Disinterested BJ Penn Hypes Fight By Saying Edgar Is Short, From New Jersey

The hype for UFC 118's lightweight championship rematch reached a fever pitch today, with ex-champ and now challenger BJ Penn proclaiming that incumbent title-holder Frankie Edgar is short. When posed with a question regarding Saturday's upcoming bout, and after being nudged by UFC president Dana White, Penn rose from his chair at the press conference, put down the sweater he was crocheting, and stammered before finding his words. "Uh, Frankie is a good fighter, but he doesn't deserve that belt. He's, uh, too short. Plus, he's from New Jersey." Added the hard-hitting jiu-jitsu phenom with a yawn, "I'm from Hawaii, myself." Despite the collective gasp the echoed throughout the historic Faneuil Hall in Boston, Edgar remained his usual laconic self, responding to the trash talk with a mumble, a grin and a fist pump.

It's been said that a focused Penn is a dangerous Penn. Well, if the lightweight heat emanating from the UFC 118 press conference is of any indication, Edgar may be in for a rough night on Saturday.

Upcoming Bouts to Look Out For

Hey, do you like mixed martial arts?  Of course you do.  And if you’re reading this blog, you’re most likely either a fan of MMA in the Northeast or hopped up on goofballs (or both).  So for your reading pleasure – and to satisfy a court order that stipulates that I must produce at least one blog post a day – I’ve compiled a handy-dandy list of upcoming bouts worth looking out for. 

• Daniel Akinyemi vs. Rich Bianchi, UCC 3 on September 10^th – The UCC returns to Jersey City, and with it comes middleweight prospect Daniel Akinyemi, who slammed his way to victory on the Iron Ring reality show on BET before taking a two and a half-year hiatus.  A paramedic in the real world, Akinyemi is a well-rounded and aggressive competitor when fists are flying.
• Joe Funaro vs. Nicholas Torres, Aslyum Fight League 30 on September 11^th – Former underground fighter Joe Funaro (twin brother to James) makes his Asylum debut against some kid named Nicholas Torres.  I know nothing about Torres, but every time a UCL veteran fights in a legitimate promotion an angel gets his wings, so, um, yeah.
• Tom DeBlass vs. Tom Velasquez, ROC 31 on September 24^th – There are so many stellar match-ups on the ROC 31 card that it’s hard to pick any single one as the stand-out.  But I will say this: the pairing of Ricardo Almeida black belt Tom DeBlass against “Latino Sakuraba” Tom Velasquez should be damn exciting.  Damn exciting.
• Mike Fischetti vs. Joe Synol, ROC Amateurs II on September 25^th – Joe Synol’s been racking up some wins in the various New Jersey’s amateur MMA promotions.  Unfortunately, he’s facing TSMMA’s unstoppable Mike Fischetti at ROC’s upcoming amateur show, and as Fischetti is the master of sprawl-and-brawl, Synol is likely going to get smashed with a quickness.
• Shawn Obasi vs. Carlos Cline, Brick City FC on October 2^nd – The self-proclaimed “Wing Chun Man” is making his pro debut at the inaugural Brick City Fighting Championship event in Newark, and his opponent is longtime Renzo Gracie disciple Carlos Cline.  Expect a lot of punches to the face in this one.
• Kim Couture vs. Munah Holland, ROC 32 on October 23^rd – Everyone knows Kim Couture as the chick who married and divorced Randy Couture, and some may even know her from her handful of MMA bouts.  But soon people will know her as the lady who was killed by Munah Holland.  Holland will be making her MMA debut in this match-up, but she was a 2007 Golden Gloves boxing champ and she hails from TSMMA, so she specializes in MURDER.
• Lyman Good vs. Ben Askren, at an undetermined Bellator event in October – Bellator welterweight champ and TSMMA star Lyman Good gets to do the man-dance with Ben Askren, the wrestler who won the Season Two tourney.  Sure, Askren is great at takedowns and constant-pressure, but the word on the street is Kurt Pellegrino has been bringing in high-level wrestlers for Good to work with and Good’s been stuffing them all.  Watch for the Human Action Figure to pound out the Man with the Out-of-Control Hair.

Bob Reilly: Unloved and Unappreciated

New York State Assemblyman Bob Reilly hates MMA and has done his best to keep it out of the state.  But not everyone likes Assemblyman Reilly, nor his cause.  Here's James Whalen, who is challenging Reilly for his Assembly seat: http://blog.timesunion.com/capitol/archives/30880/whalen-to-reilly-enough-with-mma/ .

Observations from My Couch: Strikeforce's "Houston, We Have a Problem"

• Bobby Lashley is no Brock Lesnar.  Nope, not by a long shot.
• The referee standing Lashley up when Lashley had the mount was a disgrace.  However, homeboy was done, and if things didn’t end between rounds they most certainly would’ve ended in the third.  Props to Chad Griggs for making the Lashley/Batista match-up viable.
• KJ Noons is fantastic with his hands and even better with his late punches and illegal kicks.  Please, Nick Diaz, rematch this fool and crush him.
• Jacare deserved the win.  Tim Kennedy looked solid, but it just came down to who scored the most points, and Kennedy’s messed up grill told the tale.
• King Mo got his ass royally kicked and he was dethroned.  He was banished from his kingdom and must now live in exile.  He is a king without a crown.  His rule is over and his subjects are no longer awed by his presence.  He is but a mere commoner now…  Okay, that’s enough of the analogies.
• Feijao looked solid taking out Muhammed Lawal and earning himself the Strikeforce light-heavyweight belt.  But as per Strikeforce rules, he will lose it in his first title-defense.

Top Five Cole Konrad Jokes

Bellator 25 touched down in Chicago last night, and fans who tuned in were treated to 115-pound female tournament darkhorse Zoila Frausto tossing Jessica Pene around like a rag doll, UFC vet Brad Blackburn and Dan Hornbuckle staging a real thriller on the feet, and Polish strongman Damian Grabowski somehow stealing a decision despite having zero takedown defense.  It was an entertaining show… and then heavyweight Cole Konrad came in and stunk up the joint.  Seriously, the dude is bad, so very, very bad, and no amount of name-dropping (“Yeah, he’s Brock Lesnar’s training partner,” “He and Brock Lesnar went to the same pre-school,” “Did you know COLE KONRAD spelled backwards is BROCK LESNAR?”) by the announcers can change that.  Maybe he had success as an amateur wrestler somewhere where people care about that stuff, but in the real world he is a complete MMA show-killer.  So here, without further adieu, are the top five Cole Konrad jokes.

1. Molasses, drying paint and old people screwing – what do they all have in common?  They watch tape of Cole Konrad to find their inspiration.
2. Cole Konrad is so slow, when he walks down the sidewalk there’s a line of snails behind him shaking their fists and yelling, “Hey asshole, speed up!”
3. The US Food and Drug Administration is currently approving Cole Konrad as a sleep-aid.  Unfortunately, the clinical trials have stalled because the test subjects keep falling into comas.
4. Cole Konrad moves so slowly, mountains brag about hiking up him.
5. Cole Konrad walks into a bar.  The bartender says, “What can I get you?”  Cole Konrad thinks about it, then replies, “A coke, please.”  But it’s 30 years later and the bartender is dead.

Brick City Fighting Championship to Feature Epic Gracie vs. Sambo Battle

Brick City Fighting Championship, a newcomer to the New Jersey pro MMA scene, enters the fray on October 2nd at Essex County College in Newark, and the marquee bout of their initial offering is a strong one.  In a pairing between elite grapplers, Igor Gracie of the famous Clan McGracie (think: jiu-jitsu from the Highlands of Scotland) is taking on Ozzy Dugulubgov of K-Dojo, and the match-up promises fireworks.  For those out there under house arrest or confined to a 1950s fall-out shelter, Dugulubgov is some kind of Eastern European badass with a killer sub game, and in his brief amateur MMA career was absolutely beastly in the cage.  Brick City FC scored a big win in securing Dugulubgov for his pro debut, and matching him against a Gracie is nothing short of genuis. 

Observations from My Couch: WEC 50 "Attack of the Munchkins"

• Bart Palaszewski scored a great, crowd-pleasing win against Zach Micklewright, but the victory did little to allay the underlying tragedy of the bout.  The tragedy that was his hairstyle.
• Yes, Stephan Bonnar and Todd Harris.  We get it.  Brad Pickett is like a Pikey from “Snatch”.  Please move on.
• Scott Jorgensen and Pickett sure did have a decent stand-up scrap.  It’s always a breathe of fresh air when fighters actually exhibit some striking skill and bob and weave and feint before plastering each other in the mug.
• I am wholly unmoved by Chad Mendes’s dry-humping.  Still, he got the job done, and Cub Swanson had nothing for him.
• Shane Roller was impressive.  Anthony Pettis was impressiver.  How about that late triangle, eh?  The WEC’s lightweight division might be like watching toddlers splash around in a shallow pool, but at least there are a couple cute kids worth paying attention to.
• One day someone is going to figure out that the secret to Dominick Cruz’s fighting method is mixing Irish Stepdancing (“Riverdance”) with the disco “Hustle”.  Then he’ll be screwed.
• Oh how I miss the days when a WEC bantamweight champ won in decisive and dominant fashion.  Where for art thou, Miguel Torres?

MMA Journalist's Four-Day Forecast

Rain, sleet, snow, sunshine – thanks to the WEC, Bellator and Strikeforce, there’s one heck of a varied MMA weather pattern in store for the next few days.  When will you need an umbrella to keep the crapfest from raining down on you?  What day will the glare from Stephen Quadros’s demonic smile require SPF 200 sunblock?  When does avoiding your TV, going out and hiding under a bush in the park become your best option?  Here’s MMA Journalist’s four-day forecast!

• Wednesday: WEC 50 rolls into Las Vegas like a cool desert breeze tonight.  And like a breeze, you won’t notice it unless you’re paying attention.  Why is that?  Because the WEC has managed to cultivate a decent number of stars in the lower weight classes and none of them are on the card.  Human tornado Dominic Cruz gets to defend his bantamweight belt against Urijah Faber-protégé Joseph Benavidez – and he probably will beat the little dust cloud by decision like he beat him before – and a tough and experienced bit of British fog known as Brad Pickett will turn the Scott Jorgensen picnic into a washout.  But who cares?  The WEC’s got an A-list, and these guys aren’t on it.
• Thursday: Thursday’s Bellator 25 card in Chicago includes a brief ray of sun in the form of Jessica Pena and Zoila Frausto in a 115-pound female tournament quarterfinal bout.  Pena is a top-five fighter and Frausto was unranked until last month, when she blasted top 125-pounder Rosi Sexton with a bolt of lightning and took Sexton’s spot in the tournament.  Frausto may be hard to predict in terms of whether she’ll bring the rain or just be overcast, but we know damn well she’s capable of thunder now, so this bout is worth watching.  Also worth it: Season 2 welterweight tourney runner-up Dan Hornbuckle vs. Brad Blackburn, which pits a submission storm against a smothering mud puddle.  The rest of the card, however, includes disaster Cole Konrad and three other scrubs in heavyweight quarterfinal fights.  Stay indoors for those.
• Friday: Clear and beautiful with no MMA scheduled.  Now would be a good time to walk around your neighborhood toting a 1800s Parisian parasol.
• Saturday: Strikeforce will hit Houston like an avalanche on Saturday, burying folks in the snow job that is ex-pro wrestler Bobby Lashley vs. no-name Chad Griggs.  But those who manage to dig themselves out of the white powder will get treated to the completely irrelevant pairing of Jorge Gurgel and KJ Noons, which will end with Gurgel out-struck, bleeding and TKO’d.  Lay-and-pray master Muhammed Lawal (aka “King Mo”) gets to defend his light-heavyweight belt against the hot-and-cold Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante) in what promises to be a fight as exciting as watching ice melt.  Yet those who are fans of grappling will most likely be making snow angels when Tim Kennedy and Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza go at it for the middleweight title.

That’s it for the weather.  Now, over to Richard for the traffic report.  Richard?

Another Collection of News Haiku

Japan.  The Land of the Rising Sun.  A society steeped in rich culture, a deep sense of budo, weird food and anime fraught with odd sex.  But Japan’s most enduring contribution to the world is the haiku, a terse form of poetry that consists of a five-seven-five pattern of syllables.  It is in this way that MMA Journalist will bring you the news today (next week: iambic pentameter!).

• An old car, broken/ down, needs lots of work.  Such is/ the great Nogueira.
• CroCop will step in/ to face Frank Mir.  Hooray for/ fighters past their prime!
• DREAM still hasn’t paid/ Bibiano Fernandes?/  Bad way to treat champ.
• Shane Carwin named in/ steroid case.  Steroids? No way! /  That’s a big surprise.
• Jens Pulver lost to/ some scrub this past weekend.  It/ don’t get no sadder.
• Tomorrow is a/ WEC and there’s no heat./  They need the Zombie!

Observations from My Couch: Strikeforce Challengers 10 "The One with All the Chicks"

• Of all the female fighters we’ve seen in 2010, Maiju Kujala has by far the cutest hairstyle.
• Damn, did Hitomi Akano own Carina Damm.  (See what I did there?)
• Remember when Julian Lennon released his first album and everyone was comparing him to his father, John Lennon?  Yeah, Ryan Couture looked okay.  Just okay.
• Joe Riggs seemed fine for a guy with almost 50 fights and 50 major injuries.  But really, did anyone actually tune in to watch Riggs battle a scrub?
• For all the ownage Akano perpetrated on Damm earlier in the night, it was Meisha Tate who was unequivocally dominating her in the finals.  Does Tate have a chance against champ Sarah Kaufman?  Probably not.

Eddie Alvarez to Avenge Football Player at Bellator 33

Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez has signed on to face noted football player-hater Roger Huerta in a no-title bout slated for Bellator 33 on October 21st.  Huerta - a veteran of the UFC who once graced the cover of Sports Illustrated - gained widespread notoriety earlier this month for a street altercation that began when ex-Atlanta Falcon linebacker Rashad Bobino punched a female from behind and ended with Bobino on the ground and Huerta kicking his teeth in.  According to a press release, Alvarez had no stake in the infamous fight that occurred on the mean streets of Austin, Texas, but he took great umbrage at Huerta's apparent disdain for American-rules football and its players, and the Philadelphia-based slugger asked for the match-up himself.  Said Bellator Chief Conquistador Bjorn Rebney, "Yes, Pat Curran won the tournament last season and should get Alvarez next.  But this is a, er, vendetta, and Bellator will pursue any angle to sell fights.  Literally, any angle."

Observations from My Couch: Bellator 24 "Hector Lombard Murders Another One"

• Neil Grove looked good wrecking Eddie Sanchez, but Sanchez is like a heavy bag with legs, so it’s not much of an accomplishment.
• For a minute there, I thought Carla Esparza was going to pull off a “Pat Curran” and sprawl-and-brawl Megumi Fujii to death.  Fujii, studette that she is, pulled it off though.
• I don’t what was more painful to see – Frank Mir snapping Tim Sylvia’s arm in half at UFC 48, Corey Hill getting his shin fractured at UFC: “Fight for the Troops”, or Fujii getting interviewed after her Bellator 24 win.  Jesus, that was awful.  Did no one know ahead of time that her English was that bad?
• Jessica Aguilar: tough, but not a looker.
• Bellator seems to be trying their damndest to get Hector Lombard to kill someone in the cage.  And last night he came close.
• Ever since Moosin, I cringe whenever an Yves Edwards’ fight goes to decision.  Thankfully, he got the “W” he deserved.

August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings

The August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites. In addition to the numerous MMA web sites that publish the Independent World MMA Rankings, you can also access the rankings at any time by going to http://www.independentworldmmarankings.com/.

Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel. These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (Fight Opinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Freelance); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Jim Murphy (The Savage Science); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion); Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Head Kick Legend).

Note: Paul Daley, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields, Nick Diaz, and Jason Miller are all temporarily ineligible to be ranked due to the fact that they are all currently serving disciplinary suspensions. Daley is serving a disciplinary suspension for punching Josh Koscheck after their fight was over, and all of the other fighters are serving disciplinary suspensions for their roles in the post-fight brawl at the Strikeforce event in Nashville.

Note: Due to the fact that Anderson Silva has said in numerous recent interviews that he plans to stay in the middleweight division for the rest of his career and has no plans to fight in the light heavyweight division anymore, along with the fact that Silva's most recent fights have been at middleweight, Silva has lost his eligibility to be ranked in the light heavyweight division. Unless Silva returns to light heavyweight in the future, he will be eligible to be ranked exclusively in the middleweight division.

August 2010 Men's Independent World MMA Rankings
Ballots collected on August 10, 2010

Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)
1. Brock Lesnar (5-1)
2. Fedor Emelianenko (31-2, 1 No Contest)
3. Fabricio Werdum (14-4-1)
4. Cain Velasquez (8-0)
5. Junior dos Santos (12-1)
6. Shane Carwin (12-1)
7. Alistair Overeem (33-11, 1 No Contest)
8. Frank Mir (13-5)
9. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (32-6-1, 1 No Contest)
10. Antonio Silva (14-2)

Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)
1. Mauricio "Shogun" Rua (19-4)
2. Lyoto Machida (16-1)
3. Rashad Evans (15-1-1)
4. Quinton Jackson (30-8)
5. Forrest Griffin (17-6)
6. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal (7-0)
7. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (19-3)
8. Jon Jones (11-1)
9. Gegard Mousasi (29-3-1)
10. Thiago Silva (14-2)

Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)
1. Anderson Silva (27-4)
2. Chael Sonnen (25-11-1)
3. Nathan Marquardt (29-9-2)
4. Dan Henderson (25-8)
5. Vitor Belfort (19-8)
6. Demian Maia (12-2)
7. Yushin Okami (25-5)
8. Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza (12-2, 1 No Contest)
9. Jorge Santiago (22-8)
10. Robbie Lawler (17-6, 1 No Contest)

Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)
1. Georges St. Pierre (20-2)
2. Jon Fitch (23-3, 1 No Contest)
3. Josh Koscheck (15-4)
4. Thiago Alves (17-7)
5. Dan Hardy (23-7, 1 No Contest)
6. Martin Kampmann (17-3)
7. Matt Hughes (45-7)
8. Paulo Thiago (13-2)
9. Matt Serra (11-6)
10. Mike Swick (14-4)

Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)
1. Frankie Edgar (12-1)
2. B.J. Penn (15-6-1)
3. Kenny Florian (13-4)
4. Shinya Aoki (24-5, 1 No Contest)
5. Eddie Alvarez (20-2)
6. Gray Maynard (9-0, 1 No Contest)
7. Tatsuya Kawajiri (26-6-2)
8. George Sotiropoulos (13-2)
9. Evan Dunham (11-0)
10. Ben Henderson (12-1)

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)
1. Jose Aldo (17-1)
2. Manny Gamburyan (11-4)
3. Urijah Faber (23-4)
4. Mike Brown (23-6)
5. Hatsu Hioki (21-4-2)
6. Marlon Sandro (17-1)
7. Bibiano Fernandes (8-2)
8. Josh Grispi (14-1)
9. Michihiro Omigawa (11-8-1)
10. "Lion" Takeshi Inoue (18-4)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)
1. Dominick Cruz (15-1)
2. Brian Bowles (8-1)
3. Joseph Benavidez (12-1)
4. Miguel Torres (37-3)
5. Scott Jorgensen (10-3)
6. Takeya Mizugaki (13-4-2)
7. Damacio Page (15-4)
8. Wagnney Fabiano (14-2)
9. Masakatsu Ueda (11-1-2)
10. Rani Yahya (15-6)

The Men's Independent World MMA Rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody's vote counting more than anybody else's vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters' actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they've actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions, or who have been denied a license for drug test or disciplinary reasons, are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.


Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

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A Collection of News Haiku

So much news, so little time to digest it all.  But fear not, as MMA Journalist has the more salient points of what’s going on in the sport today in easy-to-swallow haiku form.  Get zen, people.

• Chael Sonnen’s big mouth/ made 117 huge.  White and/ Silva should thank him.
• Paul Daley got just/ 30 days for punching Josh/ post-fight.  What a joke.
• If you thought Mike Swick/ had bulimia, you were/ wrong.  Close, but still wrong.
• Anderson is out/ for the rest of the year.  The/ reason: CHAEL SONNEN.
• Matt Hughes is out too./  He has to hide in the woods/ and shoot some animals.
• Bellator files suit/ against Zuffa.  Why do that? / Because it sounds cool.

Ridiculous Amount of Female MMA This Week is Ridiculous

First there was Moosin giving us Tara LaRosa vs. Roxanne Modafferi in May.  Then came Bellator, with a few choice female MMA pairings, followed by Strikeforce's Sarah Kaufman/Roxy stunner.  The summer of 2010 has been absolutely killer for those keen watching the ladies throw down, and this week things get kicked into high gear with both Bellator and Strikeforce rocking the women's tournaments.  Bellator is up first on Thursday with the opening round of their 115-pound four-person tourney, and the competitors include top-ranked Megumi Fuji, who will be taking on wrestler Carla Esparza, and Jessica Aguilar, who will be taking on Lynn Alvarez.  Fuji is a shoe-in to take the whole thing, but if we've learned anything from watching these Bellator tournaments it's that no one is immune to getting their ass unexpectedly beaten.  Strikeforce picks up the baton the following night with their one-night 135-pound tournament, and it's packed with big names like Hitomi Akano, Meisha Tate and Carina Damm.  The winner of that little conflagration gets to take on the winner of Kaufman vs. Marloes Coenen, so there's tons of weight attached to the outcome.  The bottom line: there's a ridiculous amount of female MMA this week, and it's ridiculous.  Ridiculous!

Observations from My Couch: UFC 117 "Ultimate Heartbreak"

• Roy Nelson is an entertaining dude, but he had nothing for Junior dos Santos.  Senior dos Santos would’ve killed him.
• People always talk about Ricardo Almeida’s jiu-jitsu black belt and accomplishments in the world of submission grappling.  Often overlooked, though, is Matt Hughes’ black belt in wrestling.
• Clay Guida’s hair: so unstoppable, just rubbing it on an opponent’s face elicits a tap out.
• Stefan Struve got a much-needed win on Saturday night.  Against who, I have no idea.  But he got the win.
• Oh boy, I can’t wait for Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves to have another rematch.  There are still so many unanswered questions!
• But for that ultra-last-minute triangle, Chael Sonnen was boldly striding down Champions’ Lane and not stopping for anything.  No one kicks Anderson Silva’s ass like that, and no one can talk so much crap and back it up the way he does.  I would now watch anything – anything – he’s on, including UFC pay-per-views, stints as a coach on TUF, guest commentating gigs for the WEC, paid endorsements for Xyience on late night SpikeTV, and even appearances on daytime soap operas. 
• Silva may still be the champ, but the blueprint is now out there.  His days are numbered.

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Photo by veteran fight photog Keith Mills.
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M-1 Global "Selections" Postscript

After a slow summer, M-1 Global really hit this one out of the ballpark.  The venue, some ballroom in Bally's, was packed, and the crowd went nuts over Andrei Kapylou and every other bout that delivered excitement.  Aaron Meisner looked as deadly as ever, and Tom Gallicchio showed that he's been working on his striking - although once he took a few hard shots to the head all that new stuff went out the window and he just went into his usual slug-the-hell-out-of-you mode.  His rear naked choke finish was MONSTER.  Mike Geurin looked great, too, and can take a beating with the best of them, and Plinio Cruz would've won his fight if not for that point deduction for the groin strike.  Can't wait for the next M-1 installment.