The MMA Journalist

Thursday, June 24, 2010

M-1 Global "Selection" Card Revealed

At last, the M-1 Global “Selection” card, which is scheduled to take place at Bally’s Casino in Atlantic City on Saturday, has been revealed! Here are some of the fighters to watch out for:

Tom Gallicchio, welterweight scrapper and lifetime member of the “New Jersey Badass Club”.
Aaron Meisner, Muay Thai specialist from Philadelphia who throws deadly knees from the clinch.
Shane Primm, veteran of TUF 8 but not one of the dudes that ate jizz. I think.
Josh Key, lightweight powerhouse capable of dishing out KOs and slams.
Ariel Sepulveda, light-heavyweight striker who will punch you in the face as much as look at you.
Andrei Kapilov, who is some Russian sambo guy but not the same Russian sambo guy who kneebarred Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt Castello Branco back at a Rings event in 1999. Damn, that would’ve been cool if it was the same guy, though, right? That guy had sick submissions.

Predictions for Strikeforce's "Ultimate Fedor - No, Wait."

Yeah, so, Fedor. Fighting again. This time on Showtime, because he hates CBS for shooting down his spec script for “CSI: Moscow”. Or something. Anyway, everyone’s favorite legitimate number one heavyweight fighter in the world who never did pro wrestling and has more than five fights is facing pretty much just a warm body in Fabricio Werdum, so expect someone to die on cable TV on Saturday night. (Uh, woot?) Here are some other predictions:

Pat Healy versus Josh Thomson? Strikeforce isn’t tossing Thomson a softball as much as they’re tossing him an inflatable beach ball filled with whipped cream and feathers. Thomson via man-rape.
Cris “Cyborg” Santos, the top 145-pound female fighter on the planet, is facing Jan Finney, who is unranked. Cyborg via man-rape.
Striker elite Cung Le gets another crack at Scott Smith. You may recall that in their last meeting, Le gave Smith a beating for about two and half rounds until Smith turned it around and knocked him out. You may recall that, but Le certainly doesn’t. The dude was wrecked!
Fabricio Werdum is really good at jiu-jitsu. Fedor is really good at killing to death the practitioners of jiu-jitsu. Things don’t look good for Werdum.

Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Outrage Grows Over Doctor's Decision to Allow Matt Hamill to Compete While Deaf

Outrage has continued to grow over the fact that Matt Hamill was allowed to compete at the TUF 11 finale on Saturday, with the majority of the vitriol aimed at the Nevada State Athletic Commission-appointed physician who conducted Hamill's pre-fight screening and permitted the TUF 3 veteran to enter the cage while deaf. Hamill ended up securing the hard-fought majority decision after going three rounds with Keith Jardine. But at no time was Hamill able to hear anything, raising concerns that Hamill was cleared despite the very real threat of him giving Jardine his deafness. "This issue here is if those of us who saw Matt Hamill's deafness on TV can second-guess the medical professional who examined him in real life," said anonymous blog comment poster FiteGeek15yrsold. "And the answer is 'yes'. We on the Internet know way more than someone with years of med school who looked at him up close." When asked for comment, NSAC Chief Sign Language User Keith Kizer responded by pressing his palms to his ears and repeating, "Blah, blah, blah, I can't hear you."

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

What's Doing in Albany

If the past couple of years have taught us anything, it's that you can predict what's going to happen in Albany about as well as you can predict if BJ Penn has actually done cardio. Yes, I'm talking about the legalization of MMA in New York, and yes, I'm talking about how damn close we are again to getting it done. Just like last year, the bill that would allow the UFC into Madison Square Garden has passed through the toughest committee in the Assembly and it must get through a couple of other committees before it can go to the Assembly floor for a vote. However, unlike last year, the Senate has done their part by passing their own version of the bill. So, this is what I know (and take it with a huge grain of salt. We’re talking about politicians and the great mysteries of the legislative process, after all):

The sands in the hourglass have run out on legislative sessions, but the Assembly is still meeting to get a state budget done. The state budget is almost three months overdue.
The governor is all for the legalization of MMA, and would sign the bill if the Assembly passes it.
The governor included MMA in his part of the budget proposal, as did the Senate, so if the bill doesn’t get passed to legalize the sport, the budget proposal – once approved – would accomplish the same thing.
Matt Serra was sent by Zuffa to Albany yesterday. Zuffa thinks it’s close.
I was told by an insider that it’s close. This person knows their stuff, and will likely play an important role in MMA in New York.
The New York State Athletic Commission, while not entirely prepared to hit the ground running, has been doing some work to get ready.
According to the text, if the bill going through the legislature passes, then there will be no more underground shows. If the bill attached to the budget proposal passes instead, underground shows are on like Donkey Kong.

Take these facts for what they’re worth, which is nothing when it comes to the machinations of the Albany clusterfuck machine. Last year we were on track and it seemed like nothing was going to stop it, and then an unforeseen Senate coup screwed us. Literally anything can, and will, happen.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Observations from My Couch: "DVR 100% Full"

Other than wearing him like a blanket, Dan Hornbuckle had absolutely nothing for Ben Askren.
Askren is going to get killed by Lyman Good. I hope.
Note to fighters interested in getting in on a Bellator tournament: do not announce your intentions to participate in a tournament and then fight in a single-bout match as a tune-up. You’re going to get killed.
Rich Attonito is clearly good. Also, Jamie Yager is clearly sucky.
Dennis Siver looks like a poorly-constructed action figure.
Congrats to Aaron Simpson for earning the “Best Faceplant in an MMA Bout” award. Seriously, he looked like he was a reject from the tryouts for “So You Think You Can Dance?”
Whoever let Matt Hamill compete with the gnarly staph sore on his back should be shot. Hamill himself should be shot twice.
Good showing for Court McGee. Did Kris McCray not know he had to prepare for a fight?
Will Campuzano needed that loss, as only a fighter with an unhealthy sense of self-worth would sport a haircut like that.
Oh my God, it took Chris Horodecki almost two and a half rounds to defeat someone with Down’s Syndrome. Sad. So sad.
How can you lose with a name like “Bendy”? Via grappling, apparently.
Will “Bad Mofo” Kerr.
Josh Grispi is pure beast. The sport’s 145-pound division is now the most exciting division in all of MMA.
Mark Hominick versus Yves Jabouin was a slobberknocker for sure. I guess as long as Hominick doesn’t fight grapplers it’s all good in the ‘hood.
World Extreme Groinfighting. Apologies to Jamie Varner’s nuts.
A majority draw? How the hell did Kamal Shalorus not lose a point for that last kick to the junk? Was referee Josh Rosenthal in on the fix?
Kenny Florian did a great job commentating for both the TUF Finale and the WEC. That’s all I have to say on the matter.

MMA Mayhem Postscript

It was the first outdoor event I've been to since a 2001 King of the Cage at Soboba Casino, and despite a thin card it was pretty entertaining. The home team went 5-1, with Chris Liguori, Jose Rodriguez and Adam Fearon racking up strong wins. The decision in the Dante Rivera/Dan Cramer bout could've gone either way, but no way did Rivera take all three rounds. Also, it was cool having people screaming on a rollercoaster in the background, although if a promoter plans a future show on the runway of an active airport or in the center of a racetrack, I will have to boycott the event.