UFC vs. Boxing

UFC vs. Boxing

UFC vs. Boxing is a debate that many combat sports enthusiasts always debate! The UFC aficionados say that the UFC has surpassed Boxing in entertainment value and offers a lot more in their pay-per-view card. On the contrary, the Boxing fans say that UFC are a bunch of uneducated "street-fighters" that really have no technical ability compared to boxers. These views of the UFC are most prevalent in the world-class promoter of Top Rank, Bob Arum. However, the UFC President, Dana White, has been on record multiple times saying he has nothing against boxing and is a big fan. He has attended many boxing events but has stated that boxing only puts out 2 or 3 major fights in a calendar year with the undercard not being entertainment. Boxing has a legendary/historic story that goes back to the basis of combat sports, whereas UFC is a such a young sport with a history that is still in their teenage years of existence. Come Saturday, November 12, 2011, the two sports will collide once again but this time, a lot more is at stake for both events.

UFC Broadcast Partner

UFC will be on network television for the first time in the promotions history. UFC confirmed that on the Fox network, they will only show one fight but the one fight is of mammoth proportions. The number 1 contender, Junior Dos Santos, will be looking to take the belt away from current UFC Heavyweight Champion, Cain Velasquez. Cain Velasquez has not fight in over a year due to a shoulder injury suffered from previous bout that needed to be surgically repaired. Whereas, Junior Dos Santos has had a few bouts before but most recent was his destruction of the behemoth known as Shane Carwin in Vancouver. Both fighters are strikers but Junior Dos Santos is more of a boxer based while Cain is more muy-thai based. One advantage, pundits, experts and fans alike always point out to Cain's wrestling background and superb Cardio, which has been the achilles heel of many heavyweights. What these people forget that Junior Dos Santos has world class Jui-Jitsu and from his recent bout with Shane Carwin, his wrestling is above average. For having only one fight on network TV, UFC is definitely giving the fans a gargantuan size bout that as Dana White has said "can go 15 seconds to 25 minutes...nonetheless, it will be an explosive match."

Juan Manuel Marquez vs Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao

The UFC will be free for everyone to watch but the boxing will not. The boxing will be televised on pay-per-view between Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez. This will be the third time, these two legendary boxers will meet in the ring for the WBO Welterweight Championship Belt that Manny currently holds. The first two fights ended in undesirable results for Marquez, since the 1st ended in a draw and the 2nd ended in Manny being the victor, in which many believed Marquez won the fight. They first fought in 2004 then they fought again 2008 and now they will settle their feud in 2011 in the Welterweight Division. Since both fighter have been fighting each other since 2004, the bouts have gone from being only professional to personal since both fighters believe they won the fights, and now they have one more chance of redemption. This time around, Marquez "properly" gained the weight and strength to compete with the heavier opponent. The last time, he went up in weight, he was dismantled by a technical Floyd Mayweather. Will Marquez come even close to the blinding-speed of Manny Pacquiao? To say this fight isn't personal, both camps have been on record saying: Manny Pacquiao has said that he will knock out Marquez and Marquez, as well as his trainer said that they know Manny well enough to deter the Floyd Mayweather mega bout that many speculate will happen on May 5, 2012. 

UFC vs. Boxing on November 12, 2011 is what a combat sports aficionado dreams. Not only will Boxing and UFC be shown but the main event bouts have so much implications in both sports. Both fights are for a major world title as well as a major payout in future match-ups that will only create exciting bouts for the fans. Furthermore, the implications for the UFC is being accepted as part of mainstream sports and media. For boxing, it is whether or not, Manny will come out victorious and fight Floyd Mayweather. Dana White stated in one of his recent Vlogs that the Manny Pacquiao vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout will not be missed, if one were to choose to watch the UFC on Fox. As with most boxing cards, the undercards are not entertaining only if one is a true boxing fan, so watching the UFC on Fox is a good addition to the main event that everyone especially Mexicans and Filipinos will be waiting to watch. Will you being watching the UFC on Fox and miss the boxing undercard, or will you be strictly watching the boxing event?

UFC 137 - Penn Vs. Diaz

October 29, 2011 was the day that Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) fans were waiting sometime to see! A few months ago, Dana White, UFC President, announced that Nick Diaz would fight George St. Pierre for the UFC Welterweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on this day. In order to compliment such a stellar main-event, Dana White added another great fight to be the co-main event of the UFC 137 card - B.J Penn vs. Carlos Condit. Dana White has said on record several times, "if only Nick Diaz would play the game just a little he'd get his shot" at stardom. What Dana meant by that statement is; he will get his UFC Title Shot, only if Nick Diaz would do all the press and attend all the press conferences/telephone calls and other PR events that would promote the fight; hence, the "if only."

L to R: Nick Diaz and Dana White

Then come a month or so before UFC 137, Nick Diaz failed "to play the game just a little" by not attending a press conference; and like Dana White stated clearly - "if only he would play the game a little, he would get his title shot", in which he didn't so Nick Diaz was pulled from the main event against Georges St. Pierre (GSP). Many fans then wondered, who would replace Nick Diaz and give GSP an exciting fight? Dana White answered the question by promoting Carlos Condit to the main event. Then the fans wondered again, what about B.J Penn's opponent? Once again, Dana White answered the call by demoting Nick Diaz to co-main event to fight his 'friend' Nick Diaz. So the UFC 137 Main event is GSP vs. Carlos Condit and the co-main event is B.J Penn vs. Nick Diaz until a few weeks before UFC 137 on October 29, 2011.

UFC 137 had yet another change to its card, when GSP opted out of the event with an injury he sustained during training. So now the question that was asked throughout MMA was - who will Carlos Condit fight? Many people were speculating that John Fitch would fill in the void but that never transpired. Carlos Condit had the option to still fight on the card or wait till GSP heals and fight him then. Carlos opted to wait to fight GSP, so then many asked who will fight in the main event of UFC 137? As always, Dana answered the question by promoting the co-main event of Nick Diaz vs. B.J Penn to the main-event slot and Mirko "Cro Cop" vs. Roy Nelson as co-main event. The main event at UFC 137 was shuffled more times than a deck of cards at a casino; however, after all the setbacks the card has been set in motion for October 29, 2011

B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz

Both, Nick Diaz and B.J Penn, are familiar with each other; so much so, that they call each other friends. B.J brought in Nick to train for his fight against Kenny Florian. Even years before this, Nick Diaz has said that he posters of B.J on his wall, when he was going up in the ranks as an amateur cage fighter. So one can imagine the difficulty in creating this match-up. In order for this fight to happen, both fighters talked about it and agreed that it was beneficial for their careers, so the fight was signed and set for UFC 137.

Nick Diaz is known not to fight but to 'scrap.' He belongs to a group of cage fighters known as the 'Scrap Pack' which includes Jake Shield, his brother Nate, Gilbert Melendez and a few others. His fighting style is extremely high pace due to his very high endurance (Nick does triathlons, when he doesn't train) and high punch count. In addition, he has world class Ju-Jitsu under Cesar Gracie. As for, B.J, he too has world class Ju-Jitsu which he learned under Ralph Gracie. B.J is considered to have the best boxing in MMA by many experts and pundits but what people fail to realize that Nick Diaz also has great boxing because he trains his boxing with Olympic Gold Medalist, Andre Ward. In addition, B.J goes by the motto of 'Just Scrap' which is similar to that of Nick Diaz. The only difference between both fighters is the reach advantage and the endurance levels that Nick Diaz has over B.J; all other qualities, both are equal. With everything said and done, this main event will be a very exciting one, in which both fighters will go in the cage and 'scrap it out.' Which fighter has more 'scrap' in them? The bad boy from the "scrap pack", Nick Diaz or will it be B.J living up to his motto of 'Just Scrap?'

Here is the full UFC 137 card:

Pay Per View:

Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn

Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione

Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Roy Nelson

Hatsu Hioki vs. George Roop

Jeff Curran vs. Scott Jorgensen

Spike TV:

Donald Cerrone vs. Dennis Siver

Tyson Griffin vs. Bart Palaszewski

Facebok stream:

Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera

Danny Downes vs. Ramsey Nijem

Chris Camozzi vs. Francis Carmont

Dustin Jacoby vs. Clifford Starks

UFC RIO (UFC 134) Silva vs. Okami

Rio De Janeiro

Bem-vindo a todos ao Rio De Janeiro, Brasil (Welcome everybody to Rio De Janeiro, Brazil)!!! This will be the first time in 13 years since the Ultimate Fighting Championships (UFC) held an event in Brazil; the last one was Ultimate Brazil in 1998. Many fans and 'experts' within the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community consider this the birthplace of MMA with the likes of Vale Tudo (anything goes) tournaments; tracing it back the historic and legendary Gracie family, the pioneers of Gracie (Brazilian) Jui-Jitsu. The fighter that spearheaded the campaign to prove that size and strength can be trumped by an "undersized" fighter with extraordinary technique and showcase a new fighting style that would eventually be extremely vital to MMA, was Royce Gracie. He is the son & nephew of the originators - Helio & Carlos Gracie - of this new style that many people outside of Brazil & Japan (JuJutsu) weren't aware until Royce won UFC 1, 2 & 4 with his Brazilian Jui-Jitsu. A lot has changed since the early days of the UFC but one thing that has not is that fact that Brazil is a country where MMA is popular among its citizens and many champions call it home such as Anderson Silva, Vitor Belfort, Pedro Rizzo, The Gracie Family, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Marco Ruas, and the list goes on and on and on...Now that the UFC is back in Brazil, how will the fight card look like? Will it exceed the fight card and live up to the hype from Ultimate Brazil? Lets take a look:

UFC 134 Headlines

UFC 134 aka as UFC Rio will take place on August 27, 2010 on Pay-Per-View in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil at the HSBC Arena. The main event will be Anderson Silva vs. Yushin Okami. According to UFC President Dana White: Yushin Okami is the best fighter ever to come out of Japan and Anderson Silva is the greatest fighter ever in MMA. So what kind of main event can the fans expect to see if two fighters are proclaimed to be the best and greatest fighter in their respective country and sport? This will not be the first time Anderson has fought Yushin; they fought in Hawai'i at the Rumble on the Rock 8 in the opening round in 2006. Although Yushin has the win in his record column, everyone who saw the fight live or on YouTube knows very well that Anderson was dominating the whole fight but due to an illegal upkick by Anderson (which by the way knocked out Yushin), he was disqualified. Since 2006, Anderson has not lost a fight in the UFC (13 victories & 8 title defenses); along the way, he has had some remarkable knock outs and an incredible come from behind victory against his stiffest opponent Chael Sonnen at UFC 117. Hence, the adoration from UFC President declaring him the greatest fighter to ever participate in the UFC. However, the one loss that has been haunting Anderson since it has happened was the disqualification against Yushin, but now that the opportunity is a mere days ahead, Anderson must be salivating at the chance of redemption. Will Anderson Silva prove to the world that the loss to Yushin was a fluke or will Yushin prove that he can beat Anderson and do by decision, submission or KO?

As for the co-main event, it will be another rematch between Forrest Griffin and Mauricio "Shogun" Rua from UFC 76. Forrest Griffin was a big underdog in this fight but pulled a submission victory over the favorite & at the time #1 light-heavyweight in the world, in the daunting minutes and as a result, won submission of the night honors. It was later revealed that Mauricio had torn ligaments in his knee which caused him to not be that super-aggressive fighter that everyone around the world became accustomed to seeing. However, Mauricio still opted to fight, in order to earn a paycheck and support his family. Fast forward 4 years later, when they will meet again but this time Mauricio has stated that he is 100% healthy and prepared to take on the man that caused many fans and 'experts' within the MMA community to question whether Mauricio is the Mauricio that warranted the #1 light-heavyweight fighter in the world. Just like his fellow Brasileiro (Brazilian) Anderson Silva, Mauricio will be wanting to redeem his lost to a fighter that most people thought shouldn't have won that fight and bring the pride back to his home country of Brazil with a victory over Forrest. One thing fans know about watching Forrest Griffin is that he does not lay-over for anyone, so Mauricio will have to bring his best to defeat him, anything less will be asking history to repeat itself.

UFC Rio (UFC 134)

Another notable fight worth mentioning is between Brendan Schaub vs. "Big Nog" Antonio Nogueira. The last time "Big Nog" fought was a year ago against the-now heavyweight champion Cain Velasquez at UFC 110, in which he lost via knockout by punches. Just like his fellow brethren, he will be coming into this fight with a lot of motivation since he will have Brazil on his back and probably will give it his all to make his home-country proud. "Big Nog" will be fighting a very dangerous American fighter, Brendan Schaub, that is nicknamed the "Hybrid" for his unheralded agility, speed, and power at the heavyweight division. Brendan has come out victorious in his last 2 fights between Mirko "Cro-Cop" Filipovic & Gabriel "Napao" Gonzago. Brendan will be entering UFC Rio with hopes in ruining "Big Nog's" homecoming with a victory of his own and then telling the Brazilian fans in attendance "perdao, mas eu tinha que ganhar (sorry but I had to win)."


Other fights in the main card include: Ross Pearson vs. Edson Barboza and Luiz Cane vs. Stanislav Nedkov. The preliminary fights to be aired on Spike TV are: Thiago Tavares vs. Spencer Fisher and Rousimar Palhares vs. Dan Miller. Lastly, the fights to be aired on Facebook are:   Paulo Thiago vs. David Mitchell, Raphael Assuncao vs. Johnny Eduardo, Erick Silva vs. Luis Ramos, Yuri Alcantars vs. Felipe Arantes, and Yves Jabouin vs. Ian Loveland. 


Will Anderson Silva, Mauricio Rua, Antonio Nogueira, Edson Barboza, Luiz Cane, Thiago Tavares, Rousimar Palhares, Paulo Thiago, and Raphael Assuncao make Brazil proud or will their opponents rain on their parade? Veremos no sabado Agosto 27, 2011 (We will see August 27, 2011)!!

UFC 133: Evans Vs. Ortiz

UFC 133: Evans vs. Ortiz

For those that are telling themselves – “this fight again!” They are referencing the fight that Rashad Evans vs. Tito Ortiz had at UFC 73: Stacked, in Sacramento, California on July 7, 2007, where the fight had a debatable outcome. Many people within the MMA community find this bout debatable, just for the fact that it wouldn’t have been a draw if Ortiz did not get a one point deduction for grabbing the fence to prevent a takedown. On the other hand, many fans especially of Rashad Evans say he won it because he dominated Ortiz the whole bout especially the third round. However the judges did not see it as a win for either fighter so they declared the outcome a draw. During 2007, Tito Ortiz was seen as a big name that can carry a pay-per-view headline slot whereas Rashad Evans was an up-and-comer to the UFC ranks that was trying to reach the heights that Tito Ortiz was occupying. Many fans stated their case as to why these two should fight again but their pleas were not heard by UFC matchmaker, Joe Silva or UFC President, Dana White until now. It took four years to heed the call of the fans for a rematch between Tito “Huntington Beach Bad Bay” Ortiz and Rashad “Suga” Evans. For the MMA faithful, they know how this rematch came about but for those who do not, here’s how it happened.

UFC 73 - Ortiz vs. Evans ending in a draw

After rehabilitating his injured knee, Rashad was to fight newly crowned light-heavyweight champion Jon “Bones” Jones for the title but he pulled out due to injury, as a result, Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis (an up-and-comer D-1 National Wrestling Champion) was to replace the injured Jones but he too suffered an injury in training camp, which caused him to pull out. Now with Rashad Evans next bout in limbo, the UFC was trying to find a suitable replacement to headline UFC 133, and since Tito Ortiz in UFC 132 defeated Ryan Bader (a top ten contender in the light-heavyweight division) in a dominating fashion, which by the way has to be one of the biggest upsets in recent memory, the UFC asked him to fill in the slot. However, Tito felt like the time wasn’t right so he rejected the offer, so what was the UFC to do? Should they just tell Rashad, “Sorry Suga, but you have no one to fight?” Absolutely not, Dana White always finds a way to please the UFC fans so he asked Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida to step in and initially the answer was yes but due to other factors involved, the bout between Rashad and Lyoto (which would be a rematch of the UFC 98: Evans vs. Machida, where Lyoto KO’d Rashad for the light-heavyweight belt, in which Lyoto made Rashad look like a fish out of water, according to “Rampage” Jackson) did not transpire. Out of nowhere, Tito changed his mind and accepted the offer to fight the man; he did not beat nor lost to.

Now that UFC 133 card is finally in motion and ready to take place on August 6, 2011 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Rashad Evans has an opponent in Tito Ortiz, how will the main event compare their previous fight? One thing is for sure, this bout will not be a “UFC 73 re-run” and someone will be defeated. Also, people will pay attention because of the name recognitions of both fighters as oppose to before, it was only Tito Ortiz.  Both fighters have said that they are not the same fighter than and will impose their will on each other, but according to oddsmakers, Rashad is the heavy favorite to impose his will and win. Reasons can be attributed to Tito Ortiz not winning a fight in five years until he upset Ryan Bader in UFC 132. On the other hand, Rashad hasn’t fought since UFC 114 when he beat “Rampage” Jackson, which is over a year ago, and many MMA fans know that “ring-rust” can play a huge factor in how a fighter performs on his return fight. Also, the MMA community knows that odds are odds and in MMA anything can happen, but for Tito to overcome a hungry Rashad Evans will be an uphill battle, but that’s the beauty of MMA because anyone can be defeated, just ask Ryan Bader.

The fight leading up to the rematch of Ortiz vs. Evans is a fight that will probably be fight of the night; the fight is between Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama. Both fighters do not give up and will the fans everything they have in their body. Both are storied strikers that prefer to keep the fight standing and exchange hits. To put it in perspective, Yoshihiro has said that he will take a few hits to land his hits, if this does not paint a vivid picture of how this fighter likes to engage his opponents that there is nothing one can say other than watch him fight. As for Vitor, he has arguably the best boxing in MMA, so that being said; this fight will give the fans a treat that should not be missed. Other fights on the main card are: Brian Ebersole vs. Dennis Hallman, Jorge Rivera vs. Costantinos Phillippou, and Mike Pyle vs. Rory MacDonald. The preliminary fights are worth watching because it includes top-prospect Chad Mendes fighting Rani Yahya and Matt Hamill against Alexander Gustafsson. UFC 133 was plagued by injuries from many notable fighters and in some cases, other fighters rejected to fight their replacement because he wasn’t a big name, but as everyone knows; the show must go on and how will the event turn out, only August 6, 2011 will tell if Tito is really back!! 

Takeru Kobayashi and Fedor Emelianenko

Legends In Their Respective Sport

(Wiping the eyes as if you have just woken up from a deep slumber and seeing this blog title but can’t seem to put two and two together!)

Takeru Kobayashi and Fedor Emelianenko, although complete polar opposite like oil and water, have many common threads between them. For starters, they compete in sports that are relatively young and controversial to the masses. Kobayashi’s sport is called Competitive Eating while Fedor’s sport is called Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). Both are from countries that are neighbors – Japan to the South of Russia and Russia to the north of Japan, something like the United States of America and Canada to a certain extent. Both became household names in their respective sports through the countless victories among their fellow competitors. Consequently, they garnered such a fan base for their abilities to utterly dominate in their sport.  Both athletes became such a force in their sport that they created a cloak of invincibility that people thought would never be unveiled.

Fedor started his legendary rise up the MMA ranks in the land of Kobayashi’s birth, Japan, with the Pride Organization. The manner that Fedor would defeat his opponents was something that wasn’t seen during that era of the sport - something similar to a Rottweiler involved in an altercation with a Chihuahua. Same can be said about Kobayashi and the manner he decimated his competition. Kobayashi’s rise to stardom happened in the United States of America when he was Nathan’s Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest Champion from 2001 till 2006. During this time, he even developed his own eating technique called the “Kobayashi Shake” so he can make room from more food. As a result, he would annihilate the competition by 10 hot dogs/hamburgers or more.  Through their achievements and success, both Fedor and Kobayashi became legends in their young sports. One can say they became a product of their success or not but one thing is for sure, they soon were shown that they are merely mortals.

In 2007, the whole competitive eating world was stunned by an up and coming competitor named Joey Chestnut. He defeated Kobayashi in a contest that Kobayashi had ruled for 5 straight years at the Nathan’s Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest. The major upset had many experts and fans alike dumbfounded by the fact that the legend had fallen by another human, something that was unfathomable. Fast forward 3 years later to another legend in his sport and the same result occurred that happened to Kobayashi. Fedor Emelianenko was fighting Fabricio Werdum, a fight many experts and fans alike thought would be “an easy fight” for Fedor but on the contrary; the fight ended in no more than 2 minutes by a triangle choke…by Fabricio! Just like in 2007 with the defeat of Kobayashi, this was a huge upset that baffled the masses. The loses dealt to both legends can be said was a byproduct of the young sport evolving and becoming more competitive or can it be simply that both legends had lost a step?

What Fabricio Werdum and Joey Chestnut accomplished was a feat that many people thought was impossible. They showed the world that their cloak of invincibility was merely a façade and they too are cut from the same cloth as every human being. Fedor Emelianenko and Takeru Kobayashi are bona fide legends in their sports. They have done so much to develop and promote their sports that they should always be held in high regard. If it weren’t for both athletes, their sport would not probably be so popular among enthusiasts and the masses. One can say that Takeru Kobayashi is the Fedor Emelianenko and vice versa in their respective sport. What lies ahead for both legends only time will tell but if July 4^th, 2011 (the day Kobayashi ingested 69 hot dogs on top of a near by Manhattan rooftop near the Nathan's Annual Hot Dog Eating Contest, which broke the world record unofficially) is an indicator for things to come for Fedor; well, come fight time against Dan Henderson on July 30^th, 2011, the fans will see the rise of the Last Emperor. 

(Idea credited to a fellow peer of mine and sports enthusiast Paul Michael; Thank You)

A UFC Event That Size Didn’t Matter

UFC 132: Dominick Cruz vs Urijah Faber

What would a fight fan say to a main event that weighed-in 5lbs (2.2kgs) more than the heavyweight weight-265lbs (120kgs)- limit? Chances are that that fight fan would sneer at such a main event, especially if it was a UFC main event. UFC has thrived on putting on shows of fighters weighing in more than 200lbs (91kgs) with the likes of Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Quinton Jackson, and with their cash-cow known as Brock Lesnar.  This being said, the average fight fan that sneered at the fact a UFC main event would be two fighters that weighed in at 135lbs (61kgs) was somewhat validated, since this was the first Bantamweight main event in UFC’s young 18 year history. However, the two fighters, Urijah Faber and Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, are not to be missed because they bring elements to the UFC that are difficult to emulate by any other weight classes; they bring lightning-quick speed, a never ending gas tank (tremendous endurance), and most important, they bring the fight to their opponents. Many people seem to forget that the sole purpose of the UFC is to bring entertaining fights, no matter how much a fighter weighs. That is the reason why the likes of Wanderlei Silva and Tito Ortiz are still given opportunities because they bring entertainment value. So did the lightest UFC 132 main event hold true to its spot in the card?

The fight was by far the best main event that the UFC has had all year. The only main event in 2011 that can possibly come close to UFC 132s main event would be the Frankie Edgar vs. Grey Maynard, in terms of exciting the fans and giving them that entertainment value that the UFC adores. Describing the fight from round 1 to round 5 would not do it justice, but saying that if it was missed and if there is another one then it shouldn’t be missed. Compared to heavier main events, this main event can be described as total nonstop action. What added to the fans excitement is it was for the Bantamweight Championship Belt and the fact that both fighters did not like each other on a personal level, which made for even a more highly-contested war. In addition, both fighters had different fighting styles which made the fight that much more exciting as well. Dominick Cruz brought a fighting style that can be said is loosely based on Capoeira with his footwork and the constant swaying of the shoulders going up, down, left, right and then attacking. Urijah Faber’s fighting style is one that can simply be said as constantly moving forward at an extremely high level pace that most fighters cannot keep up with. Urijah Faber and Dominick Cruz displayed a speed, tenacity and endurance that are only seen in the lower weight classes, which is why they earned the main event slot at UFC 132 and did not disappoint. Cruz retained the Bantamweight Championship Belt via unanimous decision, which for many was not the right decision; in any event, fight was good enough to earn Fight of the Night!

The UFC 132 card was the best one of the year. Out of the seven televised fights, four of them ended with knockouts, one ended with a submission and the other two by unanimous decision. To paint an even better picture; the four knockouts occurred in the first round – the fastest KO in 27 seconds and the longest in 2:58, and the other two in between; the submission occurred in the first round in 1:56. What was surprising was the fact that the fastest KO was dealt to Wanderlei Silva by Chris Leben and the submission was dealt to Ryan Bader by Tito Ortiz. Wanderlei Silva was the favorite to win and Tito Ortiz was a 1 to 5 favorite, and none of the betting options held true. Also, Tito Ortiz acquired his first win in 5 years but what made it even more surprising was the fact that the master of the ‘ground-in-pound’ won via submission. UFC 132 showed the whole world that the lower weight classes can carry a pay-per-view main event and that size doesn’t matter. Now with the addition of the 125lbs (57kgs) division to the UFC, sky’s the limit. 

NFL & MLB Athletes Training Mixed Martial Arts

What does Baseball and American Football have in common with Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), besides the fact that they are sports? If the answer is absolutely nothing, try again. If the answer is everything, that is correct. In order for someone to get paid millions upon millions of dollars to play a kid’s sport, says a lot of the hard work of the athlete. Upon the copious amount of necessary skills that a professional athlete must possess, there are two that are the most vital to a player’s success in their respective sport. In MMA, conditioning and mental toughness are the core of the MMA fighter’s spirit, and without them, their time in the sport will be short lived. However, in order to be successful in Baseball and American Football, a player, above all, needs to have dedication and talent to have a prominent career in their respective sport. Now with MMA promotions such as the UFC/Strikeforce and Bellator gaining popularity among masses, professional athletes included, many are drawn to the many benefits. A good reason why professional athletes participate in MMA training - a monumental component of it - is to further develop their conditioning and mental toughness. After the completion of MMA training and leading to their respective season, the athletes that cross trained with MMA have had successful seasons.

Atlanta Falcons Team 

A prime example of MMA training proving successful for pro-athletes was seen in the 2010 Atlanta Falcons. Their overall record for the 2010 season was 13-3, one of their best seasons in franchise history. The whole team was introduced to MMA training prior to the 2010 season by the general manager, Thomas Dimitroff, implementing a program catered to MMA. “This was something we were comfortable with as far as conditioning but even more importantly the idea of having MMA help the players with their leverage, hand quickness, and things that could help them within the trenches taking on blocks and battling inside.” Implementing such a program proved to be an excellent idea for the organization and the fan base because the team made it to the post-season and was given the 2010 first-seed with home field advantage due to their outstanding season. A major contributor to the consistency all season long can be attributed to the mental and physical stress the players endured during training; for example, when the 4^th quarter of a highly contested game was in front of them, the players would feel fresh since MMA training made them feel as if they were there on a daily basis, and taught them to ‘push-through.’ “You get some great conditioning out of it,” Lofton has said after a workout inside the Falcons field house. “Plus, there’s a lot of carryover to what we do on the field.

Patrick Willis

Although there are many American Football players who train MMA such as Clay Mathews, Jared Allen, Mercedes Lewis, the one player that merits his own paragraph is Patrick Willis of the 5x Super Bowl Champions San Francisco 49ers.  When the name Patrick Willis is said, many people will simply refer to him as a “Beast” – a term given to anyone who performs at a higher level than their constituents in their respective craft; in this case, Patrick Willis is a “beast” in his position as Middle Linebacker. Since his inauguration into the NFL in 2007, he has been selected to the Pro-Bowl 4x, 3x NFL Linebacker of the Year, and AP Player Defensive Rookie of the Year. When he incorporated MMA training to his regime that is when Patrick Willis started to become “more human than human” and everyone started to pay him more attention. A scout stated that, "Nobody in the NFL plays their position better than Patrick Willis, and that is saying a lot." His predatory instincts and good positioning on the gridiron (American Football Field similar to a Football Pitch) goes back to his MMA training and the similarities he saw between the two sports. “I see a fight and a guy goes to grab somebody and you look at how the other guy leverages, it’s just like football,” Willis commented. “You would think a lot of times a guy that’s 250 pounds and comes in on a guy that’s 235 pounds and just de-cleat him, but if he’s got good pad leverage you’ll just ricochet off him, and that’s what happens in (MMA).”

Batter Rushing the Mound

Just like in American Football, Baseball is another sport where MMA training is flourishing for any player in different positions. “Adam Dunn of the Chicago White Sox, Brad Penny of the Detroit Tigers and Russell Martin of the Yankees have used the sport’s punches and kicks to improve their throwing and swinging.” In addition, since Baseball is known for batters rushing the pitcher especially if the batter felt it was thrown with malicious intent, the pitcher should have the confidence to defend himself from the batter. MMA fighter and coach, Dan Henderson stated “it might give Brad [Penny] a little more confidence when he’s pitching inside…And he’s prepared in case anyone rushes the mound.”

Beside the physical aspect of Baseball, each individual athlete should mentally prepare themselves for the strenuous schedule, injuries, and etc, that is the Baseball season. “In addition to improving overall fitness, Martin said, mixed martial arts can make an athlete mentally tougher.” With the long grueling season that Baseball teams are subjected to each and every year, the most important transferable skill that MMA training instills is, as what Russell Martin said, the mental toughness. Consequently, training MMA gives the player the mental capacity to overcome the injuries or days when the player isn’t feeling 100%, since they already know that nothing will compare to the training.

For those Baseball and American Football players who incorporate MMA training to their off-season workouts, will see improvements in their overall performance. Whether it shows on the stat book or in the clubhouse/sideline, the impact will be felt. Since the core of MMA training is to develop endurance and mental toughness, the benefits are usually shown at the end of the game, when most players are sluggish; but those who went through MMA training would still have their ‘fresh legs,’ meaning they will most likely be victorious. One does not like to have a liking to MMA but one does have to have respect for the training that a professional fighter endures, for that is what separates the champions from the non-champions – the training. Hence, many professional athletes participate in MMA training because they want to be champions in their respective sport. With that being said: Hard Work on 3, Hard Work on 3 - 1….2….3….HARDWORK!!

UFC 131 – Clash of Some Titans

Junior Dos Santos vs Shane Carwin

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 131 at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada will be the second consecutive event that the card has been changed because of injuries. However, UFC 130 had both main event fighters, Frankie Edgar and Grey Maynard, pull out of the card because of injuries, whereas UFC 131 only has one – Brock Lesnar. As seen from the UFC 131 poster above and the awareness of the Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) community, the original main event was going to be the culmination of the thirteenth season of the Ultimate Fighter coaches – Brock Lesnar vs. Junior “Cigano” Dos Santos- fighting or, as the famed referee “Big” John McCarthy has said many times “GET IT ON.” The UFC asked fellow heavyweight, Shane Carwin, if he would be willing to step in to fight Junior Dos Santos in the main event card; Shane willingly agreed to a dream opportunity, he once had but was stopped by his lack of conditioning (even though Brock Lesnar submitted him with an arm-triangle, it was evident that Shane was the superior fight but because of lack of condition and strategy, Brock capitalized and finished him) but now has a chance at redemption fighting in the main event at UFC 131. 


The reason why Brock Lesnar withdrew from the fight was by an opponent that no fighter can submit or knock out. Brock Lesnar did not suffer any injury in his fight preparation; rather he suffered a debilitating illness from a deadly opponent that has made Brock “tap out” (not Frank Mir) in the past called Diverticulitis. This time around, the medical condition “knocked him out cold,” in a sense that he needed to have surgery that had 12-inches of his colon removed and repaired. As a result, he withdrew from the main-event bout and was replaced by the behemoth that is Shane Carwin, whom also had surgery last year to repair back and neck issues and was on the UFC 131 card fighting promotional newcomer – Jon Olav Einemo of Norway. But like that saying goes: “One man’s joy is another man’s sorrow.” In this case, while Brock is in pain, Shane is enjoying the opportunity of a lifetime; as aforementioned, Shane has been in this position before - to be the heavyweight number-one contender and to fight the eventual Heavyweight Champion, if successful, but will his conditioning defeat him again (it’s worth mentioning that with his new nutritionist, he’s slimmed down tremendously) or will the hands of “Cigano” Dos Santos knock the conditioning out of him? The world will find out on June 10th, 2011 in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada. Also on the UFC 131 card, there are a few notable fights that are worth watching.

Rogers Center in Beautiful Vancouver

On the preliminary card shown on Facebook/YouTube and Spike TV, there a few fights that are a must see which are Michihiro Omigawa vs. Darren Elkins and Krzysztof Soszynski vs. Mike Massenzio but as fight fans that do not have access to Spike TV should watch all the “online” fights on Facebook/YouTube. The preliminary fight card shown on Spike TV is Jesse Bongfeldt vs. Chris Weidman and Sam Stout vs. Yves Edwards, which should be an entertaining pair of fights leading up to the main card on Pay-Per-View (PPV).

The main card on PPV other than the main event is above average. The bout that is preceding the main event has an interesting story. It is between Kenny Florian vs. Diego Nunes to decide who will fight Jose Aldo, reigning UFC Featherweight Champion, for the belt. It is interesting because Diego Nunes is Jose Aldo’s teammate; meaning that if Diego were to win on June 10th, 2011, then logic says that he will fight his teammate for the belt. But as the MMA community is well aware, most teammates will not fight each other except if it is Jon Jones (who was slated to fight his now former teammate Rashad Evans but pulled out because of an injury). However, Jose Aldo has stated that he will not fight Diego unless the UFC makes him an offer (monetarily speaking) that he simply cannot refuse but until then, it is a NO. Other fights that could be possible fight of night are: Mark Munoz vs. Damian Maia, Daniel Cerrone vs. Vagner Rocha and promotional newcomer, Jon Olav Einemo vs. Dave Herman. UFC 131 is scheduled for June 11th, 2011 at the Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Colombia, Canada, which will be the return of the UFC (first time was UFC 115 – Chuck Liddell vs. Rich Franklin).

Steven Seagal & The Kick That Has Mixed Martial Arts Under Siege

Steven Seagal "Epic" Front Kick

“I would like to thank a Mr. Steven Seagal for teaching me that kick”, said Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida, after their last fights that both ended with the same move, the front kick, that left their opponents looking Half Past Dead. When asked how he learned the kick, Steven Seagal responded –“I learned that in Japan 30-40 years ago; something I’ve been perfecting and I teach a variation of it, something I created.” For those who are clearing their eyes and asking themselves, did I just read that Steven Seagal, the movie star, actually knows the martial arts well enough to leave Exit Wounds on professional fighters, when taught to someone? The answer is absolutely. Before he became Steven Seagal the movie star, he was Steven Seagal, the martial art sensei (the first American born to teach martial arts in Japan). He is a 7^th dan degree and Shihan in Aikido, a martial arts discipline developed in Japan. Unbeknownst to the mixed martial arts (MMA) community, Mr. Steven Seagal would contribute immensely to MMA and have non-team Black House fighters On Deadly Ground.

Anderson Silva executing Steven Seagal "Epic" Front Kick

One can only think; with the introduction of Steven Seagal into MMA, and especially with his movie career obsolete, that he will be Out for Justice, which seems to be the case. He became involved with Team Black House-the camp that Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida represent-when Anderson Silva sent him a letter, in which according to Mr. Steven Seagal stated “Can you please teach me your deadly stuff?” After pondering, if Team Blackhouse members have the aptitude and ability to learn his deadly stuff, Steven Seagal made the Executive Decision to accept the offer. Who would have thought that the strikes that Mr. Steven Seagal would teach would give the impression to the fans that ‘his fighters’ would have Fire Down Below; and the only way to extinguish the fire, is the air that is generated from lifting the foot from the ground to the opponents chin. At first, no one believed that Steven Seagal could teach Anderson Silva such a vicious kick but two months later, it happened again to another quality opponent. Now that Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida have given credit to Mr. Steven Seagal for teaching them the front kick and will be teaching more, their next opponents should be concerned if they too are Marked for Death.

Lyoto Machida Executing the Front Kick for the 2nd Time

However, not everyone was convinced that Mr. Steven Seagal should receive all the credit for inventing a kick that has been around well before his time. Consequently, when interviewed again after the Lyoto Machida KO of Randy Couture, he said “I didn’t invent anything; I modified them in such a way that I can make my students & myself, in a real fight, land them to hurt them.” It seemed that after both fighters praised him for introducing the front kick, many people believed he was Above the Law, and the experts and fans alike took it upon themselves to bring him back to reality. It is clear that Mr. Steven Seagal is leaving his footprint (pun intended) in the MMA world with his ‘deadly stuff’, and with the moves perfectly executed, it would be Hard to Kill the fact to think otherwise. A possibility, as to why, Anderson and Lyoto have been so successful is the manner how Mr. Steven Seagal teaches it::

“This kick, the thing that's deceptive about it is that, the normal (technique) where you lift up your knee and you kick, this one I'm kind of trying to teach the guys to lead with the foot. I don’t want to say too much about it because I don't want to give it away completely to the world. It's different and it’s hard to see. It's very difficult to see coming, and that's how my guys have been successful with that."

One thing is for certain, Team Black House has found their ace in the hole and not just a Glimmer Man. 

(Idea credited to a fellow creative colleague of mine that has 20+years of athletic experience including coaching and participating at high levels of sports, JMH; Thank You) 

Find The Ultimate Fighter 13 Entertaining?

Season 13

If a company where to put its cash-cow into one of their shows, one would think that the show would be full of excitement that would leave people agape on the events that transpired.  But that isn’t the case in season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter featuring the UFC’s cash cow, Brock Lesnar and number 1 contender, Junior Dos Santos.  Since the show premiered on March 30, 2011, it has been nothing but stuporous action. The action and the interaction between the coach’s and their respective teams have been, to say the least, vapid. One would think with Brock Lesnar’s austere appearance and snide manners at the helm of this season, that the fans would see Brock’s diatribe about Junior or the team, but that is nowhere to be found. A conjecture as to why Brock isn’t what people thought he would be, can be attributed to his newfound perspective on life, especially after his life or death bout with Diverticulitis. It is not all on Brock Lesnar to carry the show but on Junior Dos Santos, as well. For a fighter as exciting and fierce as Junior, when he isn’t fighting, his demeanor is very relaxed.  Throughout the show, Junior is lolling through his classes and interviews, having a good time, as if he were on vacation in Hawaii.

Brock Lesnar vs. Junior Dos Santos

The mixed martial arts (MMA) community had a feeling that the UFC was taking a risk with both, Brock Lesnar and Junior Dos Santos, as coaches in the UFC’s feeder show. The MMA community knew that Brock’s MMA experience did not warrant a coach’s spot on the show, but knew that his name recognition was the sole reason as to why. On the other hand, the MMA community did not question Junior Dos Santos MMA experience, but questioned his marketability, especially the language barrier that he is currently breaking down. Basically, it is a tale of polar opposites attracting to create a show, in which the UFC thought would generate massive ratings. In addition, the MMA community knew that Brock is not the type of person who likes being in the media, even though he performed in the WWE for many years; add Junior Dos Santos inexperience coaching in a language other than his native Brazilian Portuguese, especially in front of a camera. One has to remember; the purpose of any show is to create valuable content, and if the people don’t find the content valuable, then people will stop watching.  The main purpose of the The Ultimate Fighter is to create entertainment in the form of in-house drama, intriguing personalities and exciting fights; none of which have come to match previous seasons; thus, resulting in low ratings and viewership. 

Although the show’s premise is MMA, it does not supercede the fact that it is on TV for the entertainment value. As aforementioned, the entertainment value comes in the form of in-house drama, intriguing personalities and exciting fights. The show might have an initial spike in ratings because of Brock Lesnar’s name recognition, but once that fades away, what else is there? Content is what drives entertainment and without content, people will not invest their time and effort into it. As proven by the low ratings and viewership, the content in season 13 is not what it has been in the past Ultimate Fighters. Season 7 in the Ultimate Fighter, where Rashad “Sugar” Evans and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson coached had name recognition within the coaches and fighters – Kimbo Slice, Roy Nelson, ex-NFL players whom contributed to great content in the forms stated earlier; and till this day is UFC’s highest rated season. A show to have high ratings and a lot of ‘eyeballs’ watching is to simply have name recognition and great content. As Bill Gates once said “Content is King.”

UFC 129 - Recap

UFC In Toronto

Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on April 30, 2011 was the biggest UFC event in North American History with an attendance of 55,000 fans. The UFC declared April 24-30 "fight week"; and, they brought everything including the kitchen sink to Toronto. They had Q&A with the UFC president, announcers, former fighters, Fan Expos, Grappling Events, and even brought all seven champions, aptly called the Super 7, for a Q&A session. Mega screens were constructed inside the venue to give the fans that were seated at the very top a fight-view, a lot more speakers were installed to give the fans a loud experience and other perks that are not available in regular shows. In other words, this was the UFC's first super show. 

Was the hype backed up by the performances of the fighters inside the 'Octagon?' Did the television audience feel like this was the biggest North American event in Mixed Martial Arts history? 

Here's the breakdown:

UFC 129 opened up with a light-weight bout between Ben Henderson and Canada's own, Mark Bocek. The fight went back-and-forth with submission attempts by Bocek and a whole barrage of striking from Henderson. However, in the end, Henderson won via unanimous decision. 

The second fight was a bout between Jason Brillz and Vladimir Matyushenko. This bout ended lightning quick, with Vladimir getting the knockout in 20 seconds. Vladimir Matyushenko threw an upper-cut and a left, that dropped Jason. Since, this was a very short fight, another fight was shown to take up time which, also, ended in a fast knock out.

Machida's "Crane" Kick

Now onto to the fights that everyone wanted to see. It started between Lyoto Machida V. Randy Couture. Randy had stated that a fight against Machida intrigued him for many reasons especially since no one had been able to solve "The Machida Puzzle" (His unorthodox fighting style). Did Randy solve the puzzle? Not at all. The fight, from the start, was dominated by Machida, although Randy landed some punches. As the fight progressed, Randy kept moving foward, Machida kept his lateral movement going until the last minutes of the 1st round, where they both were in the center and BAM!!!  Machida utilized the famed "Crane Kick" to Randy's chin, which knocked him out instantly. After the bout, both fighters showed each other good sportsmanship and when asked; Randy said, he no longer is going to fight.

Jose Aldo punishing Mark Homnick

After the Randy Couture V. Lyoto Machida fight, it was the co-main event between Jose Aldo and the native Canadian, Mark Hominick. This was the most exciting match of the entire event, and some can argue that it was worth price of admission. This was a battle between a man with a tremendous skill set, Jose Aldo, and a man that truly has a lion's heart, Mark Hominick. From the start of the bout, Jose Aldo was the aggressor - throwing kicks, punches and even taking him down. However, all this action caused Jose to become exhausted, which Mark and his camp felt, resulting in Mark to 'open up.' As the fight progressed, Jose started to become less aggressive and Mark started to land punches until Jose took him down and started to 'ground-and-pound.' As a result of one elbow thrown to Mark's forehead, it created a massive hematoma (as the picture above illustrates). The damage caused by the elbow look so grotesque that the referee, 'Big" John McCarthy, stopped the fight so that a doctor can inspect it to see if it was safe for Mark to return, which he was. This inspection did not happen only once, but happened often and when asked "want to continue?", Mark replied "expletive yea, hell yea." Most fighter's would probably have been 'broken' mentally by such a beating, but Mark did not, and when it came to the fifth and last round, he took Jose down and commenced, his 'ground-and-pound.' However, one round was not enough unless a knockout were to happen or a referee stoppage but none of that happen, resulting in Jose Aldo being the victor. 

Jake Shields taking a GSP Sidekick

 Now to the main event between Jake Shields and 'Captain Canada', Georges St-Pierre. Among many fight fans, this fight did not live up to the hype, not because no one was submitted or knocked out rather no one pressed the action. However, this was the 1st fight that GSP lost a round in his previous thirty rounds. As with many 1st rounds in a championship bout, it was used to see what each fighter will do, but it seemed that Jake had five first rounds because it seemed like he was waiting to see what GSP will do. Jake never gave the impression that this was a championship fight because it seemed like he had no sense of urgency to defeat him. One can sum up what Jake did the whole bout - nothing, with the exception of a few jabs, petty kicks and 'shots' (take down attempt). However, the few punches that landed on GSP, were effective enough to 'bloody-him-up.'  On the other hand, GSP was most effective with his kicks, not so much punches. He had a vicious spinning back kick to Jake's ribs to end a round, and later, a kick to Jake's head that stunned him for a second. GSP did have the occasional explosive take downs that he is known for (it has been said he is 'best MMA wrestler') but was evident that he did not want to enter the grappling game with Jake. In the end, GSP came away with a bloody face, with his eye suffering damage, and the belt, and Jake came away knowing that he probably should have done a lot more. 

The event as a whole did have that super show feel, with the fights, for the most part, living up to the hype. The UFC has now proven that they can host a extraordinary event with some fights that can only be described by one word - WOW!!! 

Only the people that had the privilege to attend can describe the experience from within the event but for those who weren't fortunate enough to attend, can say that it was a spectacle, sort of like a Wrestlemania. 

The highlights of the event were: 

• The "crane kick' executed to perfection by Lyoto, and the significance of that fight - Randy Couture's last.
•  The incredible display of heart by Mark Hominick, in the face of a far superior fighter, in Jose Aldo.  

Although the main event wasn't as amazing as the UFC marketing campaign, it did attract a lot of people, and was an economic boost for the local economy. One can only wonder, which city will be next and which fights will be on the card?