house, when she heard he hit the fire hydrant, and used a golf club, [at least] that's what we were told, to break out the rear window to gain entrance to the vehicle. Removed him from the vehicle and laid him down on the street.”

The key part of the statement is the fact he doesn't trust the account of the events, when he says “that's what we were told.”

While on its own it's not enough to carry things, when you factor in that he was moving slow enough not to detonate his driver-side airbag, and had cuts and bruising on his face inconsistent with a car crash at that speed. You begin to see why a theory like this could take hold in a patrolmen's mind.

While I'm not trying to say it's true per-say, it certainly passes the smell test.

A jolted lover forces her husband to leave the house at two in the morning, they jaw back and forth the whole way. He says something about her mother, she attacks him. He gets in the car, yada-yada-yada, one of his practice putters is nearby. She pulls it out of the bag. SMASH! He pulls away, flustered, looses control at the end of the driveway slamming into the hydrant, and the tree.

She gets worried, makes a scene, neighbors call 9-1-1. I'm no detective, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express once. And, I say, it makes sense.

What it means for Elin Nordegren Woods, remains unclear.

The probable cause for the warrant is unknown, but if they get it, and can find evidence linking her to the act, a bunch of messy hurdles follow. Things like children's risk assessments, court ordered parental plans and a minimum five day prison sentence could all be possible.

In any event, what all was once a flirtatious mystery of potential adultery is now nothing but a complex legal matter, and the first recent example of a high profile case of female on male spousal abuse in the sports world.

Tiger Woods Owes Us No Explanation

Ken Foss — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 12:15:02 -0500

This past Friday, in a story we've all been subjected to in some form or fashion, Tiger Woods tore out of his driveway in his Cadillac Escalade, losing control, causing the sports utility vehicle to decimate a fire hydrant and careen into a tree in his neighbor's yard. There, his wife, apparently, smashed out a backseat window to free the world's No. 1 golfer.

While the news media has lunged into action to discover the reason for Woods's 2 AM exodus, covering the story with 24-hour reporting. And many in the media are sharpening stakes to crucify someone.

On ESPN's Sunday morning episode of The Sports Reporters, half the panel compared Woods's situation to names like John Daley, gifted drunk driver (the club, and the car), and Alex Rodriguez, presumably for his now forgotten steroids admission a mere nine months ago.

Mike Lupica, respected sports writer, and current children's novelist spouted, “The first reaction is always to say, this is a private matter, but no, not when you're a man whose made billions of dollars being a public figure. Not when this is a police matter, which this became. I want him to explain, not just where he was going, but how he got up to a certain speed. And I want to know why his wife had to use a golf club to get him out.”

Perhaps I'm a young dinosaur, and perhaps the days of privacy are long gone in this Internet, and reality television world. But a fishy story, and an athlete who has been famous just as much for his fine media pruning, as his awe inspiring talent, are not enough to allow the news media to call a spade, a diamond.

It may be juicy tabloid fodder to speculate on Woods running off to see a mistress, or more likely having a heated argument with his wife, leading him to lose focus on the road. The simple truth is it's none of our business, at least not yet. When you trim away the name, at the heart this is simply a traffic accident only slightly more relevant than your traditional fender bender.

The cut's on his face and the fact he may not play at his foundations Chevron World Challenge, are the meat of the story. However, he's renown for not playing in tournaments when he doesn't want to/have to. So even that doesn't have legs.

At the end of the day, when you look at why, and how the industry has forsaken itself to the depths of obsolescence, it's evident in this type of story. Twenty years ago, a good reporter would have sat on this for a few weeks and saw if it had any legs. If this was an isolated incident we would never hear about it. But if he could get solid concrete evidence that his wife was abusive or he was a philanderer THEN we'd get a full expose.

That is an example of quality investigative reporting. Now, however, we live in a world where we can view TMZ as a credible news source.

I'm not sure it can get any lower. Although I'm sure we'll find a way.

As I said in the title, Tiger Woods doesn't have to sit on Oprah's couch. He doesn't have to open up about an abusive relationship, or if he cheated on his strict nutritional program this Thanksgiving. He doesn't have to because he's not legally obligated to tell us anything.

After all its just a fender bender in front of his house. It's not even worth a line on the AP ticker.

The 10 Worst Numbered Shows in UFC History

Ken Foss — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 17:46:10 -0500

With a depleted UFC 106 card supported by nothing but Tito's giant head. Now is the perfect time to countdown the UFC's worst of the worst. From 1-106, all of the folly's from the SEG era, to the early ZUFFA era, to the sleek and stylized Gladiator Man days, I stroll down Ultimate Fighting Championship's less than spectacular days. Enjoy.

Begin Slideshow

Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo: WEC 44 Main Event Breakdown

Ken Foss — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:47:19 -0500

WEC 44 will go down at the Palms tomorrow featuring the best main event left in the 2009 calender year. And considering there's still a number of UFC events, as well as two end-of-year Japanese cards, that's pretty impressive.

Mike Brown vs. Jose Aldo is a matchup that pits two fighters with similar strengths and weaknesses. It's a battle of technique versus explosiveness in what should make for an exciting battle of striking prowess.

For that reason alone, you should seek out WEC 44, either via online stream or Versus HD, at 9 p.m. on Wednesday.

The other compelling reason to watch this main event is the fallout that will arise from it.

Let's make one thing crystal clear: As big as those two fights with Urijah Faber were, this fight is the one that will cement Mike Brown as a deserving and dominant champion.

Things always change the moment you go from the hunter to the hunted. While Faber was chasing the belt in the rematch, many looked at that fight as redemption for Faber despite the fact Brown beat him and has the belt.

It gave him cover, as Faber was still the man, and he was still trying to be the man.

Now, however, is Brown's first fight as the undisputed champion. A win tomorrow could vault him into the pound-for-pound top 10 and set up a third fight with Faber.

For Jose Aldo, his meteoric rise continues. And people will quickly give him the mantle Miguel Angel Torres had, just a few months ago. As the games most dominant little guy.

Now that the battle lines have been drawn and the meaning of victory has been set, let's break the fight down.

Mike Brown

Striking

Since his ill-fated UFC lightweight run, Brown has made his biggest improvement in the striking department. What once was a typical right hand is now a careening missile that knocks people out.

While a lot of this is added commitment to his strength and conditioning, coupled with fighting at the correct division, his footwork hasn't gotten that much better; he's very stoic and stiff-legged, preferring his opponent to come to him. His lateral movement is slow and agonizing to watch, and it could lead to problems in such a close, striking matchup.

His defensive guard while striking is flawed, coupled with his stiff-legged footwork it leaves him open to being hit by a lot of strikers the featherweight division has to offer. However, his chin is well tested, and he has never been finished by way of strikes at any point in his career—despite being somewhat easy to hit, he's not a guy susceptible to the flash knockout.

Even when he's losing exchanges, he feels comfortable because he knows one right hand can be all she wrote.

Grappling

While he's a good wrestler and a solid BJJ fighter, his mind seems to wonder, and he's one to lose focus on the defensive end.

In Brown vs. Faber 2, he was locked in a deep north/south choke that should have ended the fight; however, both of Faber's hands were broken and thus the hold was too painful to maintain. This has cropped up a lot over the years, and it's the most likely way we see Brown's reign end.

Intangible

He's been under the lights before, whereas Aldo has never been in a main event atmosphere. He's also repping my home state, so I have to give some love for that. Nothing else leaps out at me.

Jose Aldo

Striking

About as exciting a striker as there is in the sport, Jose Aldo has more effective ways to hit people than the mob. His footwork is solid and his athleticism and killer instinct are unlike anything I've ever seen from someone so young...he's unquestionably the best athlete in the 145-pound class.

What's worse is that he has flash KO power in all four of his limbs. The end can come for anywhere, at anytime, and from any position.

From a defensive point of view, he's sloppy. You can beat him if you can keep him on the back foot. The problem is he's so quick, you're going to need a motor that doesn't quit, a ton of lateral quickness, and the hardest chin known to man. And I don't see Clay Guida dropping down to 145. So he's pretty much golden for right now.

Grappling

Much like Brown, the Nova Uniao black belt is a good grappler with a killer flaw—he's also prone to fall asleep on his defensive end, and he's been caught by lesser fighters in the past. This is his—like Brown's—Achilles' heel, and with his questionable takedown defense, it's a bad combination.

Intangibles

He's still relatively green. He possesses the best scar in MMA. His chin has really never been tested to date in a situation I know of.

Overall

As much as I want to rep my boy, I think he's going to have real problems getting the takedowns he'll need to curry judges favor. If he can't get it in at least three of five he'll get picked apart in what will inevitably be a highly-entertaining fight.

That being said, this is one of those fights you don't pick. You watch and enjoy, because the outcome could be just about anything. I honestly believe if you simmed this fight 100 times you'd get 100 different results.

It's really "bust out the coin and flip it" time.

Prediction

Jose Aldo defeats Mike Thomas Brown via unanimous decision (48-47 all cards).

Couture vs. Vera: A Look at How the Judges Got It Right

Ken Foss — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 12:20:43 -0500

When watching the main event live, thanks to means I must plead the Fifth to, I thoroughly enjoyed it, scoring the bout 29-29 on the first viewing. Later I watched the Spike telecast and came out with a 29-28 decision for Randy Couture—identical to the judges' scorecards.

Both forums and this site, however, have been seething with people who have differences of opinion with the judges.

The question is, how could we all have so many different views? The simple fact of the matter is we all have different criteria. And that's fine, opinions are the backbone of this site, fire away about how you think technique ZA is better than EY.

However, when judging you can't look at things that way. Your job isn't to make up rules, it's to interpret them. What are these phantom rules I speak of, yet don't seem to be on the tongue of anything beyond the most well-informed of fans?

Those would be the NSAC's Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. And under section VIII is a category for judging. It states:

E. Judging Criteria

1. Judges are required to determine the winner of a bout that goes to it's full time limit based upon

the following criteria:

-Clean Strikes

-Effective Grappling

-Octagon Control

-Effective Aggressiveness

For the dedicated fans who were around when SEG got those passed on the 11th hour of their ownership, my apologies, but it needed to be done.

Now we get to the meat and potatoes, my friends—scoring the fight.

In the first round, the fight started off fast, with Vera throwing a quick high kick that drops Randy's defenses long enough for some big shots to land. With Couture wobbled, Brandon grabs the plum.

Randy, however, knows the knees are coming, so he baits him to raise his leg off the canvas with two left uppercuts, then drives Vera towards the cage. This forces Vera to stop the offense and reverse so he has Randy against the cage. He thinks he's safe to start throwing knees but that's not the case, as he's immediately reversed.

From here it's a battle for position against the fence, as Couture racks up control, and lands some small strikes to the legs of Vera. After some shuffling and reversing, eventually Godard separates and Couture immediately takes him right back there. This continues until the end of the round.

Now this is important, so I'll again give you the specifics of one of the more controversial aspects of scoring under the unified rules:

J. Octagon Control

1. The fighter who is dictating the pace, place and position of the fight.

2. A striker who fends off a grappler's takedown attempt to remain standing and effectively strike is

octagon control.

3. A grappler who can takedown an effective standing striker to ground fight is octagon control.

4. The fighter on the ground who creates submission, mount or clean striking opportunities

This is one of the most controversial because it's all encompassing and convoluted, so most either dismiss it entirely, or give it too much credence.

However, in tight rounds, judges routinely use this as a tiebreaker with effective aggression. See Spencer Fisher-Caol Uno for an example. Who's controlling the fight, who's fighting it on their terms?

With this knowledge, we can deduce that unquestionably this was Randy's gameplan, to wear down Vera against the fence and grind him like he did Gabriel Gonzaga, and many others.

It's Vera's job to fight out of that position, and if he can't he needs to find a way to repel Randy and stay out of that spot.

He failed in that first round, and with Vera's flurry being so minimal and Couture's cage work so prominent, it's likely they awarded Randy the first round on this standard. I think that's fine, because that's why I gave it to him, as well, in my second pass.

While people talk about “damage” or tally up strike figures like they work for CompuBox, at the end of the day this is just a third of the overall picture. I know it's boring to watch two guys hug against the fence, but it happens, just like nil-nil soccer games, and 6-3 Cleveland Browns games.

Get Over It!

Moving on, the second round is pretty one-sided, Couture is hurt badly with knees, and is close to being finished multiple times. It's pretty clearly a 10-9 round for Vera.

As we go to the third round, things are pretty tense. Randy puts his best offensive round together, and so does Vera, making for an action-packed round. They both stagger each other and push the action.

But ultimately, again it's the cage work, as he lays it on in stretches with knees, elbows, and uppercuts that really open up the margin. Vera's calling card to make the round is when he has Randy up against the cage and takes him down, passing immediately to mount.

However, this is so brief, and he does nothing with it. While the takedown and pass gain him points, the sweep negates the pass, and the takedown doesn't save him from the fact he's been out-struck and controlled against the cage for the majority of the round.

While it's close, both the judges and I scored the round 10-9 Couture, rendering our final verdicts 29-28 Couture in a hard-fought win.

Addressing Some Things

Fightmetric scored the bout a 29-29 draw. I'm perfectly fine with this; they split the first round.

Nate Double's stance that the UFC rigged the fight because it's in the UFC's best interests to keep Randy relevant...I made my one-liner on that in the comments section of Jung Soo Kim's piece; it was one of my better attempts at humor, I think.

Establishing What the Definition of a Robbery Is

An OBVIOUS bout in which the judges couldn't accurately decide the outcome despite ample evidence that CLEARLY favors the opposite fighter.

Robberies recently including Shogun-Machida, Beebe-Easton, and Omigawa-Hioki.

Until next week, when we probably discuss the Ortiz vs. Griffin "robbery."

I'm Sick and Tired of UFC Matchmaker Joe Silva

Ken Foss — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:32:53 -0500

When I think of Joe Silva, two things immediately come to mind. For starters, he'd make a great recast choice for Oddjob, if (more like when) Hollywood gets around to remaking Goldfinger .

Second, that he's a painfully mediocre matchmaker with a laundry list of questionable decisions that have shaped the course of careers.

Remember UFC 102 , with Gabriel Gonzaga's squash fight with poor Chris Tuchscherer, who was kicked so hard in the balls he hurled into a bucket for three minutes, before continuing, to get slaughtered in short order?

That's just the tip of his matchmaking prowess, and his skills (or lack there of) have motivated many a fan to rub their temples in agony.

No better example of this was UFC 103: Belfort vs. Franklin . On that card, Top-5 WW Josh Koscheck took on never-was Frank Trigg in a bout that ZUFFA had to drum up a sob story to get you interested in. A matchup between Hermes Franca and Tyson Griffin, which I struggle to find a worse one for a guy coming off a long layoff and injury.

A prelim showcase bout between McFedries and Drwal in a fight to figure out who's going nowhere fastest, rounded out by the most predictably yawn-inducing fight to get "The Janitor" a win.

I could go on about how he's put Paulo Thiago in a situation to lose by winning, and win by losing when matching him up with Josh Koscheck; or how he thought Rob Yundt was a good matchup for Ricardo Alemida, and turn this into a total flame piece. Or I could ask why doesn't anybody else seem to notice?

Why do so few know this man's name? You see him every telecast...that's right, the short guy who comes into the cage, talks to both fighters, and leaves. The guy who's at the weigh-ins.

The guy in the photo.

What is it about this man that insulates him from scrutiny? Well I know the answer to that already. Dana White, and ZUFFA marketing.

As much as I abhor the UFC's use of propaganda, generated from both the mouth of Dana White and the media relations folks at ZUFFA headquarters, there's no denying one thing: it works.

Travel across any website or radio station and what comes out of their mouths is gospel.

The reason is simple, the truth is a lot of work.

It's the reason talking heads like Sean Hannity, Keith Olbermann, and Glenn Beck have permeated the airwaves and become so popular.

If you scream loud enough and look like you care, just enough, you can get people to believe anything.

It's hard to believe that in the age of information, with everything but a click away, we can't manage to spend a couple of minutes investigating the facts rather than analyzing the spin.

Alas, that's the way it is—until someone on the inside of ZUFFA headquarters says, “Gee, this Joe Silva guy really stinks at his job.”

We'll have to live with Frankie Edgar becoming the new Okami, Rich Franklin being sold to us as a legitimate PPV draw, Roli Delgado taking up card space, Aaron Simpson getting buried on UFN preliminary cards, and Matt Serra vs. Frank Trigg with Matt Hughes vs. Renzo Gracie on a Super Bowl weekend card...

Joy.

Matt Hughes' Submitted List of Opponents He Thinks Are Interesting (Humor)

Ken Foss — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 20:29:54 -0500

This letter was intercepted by an anonymous fan on his way to the post office, I gave him 20 bucks, and a copy of Made in America: The Most Dominant Champion in UFC History .

In short, I purloined the letter, most insidiously. However with a slow market, and no Internet site to take this baby off my hands. I'm left to break this devilish news myself...

Here it is folks. Enjoy.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Dear Mr. Silva

I traveled to Tampa, Florida yesterday to listen to my idol George W. Bush give a speech as part of a motivational seminar that's touring the country. It was such an eye-opening experience, that I want to "supercharge my career" and "increase my productivity."

With this in mind this is the list of men I'd like to fight at UFC: 109 in February.

Dennis Hallman
Rickson Gracie
Helio Gracie (dependent on weather we could reanimate him)
Carlos Newton
Royce Gracie
Renzo Gracie
Rodrigo Gracie
Phil Baroni
Carlson Gracie Jr.
Cesar Gracie
Rorion vs. Carley for a shot at me
Gregor Gracie
Masahiko Kimura (dependent on reanimation)
Shannon Ritch
Coolio
Jose Landi-Jons
DMX (if he agrees to fix the fight)
Sean Salmon
Ice Cube
I'll box Dana White if he still wants to.
If Fedor would fight blindfolded, with both his hands tied behind his back, i'd also enjoy that fight.
TJ De Santis (He did armbar Brett Rogers after all)

Eventually I would like to fight Sakuraba, however he's not old enough yet. Maybe in a couple of years.

Thanks, Joe.

Here’s the Bible verse for this week:

Be not afraid nor dismayed because of the great multitude, because the battle is not yours, but God’s. (2 Chronicles 20:25)

Fedor Emelianenko Not "Exposed", Still "Invincible"

Ken Foss — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 14:42:11 -0500

Before last night Fedor Emelianenko was a dominating freak of nature with devastating punching power, heralded submission skills, and a propensity to cut.

Last night, we learn he's a dominating freak of nature with devastating punching power, heralded submission skills, and a propensity to cut.

So, what exactly did we learn last night to contradict what we already knew about "The Last Emperor"?

That he can bully men twice his size? Nope . That he can be taken down and put in bad situations? Try again . That he's mortal? Not even close .

So in short, we learned nothing new that could expose Fedor.

That doesn't mean I'm not going to sit here however, and insult Brett Rogers by saying this was just another fight to build Fedor's mystique either though.

“The Last Emperor” wasn't totally dominant like he has been in the past, even in spite of the atomic bomb he turned out the lights with in the second round.

Brett Rogers came through the fire last night, and proved he belongs among the best in the division.

When the chips were down, and the level of competition was turned up to 11, he showed up in the best shape of his life, exhibited he had a gameplan, showcased his maligned ground game, stuffing all of his opponents submission attempts, including two complex head and arm choke attempts.

He shot a vale tudo style palm strike through Fedor's guard early in the fight that busted his nose and hindered his breathing. and throughout the fight he had Fedor in compromising situations.

However even with all that he had in his favor, a broken nose, the cage experience advantage, the size difference, and his mammoth reach. The “Invincible” Fedor Emelianenko still melted him with one of the greatest knockout punches in MMA history.

Perhaps I missed something last night, but all I saw was the P4P greatest fighter ever defeat a hungry up-and-coming heavyweight with everything to prove.

It was Thomas Edison that summed up Fedor's run best when he said: "The first requisite of success is the ability to apply your physical and mental energies to one problem without growing weary."

Fedor has never mentally checked out of a fight, he's never sleep walked through, and got caught, like so many before him . He dominates because more than anyone else in the history of our sport, he takes each challenge individually, and never gives his opponents the mental advantage.

As long as he keeps that edge, he truly maybe "Invincible".

Bad Night for World Victory Road: Khalidov and Omigawa Take Wins

Ken Foss — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:36:22 -0500

In Toyko, this morning all hell broke loose in a card wedged betwween Strikeforce events, as Michihiro Omigawa defeated consensus top-five featherweight, Hatsu Hioki via split-decision in a bout many had going the other way.

The decision was so heinous it forced usually even tempered Guy Metzger to proclaim the decision "highway robbery."

The result throws Sengoku's featherweight division into a tailspin, as now Hioki has defeated champion Masanori Kanehara, but has lost to Omigawa, who in turn went through on a shoddy draw against Marlon Sandro, and then lost to champion Masanori Kanehara.

Good luck, WVR, untangling that mess you made for yourself.

In the co-main event of the evening Mamed Khalidov, defeated Sengoku Middleweight Champion Jorge Santiago via "superior genetics" in Round One.

The champion took Khalidov down, where he on paper should have been the better fighter, but the unbelievable power of Khalidov melted Santiago from off his back before pounding out his helpless opponent.

However, this was a non-title bout. So Jorge Santiago is still Sengoku's paper champion.

Jorge Masvidal put his inverted triangle defeat to Toby Imada past him as he dominated Satoru Kitaoka before crushing him in the second.

In another shaky decision, undefeated Stanislav Nedkov, snuck a split decision victory from over-the-hill Kevin Randleman. The loss drops Randleman to 3-9 over his last 12 fights, 17-14 overall. Nedkov however, has a lot of wrestling work to do to continue his climb up the LHW rankings.

Akihiro Gono couldn't finish game Yoon Young Kim, but won a fairly easy 30-26 decision.

Marlon Sandro got back on the horse smashing Yuji Hoshino in the first, and Dave Herman pulled off KO of the Night with an impressive Upkick KO, that might show up on some year end awards listings, in his victory over "Big" Jim York.

Overall a good show. And an excellent appetizer for the Strikeforce main course tonight.

The Future of MMA May Depend on Strikeforce: Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers

Ken Foss — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 12:01:13 -0500

As melodramatic as that title seems to be, the upward momentum of MMA will be tested a mere 24 hours from now when Fedor Emelianenko will take to the cage for the first time and face Brett Rogers.

Fairly or not, this may be the last chance we get to push onto prime-time television as a continuing platform, rather than an overt flirtation. Something fans of the sport should take note of.

A failure to draw a big number tomorrow could have crippling ramifications across the sport as a whole.

If you're a UFC fan, ZUFFA would be able to point at these numbers and say "See, look at what this two-bit organization did on CBS. ... Think about what I could do if you'd give me the deal I want."

They've been in talks with a “mystery network” for some time now, and a big number from Strikeforce could be just the ticket to jump start, and finalize, those talks. A poor number from this card could further ice the feet of presidents who are still on the fence.

Across an ocean, businessmen, who's faith in the sport has been rocked, could look at these numbers and further embrace the Unified Rules of MMA as its ticket to restart the kakutougi boom.

Failure may further tell FEG that DREAM isn't a viable company leading to a potential closure or contraction.

Smaller promotions like Bellator, who struggled to find live cable television opportunities, may find it an easier road to hoe if this does well.

Failure, not so much.

While EliteXC did some good for MMA, it's collapse damaged CBS' aspirations of what MMA could do for its network.

At the time, CBS was the oldest trending network, and EliteXC was the sort of “edgy” programming needed to bring back the 18- to 34-year-old demographic it had lost.

Now, however, the match is not so perfect with shows like CSI, Two and A Half Men, NCIS, and Ghost Whisperer. It established itself with the core programming necessary to draw the eyeballs of most demographics.

CBS doesn't need MMA like it once did. They can go back to the “human cockfighting” stance of the past at any point.

This is simply a case of a network trying to make use of a bad contract it still has on the books and it's our jobs as fans to convince them, and everybody else, that the sport can pull numbers in line with a regular season baseball or basketball game.

This is the sort of time when fans have to unite. Set bias aside and support the sport as a whole rather than an organization of choice. This is the empirical data presidents of major television networks have been waiting for.

And it could be imperative that we put our best foot forward. Not just for Strikeforce, or the UFC, or anybody else. But for all of us that don't want to pay 60 bucks a show on pay-per-view.

Free-For-All:Fedor-Rogers vs. UFC 105; Which Card Reigns Supreme?

Ken Foss — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:42:20 -0400

For a period in time the most highly anticipated fight wasn't going to happen in an octagon, but rather an Affliction ring. However for legal reasons due a long running contract dispute following his unbelievable victory over Tim Sylvia, we never got to see Randy Couture go head-to-head with "The Last Emperor".

It seems the MMA gods are ready to atone for it falling through. We'll get two good cards free on broadcast television, live in HD and featuring fighters who represent rival promotional organizations.

So who's card will reign supreme? Fedor's or Couture's? The UFC's or Strikeforce's? Lets break it down.

The Undercard

This is a blowout folks. With the pull out of Erin Toughill from her title elimination bout, and Brock Lesnar Light also pulling out of a bout with Ron Waterman it seems that the top billing will go to Jeff Curran. It looks like he'll will finally get a win, thankfully, and it should stop him from being treated like a doormat for the WEC. He'll take on 4-1 prospect Sam Thao. While that fight might be interesting for about 15 seconds; once Curran pulls guard expect something slick.

Other than that and Mark Miller leveraging his convincing win over Josh Neer in the IFL to get himself another fight—it's really just a bunch of raw fighters looking to get wins.

The UFC card, however, boasts a big time bout between John Hathaway and Paul Taylor, as well as Terry Etim and Shannon Gugerty squaring off in the battle of who guillotined Matt Grice the best.

Although not the deepest preliminary for either, UFC's top to bottom is just deeper. UFC wins 10-8

James Wilks-Matt Brown vs. Antonio Silva-Fabricio Werdum

This is a competitin for who has the best build up fight on its main card. The UFC throw out TUF 9 winner James Wilks to take on everybodies favorite 9-7 fighter. While Matt Brown could win the best nickname ever award (even over my boy “The Pink Pounder”), “The Immortal,” I feel, has little to offer in this matchup. Overall however, this is a good build up fight and a solid debut fight for Wilks to showcase his skills.

Alternatively, Strikeforce counters with the monstrous Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva taking on top-10 heavyweight Fabricio Werdum. While on paper this fight looks like too much too soon for Silva, I think this is just quality matchmaking.

On his feet Silva should dominate. The question will be how this fight will go if and when it hits the canvas. Silva is a highly underrated offensive grappler and will be tested by the best defensive heavyweight grappler in MMA today. Personally, I think Werdum should be able to stymie the Goliath in his guard. He'll likely be down on points, however, so he'll need a submission which I don't see coming.

Either way. Strikeforce gains another heavyweight contender for its strap, and the UFC fluffs up a TUF guy. Strikeforce wins 10-9

Michael Bisping-Denis Kang vs. Sokoujou- Gegard Mousasi

Michael Bisping returns to the cage to take on Candian journeymen, Denis Kang, in a bout that promises to prove absolutely nothing and will only further inflate an already bloated Bisping record. Strikeforce, however, counters with a fight that fell through in DREAM's super hulk tournament.

There is no joy like two bad squash matches. 10-10 on my scorecard

Co-Main Events: Miller-Shields vs. Swick-Hardy

Strikeforce's Middleweight division has always been it's best division, and with the infusion of Ronaldo “Jacure” Souza, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller it may still be, even with the run of Heavyweights it's added lately

With former Strikeforce Champion Cung Le presumably retiring from the world of big time MMA to be the next Chow Yun Fat on the silver screen, Jake Shields will get his title shot against Jason “Mayhem” Miller in what promises to be an exhibition of entertaining grappling.

This is a rare fight where Miller will hold a sizable striking advantage and I think he'll use it well—Shields will have to outwork Miller. I don't foresee such a scenario playing out.

The UFC will counter with a somewhat lackluster Welterweight divisional number one contenders fight.

Mike Swick should hold a fairly decent striking advantage, and I think it's about even if the bouth hits the floor. Overall, neither fightr has enough takedown defense to make GSP very nervous at all. Joe Silva has the right idea matching up strikers with his champion, but they have to be able to stop the takedown to use those skills and neither fight promises to be anything but a one sided layfest.

Not good matchmaking. Strikeforce wins 10-8

The Main Events: Fedor-Rogers vs. Couture-Vera

As the UFC puts it: It's time for Couture to face the truth. Can he still be a competitive entity in any division or are we to the point where we can book Couture vs. Wandi?

I think he can win this fight, but Vera can be a dynamic striker when he's not busy trying to put on his best Anderson Silva impersonation like he has in his recent fights.

I can't foresee a way Vera is going to win a fight on the scorecards here. He'll have to stop Couture to win this fight, and considering Randy was dropped in each of his last two bouts there are some real chin issues for Vera to potentially exploit.

To compound Couture's problems, Vera may be too quick for him to clinch up and dirty box with. His only shot at victory, in my opinion, lies on the floor—a place Vera is exploitable but not undressable.

This is a very tough fight for Randy, and it's also one I don't understand why he took on such short notice.

Conversely, Fedor will take on top heavyweight prospect Brett Rodgers in a tune up fight.

Only “The Last Emperor” could make a fight where two men enter the cage a combined 40-1 into a tune up for either fighter.

While I may sound contrary to many who see this as total domination, I think if he stands with Brett he could be out struck. While Fedor is vaunted as a world class striker, he's actually not the most technically sound fighter in the world and has been caught by strikers in the past. He was beaten up on the feet by Mirko Cro Cop, Mark Hunt and various other fighters.

Also, this is the first time he's ever fighting in a cage—ask guys like Maurico “Shogun” Rua how tough that can be.

I'm not saying it's going to happen. If you see Rogers +1000, however, throw a few bucks on him. And don't have any plans on that money. 10-10 on my card

The judges have rendered their verdict.... all three judges score the fight 48-47 UFC 105 .

…. My card: 48-47 Strikeforce. At least it was close this time. How do you have it?

Paper Champion: What All Transpired To Mar the Upset of the Year

Ken Foss — Sun, 25 Oct 2009 09:49:39 -0400

When the prematch hype machine sputtered, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua showed us how the semi-charmed UFC organization has survived and built itself into the dynasty it's become.

As Sherdog Radio Network's Jordan Breen puts it "ZUFFA always seem to turn lemons into lemonade." Nowhere was that more evident than UFC 104's main event bout.

Maligned as bad matchmaking, and an undeserved title shot from just another of Pride's overrated fighters, "Shogun" put on a flawless strategic performance that made everyone in attendance have flashbacks of him dominating guys like Alistair Overeem.

However, the judges thought otherwise and awarded Lyoto Machida a 48-47 Unanimous Decision.

So what was the disconnect? How could the thousands in attendance and watching all be so wrong?

1. Blunder was the word of the night.

From Steve "Stoppagatti" pulling not one but two horror show stoppages out of his rear in the Yoshida-Johnson and Velasquez-Rothwell bouts, to Jeff Sherwood's bombshell that one "female" judge wasn't in her seat until half way through round one, for one of the fights on the undercard.

It seemed the night was doomed for this sort of crap from the word go. I actually jokingly typed..."you watch, they'll give it to Machida" into a chatroom of choice, to a chorus of laughter.

Then again...maybe I jinxed it?

2. Bonnar vs. Griffin

Back on that night a lot of good and bad things happened when the UFC was christened on live television.

One of the bad things was that counter punching and landing effective strikes while moving back somehow don't count in MMA.

To this day, I still contend Stephan Bonnar was screwed over in the third round because he switched to a countering style trying to catch the wild(er) Griffin moving in. He succeeded, catching Forrest with a countless number of hard counters as he moved in. But yet got no love from the judges.

Again this came up as Shogun worked effective counter body kicks that I'm sure will have Machida drinking his own red urine for the next week or so. The only way I can fathom the decision is if you don't count counters while moving backward.

Which is just a lowdown dirty shame.

3. You can't be the champ....

This is why boxing judges and refs should have no contact with the MMA world.

While this came up on the telecast, where the judges couldn't hear it, I was stunned this hasn't before when in states like Texas, California, or Nevada (or Virginia) with dual sport judging.

It's old boxing lore that if a fight for a title goes to the cards, and a death isn't immanent, then you're hamstrung to immediately give the win to the champion.

The goal post need to be in the same place for both fighters in order to be fair. Fairness is the backbone of sport; it's what separates us from Pro Wrestling. If one fighter has a built in advantage, does it not tilt the balance of power in a fighters favor?

Do we really want that?

The reason we all hate Boxing is because old traditions, corrupt politics, and money men gets in the way of good fighters, and fights.

We should be trying to say as far away from boxing as we can, lest it rub off on us.

4. The real reason

As much as we try, it seems MMA scoring and judging systems, and regulations can't seem to quantify results, at a consistent clip. A fight result is like pornography(don't get your hopes up Bernard) You can't totally explain it, but you know what happened when you see it.

That night in a bout that was more about tactics, and the art of counter fighting. Maurico “Shogun” Rua proved for 25 minutes, he had formulated a game plan and imposed his will in at least four of the five rounds.

When the crowd rose in the final 40 seconds, if the result was even in a shadow of doubt the crowd wouldn't have been chanting “Shogun.”

They were congratulating what they knew was the new UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion. And celebrating one of the biggest upsets in MMA history.

However, the three blind mice couldn't, for whatever reason, figure how to fill out the scorecard in a way that was even remotely close to what the actually outcome was.

Over the last few months, the sport has been marred by a seemingly unending string of screw jobs and the only ones to be able to fix it currently couldn't spell MMA if I did it for them.

Those kind folks currently chair the State Athletic Commissions. They hold the power, and ultimately little will be done until we reach those folks, and we best get used to it.

While I disagree with my compatriot Joseph Lupoli on pretty much everything else on this topic, he does have one thing right. Trying to use boxing systems to score MMA fights is about as intelligent as trying to use a flesh light as a flashlight.

Its time for a change, the problem is under the current structure only elected officials can put the screws to the state athletic commissions... And that's as hopeless a fight as getting a playoff in college football, or bringing about world peace.

So how can we fix it? The long and the short of it is...I just don't know.

Bellator Signs TV Deal, Making It's First Real Mistake

Ken Foss — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 00:57:28 -0400

While Eddie Alverez is busy in Japan posing for pictures in the "White Cage," Bellator FC can finally begin planning it's next season of tournaments. As news today has broken that they have signed a multi-tiered TV contract with NBC, FSN, and Telemundo.

On the surface this is a one of the biggest TV deals in MMA history with over 120M households receiving NBC, 82M households having an FSN affiliate, and Telemundo being the second biggest Spanish speaking content provider on the planet.

However once you get below the surface things quickly lose their luster.

NBC will pick up another MMA entity, but again strictly in a graveyard, 30min. highlights package at 3AM EST. hulu.com will carry all of that content on-demand as it did with Strikeforce.

However Bellator will retain its youtube channel so we'll likely get most of that content anyway, meaning NBC doesn't really gain anything from having the content of a promotion like Bellator FC, and neither do we.

“Mixed martial arts has established its position by becoming one of the fastest-growing sports. Bellator and its real sport tournament format has proven it can deliver some of the finest and most intense action on broadcast television,” said Jerry Petry, Executive Vice President, NBC Universal Television.

That's fantastic, now why don't you put it on when people can see it? Not when the ghost of Billy Mays is haunting our television sets.

Moving on. Telemundo will be getting a one hour highlights package of the previous weeks card. Which is fine, until you remember that ESPN Deportes was showing the whole cards live. I'm sure the Latin community is thrilled with the fact Americans will now be getting live events, while they'll get repeats of a promotion that is supposed to be about them.

Why not just change your name to Warrior Fighting Championships and call it a day.

Then we come to the centerpiece of the deal. Fox Sports Net(FSN) which will showcase live cards in primetime in there entirety.

Great news right? Well...yes, and no.

While FSN does boast 68 million households, and is the second largest sports-only provider it's not without its holes.

You see, FSN is a consortium of 24 regional affiliates, each with their own programing tailored to its own market's tastes. However their all run independently and can under certain contract clauses supersede national content for regional content.

To clarify all NHL, NCAAB, and NBA content, or whatever they think will pull bigger numbers, will step in front of any one of Bellator's shows.

So April rolls around you waltz into your living room pop some corn, pull up to your lazy boy and tune in you've got better chances of watching Blues(30-33-11, 11th in West) vs. Coyotes(22-47-4, 15th in West) , than your do Bellator's second season opener.

Then there are affiliates like mine, Comcast SportsNet New England, that are owned entirely by Comcast and who knows if they will, or even can, show the event. Frankly I'm banking on dead air, unless a Celtics game is on.

At least we still have justin.tv though right?

While this deal definitely increases the potential number of eyeballs Bellator can potential lure in. It also saddles itself with a number of other needless headaches.

Maybe I'm just disappointed by the fact the folks at ESPN seemed so ready to finally give MMA its shot on the network that I'm taking it out on Bellator. But I feel they could have, and should have done better than this.

Dan Henderson and UFC Clash: Should He Stay or Should He Go Now?

Ken Foss — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 03:09:53 -0400

While the MMA world has been devoid of earthshaking news lately, one thing with some legs appears to be some contract brouhaha between Dan Henderson and ZUFFA.

Henderson, who is 39, has been outwardly vocal to his merits at a rematch with current divisional kingpin Anderson Silva after destroying Michael Bisping at UFC 100. However, after underwhelming fan interest, and Vitor Belfort defeating Rich Franklin at 103. It appears that he won't be getting his wish.

Instead, the UFC have allowed one of their top-five middleweights to lapse onto the open market, allowing Strikeforce to move in and potentially make an offer.

Fans have been quick to take sides, some depicting Dan Henderson as a has been never was, who ZUFFA is actually releasing due to ridiculous contract demands. While others are quick to jump on the UFC for continuing to underpay its athletes.

At 39, Dan Henderson's best years as a fighter are coming to an end, and this next contract will likely be the end for him as a title contending entity. While his nickname for a while was “Hollywood,” there is likely no Cung Le style exit strategy for the wrestler with the iron chin and nuclear weapon of a right hand.

He'll need this next contract to take care of him well into his 60s, and with the recent explosion that has come from rival Strikeforce teaming up with FEG, and M-1, now is the perfect time to wrench as much money as humanly possible from the Nevada based promotion.

While we as fans have placed a premium on fighters going to the UFC to “prove themselves” we also want to see fighters paid up to value with modern athletes of our era.

In a perfect world Dan Henderson would be paid what he's asking. However with ZUFFA placing a premium on the brand, over the fighter, this is unlikely to happen.

In the future we'll see a lot of these same situations as fighters will go to the UFC to test themselves only to receive modest pay for top quality work two or three times a year.

Many more will continue to look at the Strikeforce's open door consortium approach as the best way to dramatically improve the number of fights they'll get in a year, exposure to the casual fan, while getting similar pay to what they could get in the UFC.

While ZUFFA will play to their install base of fans with lines like “if you go to Strikefarce your not a real fighter” putting the screws to fighters images. In the end top fighters will (and should) go wherever the most money greets them.

The battle between Strikeforce and the UFC will in the end amount to just that.

Who will go above and beyond for every free agent fighter from here on out?

While Dan Henderson may just be a 39-year-old top-five middleweight, the ramifications of his decision could change the way fighters, and fans look at the seriousness of a Strikeforce promotion who not that long ago were putting on Duane Ludwig vs. Sammy Morris main events.

And down the road, that could lead to big things, for the world of MMA.

For now, however, this is simply a fighter using his leverage to gain the most money possible.

A novel concept indeed.

Women's MMA: It's Here To Stay

Ken Foss — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:05:16 -0400

If you read this article questioning the staying power of womens mma, to be featured in the November issue of Fighters Only Magazine, and you've read the title then you probably know what the rest of this article is going to say.

For the rest of you, August 15 was more than just a landmark social accomplishment. A title was on the line, and while many have dismissed it as a “crackerjack prize” it's the declaration in the long term goals of Scott Coker's ambitious company.

We won't remember Carano vs. Santos as a spectacle of blood and bra straps because it wasn't a one off fight with no backing behind it. It made it through those tempestuous moments, overcame xenophobia and paid its dues.

What we watched on August 15 was the beginning not the end.

With an upcoming title eliminator, and two contenders tournaments (as well as another main event) in the works, Strikeforce is showing nothing but faith and we have no reason to think otherwise.

While the list of contenders now is on the thin side. I could have said the same thing about the WEC's featherweight division when it started, or its Bantamweight division until just recently, and eventually their Flyweight division.

I could question the “BJ Penn division” when it was scrapped for a while. Now 155lbs is by far the deepest division in the sport worldwide. With names like Shinya Aoki, Eddie Alvarez, etc outside the UFC making a splash.

When new divisions, form they take about a year before the hierarchy of fighters is established and they know what to look for. This is true in any organization.

The 145, and 135lbs women's divisions will be no different, and if they're successful so to will be the 125lb and 105lb divisions if and when they'll see the light of day in North American.

Contenders will come, they always do.

While we look at women athletics as fledgling properties who routinely get dwarfed, by there male counterparts and eventually fold due largely to lack of interest; heading the way the WNBA is, and WUSA did.

That hasn't been the case for Women's MMA.

So far smaller organizations have used women as an easy and cheap way to put good fights and fighters on cards. In these bouts they've been hits, and often draw the loudest cheers, and most praise. It's to the point its a running cliché.

This isn't a team sport where women can't co-exist with men, thus having to form a league themselves, and hope to draw their own audiences. They CAN coexist in the sport. They CAN fill card space. And they HAVE earned the opportunity to do so.

Now that Strikeforce has provided a spot for them to do just that. Bellator has announced a women's tournament for next season signing top 10 p4p talent Rosi Sexton to participate, organizations like DEEP and JEWELS, are there waiting to give women opportunities in the far east as well.

The infrastructure is there already, and it has been for a while.

What's held the sport back is leadership and political will. If the sport does fail it wont be because of novelty wearing; it'll be politics and social strife that dooms it.

ESPN's Rachel Nichols interviewed Dana White on the topic and he flat out rejected the notion of women fighting in the UFC in her piece “Crush” for E:60. Siting the fact Carano was too pretty, and he didn't want women to get hurt.

He later softened when he offered Carano a chance to fight one off sideshow fights in one of ZUFFA's organizations. But likely only to drive up the price for Coker to land his girl.

It's this sort of misogyny that is bubbling up from the cracks of mma's sub-culture. Mohawk'd fighters sporting tribal tattoos, and fans posing for photos with fists up like after the shot their going to throw down.

These are women who have to endure countless number of people like Dana White. People who told them go be a cheerleader, when they asked their fathers if they could train karate, or muay thai.

After all, you might get hurt.

If they didn't love the sport do you think they'd endure what they have to make it this far...I think not.

If nothing else these women deserve your respect.

In the face of pop culture telling them what they should be doing. They've told everybody to go F### themselves, and have done exactly what they want.

I don't know about you, but I think I can get behind that.

Ben Henderson vs. Donald Cerrone: A Look at Why The Judges Got It Right.

Ken Foss — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 18:06:35 -0400

Most of the ink spilled about a fantastic WEC 43 card has once again been about the topic of judging; namely the scoring for Cerrone vs. Henderson, totally overshadowing what was an exhibition on what exciting grappling can be.

While this is unfortunate its given me the chance to examine the fight. Most in the media have awarded Donald Cerrone a convincing 48-46 victory. And chastised the three judges who all scored the bout 48-47 for Henderson.

Frankly I can't fault the decision overly, considering I scored the bout 48-48 splitting the opening stanza. However that doesn't seem to have stopped pundits like Jordan Breen from scorning the decision as “tarnishing”, proclaiming that the 5^th round was a 10-8 round, and possibly even the fourth.

Rounds scored 10-8 are supposed to imbue the judge with the opportunity to score absolutely dominant rounds. To say that Henderson, who held the better position the whole round(and fight), was somehow dominated because he was locked in some sickening, deep reverse-armbars, omaplatas, and guillotines is a stretch.

As far as I'm concerned you can't EVER totally dominate a round from your active guard. So lets discard that right off the bat.

Moving on, In section I of the NSAC judging criteria, it clearly distinguishes the rules for effective grappling.

I. Effective Grappling
1. The Judge shall recognize the value of both the clean takedown and active guard position.
2. The Judge shall recognize that a fighter who is able to cleanly takedown his opponent, is effectively grappling.
3. A Judge shall recognize that a fighter on his back in an active guard position, can effectively grapple, through execution of repeated threatening attempts at submission and reversal resulting in continuous defense from the top fighter.
4. A Judge shall recognize that a fighter who maneuvers from guard to mount is effectively grappling.
5. A Judge shall recognize that the guard position alone shall be scored neutral or even, if none of the preceding situations were met.(items 2-4)
6. A Judge shall recognize that if the fighters remain in guard the majority of a round with neither fighter having an edge in clean striking or effective grappling, (items 2-4), the fighter who scored the clean takedown deserves the round.
7. A clean reversal is equal to a clean takedown in effective grappling

See No. 6. in it, its told that an even round, in which the items 2-4 do not provide a clear winner, you favor the man who earned the takedown. This is going to be key to the rest of my argument, so keep in mind.

I'm going to spotlight Round 1. because this round was taken as obviously Cerrone's when if anything its Henderson's by an eyelash.

While in the first minute Cerrone locks in a deep guillotine that should have ended the fight. Henderson eventually gets to his feet takes down Cerrone, and initiates some brutal ground and pound, Cerrone would just miss on a triangle later in the round.

However, the overall score ends up being split, effective grappling is split Henderson takes clean striking, and Octagon control, while Cerrone takes aggression.

In my eyes this is the quintessential 10-10 round. As there both equally effective in two totally different ways. If you held a gun to my head, I'd give it to Henderson via rule No. 6 of effective grappling.

I think we can all agree that rounds two and three are Henderson's. While round four is definitively Cerrone's.

When we come to round five, our scorecard reads 39-38(or 39-37 if you have a gun to my head) Henderson's work rate is going down fast, and Cerrone needs this round.

This round would end up almost a carbon copy of four with Henderson being caught as he had all night long in deep submissions.

However the Cowboy could do nothing to stop Benson from taking him down, the key factor for me possibly giving him the 10-8 round is the omaplata at the end that Benson rolls out of. That's a “reversal” or sweep.

However I deemed that it came after the horn. And thus gave the fight a 48-48 draw.

Even though I scored it a draw, if your like most American judges that don't believe in 10-10 rounds, You'd give the fight to Ben 48-47.

I can understand why this wouldn't be taken so well. As looking at the fight the submission attempts just don't seem to get enough of the weight, and I agree somewhat.

But the value of a submission is the potential to end the fight, as well as the possibility to sweep in some cases. By the letter of the law, the judges got this one right ...

Benson Henderson should, and thankfully is fighting Jaime Varner in December, or January.

Please save the vitrol for Jon Schorle.

OMG! The Top 10 Sideshow Bouts in MMA History.

Ken Foss — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 13:49:05 -0400

Like Nick Thompson's suit (Which I'm guessing Joesph Lupoli wore to his prom) these fights will make you laugh, cry, or feel copious amounts of physical and psychological pain. (like a Ken Shamrock fight) You've been warned. No I'm serious, this isn't a Saw movie where you can die of brain cancer while having your head cut off, and come back to do umpteen more movies. This is long lasting scar tissue folks...

Begin Slideshow

DREAM Possibly End Era, Claiming It's First Japanese Champion

Ken Foss — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 12:57:48 -0400

In the not so wee hours of the morning a tape delayed Dream.11 finished. It saw three fight of the year candidates, two title matches and a plethora of mismatches or just outright curiosities all housed in the same building on Tuesday night in the Yokahama Arena.

While many in the MMA community focused on Hansen vs. Aoki III, the featherweights were on display in a final that would have been a disappointment if it had headlined any other way.

Hiroyuki Takaya upset Hideo Tokoro with a stoppage due to strikes. His opponent Bibliano Fernandes made short work of highly regarded prospect Joe Warren, submitting him via armbar early in round one.

With many of the eyeballs off them, they entered in what have been the last fight DREAM ever hold inside the ring. Bibliano Fernandes took control early taking Takaya down in what surely should seal his fate.

However the Japanese surprise package would not be denied as he would continue to stymie the Brazilian working his way back to his feet.

As they stood for much of the remainder of the match "Streetfight Bancho" would prove his name well earned as he would take control of the fight forcing Fernandes to fade at the end of the first round.

When the action recommended Bibliano would change tact landing scything leg kicks and willingly standing. Though he would shoot and get another takedown, but it would be powered through again.

A topsy turvy night would again provide a moment of drama as Fernandes dropped him with an overhand left, forcing his way quickly to Takaya's back. Calmly though Takaya would stand and force a restart, with the Brazilian looking like ornamentation on his back.

A scintillating fight would end with two men slugging all the way to the bell.

While I had Takaya doing enough to win the fight the refs would disagree awarding a controversial split decision, and Dream's Featherweight title. An emotional Takaya had shocked the world, but fell just short.

Takaya was the real winner, from his depressing exit from WEC he's recollected himself and took the former Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Champion out to deep waters reviving his career, and possibly forcing FEG's hand in making a rematch.

In the co-main event, Aoki would take Hansen down at will. While Hansen was seemingly doing well off his back he made one idiotic mistake handing Aoki a slick armbar on a silver platter ending the highly deflating bout.

Japan would have its first ever DREAM champion. He'll take on Tatsuya Kawajiri, who easily took care of Melchor Manibusan, presumably at Dynamite 2009.

Sakuraba made his return against Rubin Williams...

In spectacle of the night Minowa took on 9'11 eleventy million pound Hong Man Choi. In a depleting fight, Minowa would use his speed to shoot in for laughable takedown attempts.

However multiple times Choi somehow found a way to pull guard, on the final ocassion Minowa would bring possibly the most hilarious bout in MMA history to a close with a kneebar in round two.

Bobb Sapp would collect a paycheck on his ridiculous tour to milk every last penny from whats left of his fame. Predictably being pounded out after a short flurry of energy.

An exciting night of fights ended with a little bit of everything. In many ways DREAM.11 was the end of an era of Japanese MMA. More and more promotions are making the switch to the unified rules, and while it maybe better for the sport and the acclimation period between organizational switches.

It's unfortunate it comes at the expense of the rule set I, and many others have come to love. Some will disagree with this, and they're welcome too. Can rings be a hindrance? Yes. But I'll miss Rampage lifting Sakuraba up, and using the ropes to break an armbar. I'll miss Shogun dropping stomps on Diabate, and Kanehara. As well as Melvin Manhoef dropping knees to the skull of Dae Won Kim.

It maybe nostalgia alone, but damn it, I'll miss it all the same.

The Clown at Midnight: Dissecting Your Love for the YouTube Legend

Ken Foss — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 13:19:29 -0400

Projected to be the most watched non-live fight in the history of time and space, with over seven million eyes tuned to Spike TV.

Kevin Ferguson will be center stage for the first time since his ill-fated contest versus Seth Petrezelli at Elite XC: Heat.

Tonight, the fight he hails as "One of my best" will be aired. In it, he'll take on semi-credible IFL standout Roy "Big Country" Nelson.

I feel like we've been here before? Contemplating the legitimacy of the Internet sensation with enough charisma to fill Valles Marineris.

The answer to that unfortunately is we have...the man was KO'd by Seth Petrezelli in 14 seconds. He needed to be saved against James Thompson (and that thing growing out of his head), and generally has looked inept in most of his fights.

By his own admission, he's not a mixed-martial-artist. "He's a fighter" as if there was a difference.

To say I'm disappointed that the "best" organization in our sport has fished him out of his backyard, after almost a year, to undoubtedly get crushed doesn't even begin to describe my feelings on the situation.

What is the allure of the man? Does he take you back to the days of Art Jimmerson and his lone glove? Is the world in desperate need of the next Butterbean or Tank Abbott?

Is it too thick to understand that punching a guy in the face isn't the only form of combat? Does it think the past 14 years haven't happened?

Then again, maybe Kevin is the last of the Ronin in the dawn of the age of gunfire. Roaming the halls of The Ultimate Fighter house in search of that person that will bring to a close the age of slugging heavyweights with no gas tanks and nauseating ground games.

I mean the man no ill will. It's not him I blame. When Kevin Ferguson stops being a cult YouTube celebrity, who gets fluff pieces written about him. He'll be a traveling joke, scraping together a living to feed his family.

Which is nothing to laugh at. However the same public who made his rise possible will put him on the pedestal whenever we need a good MMA related joke.

Only when we say the punchline and laugh. It won't be Kevin Ferguson we laugh at. It will be ourselves, whether we see the irony or not.

Those will be some of the best jokes ever told.

Braulio Estima Proves To Be Barcelona Standout

Ken Foss — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:05:30 -0400

Emerging from the shadows, Braulio Estima made the world's most prestigious no-gi amateur submissions grappling event his.

In the 88k finals he was able to successfully apply a spectacular inverted triangle. Knocking off favored Andre Galvao.

Then with his victory over Xandre Ribero in the Absolute Finals, he became just the fifth man to win both his weight and the absolute divisions. Matching Mario Sperry, Mark Kerr, Ricardo Arona, and Roger Gracie.

Planning his MMA debut sometime this year, the overlooked Brazilian wins 40,000 dollars, and a chance to face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza in the 2011 Superfight.

In other ADCC news, Strikeforce's Women's 145lb Queen showed remarkable improvement missing out on a shot at the gold due to an incidental knee to the head which cost her a point, and eventually the match.

She was able to defeat an obviously stalling, Rosangela Conceicao in the third place match.

125lb MMA superwomen Megumi Fujii would produce the most disappointing performance of the weekend being submitted due to rear naked choke in the opening round by Hillary Williams.

Twenty-year-old phenom Rafael Mendes won the 66k gold, despite having his black belt for just a year, defeating Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles on points in a 30 minute war.

Fabricio Werdum mows though the 99k+ division taking gold.

And last but certainly not least Pablo Popovitch, defeated favored Marcelo Garcia to take ADCC gold, ending the Brazilians four-year run of dominance at 77k, winning 3-2 on points.

The Legacy and History of Mirko Cro Cop

Ken Foss — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 10:10:33 -0400

As a fan of MMA (and not just the UFC) I've grown rather found of Mirko Filipovic, the K-1 Kickboxer who moved to mixed-martial-arts just as “striking” was beginning to find its sea legs in the sport.

In many ways, he is the embodiment of that movement. The Croat with the legendary left high kick that he would eventually coin the cemetery kick, started his career in K-1 with moderate success, amassing a 12-7 record, with marquee wins over Remy Bonjasky, and Peter Aerts.

He entered Mixed Martial Arts via K-1's Memorial event in honor of the late Andy Hug, in 2001. There he defeated 7-1 Japanese star Kazuyuki Fujita via doctor's stoppage 37 seconds into round 1.

Now it may not seem like much, but at the time, Fujita was considered one of the best wrestlers in the sport. He was the first man ever to defeat Mark Kerr, and made it to the finals of the Pride 2000 Grand Prix.

Because of this it was widely considered heading into the fight Fujita would take down the green kickboxer, and finish him with relative ease.

This had, and would continue to be, the trend with past K-1 products. Jan Nortje also made his debut on that card, and was quickly submitted by a far more skilled Gary Goodridge.

As the bell rang for round No. 1, the crowd was on its feet.

The highly educated Japanese fan base knew what would take place on that night, either Fujita would get the takedown early and reduce the Croatian to a pool of red in short order, or a spectacular knockout of one of the best heavyweights Japan had to offer would ensue, either way it would end quickly.

As the first few tense moments of the fight slipped by, Fujita shot for his first takedown winding up with a face full of rope. Perhaps nervous in his opening bout, Mirko would circle away and look to counter-punch.

As takedowns came fast and furious, he continued to showcase surprising takedown defense for a man so new to the sport. Fujita's tenacity, though, eventually would win out, as he managed to drag him down following a messy clinch spell.

In an instant, Fujita was in side control and already looking to pass to mount...but hang on a second...Fujita would be picked up to let the doctor look at him.

As he turns to look at the camera, the severity of the situation became clear. With copious amounts of red pouring from a nasty gash, the fight was unquestionably over by Japanese MMA standards.

As they showed replays, you finally see what caused it. As Fujita recklessly charged in head down, the former Croatian Special Forces member catches him with a magnificent catch knee just above the eyebrow.

With the victory, however controversial, he instantly gained credibility as an MMA fighter, and almost immediately signed to fight in the somewhat thin heavyweight division of PRIDE Fighting Championships.

In his first bout, he would take on 2-5 wrestling star Nobuhiko Takada. Due to the special rules in place, Takada would fall to the floor. With no judges' decisions, Takada simply killed off the fight, earning a draw but alienating himself from the Japanese fans.

In an effort to keep Cro Cop's star from fading, K-1 matched him up with well known pro wrestler Yuji Nagata. Nagata had no MMA experience, and Mirko made short work of his overmatched opposition.

With his name established in Japan, at PRIDE 20 when Wanderlei Silva needed an opponent, Cro Cop would get the call.

A small heavyweight who routinely sits at 225 pounds for his fights. Japanese brass thought the matchup was just the ticket for their two young stars.

On April 28, 2002, The Yokohama Arena rumbled with anticipation, as the two provided the most electric staredown in MMA history.

As the bell rang the electricity never died down after a few tense moments, and a heated exchange, Wanderlei would be the first man in PRIDE to take him down.

After almost grabbing a body kick that landed flush, Silva would take advantage of the off-balance Croat. Grabbing a body lock, he immediately got the take down.

The crowd, possibly the loudest MMA audience ever, lost its mind.

However due to the special rules put in place during the bout, Mirko would again cheat a submission, by sweeping Wandi multiple times fighting his way to the ropes for stand ups, rather than the traditional center resets.

This rule modification was controversial and even the announcing team didn't approve of it. Even still, the match would end in an automatic draw despite many having scored the bout (including myself) 30-27 Silva.

Fittingly, he would return again at Pride Shockwave 2002 a mixed PRIDE and K-1 event, in a main event bout against Japanese hero Kazushi Sakuraba.

At this time PRIDE was still grooming future stars, and their heavyweight division was still not ready to support headline fights. As a result, they put the two together.

Sakuraba was stepping into the ring for the first time since he suffered his second defeat to Wanderlei Silva, after being slammed, he was forced to tap out due to a noticeably broken collarbone.

The fight was a back and forth affair, and again Cro Cop would be put on his back, but his excellent defensive guard would stymie Saku.

If it wasn't known up to this point, it was now. You weren't going to undress Cro Cop on the ground like so many K-1 fighters had been in the past.

A noticeably winded Sakuraba came out in the second round. As leg kicks took their toll, he would catch the Croatian off balance, taking half guard.

However, Cro Cop was the aggressor from half guard, with a rare head and arm choke from the bottom. Sakuraba would fight through it, but the message was sent loud and clear, Cro Cop was good enough on the ground now to repel him.

As time passed in the second round, Cro Cop would land an elbow from his back to Sakuraba's left eye. This resulted in a TKO, as Cro Cop fractured Sakuraba's orbital bone.

Meanwhile, Fujita had made his return to the ring, a year after his defeat to Cro Cop, finishing sumo wrestler Tadao Yasuda.

The wheels were in motion and the rematch was set for Inoki Bom-Ba-Ye 2002: K-1 vs. Inoki in December.

However, the sport was starting to leave single dimensioned fighters like Fujita behind. Unable to do anything once he got it to the ground, the fight wore on Fujita. He could no longer complete a takedown, and was brutalized with knees to the head.

He would survive, however, losing via unanimous decision.

Following this fight, Filipovic would take sometime off to prepare for his much anticipated K-1 bout with Bob Sapp.

After defeating Sapp in April, he would return to the ring to finally throw his hat into the heavyweight title picture, when he took on Heath Herring at PRIDE 26.

Coming into the fight, Heath was the more established heavyweight after defeating Enson Inoue, Mark Kerr, and Igor Vovchanchyn.

The ideal gatekeeper, Herring had been defeated by Vitor Belfort, Antonio Nogueira, and relative unknown Fedor Emelianenko.

Herring was the favorite coming into the fight, as many saw the more well-rounded Herring eventually submitting him or winning a unanimous decision.

The fight would be extremely one-sided in favor of Mirko. The wild Herring was thrown to the floor multiple times. At one point, Filipovic offered to help Herring up, which was met with some laughs from the crowd.

As the fight went on, however he would routinely stuff any attempts to get the fight to the ground eventually landing a devastating body kick, which floored the Texan.

The former ATJ Lucko member would move in for the kill, ending the fight via TKO in the first round.

After this, Cro Cop would never return to K-1. He was a mixed-martial-artist now.

Just two months later, he would return to a PRIDE ring once again taking on “Ice Cold” Igor Vovchanchyn, at PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 adding the first high kick knockout to his resume in MMA.

Then in a bout of Japanese insanity, he would take on pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. at PRIDE Bushido. He would make it back-to-back head kick knockouts.

Just four weeks later he would fight Antonio Nogueira at Pride Final Conflict 2003 for the Interim Pride Heavyweight Title.

With confidence overflowing the undefeated Mirko Cro Cop entered the ring.

In the first round he would dominate the fight for the entire first round, almost finishing “Minotauro” on multiple occasions.

Sensing a need to end the fight quickly Antonio shot for a takedown, and as Mirko's leg slipped out from under him he was powered up against the ropes.

Arrogance perhaps got the better of him however, seeing what he thought was an opportunity to sweep back to his feet he powered through.

Expertly, Minotauro spun and threw his leg over catching the Croatian in a deep armbar, forcing him to tap out 1:47 seconds into round 2.

This was Filipovic's first-ever defeat.

Filipovic would take some much needed time off and return to the Pride ring in 2004, at the bottom rung. As he took on Ron “H2O” Waterman at Pride 27, stopping him late in round 1.

In what amounted to a tune-up fight for the 2004 Heavyweight Grand Prix. He would face another Japanese pro wrestler in Yoshihisa Yamamoto. Again, he would not let his opponent see the second round.

On April 25, 2004, PRIDE's Grand Prix began.

In the opening round, he would face underdog Kevin Randleman. The wrestler was battle tested, but had been outdone before by strikers like Bas Ruten.

Mirko had feasted on wrestlers his whole career. His excellent sprawl, and seemingly untouchable striking would surely be too much for Randleman.

Well that's the power of a Grand Prix, wacky things happen, and this one was surely no exception.

Randleman would fake a takedown, landing a huge punch. As Cro Cop struggled to circle away the quick Randleman swarmed, managing to land several machine-gunning strikes, rendering him unconscious just 1:57 seconds of round 1.

For the second time, he'd find himself back at the bottom of the heavyweight rankings. Questions would begin to be asked about whether he could ever again challenge for the PRIDE Heavyweight Title.

He would get back into the ring at PRIDE Bushido 3, just three weeks after being knocked out. He would take on Hiromitsu Kanehara. Another pro wrestler, Kanehara had impressive wins over Jeremy Horn, and Dave Menne.

Despite dominating the fight, Cro Cop would endure more public pressure, after failing to finish a game but overmatched Kanehara.

With his inauspicious performance, Mirko would have to dispose of Yoshida student, and friend of now Pride-General Director Nobuhiko Takada, Shungo Oyama at PRIDE Bushido 4.

Overmatched, Oyama would succumb to strikes at exactly 1:00 of round 1.

At Final Conflict 2004, he'd get an Emelianenko, but not the one he wanted. Fedor's brother Aleks would take the ring across from him, undefeated in three fights with a win over Assuerio Silva at Bushido 1. He was an up-and-coming fighter looking to make a name for himself.

Mirko would take out his frustrations on the prospect, dismantling him for two minutes before landing a devastating left high kick that would mark the third high kick knockout of his career.

After he would be asked to take on recently suspended and stripped UFC heavyweight champion, Josh Barnett in the main event of PRIDE 28.

The bout would be anticlimactic as Barnett would randomly dislocate his shoulder under a minute into the first round.

At PRIDE Shockwave 2004, Cro Cop would get his chance at redemption as he took on Kevin Randleman.

He would shock the world as Kevin shot, he would sink in a deep standing guillotine, forcing the tap 41 seconds into round 1.

This would be the only time Mirko would ever submit a fighter.

After this fight, he would ask for a title shot.

However, he would be denied. Instead, Fedor would get Tsuyoshi Kohsaka, while he would have to defeat another of Team Hammerhouse's fighters.

This time Mark Coleman would be chosen to take him on at PRIDE 29. The events moniker, “Fists of Fire,” would prove prophetic, as again he would showcase his takedown defense before dismantling a wrestler on the feet. Cro Cop ended the fight by way of knockout due to strikes at 3:40 of round 1.

He would again ask for a title shot, however after his win in the PRIDE Heavyweight Grand Prix, Emelianenko was not ready to fight again. So instead he would have to settle for Ibragim Magomedov, at PRIDE Critical Countdown 2005.

The 13-2 fighter held wins over Ben Rothwell and Valentijn Overeem.

With Fedor ring side, watching his next opponent. Cro Cop would control the fight picking his shots before landing a crushing liver kick that would make the Russian quit.

After a seven-fight win streak, he would finally get his title shot.

At PRIDE Final Conflict 2005, he would face undefeated Fedor Emelianenko. “The Last Emperor” had cut a swath through the PRIDE Heavyweight Division and Mirko was one of the last fighters he'd yet to face in the organization at this point.

The fight was one of the most anticipated fights in PRIDE Fighting Championships history.

The first round the crowd was electric, as both men exchanged strikes Cro Cop was getting the better of it, landing a darting left hand through Fedor's wide punches. He cut Fedor just above the hairline, and busted his nose.

However, in an effort to end the fight with his devastating left high kick, he slipped giving Fedor his guard. As Fedor wildly passed to North/South, Cro Cop was able to fend off a mount attempt, reversing back to guard.

Fedor would continue to attempt to pass with little success, and as the round ended, I was left with a 10-10 round on my scorecard.

The round was incredibly taxing for both fighters. Knowing this the Russian attacked the body, causing the challenger to begin to slow in the later stages of the fight.

As the Croat's breathing got heavy, the champion seemed to grow stronger, swinging the momentum of the fight, Cro Cop could no longer offer much resistance either on his feet, or on the ground.

He would lose a unanimous decision to the now-thought invincible Russian.

Back to the drawing board again. He would accept a rematch with Josh Barnett. After three rounds, Filipović received a unanimous judges' decision.

At Pride Shockwave 2005, the Croatian would face aggressive striker Mark Hunt. Billed as a high entertainment value fight, they had met before in K-1, and had a lot of respect for one another.

It was widely assumed that Cro Cop would win this bout, on a road to a rematch with Fedor in the upcoming Pride 2006 Heavyweight Grand Prix.

However coming into the bout, he made the interesting decision to wear some sort of wrestling shoes in effort to give himself more traction, and stability. They seemed to do the opposite.

With Cro Cop's unsteady footing, Hunt took advantage charging forward and smothering the previously thought title contender. As Japanese fans, and judges favors aggression this was all Hunt needed to earn a split decision in a even battle.

In May, he would enter the Osaka Dome to begin the run. As the brackets were made, Fedor Emelianenko received a bye to give his chronic hand injuries time to heal.

In an attempt to schedule their rematch for Final Conflict, Filipovic received a favorable road to the semi finals. In his first match, he would take on Japanese heartthrob Ikuhisa Minowa.

Minowa's high-risk fighting style didn't make him an especially good matchup for the cautious countering of his opponent.

Despite an intro featuring Minowa's yearbook photos, shots of him working out in the woods shirtless, and him attempting to out run a jet, the small Minowa could not handle Cro Cop's power collapsing 1:10 into the opening round.

Brouhaha would ensue in the run up to the next round. Tournament favorite Fedor Emelieneko would pull out, citing his hand injury. PRIDE would scramble in replacement Wanderlei Silva.

While people broke down the potential rematch, Mirko was left to care of Hidehiko Yoshida. In a highly anticipated match in Japan. He would brutalize the judoka with crushing leg kicks, unable to stand the bout was mercifully ended.

Wanderlei had previously made short work of the resurgent Fujita, setting up the rematch.

However money troubles started to emerge for Dream Stage Entertainment. Close to bankruptcy, the company promised a $150,000 dollar prize to the winner of the Grand Prix, Filipovic didn't think the number was high enough.

He would eventually reach a compromise, keeping him in the main event.

The highly anticipated final rounds entered full swing with the Croatian sitting as a heavy underdog to win the tournament. As a matter of fact, of the four finalists, he sat dead last.

When the semi-final started however, the odds were proven totally worthless.

Heavily hyped Wanderlei Silva entered the ring, but the man he fought all those years ago was no longer standing across from him.

Out gunned from the word go, Silva would be dropped multiple times, before getting melted by a stunning left high kick, at 5:26 of round 1.

In what was thought to be the finals. Josh Barnett added the third top 10 heavyweight of his marvelous run, defeating Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira by way of split decision in a grueling war of attrition.

A noticeably swollen eye questioned Josh's availability for the finals.

As the final started, he didn't know it, but it would be the final time the Croatian would step into a PRIDE ring.

And he'd leave the organization on his biggest achievement.

Barnett would come out looking no worse for wear then he did when he left the ring; however, this would prove to not be the case.

As the match went on, it was clear something was wrong with the eye of the American, and with the minutes piling up, Barnett would be caught in the corner.

Not giving his opponent a moment's reprieve, Cro Cop would swarm, catching him with a combination that would force the wrestler to tap out 7:32 into round 1.

For the first time, Mirko could call himself a champion (sort of), and as his career moved forward after Pride's disintegration. Cro Cop would be referred to as the 2006 PRIDE Open Weight Grand Prix Champion.

He would spend a long portion of time on the sidelines contemplating his next move, as Open Weight Champion, he should have gotten a title shot at PRIDE 32, but that was out of the question after suffering a foot injury, during the finals.

His last window would be shut at PRIDE Shockwave 2006. As the foot injury would keep him from competition, they opted to substitute Mark Hunt who had defeated Filipovic exactly a year previous.

In February, Cro Cop's contract would come up. With PRIDE unable to compete with ZUFFA's contract offer, the now renamed Mirko “Cro Cop” would call the Nevada based Ultimate Fighting Championships home.

Following PRIDE 34 on April 8 DSE would enter into sale with ZUFFA INC. It would take until October for the two sides to agree on liquidation terms.

On Feb. 3, 2007, he would make his debut at UFC 67: All or Nothing, taking on undefeated prospect Eddie Sanchez, who entered a +800 underdog.

Eddie would try to overwhelm him early, but five seconds in he would eat a left hand that wobbled him. With no respect for Sanchez, Cro Cop would walk down the overmatched American, circling to his right.

After two body kicks grazed Sanchez, he was in total flight. After a few flurries, Sanchez would slip, allowing Cro Cop to take mount and rain down punishment. However, the stoppage was controversial because Sanchez appeared to be actively defending himself.

The message had been sent. Cro Cop was a contender for the UFC title.

At UFC 70, Cro Cop would return again to take on Gabriel Gonzaga for a shot at Randy Couture's UFC heavyweight title.

As the fight started, Mike Goldberg would prophetically bring up his defeat to Kevin Randleman.

As the bell rang, Cro Cop was tentative looking to stuff takedown attempts and counter. But Gonzaga early looked to be the bigger stronger man. As the action stalled, Mirko threw a body kick that would be caught by Gonzaga.

The Croatian would resist, but ultimately pull guard. Working his good defensive jiu-jitsu he worked to force a stand up with 30 seconds to go in round 1.

As they circled, Mirko incorrectly assumed that Gonzaga couldn't get his leg high enough to hit him in the head, after multiple pathetic looking body kicks, earlier in the fight. He dropped his hands to stop a body kick.

Gonzaga lunged into the air, with his plant foot leaving the mat to land the most technically unsound, head bazooka in MMA history, at 4:51 seconds of round No. 1.

During the fall of his lifeless body, Mirko fractured his ankle.

With his reputation in shambles, Cro Cop re-entered the octagon at UFC 75.

Cro Cop would win the first round decisively. Afterward Cheick Kongo would use his reach advantage to force him back, eventually gaining a clinch and earning a takedown.

After multiple triangle attempts, and an incredible pace in the second round. Cro Cop's usually excellent conditioning began to leave him in the third round as the big Frenchman bullied him.

With nothing left in the tank, he lost a unanimous 29-28 decision.

Following the fight, Cro Cop was released. Physically depleted, many wondered if the 35-year-old had anything left to offer the sport.

Post fight, it would be learned that Cro Cop have broken a rib in his bout with Kongo and it sapped his strength. Looking at the footage, the likely spot he received it was when Kongo dropped an axe kick to Cro Cop's abdomen.

It would be the first and only time Cro Cop would ever lose two consecutive fights.

When DREAM opened, it needed names to build a show, so they brought him in to fight Tatsuya Mizuno on the undercard of DREAM.1.

An obviously out of shape Filipovic entered the ring and dismantles the Japanese fighter, knocking Mizuno out at 1:10 into round 1.

At DREAM.6, he would take on Alistair Overeem.

The athletic difference was on display for everyone to see. As the bell rung the 20-pound heavier man was moving much better trapped in the clinch; he'd be thrown down and pounded on for the first five minutes of the fight.

Overeem eventually decided to stand up after another tussle and ground and pound session. With a dominant display so far, he began to mix knees to the body, and knees to the testes.

The ref missed many of these, however, one forced the Croatian to his knees. He got up only to get another helping. Cro Cop would be unable to continue and the bout was ruled a controversial no-contest.

Not because of the result, but the performance put in, Cro Cop again looked old and past his prime.

At K-1 Dynamite 2008, he would return to take on Hong Man Choi, brutalizing the man with leg kicks at 6:32 in round 1.

Convinced he didn't get a fair run of luck in his first UFC go-around, he chose to return to the UFC, on a one-fight deal, at UFC 99: The Comeback.

Against an overmatched Mostafa Al-Turk, he again looked slow and out of shape. Although he would technically knock out the Brit, Al-Turk was enraged by an eye poke that caused the run up to the stoppage.

After much hullabaloo about a five-fight deal with DREAM, he would return for what would turn out to be the final fight of his MMA career, at UFC 103 this month against Junior dos Santos.

With his athletic ability dwindling, and his cage experience being non-existent, he was chased down multiple times forcing the Croat, to stand and bang, something he's never been comfortable with.

As he started to learn the limitations of his new self, dos Santos's cardio, and general wear and tear eventually won the day forcing the Croatian to verbally submit, due to blindness exactly 2:00 into round 3.

His confidence gone following the fight, a candid, reflective Cro Cop spoke to a Croatian newspaper. In the interview, he retired from the sport.

The questions of why are left for another day, and another article.

All I'll say is when it goes, it goes. It's nobody's fault. He leaves the cage 2-3, which will infinitely be brought up as footnotes to his career. Or as a centerpiece to articles of bitter UFC fans who insist there product was, is, and will forever be better.

At the age of 36, Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic retires at 25-7-2 with one no-contest. He leaves the sport to better days with his family, fishing in Privlaka. He's voiced interest in the past of returning to his former role with ATJ Lucko.

Whatever you feel about UFC, or Pride, these are ancillary things at the end of the day. What's important is this week we've lost one of the greatest strikers to ever put on a pair of four-ounce gloves.

We should be celebrating his career, not sullying with the trappings of the end. He could press on collect a few more pay checks and tarnish his legacy even further.

Instead he entered the octagon to learn if he still had it. The moment he learned the truth, that his skills have eroded to the point that, he can't beat anything above a third-tier heavyweight, he's announced his retirement.

Enjoy it. Because situations like Wanderlei Silva, and Chuck Liddell will be your norm.

Should he be remembered as a world beating heavyweight? Absolutely not. Should he be remembered as a class act, who fought (and defeated) some of the best heavyweights of his era?

Absolutely.

The Next Step in the Evolution of Mixed Martial Arts: Defense

Ken Foss — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 18:55:42 -0400

Every so often these days in MMA the game is changed forever. It started with Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, which exposed every pure striking art as flawed.

Then a few years later wrestlers began taking the stage adding emphasis on getting the opponent to the mat, establishing dominant position, and raining down strikes.

"Ground and Pound" (or GnP) as its now known, changed the way the action unfolded forever, and wrestlers like Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, and Tito Ortiz led the way.

Then in the early '00s the pendulum swung back in the direction of the striker, now well cross-trained, strikers started learning how to stop wrestlers in their tracks by denying them the chance to get the fight to the ground.

The "Sprawl" was a technique cannibalized from wrestling itself. Now when we see a takedown we expect to see the fighter slide their legs out dropping there body weight onto the fighter shooting in, by mastering this technique strikers were now able to finally showcase their wares, K-1 Kickboxers, and Muay Thai fighters flocked to MMA.

The Age of Strikers had begun, and new techniques began to take center stage.

The Muay Thai clinch began to become a viable weapon for fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Maurico Rua, officially putting the last nail in the coffin of the first generation.

No longer could one dimensional fighters hope to win the day, as Wrestling and Jiu-Jitsu fell away as dominant arts.

With the glut of options, fighters began true multi-art training, and high quality MMA gyms began to open to accommodate them.

After this point, the changes became far more subtle; for example, the emergence of Judo began, as large numbers of fights would end in the clinch, either against the cage fighting for a takedown or attempting to work for the plum.

Fighters began seeing openings for techniques like Harai Goshi and the Uchi Mata.

When they got to the ground some fighters have begun working the newly developed rubber guard to add a new dimension of control, as well as whole host of new techniques not yet mastered(things like the twister, crackhead control, and the neck crank from a triangle set up)

More recently the sport has started to reach its full potential, with the use of video technology.

Fighters are now looking for flaws and tendencies, rather than sure fire techniques, and fight promoters are looking to athleticism rather than pure skill to find the next stars.

However, that doesn't mean we've reached the apex.

People sometimes struggle to see the forest through the trees, and the development of Anderson Silva is the perfect example.

Some people still see Anderson Silva as the fighter fired from Pride, while others only see his dominance in the octagon.

People have struggled to understand how Anderson Silva has developed into the world beater he currently is, but its so obvious when you watch his fights.

He's discovered something in himself that has made him the fighter he is today, something only high level boxers have ever showcased before.

Anderson Silva has always been an accurate striker, he's always had a nice jab, and he's always been a deadly muay thai kickboxer, so these are not the correct answers home gamer.

The next step in the evolution of MMA isn't anything offensive, it's actually counter offensive...

It's head movement, or more descriptive counter fighting, simple, innocuous, but totally soul sucking.

You see sometime between his Pride rejection, and his UFC run he learned that not only can he land punches at an absurdly high percentage, but if he wanted to, he could deny high level mixed martial artists any sort of offense of their own.

It doesn't sound very dominant, but think about it...Even if you where as tough as they come. If your getting hit, and you can't hit back, your eventually going to get despite. Nobody likes losing. So you'll sell out and he'll pick you apart even more.

The more you try, the worse the beating gets until eventually he breaks you or knocks you out.

This is the puzzle piece that every boxing aficionado claims is the reason that their sport is a superior product. It's the "Sweet Science", poetry in motion, or performance art.

While the rest of their arguments are frankly ignorant, hate speech. They do have a point on this, one issue.

When you watch the average MMA fight, patterns begin to emerge.

In the standup, for example, you may see two fighters stand in the pocket with minimal head movement but decent hand position. They may bounce up and down or just slowly circle (most of the time directly into the other fighters power hand) but all attacks have a very set unconscious jerky rhythm one guy may throw a leg kick, then the other guy will throw a one-two then reset.

This continues until one man is rocked, or a takedown is attempted.

The average boxing match will have a much more defined flow, fighters will effectively, and fluidly counter punch, counters will be countered, the action will have ebbs and flows, with some sloppy bits, but in the end the action will feel organic.

Anderson Silva does this so well to do it justice you have to see it in slow motion, he doesn't knock fighters out these days... he makes them quit.

Eventually though as MMA evolves new things are discovered, the untouchables will be swept away by a new breed of ever more skilled fighters.

The question is...when? And maybe most important with what?

Foolish Actions Jackson: TUF 10 Opens with Rampage's Senseless Antics

Ken Foss — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:59:17 -0400

In between shots of Kevin Ferguson massaging his beard. A number of semi-notable things happened on the opening salvo of "The Ultimate Fighter." We learned a lot of things about the fighters thanks to a lot of footage from the workouts, as well as the general course were headed on for the majority of the rest of the season.

Starting at the top.

Kevin is what he is. With the majority of the shots featuring the rest of the cast the two set clips we saw were of him sprawling a takedown, and getting totally undressed in the wrestling practice.

While these aren't breaking news, they underscore a little possible foreshadowing for the future. So its noteworthy.

Secondly, I could listen to Rashad and Rampage jaw all day long. I just could there two charismatic talkers with big personalities who have a semi genuine dislike for one another.

Building fights is important, and these two are masters at it. However this all may be puff for a fight that never happens after a previously scheduled date in Memphis is now not going to happen.

Here's hoping we'll see one walk all that talk sometime in the near future.

Next up was the rest of the casts workouts, nothing caught my eye on the first pass, save Marcus Jones' embarrassingly poor cardio. Could this be more foreshadowing? We'll see.

As team selections took place a...trend started to emerge.

With his first pick Rashad selected 3-4 James McSweeney, the Cage Rage veteran holds notable fights against UFC fighters Mustapha Al-Turk, and Neil Grove. He lost both fights.

With Rampage's first selection he chose "Street Certified" Kevin Ferguson the 3-1 fighter does hold a win over James Thompson(and that thing growing out of the side of his head) and is probably the most vetted of the "prospects" currently in the field.

Rashad took Brendan Schaub with his second selection, the 4-0 Ring of Fire veteran has so far never let his prey past 1:27 in the first round. He's one of the most unknown of the Heavyweights on the cast.

Rampage countered with Abe Wagner, the sporadic 6-2 fighter holds a victory over Sherman Pandergrast, however has so far spent more time designing cars, and planes, then he has fighting. He's fought just once in the past 18 months.

Rashad selected 6-1 Justin Wren fifth overall. Again going for the unknown fighter with a ton of upside.

Rampage selected “Rashad's big older brother” Demico Rodgers the “4-0” fighter, claims to be a strong ground fighter.

Rashad went back to his roots; selecting a 1-0 unknown wrestler by the name Jon Madsen, the H.I.T Squad member, and a Division II national champion. He's one of the shortlist of fighters with a shot at winning the contract.

Rampage cements that his team with be the most charismatic team in TUF history when he selects UFC wash out Wes Sims. Immediately making himself known he starts hassling Jackson about his selection at such a late pick. To which Rampage sooths him by placing him next to Kimbo and himself. Forming a real photo op, of Sims, Ferguson, and Jackson.

While his rival is fooling around, Rashad lays claim to the most established of the members of the cast by selecting Roy “Big Country” Nelson. The IFL vet has a number of key fights most noteworthy of all his KO win over Brad Imes, and his KO loss to Andrei Arlovski. The talented fight would be best served making the cut to 205lbs in the UFC but here, he's all but a lock to make the final fight.

Rampage made another whim selection as he took Scott Junk, The UFC washout holds a 6-2-1 record with noteworthy fights against Christian Wellish, and Ricco Rodriguez, he lost both fights.

Rashad's talent hording continue when he selected the maligned and by far the smallest heavyweight Darrill Schoonover the 12-0 fighter defeated Rex Richards at Shark Fights 4 in May. Cementing his status as a top dog in the house this season.

Rampage selects unknown former NFL player Wes Shivers

Rashad starts the run on former NFL players by taking Matt Matrione

Rampage finishes the run by taking Marcus Jones

Rashad concludes his draft by selecting UFC ringer Mike Wessel

And Rampage concludes the draft by taking the cameraman in the back of the room... ok maybe he took 7-3 Zak Jensen with noteworthy fights against former TUF washouts Brad Imes, and Mike Whitehead. Again I have to tell you he lost both fights.

Rashad and his ringer Greg Jackson clearly won this draft. They quickly got through their loyalties, and then used Quinton's very large mouth against him. When Rampage announced that he wants Kevin first. He's basically handed Rashad the first two selections.

Then Rampage tipped his hand again in the walkout by voicing his infatuation over the bigger fighters.

Rashad, and Jackson took that and ran with it pushing there smaller fighters deeper into there draft plan. Instead taking the bigger guys like Justin Wren they had there eyes on earlier knowing that Rampage would envy his size. It's just a master draft if ever there was one.

Rampage attempted to make amends by placing his top fighter(that he's allowed to select) in Abe Wagner, against Rashad's best wrestler in Jon Madsen.

I don't think Quinton's going to get any offers to make any cards any time soon. Rashad correctly laughs at him.

The fight went predictably. Madsen took him down at will, and proceeded to paint the canvas red.

The final scores were read by Dana White. 20-16, 20-17, 20-17

Wagner's looked over by a doctor in the locker room with a massive cut on his forehead. Abe asks if they can see bone. The doctor says he can. His chances of getting back in the cage are almost nil.

Jackson immediately apologies for the fight. But the damage to Abe Wagner's career is already done.

Here's hoping the sight convinces Jackson to give a damn about the fighters he's assigned to train. I'm not holding my breath.

10 Things You Need To Remember Heading Into UFC 103

Ken Foss — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 02:17:28 -0400

With UFC 103, and Mayweather vs. Marquez set to hit the airwaves about the same time on Saturday night. The full court press put on these two events thanks to HBO's very polished 24/7 series, and Dana White's incredibly big mouth.

So lets look at some storylines that you might want to keep your mind on, heading into the media blitz.

10. Cutwatch on hold.

While this has become a staple of the last 20 or so UFC cards. The phantom network deal will likely save a lot of fighters bacon for the next two months or so, at the very least.

Fighters like dos Anjos, and Nicky Story can probably feel somewhat safe. The only fighter in real danger for this upcoming card is Frank Trigg, and even that is unlikely.

9. TUF 8 products face stiff test

Lately the consensus is that TUF 8 is by far the worst season of The Ultimate Fighter eva! While I continue to say that 7, and 9 (and lets not forget about 10) are right there with them.

We'll all get to find out when Efrain Escudero, and Eliot Marshall take the center of the octagon on Saturday.

Eliot "The Fire" Marshall will stand across from Jason Brilz, which will certainly be the stiffest test of his career. Brilz brings a well rounded offensive game that will really put Marshall to the test, a test that I can't see him passing.

Escudero will face TUF slayer Cole Miller on the undercard. While I can see Escudero winning this fight over the respected ATT product, he's going to have to bring his big boy pants with him if he wants to do it.

8. Frank Trigg's RNC defense takes center stage.

When looking at this match its easy to write off Frank Trigg as just another old guy put in there to fluff up a name. The real question is with this fight will be can Trigg finally defend a RNC in the Octagon?

So far wrestlers have tormented his stay in the UFC. his famous defeats against Matt Hughes, and Georges St. Pierre, all came by embarrassingly poor rear-naked choke defense.

With this said Koscheck is a guy who's been working his stand up for long spells to his determent in his last few fights, and Trigg is no slouch on his feet. With everybody writing Trigg off will Koscheck fall in love with himself again in a fight he can't afford to lose?

7. Kampmann faces the music

Martin Kampmann hasn't exactly set the world on fire lately. And with the mark of necessity rather than the showcase of skill. The Hitman was thrust into the title picture when he was scheduled to face Mike Swick. Well a minor injury forced "Quick" to the sidelines, and Joe Silva into a mad scramble.

What he's come up with now is a fight that has lose - lose written all over it.

You see if Kampmann can make short work of Daley he gain almost nothing. If he's loses, or struggles for that matter, he'll be taken out of the top 10 in the welterweight division.

Paul Daley is a fighter that mirrors Kampmann's game in a lot of ways, they both prefer to strike, they both have somewhat spotty ground games. I can't see this fight going to anything but a decision.

Which helps no one as far as the title picture goes.

6. It's time to party like its 1999

Vitor Belfort, Frank Trigg, Mirko Cro Cop, Vladimir Matyushenko will all make an appearance at this event, in a trend that will likely continue with the UFC going retro in signings lately.

Color me decidedly skeptical. I love seeing these guys, just not as fluff for other younger fighters... Let's hope one of these guys has a run left in them.

5. A new UFC record

The thirteen fights slated for this event is officially the most fights the UFC will ever put on in one event. With an Preliminary card chalk full of interesting bouts, the UFC will pull no punches on a night they'll go head to head with Mayweather vs. Marquez.

Good things for UFC fans most definitely.

4. Hermes' winged sandals

Hermes Franca will have his surgically repaired right knee tested in his first fight in nearly a year, when he takes on relentless Tyson Griffin.

The former WEC lightweight champion will get all he can handle, and it's unclear how effective he'll be on Saturday night, and considering Tyson Griffin's aggressive in your face boxing and wrestling If his knee isn't 100% its going to be a long night.

His mobility, takedown defense as well as flexibility in guard could all suffer. All thing Tyson Griffin will put to the test. Look for how well the Brazilian moves and attempts to stuff single leg takedowns.

3. Gut check time in co-main event

Everybody loves to use vast generalities when breaking down sports, I get suckered into this to from time to time.

For example you may see a lot of "Old Cro Cop" quotes from various writers.

I however really don't think these hold a lot of water since Cro Cop has recovered from that kick heard round the world, He's been an out of shape over the hill old guy. And no amount of ZUFFA spin can cover that up.

The burden of this fight will fall squarely on the shoulders of Junior dos Santos, if we've learned anything about heavyweight prospects its that they so rarely pan out.

To abridge a line from Dennis Green If he is who we think he is, he'll dismantle the name and make a move towards a title shot. If he's not, the slow, winded Cro Cop will likely out point him on route to a decision.

Either way this is dos Santos' test, not Cro Cop's. And as a member of the Micheal Cro Cop meme you have no idea how hard it is to type that.

2. Can Franklin outpoint Belfort?

Lately Rich Franklin has been a "technical striker" in the mma community that means your shots look real pretty, but you ain't knocking out a fruit fly.

Take that as a slight if you wish, but Ace is what he is. Fighters who can land strikes that hurt him will beat him. Guys who can't will lose decisions as Franklin picks his spots to score, and plays solid defense.

The question we all have to ask now is can Belfort land effective combinations at some point in this fight. If you can fluster Franklin you can beat him, but can he?

If you want to believe the ZUFFA hype, about Vitor's "super fast hands" be my guest, but I'm not quite sure.

1. Two marginal cards; one winner

When the lights fall, and Bruce Buffer walks to the center of the octagon to proclaim that we are live, his brother Micheal will likely be introducing... whoever that guy Mayweather is going to dismantle for 12 rounds.

When you divorce yourself from ansilary details you see five semi interesting fights for $55, and 1 not very interesting boxing bout for $65. You'd think gee this isn't going to be much of a fight.

Bars will likely choose UFC because it's a cheaper licensing cost, and brings out more fans, and diehards of both sports will scoff at each other from across the fantasy room that holds both prizefighting fans.

However with a media thats still asking itself nationwide if they should be covering this or not, as well as a legitimate A class superstar.

Something tells me we'll be getting round by round scoring from Brian Kenny on Sportcenter, and UFC results across the ticker and College Football up the ying yang.

Ask any NASDAQ top 100 CEO what a huge advantage in marketing means, and you'll see my point.

Dana White will be quick to point out that Mayweather's not a big name. the best he's ever done without Oscar wast 350k buys, but I could say the UFC didn't do over a 500k buys until the TUF 1 season finale, but thats kind of irrelevant now isn't it.

Once you slay the name you become one. This is tried, and true in all of prizefighting lore. When Mayweather beat Oscar, then technically knocked out Ricky Hatton. He became a star.

Just like Anderson Silva did when he destroyed Rich Franklin the second time, and just like Randy Couture did when he shocked the world and dominated Liddell.

Jim Lapley won't have to face the music just yet. As I see a closely contested win for boxing.

Welterweight Conundrum: No Easy Solutions, But Here Goes

Ken Foss — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 17:37:48 -0400

No matter how you twist your brain, the UFC welterweight division is in a state of disrepair now that the welterweight title eliminator to crown a new No. 1 contender has now washed out. With many contenders booked or not in a situation to contend further for the title.

Joe Silva now faces the task of using the UFC hype machine to build a challenger worthy of a champion as great as Georges St. Pierre, and he likely only has six months do it.

Let's take a look at his options.

No. 1 Jon Fitch

Jon was completely, and spectacular obliterated for 25 minutes in his first match with GSP at UFC 87 Seek and Destroy. Since that time, he's picked up solid wins over Akihiro Gono and Paulo Thiago.

He's next scheduled to fight at UFC 106 against Ricardo Almeida, considering the shape of the division at current that win could be enough to earn the title shot.

No. 2 Martin Kampmann

The Danish Kick boxer dropped from 185 after a couple of shaky performances against Drew McFedries and Nate Marquardt. Since he's defeated Alex Barros, and scored a somewhat controversial split decision victory over Carlos Condit.

He'll take on Paul Daley at UFC 103. A fight that will be hard to justify as a title shot making fight.

No. 3 Mike Swick

After being defeated at UFC 69: Shootout, The Ultimate Fighter season one alumni has amassed a number of fairly big wins over Josh Burkman, Marcus Davis, Jonathan Goulet, and Ben Saunders.

The title eliminator pull out leaves Mike in a tough spot with others ahead of him scheduled to fight. It'll be interesting to see how Mr. Silva handles him. An opponent that could be scheduled would be Matt Hughes, but with no specifics on Swick's injury, I'm just throwing darts.

No. 4 Dan Hardy

The Brit seemly built without a mental filter, seems to be a guy on the rise in ZUFFA headquarters, 3-0 in the UFC, and winner of seven in a row.

Dan Hardy could vault himself into the title frame with a potential victory over Dong Hung Kim at UFC 105, getting the extra special Michael Bisping treatment.

No. 5 Thiago Alves

The Pit bull looked more like Charlie Brown than an actual opponent to GSP at UFC 100. try as he might, and as often as he got back to his feet his short stature finally caught up with him.

He's scheduled to fight Paulo Thiago at UFC 107 in December. A win there and he'd still be a ways out of the title picture.

No. 6 Karo Parisiyan

The outspoken Hollywood native, has lived on his meandering, in your face Judo game to throw around fighters in the UFC for quite a while now, amassing a 8-3 record.

The highly marketable Parisiyan has a catalog of high quality fights. A victory against highly thought of prospect Dustin Hazlett would definitely add himself to the list of rematch fodder if all else fails.

Putting myself in Joe Silva's tiny, tiny shoes

Georges has stated that with his groin injury suffered at UFC 100, and the fact that he's in need of a prolonged rest, I'm targeting UFC 112, most likely in February or March, would be the likely landing spot for my Welterweight champion.

This is a big deal as it removes Swick and Alves from proceedings. No venue has reached my ears yet, so keep that in mind. If 112 is in England, for example, that means Dan Hardy immediately becomes first choice for example, and likewise if the UFC goes to Europe for Kampmann.

Most likely though I'd have some say in the process. So I'm not worried about playing to the crowd at this date.

Right now, I'd probably be planning for Jon Fitch to be my new No. 1 contender, despite being throttled by GSP at 87, that was over year ago, and while I don't have the slightest inclinations that it will have a better outcome for Fitch, or the fact it'll be an overly exciting fight.

Fitch's only loss in the UFC has been to the current champion. In the absence of any better options, he deserves his rematch.

So I'd phone him, and ZUFFA offices and tell them to sell the fight accordingly.

Should that not go as planned (as nothing seems to these days), then Matt Hughes would again have to play king maker.

If Swick goes down in flames as well, then I'd have no choice but to move St Pierre to a summer date with Anderson Silva.

Selling a Kampmann fight would be impossible in this situation, and barring a trip to England in the cards, in this area, Dan Hardy is totally unmarketable.

In my opinion, this is the only reasonable way of handling it. Is it perfect? No. But with the state the division is in at current it just makes the most sense. And that's the best you can hope for right now.

NFL Fans...You Make Me Sick

Ken Foss — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 13:35:05 -0400

Monday, Aug. 31, 2009, we found out how much of a liar all you suckers are.

For two years I sat by and believed you guys were equally fed up with ESPN's Brett Favre watch, only to find out the truth today when the numbers were released for Monday Night Football.

Brett Fav...I mean the Minnesota Vikings vs. the Houston Texans drew a 6.0 rating, shattering the previous record for a preseason game on the network.

You've got nowhere to hide.

No other reason to watch that game other than to indulge yourself in the never-ending story of if/when Brett Favre is going to mean it when he retires. It's not like Matt Schaub pulled a 6.0.

Save the, "well the media tells me what to do," garbage. You picked up the clicker, you surfed the channels, and you said Brett Favre or repeats of How I Met Your Mother, and you picked Brett Favre.

So I want you to remember every time you fill Mike and Mike's or Colin Cowturd's mailbag with your Brett Favre (fake) hate. Think of that moment, you lying sacks of turd.

If you really don't want to see Brett Favre on SportsCenter, or see T.O and Chad Johnson have television shows, its really easy. Turn it off.

But now we have to face the cold hard truth America...You eat this up. Every time Mississippi is brought up you secretly hope he's untiring or retiring.

You watched the game last night hoping he would limp off in the second quarter, give an interview to Rachel Nichols, and retire again only to unretire again at the start of the third.

So pffft. I spit on you lying sacks of turd. Each and every million of you.

Todd Duffee in the Fast Lane, but Is That Wise?

Ken Foss — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:05:33 -0400

I remember while I was making my picks that Todd Duffee vs. Tim Hague was a catch fight (in my lexicon that means I had to think about it for a while).

Todd Duffee was the up-and-comer who just straight put it on Assuerio Silva on short notice in Silva's backyard. Tim Hague was the Canadian teacher who could absorb punishment and somehow pull fights out of his backside.

The question was if Hague could absorb punishment then in the third find his notorious second wind and out heart Duffee?

Well...put that fight on the list of things I wish I could have seen at UFC 102, after Hague's "unorthodox" style finally caught up with him in a big way.

Now, Duffee has asked to be put on the Brock Lesnar fast track to super-stardom.

When I heard this I thought it was a good idea, as the UFC always seems to find itself with a shortage of heavyweights. (It wasn't that long ago that the late Justin Eilers fought for the title.)

Now that I've looked at the numbers, I have to think that Todd Duffee may want to slow his roll. Here's the list of fighters that I think have been "put on the fast track."

Paulo Thiago (L Jon Fitch)
Brock Lesnar (L Frank Mir)
GSP (L Matt Hughes)
Frank Mir (L Ian Freeman he was supposed to get a title shot following the mopping of the floor with Freeman)
Jake O'Brien (lost three of last four since beating Heath Herring)
Martin Kampmann (TBD doesn't look good)
Anderson Silva (W Rich Franklin)

As you can see, it can be pretty hit or miss. Sure, four former or current UFC champions are on that list, but in their first "fast track fight" they could only muster a single win in six attempts. It doesn't exactly pay to rush a developing young fighter up the ladder.

Todd Duffee should be excited; he should think he's going to be the next big thing. Dana White and Joe Silva need to be the ones to rein the big man back in.

Two more fights against Pat Berry or Antoni Hardonk aren't going to hurt his upward momentum at all. In fact, it gives the UFC time to sort out the log jam of current UFC contenders.

So I know his tuna melt fund might still be a little shallow, but in the interest of his short-term success it may be wise if he looks to get at least a few more fights under his belt, rather than a small amount of top tier fights with guys like Gabriel Gonzaga or Cain Velasquez.

But all of this is moot. Dana White greenlit the idea, if a little tepidly, at the post event presser.

So I hope you're ready for the spotlight, Todd. Just know the numbers are against you.

To Finish or Not To Finish: That Is The Question

Ken Foss — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 10:21:48 -0400

The more toward the mainstream we drift, the closer people examine the "brutality" of the sport; words like human cockfighting, and bloodsport are tossed around like grains of sand on a well populated beach.

While the majority of watchers cringe when they see Chris Leben get choked out cold, flailing uncontrollably, or see a totally clueless Damien Maia sit up with his eyes in the back of his head, it's important to remember in the sport's short history, it has a spotless safety record.

Our only attributable death is credited to the barbaric Tough Man series, and the only case of life altering injury I can find is a young prospect whose head was trapped during a takedown.

It can be reasonably argued MMA is the safest professional contact sport currently played in North America. To see what I mean look up heat stroke studies for Football and Soccer, the majority of those people who have died are children.

What we battle isn't facts, we have those on our side—What we battle is our past, and the all important first impression.

Chris Leben wasn't worried about his life when he woke up, he was worried about the mistakes that he made that could have ended his UFC career.

When we show someone a clip of Cyborg vs. Carano, they don't understand what intelligent defense is, they don't understand that boxing deaths are almost entirely attributed to SCI's (Second Concussive Injuries) all they can make heads or tails of is the impact of the punches as they fall.

They don't understand that the most brutal thing you can do is stop the fight for 10 seconds (just enough time to pull your senses together long enough to fool the ref) and restart the fight with a shark of an opponent waiting to take his/her head off again, and again, and again: That's truly brutal.

The cure is education, and time. Not censorship...

Which brings us to Maia vs. Marquardt.

It's inarguable that Damien Maia could not intelligently defend himself after the vicious right hook he landed in hindsight.

Live all I saw was Maia rolling to pull guard, Nate Marquardt wouldn't have known. He was half way to his corner, by the time the fight was stopped.

Some hail this as a step forward in MMA's growth, because it shows sportsmanship. While sportsmanship is essential to the growth of mixed martial arts, (see Sell vs. Smith, or Varner vs. Cerrone) it has almost no place in this discussion.

This was just a fighter holding back, either in arrogance of his own punching power, or more likely circuming to the fallout of Henderson vs. Bisping mere weeks ago.

In that fight, Dan Henderson dropped a diving forearm to an obviously unconscious Bisping. In the post fight he called the punch "payback" and it set off a firestorm of media distaste.

Dan Henderson did nothing illegal that night.

In football your told to play through the whistle. In this circumstance it makes perfect sense. What happens if Maia wasn't out? And as Marquardt stands over him he gets subbed via kneebar...

How much of a sport are you then?

In this sport its been proven up to this point a few extra punches to a downed opponent isn't going to damage a fighter, in any way other than superficially.

What you could really be doing is allowing your opponent time to recover.

So why take the risk?

15 Things I Noticed During UFC 102: Nogueira Vs. Couture

Ken Foss — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 06:49:42 -0400

A rowdy, and educated (if light in number) crowd at the Rose Garden got to see another chapter in "Better Late Than Never You Little F@$$*ts, The Trials and Tribulations of Dana White."

And while not fight of the year, it was a surprisingly fun night of fights capped by an extremely competitive main event.

1. Saturday, Bloody Saturday.

In my preview article I highlighted some fights that could end UFC careers while a lot of them where avoided, I can see a pink slip heading out to Marcus Aurelio, Nick Catone, Chris Leben, and the Nsane 1, with Keith Jardine in serious jepordy.

2. Tim Hague's superman impression.

Tim. Buddy. Pal. A superman punch isn't when you dive at your opponents with your arms down, and eat a straight left, yeah... Can't strike, nor has any grappling credentials, I'm telling ya, next signing Ruben Vilareal.

3. Todd Duffee sets record, sort of.

An honor worthy of acknowledgement, Todd Duffee's seven second throttling of Tim Hague officially goes down as the fastest knockout in UFC history...

Duane Ludwig however ended his controversial bout with Johnathan Goullet at UFN 3 in just four seconds. However do to poor time keeping and unfortunate refereeing its in the books at 12 seconds

With correction duty out of the way Todd Duffee makes an impressive statement versus a bottom tier UFC heavyweight, signaling good things for the 24 year old's future prospects in the cage.

4. Bad News TUF fans....

If Chris Tuchscherer is "way to good" for TUF 10, then prepare for the worst season of TUF since 9, or 8, or 7, or 6, or 5. I hope I'm being clear here.

5. Gonzaga the gatekeeper

Gabriel Gonzaga is a heavyweight who isn't overly terrible, and is the perfect fighter to flesh out the multitude of Heavyweight prospects the UFC now finds itself with: Duffee, Stuve, Dos Santos, Velasquez, etc.

He has holes, but only a top 5-10 UFC HW is going to find them.

6. There's tough, then there's stupid...

Eddy, nobody questions your toughness, but that right there is why you don't answer the bell with a blown out knee, you tend to hurt those things worse and 2-3 month become 6-18 month injuries, theres no shame in having to tap due to injury.

7. The Truth Hurts... Eventually, over time, possibly.

While Brandon Vera is a good technical fighter, your not going to get out of purgatory in the UFC's 205lb division if you can't finish guys. You've got to close the deal.

In the UFC all people care about are stoppages, or wars, that was a snooze fest, and I don't care how many people you beat in a row you've got to go in for the kill at some point, especially considering how you had your way with him the whole fight.

Even Lyoto Machida has Rashad Evans and Thiago Silva in the piggy bank.

8. Silva vs. Vera, who's with me?

Brandon Vera disposed of The Polish Experiment, and Silva, might have bounced the Dean of Mean onto the unemployment line. Who wouldn't want to see a real LHW title eliminator, Vera hasn't really been pushed in any of his fights lately, and Silva has proved that he's no threat to Machida, it'd be a good fight i'd feel.

9. Ugh....

Damn you Damien Maia. Why did you have to go and expose that soft chin of yours now. Now you've left us with two rematches I couldn't care any less about. Listen I love Dan Henderson and Nate Marquardt, but neither are any threat to Anderson Silva.

I'm hoping to see Anderson Silva stay at LHW or fight Yushin Okami, everything else is a yawn as far as I'm concerned.

10. "Spritz" on that Leben.

In a night full of put up or shut up bouts, Chris Leben sure did enough to shove himself out the door, first he got out struck by a poor striker, then he got bossed on the ground for the majority of the fight, before getting choked out cold.

And that sound you heard wasn't Leben legs smacking the canvas it was the Team Takedown bandwagon filling up again.

11. Thiago Slays

In the battle of who had the weakest chin, Keith Jardine came up on the short end of the stick getting laid out in Wanderlei Silva fashion.

Where Jardine goes from here is a good question, I see an UFN in his future.

12. You Stay Classy Portland!

Never have I heard a crowd cheer when someone stuffs an arm triangle attempt, hell they caught it before I did for heavens stakes.

For as difficult as it was to fill the building, they defenitally did enough during the telecast to deserve a second shot when the economy turns around.

13. Hey them old guys still got it.

I'll be honest, I feared snooze fest for most of the week in run up to the event, color me a shady of pleasantly surprised. Those two old guys went to war, and the better fighter won. No shady decisions, just good clean fighting everywhere and anywhere in that fight.

14. Thoughts of his demise are greatly exaggerated.

Lets face it Nog has been through a great number of wars, but at 33, he proved last night that if he's fighting at 240, not 255, and he's not sick he's a vastly different fighter.

Sorry Frank Mir, I need that binky back.

Last One. What's next for Randy Couture?

With this loss Randy Couture falls to a career 16-10 lifetime, and is nowhere near the title picture in the division, after signing a six fight extension look for him to blood in some prospects for the final 2-3 fights of his UFC run, Couture vs. Jon Jones in a move down. Couture vs. dos Santos or Velasquez at HW all possible.

UFC 102: Do Or Die Fight Previews

Ken Foss — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 09:22:31 -0400

In MMA let's face it: the UFC is the sun, and everybody else is just a celestial body orbiting it. If your a fighter nobodies going to pay you more, get you more exposure and build your name value.

For all the negatives that routinely get passed around, this is the unfortunate truth. As far as Strikeforce has come, this isn't boxing, you don't control the world by owning rights to the number one heavyweight.

This means that at UFC 102 later tonight with a good amount of last chance fights on the card a lot of peoples careers as far as the casual fan is concerned will come to an end.

Let's preview them shall we.

Marcus Aurelio vs. Evan Dunham

Consistently inconsistent Marcus Aurelio is on fill-in role duty coming off his two wins on the independent scene, he faces an obvious win and stay situation. That being said the 36yr old is being fed to a prospect here.

Even if Aurelio at this point in time is a better fighter, he'll fittingly lose a split decision, and be sent packing once again.

Nick Catone vs. Mark Muñoz

While Mark Munoz spent the majority of the time in the run up to this fight looking for his head which was brutally launched somewhere into the rafters of Nationwide Arena, Nick Catone was busy falling into a Tim Creduer guillotine.

This is about as classic a loser leaves town situation as it gets.

Look for Nick Catone to stuff his opponents takedowns en route to getting sweet revenge with a guillotine choke of his own, sending Munoz packing.

Justin McCully vs. Mike Russow

Everyones favorite "badass" Justin McCully looks to keep himself in the UFC, by defeating Adrenaline MMA veteran, and off duty police officer Mike Russow.

This right here is confirmation of how sad and pathetic the UFC Heavyweight division is. The fact that a man can work his way into an organization such as the UFC by defeating Jason Guida, and Braden Bice is just hilarious.

Needless to say I have Justin McCully living to be keylocked from mount another day.

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Chris Tuchscherer

Napao is in real trouble of being a Strikeforce fighter if he doesn't take care of buisness against YAMMA: Pit Fighting, and Dakota Fighting Championships standout Chris Tuchscherer.

While the Division-II All-American will hold a sizable wrestling advantage, Gonzaga is a threat to finish him both vertically and horizontally, his best tact maybe to push Gonzaga up against the fence and grind out a result.

I just can't see Gabriel being bullied like that for long, baring Randy Couture comes out of the crowd and hitting him with a steel chair or something.

I've got Napao rocking the human eye chart sometime in the second and finishing the fight with some dominating GnP.

Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt

Another loser leaves town fight has Chris Leben finishing off the mystique of the once media darling Rosholt.

This isn't really a fight anybody should have to be subjected to on PPV, but you will. Joe Rogan will slurp him up some Chris Leben tonight as he easily rear naked chokes the overmatched Jake Rosholt.

Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva

From Co-Main Event to out the door, is the scenario Keith Jardine in my opinion faces, a loss tonight would be the final nail in his bid of being a totally mediocre LHW, and the UFC doesn't do mediocre in the LHW division.

He maybe able to save himself if he loses by announcing a move up or down in weight class, but I don't see him making said move.

From what we have on these fighters I'm giving an edge to Thiago Silva, we all know both of these fighters have mediocre chins and Silva's power will more then expose that. If Jardine takes it to the ground this fight maybe a total unknown, as Jardine's never really been on the ground at any point in his career.

I have Silva winning this fight by way of decision.