A Piece of MMA History: "World's Best Fighter"

It was a bad night to be a foreigner, but it was a good night if you were a fan of fighting. On February 3rd, 2007, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, a one-shot promotion called World's Best Fighter assembled together a roster of fledgling Asian mixed martial artists and solid American up-and-comers and pitted them against each other in a "Team USA vs. Team Asia" contest. Team Asia got its ass kicked. Future UFC fighter Mike Massenzio played his usual ground-and-pound game against his Japanese foe, grinding out a unanimous decision, while local stud Greg Soto won via armbar and heavyweight everyman Justin Eilers won with a tsunami of knees and punches. The only real competitive bout of the event was Kevin Roddy versus Jong Man Kim - a Korean Top Team rep and the best grappler of the bunch - but "K-Rod" won via armbar with just three seconds left in the first round (the result was later changed to a "no contest" because, well, K-Rod is K-Rod you know). Aside from a few kickboxing match-ups and John Doyle and Brendan Barrett falling out of the ring (their bout was declared a "no contest"), the undercard also featured Team Tiger Schulmann rising star Lyman Good against Renzo black belt Julio Cruz, with Good's superior striking earning him the win via TKO.

Though the the Asian portion of the crowd sat stoic and silent throughout, the American portion of the crowd seemed to love every minute of it. And why wouldn't they? The fights were entertaining. Plus, Team USA kicked ass.

Observations From My Couch: Bellator FC Welterweight Finals

• If I were an athletic commissioner I never would've approved Uriah Hall's match-up against Edwin Aguilar, as Hall had one MMA bout to his record compared to Aguilar's 34. I'm glad I'm not an athletic commissioner. Hall kicked some serious butt.
• Nick Pace: great flying knee KO, awful victory dance. You're a killer, man, but seriously, what the hell was that?
• Did Justin Torrey and Matt Makowski have an agreement to look as much alike as possible? Because with their bald heads, frames and shorts, I damn sure couldn't keep track of who was who.
• Jake Ellenberger didn't just knock Marcelo Alfaya out, he took away some of Alfaya's IQ points. I think Alfaya now has to relearn how to drive a car and tie his shoelaces.
• Lyman Good is the reason why superheroes should not be fighting regular humans in MMA bouts. It's just unfair.

Observations From My Couch: Bellator FC Week 7

• Alonzo Martinez, Victor Meza, Jose Chalupa, Chico Gonzales... A whole bunch of people I still don't know fought and won and lost. Yippee.
• Boy was that Jay White/Eddie Sanchez bout a non-starter. That shouldn't even count as a win for Sanchez. That should go on his criminal record as a mugging.
• It was nice of Jorge Ortiz to get all in shape for his welterweight semifinal bout. Please, someone get that guy a sandwich or something and then make him do some calisthenics.
• Lyman Good is like a life-sized action figure that can punch you in the face really hard and choke the crap out of you. Fear him.
• It's sad seeing someone like Dave Menne - the UFC's first middleweight champ and a true elder statesman in the sport - get his ass completely handed to him. Time is the enemy of us all.
• Omar De La Cruz versus Good for the welterweight crown. Can I get a woot-woot?

Lyman Good Has Been Sleeping in a Cage

How prepared will Lyman Good, the Team Tiger Schulmann welterweight star scheduled to fight at Bellator FC 2 this Friday, be when he squares off against Hector Urbina? Let me put it to you this way: Good has been sleeping in a cage. Seriously. For weeks. Put another way, King of the Cage veteran Urbina might have an edge in experience and has no doubt been training hard, but at the end of the day where does he go to bed? Is it in the cage at the gym? Is it? No? Well, Good - who normally lives in Spanish Harlem with his mother and sisters - hasn't been going home. He's been curling up in the cage at the TSMMA training center in New Jersey. Forget Good's top-level conditioning, epic grappling and deadly striking skills, when the referee says "go!" he's going to tear Urbina's head off out of pure mental anguish.

Lyman Good to Kill, Kill, Kill at Mohegan Sun on April 10th

Bellator Fighting Championships has announced the details for their second installment, and the event, which will take place on April 10th at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut will see Team Tiger Schulmann-trained assassin Lyman Good taking on ShoXC and King of the Cage welterweight Hector Urbina. This will mark the first time Good has fought since his March, 2008 murder of Alexis Aquino at ROC 18, which Good stood trial for but was later acquitted on the grounds that Aquino was asking for it. Since then, the New York City-based fighter has been honing himself to a keen edge, adding such deadly skills as demolitions and knife throwing to his already frightening arsenal of death-dealing abilities. Expect Urbina's blood to stain the BFC canvas bright red before the night is through. The event will air on ESPN Deportes the next day.

The East Coast's Big Ticket Sellers

Two promotions are coming to Atlantic City in the first quarter of 2009 to stake their claim in the Garden State's MMA fan-rich soil - the World Cagefighting Alliance (headed by Derek Panza, Keith Evans and Gary Marino), and a Monte Cox event (it could be an Extreme Challenge or it could be an Adrenaline show, we just don't know yet) that will be headlined by Eddie Alvarez. Both Marino and Cox should have a pretty decent handle on which fighters put asses in seats, but to help them out, MMA Journalist has put together the following list of the East Coast's big ticket sellers (a local big ticket seller is the cornerstone of the "Strikforce business model" these promotions aspire to):

1. Lyman Good, an exciting welterweight/middleweight and star player for the Tiger Schulmann Mixed Martial Arts clan.
2. Really, almost any other Team Tiger Schulmann fighter. TSMMA students turn out in droves to see their instructors fight.
3. Dom Stanco, a heavy-handed lightweight from Bellmore Kickboxing who always has a decent-sized cheering section.
4. Chris Schlesinger, a frenetic grappler from Bellmore Kickboxing. Schlesinger used to pack Reality Fighting shows with legions of fans.
5. Al Buck, a lightweight scrapper. Tons of fans.
6. Carlos Moreno, a heavyweight slugger who's been known to bring a crowd of supporters.
7. Chris Liguori, a top New Jersey lightweight and ROC champ.
8. Dante Rivera, a top New Jersey middleweight.
9. Doug Gordon, a well-rounded welterweight who always seems to have people going nuts for him in the bleachers.
10. Greg Soto, a welterweight grappler whose Combat in the Cage championship win nearly brought down the house.
11. Jon Murphy, a heavyweight EliteXC veteran. When he knocked out Sherman Pendergarst at Extreme Challenge 75, women were unabashedly throwing their panties into the cage.
12. Jose Rodriguez, a welterweight brawler and long-time New Jersey competitor.
13. Steve DeAngelis, a featherweight BCX champ. Big cheering section.
14. Kevin Roddy, a featherweight/lightweight grappling stud who is to the Jersey Shore what Barack Obama is to Illinois.
15. Justin Garcia, a welterweight/middleweight jiu-jitsu beast who, if you can lure him back into MMA competition, brings tons of rabid fans.

For his January 13th show at the Tropicana Casino & Resort, Cox already has the aforementioned Alvarez headliner and popular welterweight Tom Gallicchio taking on Phil Baroni (maybe). It will be interesting to see who else ends up on that card and who winds up on the February 6th WCA show.

So Where Did Lyman Good End Up?

East Coast standout and Team Tiger Schulmann superstar Lyman Good was on the verge of big-time exposure when EliteXC offered him a contract, but then EliteXC bit the dust. So where did Good finally end up? It looks like the Bellator Fighting Championships is the winner. The Bellator Fighting Championships will air on ESPN Deportes (ESPN's latin-centric sports channel), and will feature eight-man tournaments in various weight-classes. More details should come when the BFC starts leaking more info.

Lyman Good Would Still Kill Jake Shields

EliteXC 170-pound champ Jake Shields had no problems controlling top UK welterweight Paul Daley on the ground at this past weekend's "Heat" event, but one thing was painfully obvious from cageside (and maybe pretty obvious watching on TV): Shields has crappy stand-up. From his ineffectual strikes to his poor wrestling to his apparent lack of confidence forcing him to shoot from halfway across the cage, a few things can be deduced - such as, he's a knockout waiting to happen. Or, that the first person with a great sprawl is going to give him fits. Or, that Lyman Good - who had signed with the organization last month but has yet to have a fight materialize - would kill him. Yes, Shields is an extremely skilled and talented grappler who has taken out some tough competition in the form of Renato Verissimo and Nick Thompson. But up close, the chinks in his armor are visible. It's just a matter of time before someone exploits them.

EliteXC Musical Chairs

The music has stopped for EliteXC's musical chairs, with welterweight champ Jake Shields and challenger Paul Daley finding seats for the October 4th CBS show alongside Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobold-Gavin and Kimbo Slice vs. Tomato Can. Where does that leave newcomer Lyman Good, who was supposed to fight Daley on the cancelled September 20th card? According to the tea leaves in MMA Journalist's morning cup of caffeine, Good could face either UFC/WEC veteran John Alessio or an enraged panda bear on EliteXC's November 8th Showtime event.

Why Lyman Good Will Kick Paul Daley's Ass

Lyman Good is an undefeated IFL vet from the Northeast. Paul Daley is the best welterweight the UK has to offer. And when the two meet on September 20th at EliteXC's Albuquerque, New Mexico event, Good is going to kick Daley's ass big time. With concise striking, top-level grappling and unparalleled conditioning, Good has all the tools he needs to dispose of the Brit, and the Cage Rage star - known for his heavy hands but tepid ground game - will be going home with another loss on his 26-bout fight record for sure. Very few train as hard as Good, even fewer have his training resources (including an insanely deep pool of sparring partners), and the Team Tiger Schulmann representative has faced some of the best the Garden State has to offer. Want to bet on a sure thing? Put your money on Good for the unanimous decision win.