The Trouble with Bloggers

I read just about anything and everything related to MMA, and this morning I spied some gems on two seperate blogs. One blogger spoke of TUF veteran Luke Cummo's up-coming fight and said that Cummo is well-known for his jiu-jitsu skills. Another blogger talked of UFC Lightweight Champ Sean Sherk being stripped of his belt, and he suggested that BJ Penn fight for the vacant title against either Joe Stevenson or Roger Huerta. Please, God, smite these bloggers - obviously newcomers to the sport and weaned on nothing but Zuffa's MMA milk - for their ignorance. Cummo was a Muay Thai fighter (his last venture into the ring just before TUF was a kickboxing bout at Combat at the Capitale in NYC), while it's universally accepted that Stevenson and Huerta are far from ready for the likes of Penn. Sadly, those two web-writers know only what they've seen on SpikeTV or pay-per-view, and neither have a knowledgeable editor to catch these gaffs. They can print anything. Which, ultimately, is the trouble with bloggers.

UFC Lightweight Division Sticks Needle in Ass, Gets Caught

I like Hermes Franca and Sean Sherk. Really. They’re amiable, friendly and down-to-earth guys, and they embody a lot of the hard work and dedication that makes this sport great. But them testing positive for steroids – after their epic, five-round war at UFC 73 – truly sucks. Words like “integrity” and “honesty” come to mind, as well as phrases like “true champion” and “role model to many”. Ultimately, though, like fellow juicers Royce Gracie and Phil Baroni, the top 155-pound challenger and the UFC lightweight champ are only human. Sometimes the money is worth the risk.

Just prior to the test results being made public, Franca issued an apology, saying he was injured during training and under a lot of pressure to perform. Sherk, on the other hand, is purportedly going to appeal the test results (remember: in 2005, UFC fighter Nate Marquardt failed a post-fight drug test only to be retested and deemed clean). I sincerely hope it’s a false-positive in Sherk’s case. The word “cheater” should not belong in the same sentence as “champ”.

Laura D'Auguste Injured, Breakdancing Career in Jeopardy

Laura D'Auguste, top-ranked competitor in the world of breakdancing, injured her ankle late last week while practicing at Bittencourt's B-Boy Academy in Newark, New Jersey. Known for her ability to windmill, downrock, and freeze at a moment's notice, D'Auguste was preparing for the eagerly-anticipated championship battle she was to have against Tara LaRosa, scheduled for the July 14th BodogFIGHT "Electric Boogaloo" event. Via text message, D'Auguste had this to say: "Not broken but hurt ligaments... Couple weeks be ok... I hope going for a MRI... Chipped the bone just a little nothen [sic] they can do for that..." No word yet on what this may mean for her career down the road - although it's safe to assume she'll be forced to incorporate more handstands into her routine.

Badass Fighter Gets Badass Marketing Campaign Because He is Badass

Eddie Alvarez. He's the fighter you've seen plastered all over New York City. Formerly BodogFIGHT's welterweight champ, Alvarez will be returning to the East Coast after competing in such exotic locales as Costa Rica and St. Petersburg, and he's being pushed as the star of BodogFIGHT's July 14th Trenton, New Jersey show. The former high school wrestling champ is well-known for his knockout hands, his ability to kick ass, and his knack for packing a venue with hundreds of cheering fans.


Alvarez is one of the best fighters not signed by the UFC, and would have no problems competing in the Octagon. In fact, he was flown out to Las Vegas as an alternate for the second season of "The Ultimate Fighter" (SpikeTV and Zuffa ended up not needing him). He's that good. And fans of action can expect an extra-large dose of it on July 14th.

Kimbo Slice Breaks All the Rules

On Saturday night, when bare-knuckle pugilist Kimbo Slice defeated former world heavyweight boxing champ Ray Mercer by guillotine choke in just over a minute in an exhibition MMA bout, he broke all the rules. Not for giving the 7,300 in attendance at Atlantic City’s Boardwalk Hall their first glimpse of the Internet-created legend. Not for making Cage Fury Fighting Championship’s first pay-per-view venture a memorable (and successful) one. No, Slice broke all the rules pertaining to debut fighters: he headlined the event and made 75,000 bucks. Aside from main eventers Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson, that’s far more than any of the veterans were paid at UFC 71.



Did the ex-backyard boxing star – whose record lists wins over the likes of Big Mac, “The Bouncer” and Afro Puff – deserve it? Hell yes. Regardless of where he may rank amongst the world’s MMA heavyweights, Kimbo brings a ton of charisma and hype, and that kind of love only helps the sport. Thousands of fans showed up or tuned in and droves of media cast a watchful eye, and everyone got to see not just him, but CFFC’s brand of quality MMA, as well as a roster of outstanding undercard fighters. And for that, Kimbo deserved every penny.

TapouT Breathes Life Back into MMA Television

What season of “The Ultimate Fighter” are we on? Fifty? What (or when, exactly) was the last episode of BodogFight? Fuck if I know. But one thing I do know is whoever thought up the concept for the new “TapouT” reality TV show – a show that combines elements of a road trip and a fighter profile with behind the scenes perspectives – deserves some serious “Yeah boy!” For those Generation TUFers out there who don’t know, the TapouT crew have been around forever, supporting the sport while promoting their brand of clothing. Hell, the man behind TapouT, Charles Lewis, was even on the box cover of the old UFC PlayStation game (he was the “fighter” getting smashed by Tito Ortiz).


Sadly, as MTV has taught us, when the “Real World” gets boring and “Road Rules” has run its course, the “Real World/Road Rules Challenge” will soon follow. But until those Ultimate Fighter and TapouT veterans square off in some producer’s pugilistic permutation, I’m going to enjoy the Mask, Skyscrape and Punkass ride.

Clash of the Titans at EC78

The skies will darken, the clouds will rumble and the earth will shake at Extreme Challenge 78 in Asbury Park this weekend - an event featuring a clash of heavyweight titans in Jon Murphy versus Carlos Moreno. Murphy, the current EC Northeast heavyweight title holder, earned his belt when he struck UFC vet Sherman Pendergarst's chin with a bolt of lighting at EC75. Moreno is a former Ring of Combat champ whose return to MMA has given him fresh opportunities to devour his foes. Promoter Ed Hsu's matchmaking machinations have two of the best in the Northeast squaring off, and when these knockout artists step into the cage, you can bet the gods will be watching with interest.

How the Cage Fury Fighting Championship Will Save MMA

In 1993, the UFC captured our imagination with a ton of violence and a shitload of spectacle. Jiu-jitsu versus kickboxing versus sumo versus boxing – legions of fightfanboys were created because of what transpired within the cage, fightfanboys so numerous they would sustain this emerging combat endeavor until Generation TUF was handed the baton. Yet nowadays there’s little room for the magic that once was. Mixed martial arts is an accepted (and well-regulated) full-fledged sport, and evolution and the passage of time have coaxed the one-dimensional fighter to go the way of the Dodo bird. As millions tune in to watch the virtually homogenous Chuck Liddell and Quinton Jackson slug it out, another nail will be driven into the coffin of the “spectacle” we fell in love with.

But thank God for the Cage Fury Fighting Championship. On June 23rd, at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City and broadcast live on pay-per-view, when former heavyweight boxing champ Ray Mercer squares off against legendary street fighter Kimbo Slice, every fightfanboy will once more taste what originally got them hooked. Yeah, that’s grade-A spectacle right there. And really, it doesn’t matter who wins or loses that night. What matters is that CFFC has managed to keep that magical spark alive.

Carlos Moreno Returns, Fails to Kill Opponent

Battle Cage Xtreme, a fledgling promotion in New Jersey, had its debut show this past weekend. Six bouts total. Welterweight stud Greg Soto won a belt, featherweight Matt Zaccarias won a belt, blah, blah, blah. The real news was the long-awaited return of Carlos Moreno. Who is Carlos Moreno?

Moreno first stepped into the ring at one of the old 2002 BAMA FightNight shows and began knocking out heavyweights in impressive fashion, and when he wasn’t sending fighters into dreamland, the ref was either stepping in (lest someone die) or the opponents were submitting with broken eye sockets. Think of a friendly and amiable Puerto Rican Tank Abbott. In 2004, jiu-jitsu wizard Tom Muller took the now Ring of Combat Heavyweight Champ down and submitted him and… we never really heard from Moreno again.

That is, until the tryouts for the BET reality show came along a couple months ago. Yes, Moreno tried out, and by some accounts did not impress – his conditioning wasn’t up to par, he didn’t look great during whatever drills they had to do, etc. And then they put him in the ring against Bombsquad up-and-comer Jarrid Palmer, and when Palmer was sent crashing to the canvas with a broken jaw, the powers that be saw Moreno was the real deal (I think Moreno was given a thousand bucks on the spot).

The trimmed-down Moreno we saw this past weekend was a good 20 pounds lighter than the 2004 version. He looked in shape and was definitely focused, and although he didn’t decapitate his opponent, it was a clear and convincing 34-second one-sided beatdown. Does this mean Moreno is back? God, I hope so. Heavy-handed punchers are always thrilling to watch – especially when they have an uncanny knack for landing those punches in the heat of an MMA bout – and this guy has got talent and presence in spades.

Breaking News: Mainstream Media Suddenly Gives a Shit

Take a deep breath and look around. Notice the wealth of reporters, ringside at almost every event? The proliferation of MMA articles in national publications? The marriage of Sherdog and ESPN? Gone are the days when all the sport got from the press was a big plate of “human cockfighting” and a tall glass of “shut the hell up.” Mainstream media suddenly gives a shit.

At UFC 37 in Louisiana, Zuffa asked me to show a London Times correspondent the ropes. Like any good frontline soldier, I did – introducing him to fighters, commentators and fans so he could get quotes to flesh out his story, and helping his grasp the pugilistic nuances of what he was seeing in the cage. But that REMF visit was a rare thing. Human cockfighting. Shut the hell up.

The tide has turned, and while the ever-popular UFC has garnered all sorts of attention as MMA’s crown jewel, some of that love has finally trickled down to even the regional and local shows. Nowadays, producers from major news channels track me down through Myspace, while reporters stick cameras and microphones in my face and ask for my educated opinion. The sport has gotten shockingly huge and everyone wants to cover it.

And it’s about damn time.

Binky Jones - ROC Lightweight Champ

A Few Words on Ring of Combat 14

The Tournament of Champions – which began back in November and spanned the lightweight, middleweight and welterweight divisions – came to a conclusion this past Friday with three champs crowned. Each weight class of the tourney began with a pool of eight competitors (some of them local, some of them not so local), and though the NJSACB doesn’t allow fighters to compete more than once a night, it was akin to the elimination-style events that captured the imagination of MMA fans in days of yore. Tournaments make for a compelling storyline. Add to that equation the background of each fighter (i.e., who he is and what he’s gone through to get there), and you’ve really got something that reels you in.

There was none more compelling on Friday than the story of James “Binky” Jones. A Baltimore jiu-jitsu specialist, Binky’s been around for years, never more than a journeyman but someone you could always count on for a good scrap. In fact, when he was announced as one of the eight 155-pounders taking part in the opening round, a roster that included a Reality Fighting champ, a few grappling studs and a Team Quest representative, I rated his chances at “pretty damn slim.”

I’ll be darned if Binky didn’t rise to the occasion.

Putting on a jiu-jitsu clinic to dispatch two Midwesterners in the first two rounds, the only man standing between him and the belt was the toughest of the lightweight bunch: IFL veteran Ian Loveland. Binky popped Loveland’s elbow with an armbar three minutes and 17 seconds into the bout.

The video promos highlighted how hard he trained, how much he gives back to the community and what not, but the whole picture, the whole story encompasses a great deal more. Of all those who won at Ring of Combat 14, Binky’s story was the most compelling because of the legion of supporters in red T-shirts, the post-fight hugs and the grin of his proud coach. Ultimately, though, it all came down to this: the journeyman was now the champ.