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.

Fine, I'll write about it

I will be brief because after one day I am already ready to move past this. As first reported by Michael Woods at CBS Sports and then everyone else, Dana White has refused a MMA fight between Roy Jones Junior and Anderson Silva.

Roy Jones, who enjoyed a long run as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world in the 1990s, has issued a challenge to the best mixed martial artist in the world, Anderson Silva.

The 40-year-old Jones, who is coming off a win against game but faded vet Omar Sheika last month, is willing to battle the 34-year-old Silva in the UFC Octagon, adhering to regular UFC rules.

"That's a question you have to ask Dana White," Soares told us. "We'd love to fight Roy Jones. Anderson wants to challenge himself, he wants legendary fights."

So, how about it, Dana? Should fans of both disciplines get geared up for the crossover clash?

"You won't see a Silva versus Jones fight while Silva is under contract with me," White said Tuesday. "I don't want to say anything bad about Roy Jones, I like Roy Jones and was a fan of his, but he mattered like fifteen years ago. He's not anywhere near the best boxer in the world. He must've spent all his money."

.....

"I could do it, make it huge, make money, but I could have done a fight like this when we were bleeding money (in the early 2000s)," White said. "The fight would make some money, but it hurts MMA in the long term. We don't do that because we love the sport. That's a Pride or K-1 matchup. It's not what we do."

It cannot be measured how much Dana White has done for Mixed Martial Arts. If it was not for him I myself would probably have never become such a passionate fan. This does not mean he is still good for the sport. He needs to compromise he behavior and find an acceptable medium because I want Mixed Martial Arts to fully integrate itself into the mainstream. He has the charisma and personality to accomplish this, but he needs to find the professional version.

However, he is 100% right to not let this fight happen. Very little can be gained and a lot can be lost by accepting this fight. Anderson Silva is a man who always wants to challenge himself (at least that is what everyone writes, how the hell would I know) so he would probably try to stand and trade with Jones. If he does this he will lose. He cannot beat Roy Jones Jr, no matter how far removed from his prime, in a boxing match and Silva would try to make this a boxing match. If Silva lost MMA would take a large hit because the mainstream would simply view it as a boxer beating an MMA fighter at his own game, even though it would play out as a boxing match. And Silva is not only a fighter, but the P4P best fighter. There is a lot to lose with a loss.

If Silva takes the fight to the ground or uses his Muay Thai to beat Jones then it is what everyone expected. Silva not only beat won a fight against a less versed opponent, but Jones is past his prime when Silva is in his prime. There are many excuses to minimize a win by Silva so there is very little to gain. The UFC does not need the one time payout. The gain is not worth the risk.

Um, Did we forgot that Brock is still improving?

Full Disclosure: I want to like Frank Mir, but his stint on TUF and his house of cards prevent this from happening. This may not be who he really is his, but he portrays himself as the heel who wants to be liked. At least Brock could care less.

No matter what you think of Brock Lesnar you cannot argue that he is a physical freak, has a great work ethic, Mac Danzig is hilarious, and Brock is still improving.

When he first lost to Frank Mir I was amazed with Lesnar's athletic ability and like everyone else chalked the loss up to Lesnar's lack of experience and poor martial arts skill. It has been over a year since that loss and I can only imagine the improvement he has made. An athlete of his ability and a man with his work ethic you know there has to be major improvement.

However, because Lesnar has won the title I feel there has been less and less talk about his progression as a martial artist. It appears as if people believe that since he has obtained the belt the progression slows down. Mir training with Maia will obviously improve his already solid jiu-jitsu, but you can only make Mir so much better. Lesnar ceiling is so high because he started so low. My point is not that Lesnar's submission game (specifically his defense) will be anywhere close to Mir, but rather he will be the more improved fighter.

Lesnar's trainer brought this up in an article on MMAWeekly

"Brock's an entirely different fighter. He's grown leaps and bounds in the skill level. He's going to be a wiser fighter. He's going to be more well-rounded," Nelson stated. "It's going to be an entirely different Brock when he goes in there."

Let us not forget that Brock's inexperience should not be seen as his major weakness right now, but his inexperience means that every time he steps into the Octagon we will see a brand new fighter. That is scary thought when you combine it with his raw athleticism and size. If you have not figured it out yet, please tell me you have, but I think Brock will win the fight. This all despite Mir looking unworldly against Minotauro.

Demian Maia should not get a title shot, yet.

Everything written about Demian Maia since the Silva-Leites title fight discussed how Maia was the biggest loser. People took up their sides arguing that the UFC would not give Maia the fight because of his Jiu-Jitsu focus. Then all the Maia supporters laid claim how Maia and Thales are different fighters. Guess what, they are both completely correct.

Despite it not being the match up I am dying to see, Maia/Silva would be more exciting from Maia's perspective. Anderson would be even more reserved and not attack at all. It would be 25 minutes of Anderson picking apart Maia from a distance and never going for the kill. If he did not want to risk it again Thales then he definitely is not going to risk it against the best grappler in the entire organization.

As usual I have gone off on a tangent about something I did not intend to write about. DAMIAN MAIA DOES NOT DESERVE A TITLE SHOT BECAUSE OF THALES LEITES, BUT NOT BECAUSE OF THEIR STYLES. NEITHER OF THEM HAVE FACED THE COMPETITION TO EARN A TITLE SHOT. I am not saying the same thing would happen to Maia, but something we definitely learned after the Leites/Silva fight is that Leites was not ready. He lost confidence early in the fight and resorted to half-butt (still not sure what I can write) takedown attempts. A fighter who was known for his ability to take punishment and push the fight ended up sulking in the corner for the last 3 rounds. Apparantly wins against Pete Sell, Floyd Sword (how is this not a Comic Book Superhero Name), Ryan Jensen, and Drew McFredries does not prepare you for a main card, title fight, against arguably the pound for pound king. I obviously left out Nate because Thales needed two penalties to win a split decision. I know a win is a win, but a competitor does not gain confidence with that win.

Maia has the same problem, even though it is not his fault. Despite Sonnen's belief that he can beat Anderson Silva, Maia has not faced top tier talent. He has faced gatekeeper after gatekeeper, but that will all change after UFC 102 when he fights the most well rounded middleweight not named Anderson Silva; Nate Maruardt. Nate has shown noticeable improvement since his last title shot and the winner of this fight will definitely have earned a shot for the title. I am ignoring Henderson/Bisping fight because this post is not about if Maia can get a title shot right now, but if he has officially earned the opportunity.

To be fair, not facing the best competition is not Maia or Leites's fault. The depth at the middleweight division is weak and it is no surprise why Hendo has forgotten about fighting at 205 and why Bisping moved down to middleweight. However, despite it not being their fault it does not mean they are ready. Some MAC schools might be as good as the teams in the Big 12, but they need to play a tough non-conference schedule to prepare them for the big games. Beating up other MAC teams does not prove anything.

Nicknames are Stupid

Nicknames are not worth the risk. The majority of them are just plain dumb. They are the equivalent of the 5th grader on the playground who wants everyone to call him Nitro. Nitro is a perfect example, because American Gladiators is what I equate most MMA fighters’ nicknames to.

Very few of them are creative, interesting, or funny and they all have some scary or tough connotation to them. Dude we get it. You whoop people's butt (not sure what I am allowed to say) for a living, the "Axe Murderer" is not necessary. When every fighter has a "cool" nickname they lose effect. You know fighters feel obligated too when "Ken Flo" is actually a used nickname. This is unfortunate because Kenny Florian is easily one of my favorite fighters.

I feel the only safe/enjoyable nicknames are ones that have the opposite effect. “McLovin” is a great example. Despite the fact that I do not think Dustin Hazelett looks like Chris Mintz-Plasse I love the nickname because it is self-deprecating. He is drawing attention to the fact that he looks like (iffy) the goofiest and dorkiest character to hit the big screen in recent memory. To say the least, “McLovin” is not intimidating and that is why I love it.

Let me finish up this pointless rant with one last thought, how many goddamn “hitmans” are there. There should be a governing body that regulates the repeat usage of nicknames for professional fighters, especially when they are unoriginal. Mine would be “the most interesting man in the world.”



-Why do I love that commercial, I really cannot figure out why?

Decisions aren't garbage, having 3 judges is

Three judges are not enough. Fighters continuously blame themselves for letting the fight go to the judges or not finishing the fight themselves. Why? If a fighter executes his game plan and all the fans in attendance and the millions watching at home know he has outperformed his opponent why should he not be granted the victory? This is not a problem that happens with great frequency, but when it does happen it can be career changing. Unlike professional baseball or basketball every fight has a significant impact on a fighter’s career. Even more so now with top prospects getting UFC contracts only 5 fights into their mixed martial arts career. There are not a lot Jeremy Horn (over 100 professional fights) left in the sport. The good thing is that there is an easy solution to this problem; add two judges.

With only two more people they can help eliminate the Matt Hamill/Michael Bisping decisions of the world. Before I begin my argument I want to make two obvious and necessary statements. I am an idiot. Not really (I hope), but I am definitely not an expert. While I work in sports, baseball, I do not know the intricacies of the governing bodies or organizations that put together fights. I am sure there are many reasons that make an extra two judges difficult. My only hope is that the “slippery slope” argument is not one of them. If 5 judges become the norm and someone (meeeee!!!) makes the argument for 7 judges later on then you deal with that later on.

Statement number two: this is not a huge problem. There are definitely more pressing issues in mixed martial arts, but this problem appears to have an easy solution. If a patient comes into a hospital with a broken arm the doctor will still give him Advil for his headache. Horrible analogy granted, but the point remains valid. Even with 5 judges things will not be perfect, but it will be better.

Channeling my research statistics I know that if a study increases its sample size then the rate of error is lowered. For all you mathematicians, I know that is not always the case and if there is a strong representative sample then increasing the sample size does not matter, but who cares what you have to say. Everyone hates your classes anyways; take that Mr. Swatt. However, when dealing with something completely subjective such as judging martial arts fights increasing the sample size will reduce the error. Olympic/Amateur boxing is a great example of why 5 judges are necessary and why 5 judges work. They have a specific set of rules on how to award to points (less subjective) and they still use more judges. And points are not awarded unless three of five judges agree on the issue. Apparently the Olympics believe that a 2/3 majority is not enough to validate a point, but MMA thinks it is enough to validate a victory. Another reason they use 5 judges, I arrogantly presume, is because the fights are shorter.

Professional boxing fights can go 12 rounds at the highest level (WBO, IBF, etc…) while amateur fights go 3 or 4 rounds. I am not positive of the amateur round lengths since I watch boxing twice a year. The day I feel nostalgic for Punch Out and the day I throw Fight Night Round 3 in. Dodge, uppercut, dodge, uppercut, dodge, KO, what what! Back to the point, when you have 12 rounds the fighters have more time to separate themselves. When there are only 3 or 4 rounds the scores are obviously going to be closer. This is the same when it comes to judges; the more you have the less likely there will be mistakes. Similar to the amateur boxing matches, mixed martial arts at their highest level (UFC title fights) can go 5 rounds. With the majority of decisions not even going five rounds there is very little time for the fighters to separate. With the rounds of MMA fights being closer to amateur boxing as opposed to professional boxing the amount of judges should relate.

I know this is not a huge dilemma, but I feel for the fighters who clearly won the fight and lose on a garbage split decision. To be honest, I think it is more important to fix the problem of how fights are judged, but this would be an easier fix. Consider this a band aid solution when we eventually need stitches. Anyone can put on a band aid (simple) to slow the bleeding, but a doctor needs to place stitches (more difficult) to heel the wound. The band aid helps, but is not the final solution. Apparently you should get used to bad analogies, but I promise the medical subject will not be a reoccurring theme.

I am also sure that someone with more extensive knowledge will squash and critique my opinion in about 5 seconds. I could care less because I was either going to write this as I watch a 50-1 horse win the derby or lay on my couch with my hand gently nestled between my pants and boxers as I watch a 50-1 horse win the derby. What, it isn’t touching. Anyways, here is to less frustrating decisions and career changing crimes. Good thing this problem will not affect the best pound for pound fighter in the world from destroying Rashad Evans at UFC 98.