Monday, June 22, 2009

How to Harass MMA Legends 101

Pat Miletich is without question a legend in the sport. Sadly, even legends aren't immune from vindictive dingbats with Internet access. Credit goes to "Sambo Steve" Koepfer for the link and the legwork - http://www.bullshido.org/David_Kujawski_Investigation .

What We've Learned From Bellator FC Season 1

The first season of the Bellator Fighting Championships is one for the books and champs in four weight classes have been crowned. So what have we learned over the course of a dozen shows? (More bullet points! Yay!)
  • Toby Imada may not be the best fighter at 155, but the dude is dangerous if you let your guard down.
  • Nothing says "viral buzz" like a YouTube clip. Bravo to the Bellator exec who greenlighted putting highlights on the Internet.
  • Jared Hess sure can bleed.
  • Hector Lombard is a monster. But we knew that, just like we knew Eddie Alvarez and Lyman Good were monsters.
  • Joe Soto is one tough featherweight bastard, and he's shown just how beatable Wilson Reis is. Reis barely squeaked by Roberto Vargas, who took a page from Soto's book by out-scrambling the master scrambler.
  • If there's a bantamweight tournament in the cards, it has to include Nick Pace.
  • There aren't a lot of A-level or even upper B-level Latino fighters. There are, however, a lot of up-and-comers. Give them time and Omar De La Cruz, Hector Urbina, Estavan Payan and Yahir Reyes will be killers.
  • Smooth production, professional packaging and decent fights means season two will definitely be worth watching.

Observations From My Couch: TUF 9 Finale

  • Based on Joe Rogan's commentary during the Joe Stevenson/Nate Diaz fight, I think I'm going to count that bout as a win for Nick Diaz.
  • Ross Pearson and Andre Winner had the kind of battle fans only dream of. Literally. They dream of that kind of fight because they've fallen asleep with the TV on.
  • Why does Kevin Burns hate Chris Lytle's nuts so much? Is there history there?
  • Did DeMarques Johnson not train for the TUF 9 finale? Did he forget he had one more bout to go to be crowned "The Ultimate Fighter"?
  • I don't know what was crazier - the fact that Diego Sanchez beat the hell out of Clay Guida, or the fact that Guida just kept coming and coming. Solid fight.

Observations From My Couch: Strikeforce Challengers "Santos vs. Villasenor"

  • Luke Rockhold vs. Corey Devela had all the makings of a grappling suckfest. Thank God for Rockhold's right hand.
  • What the hell happened to Shayna Baszler? She used to be a submission badass. Now she just stands around and gets punched in the face.
  • Leaving the UFC was the best thing Jorge Gurgel ever did. "Wahoo!" to the king of slugfests!
  • Given Tim Kennedy's months spent in Afghanistan calling in air strikes and going on patrols, maybe Nick Thompson sporting a Taliban beard wasn't such a good idea.
  • Good effort by Evangelista "Cyborg" Santos against Joey Villasenor, but I have no doubt his wife Cristiane would've won that fight.