The MMA Journalist

Friday, December 10, 2010

Schedule for the Weekend

I heard there may be a UFC on pay-per-view this weekend, but details are sketchy. Some George guy is fighting… possibly… who knows.

There is, however, a bit of local action going down. Tonight, there's some kind of exclusive benefit dinner going on at Cipriani's on Wall Street. "Fight for Humanity" is the name, and there's going to be about half a dozen Muay Thai bouts - some of them featuring MMA fighters (like Rick Screeton and Joe Sampieri). Tickets are $2,500 each, so, yeah, maybe you should wait for the DVD or something.

On Saturday night, Ring of Combat is offering up a hefty amateur installment at the Raritan Center in Edison, New Jersey. There are 15 bouts scheduled, and notable participants include Mike Fischetti, and, um, a bunch of guys I don't know. ROC's amateur shows tend to feature some real up-and-coming badasses, though, so it's worth checking out.

Also on Saturday is another Muay Thai extravaganza from Take On Productions in Flushing, Queens. Some of the best kickboxing schools in the TriState area take part in these events, and if you like watching fighters knee and kick each other into oblivion, it's always a good time.

Finally, on Sunday there's an event out in Brooklyn called "Budokai: Way of the Warrior". The West Brooklyn Community High School is the venue, first bout is at 2:00pm, and there will be full-contact karate, sport jujitsu and san da matches. This is relevant to your interests because some UCL veterans are competing. Expect a fair amount of stabbings and/or a riot if things don't go as planned.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

Kids These Days...

http://www.thefightnerd.com/mma-reporter-gets-pepper-sprayed/

Book Update

Okay, so it looks like it's going to be called "Raw Combat: The Underground World of Mixed Martial Arts". There is, apparently, some science involved in publishing, and having the words "New York" in the title might discourage a Tap Out-wearing kid in Idaho from buying it. Hey, who am I to argue? Publishers know publishing. I just know underground fighting in New York and sanctioned MMA in New Jersey.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

A Message from Mike Constantino

From Mike Constantino, Grand Poobah of the AMA Fight Club (who obviously loves exclamation points):
"UFC 124 Montreal Prize Package - From AMA Fight Club - 2 tickets to UFC 124 at the Bell Centre – Sit in the Friends & Family Section of the fighters on the card! Then join us at our official after party at 1234 Club in Montreal with Jim Miller, Dan Miller, Charles Oliveira, Sean Pierson, & many more fighters ALL Fighting on the 124 Card!!!!

In order to win you must follow @AMAFIGHTCLUB On Twitter & join our Facebook fan page AMA Fight Club Fan Page – post why YOU should win & it’s as simple as that. Best story wins! Winner picked by Mike Constantino, Jim Miller & Dan Miller directly.

Runner Up Prizes Include:
Dan Miller Autographed Walkout Shirt UFC 124!
Jim Miller Autographed Walkout Shirt UFC 124!
One Signed Fight Worn Glove signed by both Miller Brothers!
Please announce, post, talk about, retweet, help us get this out there!!! If we double our followers after this contest I will do it again at UFC Fight For The Troops, then Again at UFC 126 SUPERBOWL WEEKEND in Las Vegas February 5^th!!!

Thank You!!!!"

Monday, December 6, 2010

How Bad Did Strikeforce Crush the UFC on Saturday Night?

Yeah, so, there were two events on TV on Saturday night – a UFC on SpikeTV and a Strikeforce on Showtime. One of these offerings featured a slew of not-ready-for-primetime players who provided decision after decision, and the other gave us enough thrilling knockouts to send a significant percentage of viewers in seizures. Can you guess which major MMA organization gave us which? If you guessed that it was the UFC’s TUF 12 live finale that was the stinker, you guessed correctly! Within the Octagon we got to witness Nam Phan have a pretty decent scrap against Leonard Garcia before getting robbed by the judges, and then we got crap that was best watched on fast forward. Strikeforce, meanwhile, gave us Robbie Lawler decapitating Matt Lindland, Paul Daley removing about three years from Scott Smith’s life, and Dan Henderson utterly smashing Renato Sobral. Ratings disparities aside (SpikeTV is premium cable channel offered in more homes; Showtime is a subscription-based channel), it’s clear that the House of Coker won the battle Saturday night. But how bad did Strikeforce crush the UFC?

At the UFC event, the fighters and their respective camps watched the Strikeforce show on monitors in their locker rooms. And they wept.
After the press conference for the TUF 12 Finale was over, Dana White reportedly went backstage and punched Joe Silva in the stomach.
After the punch, Joe Silva said, “Thank you. I deserve that.”
Scott Coker instructed Lawler, Daley and Henderson to invoice the UFC for “knockout of the night” bonuses. And the UFC is considering paying.
Upon watching both events on their TIVOs/DVRs, a large number of fans burned their official UFC gear and merchandise. Also, those who’ve been claiming to train in the “UFC-style” of fighting announced they’ve switched over to “Strikeforce-style”. “Bro, it’s so much better.”
Dana White thanked God, Allah, Zeus, Neptune and Odin. Why? Because if Saturday night’s Strikeforce had aired on CBS instead of Showtime… Well, let’s just say his world would be a lot more complicated today.

Another Happy Customer

From the mailbag:

"Love your 'Mitch the Intern' TUF spoofs!

And so GODDAMN MANY of them!

No captions! No descriptions. They are worthless and they SUCK!

Okay, we get it it, you're all underground, you go to fights that know one else knows about, so you're the martial arts equivalent of foodie eclecticist Alton Brown.

You're special because you know about them, and I'm not.

But I'm not *learning* about them, either, because there's no context to those pics.

Who are they? What's the story? Are they not important enough to find any more about them?

The pics are nothing to admire in the first place. If there's nothing more to be gleaned from them than "oh, look, I was at a fight and it was a secret", then...kinda pointless, Jimmy boy.

Posting a pic with no caption or context isn't journalism."

Evolution "Holiday Havoc" Postscript

Nothing finer than traveling a half hour from your house to see a sanctioned MMA show. Nothing finer. As for the fights, Abdul Beyah definitely had a plan (sprawl and brawl) and he executed it well, Greg Quarantello's got some decent hands on him, and if Rob Fabrizi can nail down that cardio he's going to be a force. The "stud of the night" award, though, definitely goes to Jimbo Hoffman. Expect big things from him when he turns pro.

Sunday, December 5, 2010

ROC 33 Postscript

With so many fights - and so many good ones - it's hard to pick the standouts. But I shall try... James Jenkins has shown a lot of promise in just two ROC appearances; Mervin Rodriguez looked rock solid and his new camp (Pellegrino MMA) might be a great fit for him; Tom DeBlass continues to climb up the division; Justine Kish looked amazing, both in her confidence and her technique (when Holland had her pressed up against the cage she was literally crawling up Munah to put her in a guillotine); and, Costa Phillipou was his usual deadly self. As for the championship bouts, Sean Santella, Chris Weidman and Gian Villante came off as top-level guys about one or two fights aways from competing in the UFC. But if the night belonged to anyone, it belonged to Joe Aviles. Thus far we have seen only spectacular knockouts from this Jungle Gym rep, and that's the kind of trait that makes him worth his weight in gold to any organization. Fighters like Weidman and Villante will sell a lot of tickets because they're good at what they do and they have a lot of family and friends that like to come out and support them. Someone like Aviles, however, will have people buying tickets (or tuning in or purchasing the pay-per-view) just to see who and how he will kill next. Like I said, that's gold right there.