Dear Fans

Please do not fall for the hype. We all do it in almost every aspect of our lives and we are usually disappointed. I am specifically referring to the grudge matches in MMA. Fights consistently get hyped based on the fact that two fighters due in fact hate each other. This is a natural marketing campaign for a sport where the core objective is conquer and destroy your opponent. However, since that is the main objective the hype is pointless.



The game play is noticeably different in other sports when the two opponents have a heated rivalry. Whether it is pitching high and tight in baseball, elbows in basketball, or the plethora of dirty plays in football the hatred shows. Hatred between two teams/players is exciting and fun because of what might happen that normally would not. The potential for more is what catches our attention. However, what more do we want in MMA. Elbows, punches, and all around ass beating are part of the rules and we are going to receive all this with or without the rivalry hype. Any extra-curricular activity is dangerous and detrimental to the sports mainstream success. Case in point, the Babalu/Heath fight. Babalu was cut from the UFC and fined by the commission for not releasing his choke when Heath tapped.



The quality of the fight is dependent on the style and skill level of the two fighters. If these two components are lacking then grudge match will not matter. Hughes vs. Serra is a perfect example of this. I will ignore the fact they were awarded fight of the night because me rambling for 20 minutes is not good stuff. It featured one of the most intense grudge matches in recent memory, but the fight did not come close to living up to the hype. It featured one fighter who got lucky and another fighter who is on the downside of his career. We need to band together and watch/pay for the fights between quality and exciting opponents as opposed to manufactured rivalries that do not live up to the hype. All this being said I cannot wait for the Hardy/Davis fight, those dudes hate each other.

Shine Fights: Genesis (Long Post)

Last night I attended my first MMA fight and it was Shine's initial go around: Genesis. I have bee a casual fan of MMA for about 2 years and a very passionate fan for about a year so I was very excited about attending my first event. To start, I had an amazing time and there was no this was not going to happen. However, I must say I was very disappointed with many aspects of Genesis.

First off, the venue. Zak Woods mentioned this, but it was more or less a large barn. The least surprising thing of the night is when I found out the fair was held there. The tickets were also way to expensive. $55 for general admission is outrageous considering the size of the venue, it was their first fight, and Bellator (which is a larger organization) has cheaper seats. This was all mentioned at watch kalib run.

On to the other problems. Let me start by saying I used to bartend and wait tables while in undergrad and graduate school. The customer i disliked more than any was the indiviudal who told me they used wait and they "were good tippers," knew how everything worked," and thought they were in some wierd way superior because of it. Dude, you were not an expert because you waited tables at Applebees during the summer '76. It is waiting tables, it ain't that hard.

Having said this, I work for a sports organization and there is a lot I would have done differently. As an organization you always want to pack the house, even if that means keeping seats empty. They should have known people would be scattered ahead of time based on ticket sales. They should have closed off sections to pack everyone close to the cage. They were not organized enough that re-formatting the sections would have been difficult. This is common practice in all events. It is why baseball teams do not sit the upper deck during Monday day games. With everyone close it looks better on camera, all the fans are happy with their seats, and the atmosphere improves. When I asked the Usher where my seat was he simply told me to "sit anywhere not in the first five rows." There were simply too many seats for the amount of people there for my ticket to matter.

I did not think Jorge Grugel did not do a great job after the fights. In his defense I think this is one of the dumber parts of fights. The fighter is usually exhausted and his analysis is "I tried to hit the other guy really hard." Also, they did a poor job of hyping the next fight. This was actually surprising because one thing Shine did very well was operating their technical department. They had quick replays after the fight and strong camera work during the fights if you could not see the ground action. Why each fighter did not have a quick 2 minute hype video for their introduction was beyond me (for their next fight).

My final gripe is the least important, but was the first thing I noticed. The ring girls were nothing special. Don't get me wrong, I brag non stop if I ever brought one of them home and they were definitely bangin'. However, for ring girls I was disappointed. Someone who scores a 31 ACT is impressive, but not if they go to Harvard. I guess my thought process is that the ring girls only neccesary skill sets are the ability up steps, raise a sign, walk in a circle, sit back down, and be really hot. I just thought they could do better.

Despite my criticism I had a great time and things did go well. All these complaints are easily fixed, but the biggest problem most businesses, no matter what the field, have is they do not adapt and change. Hopefully Shine will constantly adapt their product and be around for awhile. The most important part of the night, the fights, was the best part of the night.

There were definitely fighters with lower skill sets, but it was fun none the less. I would be surprised if anyone had trouble seeing the fights. Everything was easy to watch and the fights were entertaining. I also love going back to college campuses. Everything is so cheap, everyone is drunk, and I feel like a big spender because a $4 shot is cheap for me. Honestly Cuervo shots are $8 in Chicago and around $6 here in Cleveland. $1 beers and $4 pitchers are not special deals, but normal prices around campus. Oh, do I miss Champaign (Illinois).

Favorite moment of the night happened after the event. Leaving the stadium I saw a man taking a picture of his friend with one of the Dollhouse girls. Check that, not his friend, but his 6-7 year old son. How is that appropriate?

All in all I had a great time. I was also very impressed with Kyle Baker. From what I heard Foster was the better prospect and Baker beat him quickly. He also threw straight punches (a rarity for the fighters yesterday) and connected twice in under a minute. The head kick that stunned him and the uppercut that finished him. Cannot wait to go to another event and a good time was had by all.


-Side note: Happy Mother's Day Mom and Scooby Doo Marathon is a great hangover cure.

My Entrance (this post sucks, sorry I'm busy today)

Maggie Hendricks of from Yahoo Sports Cagewriter recently asked fellow MMA writers what their entrance music would be. Apparently since I have only been doing this for a week, I am pretty sure nobody has ever read this blog, and I have never had a conversation with Ms. Hendricks I was not chosen as one of privileged few who were asked. Despite the obvious snub, I do not think I can ever forgive her, I wanted to discuss what my entrance would be with my loyal readers (my downstairs neighbor who always ask what I am doing, Hi Mark).

My entrance music follows the same train of thought as my opinion on fighters' nicknames. Most fighters enter to something intense and intimidating. Once again, we get it you are a bada**. However, there is a difference here because the music is used as a way to set the mood and fire up the fighter. I fully admit that I had my pump up music mix before games and it included the generic fire up music one would expect. However, I think if I was a fighter I would take the Dave Kaplan approach. "Tenderness" really ain't my style, but I would come out to something goofy every time. I would also change it up and include a small routine as well.

My first choice, Jamiroquai's "Virtual insanity." I would be wearing the goofy purple velvet with the big furry top hat. Assuming I can do whatever I wanted, which i couldn't, I would have people push furniture on wheels across from me as I entered for full effect. Well that's it, clearly I am preoccupied and busy getting ready to head to Columbus for Shine Fights tonight. Sorry about this post, I know it sucked. See you tomorrow with something better and hopefully more insightful.

Shine Fights

It is Friday, I just got out of work, so therefore have no desire to write a post. I am not sure anyone reads this anyways. However, I will be going to Shine Fight Promotions tomorrow in Columbus and am going nuts. I cannot wait and am freaking out right now. Gonna get good seats (of course they are still available) and dirty myself up by spending a night in Columbus. I'll post some stuff tomorrow, but just wanted to let no one (all my readers) know that I am officially going.

Quick Post-Radach Appeals Fight With Smith

Radach is appealing his loss to Scott Smith in their Strikeforce fight on April 11. I am already upset by this because anyone who disagrees with Herb Dean disagrees with me. I am sure this is talked about all the time, but honestly was his dad Nostradamus. How perfect is it that his name is Herb.

Regarding the fight, Radach is appealing it on two accounts. First, he believes Smith illegally grabbed the fence to get out of a guillotine choke. Second, he thinks Herb called it too early and he was not knocked out. The fight was amazing and having Smith, who was losing the fight, go for broke in the third and pull off the knockout was awesome. As a fan I was very happy with the fight. However, I do not remember if Mr. Dean had stepped in too early so I will leave the second part of his appeal alone.

Grabbing the fence not only happened, but was a great move by Smith and there is no basis for an appeal. He should have been docked a point, but that would not change a knockout. If a fighter is about to tap or lose a fight he should do everything he can to save himself. I am sure Smith would take a point off his scorecard to continue the fight. It is no different than a college defensive back laying out a receiver to pick up a 15 yard penalty as opposed to a 50 yard gain/touchdown. Radach's appeal has no validity because stopping the fight early is subjective and grabbing the fence was just a smart move.