The MMA Journalist

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Jose Rodriguez's Greatest Hits

M-1 Global returns to Atlantic City this Saturday, and besides the final rounds of a number of multi-weight tournaments, fans will be treated to the masterful pugilistic stylings of New Jersey fighter Jose Rodriguez. Rodriguez, long considered one of the sport’s pioneers around these parts, was always that guy a promoter could turn to who’d be willing to fight anyone at anytime (promoter: “Jose, I need someone to fight a Tyrannosaurus Rex. You down?” Jose: “Of course. Give me 200 tickets.”). Consequently, this willingness led to a number of losses – losses that make for one heck of a deceptive record. You see, Rodriguez is dangerous both with his fists and with his submissions, and is capable of snatching victory from the jaws of defeat in nearly any scenario. Therefore, to help paint a more accurate picture of the man who’s fought in just about every Northeast promotion ever, MMA Journalist has compiled a list of his greatest hits.

Rodriguez was a regular at BAMA FightNight, the Garden State’s seminal fight show, and even made the trek out to Long Island to compete at Vengeance at the Vanderbilt.
Rodriguez fought for the Ring of Combat belt back in 2003 at ROC 3, and he went the distance with James Gabert. At one point Rodriguez knocked Gabert unconscious, but Gabert woke up when he hit the floor, and after delivering an ungodly beating Rodriguez simply ran out of gas.
In an attempt to give their cards some local flavor, the Mixed Fighting Championship brought Rodriguez in to face Reality Fighting champ Lance Everson. Everson was bigger – a light-heavyweight to Rodriguez’s middleweight frame – and considered the favorite. Rodriguez put him to sleep with an arm-in guillotine in a minute and a half.
The next installment of the Mixed Fighting Championship featured a Team USA versus Team Japan theme, and Rodriguez was paired up against karate champ Yuichirou Tsuchida. When the referee yelled “Go!” Rodriguez ran over to the Japanese fighter’s side of the ring and simply clobbered him with punches. The ref waived the bout off at 31 seconds.
Rodriguez took on Baltimore-based Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu rep Tenyeh Dixon at Combat in the Cage back in 2006. Dixon is a tall, lanky fighter and he possessed a significant reach advantage. Rodriguez’s answer to that reach advantage: a flying heelhook (think: Ryo Chonan vs. Anderson Silva) in a minute and 19 seconds.
Three losses to future UFC competitors followed (Dan Miller, John Howard and Marc Stevens), but Rodriguez bounced back this summer with an armbar over Rob Morrow at the MMA Mayhem event at Great Adventure. This one took about a minute, and it was very nearly a double-armbar (Morrow got one arm out at the last second).

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

UFC Fight Night 22 Fun Facts

Another UFC Fight Night is upon us, which means either a) a new season of the Ultimate Fighter is about to start, b) a season of the Ultimate Fighter has just ended, or c) SpikeTV needs an ad sales boost and wants Zuffa to serve up one of their additional, contractually-obligated shows. Well, in this instance it’s option “a”, with Nate Marquardt and Rousimar Palhares headlining a card that could play out in totally awesome fashion or totally craptastic fashion – or both! Anyway, here’s some UFC Fight Night 22 fun facts.

Ross Pearson won TUF 9 as a representative of Team England. Oddly enough, when he speaks it sounds nothing like English.
Cole Miller and Jim Miller are not blood relatives, but they are related by marriage. Cole’s aunt’s nephew’s art teacher is the common-law spouse of Jim’s uncle’s best friend’s son’s pitbull.
“Gleison Tibau” means “slicked-back hair” in Portuguese.
As a youngster, Efrain Escudero auditioned for the role of “Harry Potter” in the Harry Potter films. Daniel Radcliffe got the part after the producers decided they needed “someone less Latino and more British”.
Charles Oliveira’s jiu-jitsu is so technical, if you were to slow down tape of his fights, you’d be able to hear the voice of Rorion Gracie narrating.
Much has been made of Palhares’ humble beginnings living in abject poverty in the Brazilian countryside. However, what’s often overlooked is how his life has changed since earning a steady paycheck in the UFC. Now, Palhares actually owns a small house – with both a roof and plumbing! Curiously, he prefers to sleep under the porch.
Marquardt was the King of Pancrase for a while back in 2002. For those who don’t know, Pancrase is an island in the South Pacific that was colonized by the Japanese.

Monday, September 13, 2010

Observations from My Couch: Shark Fights 13 "Decent MMA is Decent"

Don Frye’s voice sounds like he just swallowed an armadillo whole.
What Don Frye says sounds like that armadillo is still alive in his stomach.
When he’s on, Paul Bradley is 100% pure smash.
It definitely seemed like Brock Larson was sick – sick of getting his ass kicked by Tarec Saffiedine!
I don’t know what happened to Joey Villasenor, but he used to be better than that. Props to Danillo Villefort for getting the “W”.
Okay, how many of you were waiting for Paul Daley to throw punches after the third round ended?
Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou is one of the toughest one-round fighters out there. Too bad fights are scheduled for three rounds.
Um, Keith Jardine? You know that unorthodox fighting style you use? Yeah, it’s not working.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

UCC 3 Postscript

Another good event by the UCC, which is far and away the most convenient sanctioned fight show to attend for a New Yorker (provided you don't get stabbed going to and from the PATH train). This was the best Felipe Arantes we've seen in a long time (maybe ever) - his Muay Thai was deadly and his jiu-jitsu was just on point. Daniel Akinyemi looked like a monster dispatching Rich Bianchi, Ryan Quinn was a machine, and Luiz Azeredo was as good as you'd expect from someone with his kind of experience. I rate this UCC an emphatic four stanzas.