The MMA Journalist

Monday, February 7, 2011

Schedule for this Week's Strikeforce Extravaganza

Strikeforce is in town! Hide your women and your valuables! Just kidding, Scott Coker doesn’t care about your valuables. The man drives around in a car fashioned from the bones of failed San Jose fighter wannabes, and this whole Fedor-heavyweight-tournament thing has him rolling in potential equity like never before. Which is why, as an MMA fan, you should get while the “getting” is good – and this week, that “getting” includes a “fan experience” thingy in Midtown, public weigh-ins, and a huge Strikeforce installment at the IZOD Center in New Jersey on Saturday night. Seriously, woot (!). Here’s the short list of what’s going down:

Tuesday, Strikeforce Fan Experience at the Roseland Ballroom (239 West 52^nd Street) – Come see all eight of the heavyweight tournament’s competitors as they have an open workout, sign autographs, take pics with fans, try out new standup comedy routines and recite spoken word poetry “slam” style.
Wednesday, media press conference – This one isn’t open to the public, but it’s a good idea to keep on eye on Twitter while these are going on. You never know what bombshell is going to get dropped.
Friday, official weigh-ins – This one is open to the public, so if you’re near the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, come on by. Maybe Fedor will step onto the scale wearing a sweater, maybe he’ll wear sweats. You never know!
Saturday, Strikeforce’s “Fedor vs. Bigfoot” at the IZOD Center – Watch it on Showtime or watch it live. I don’t care! I’m going to be there liveblogging either way!

Observations from My Couch: UFC 126 "Ultimate Only Chael Can Save Us Now"

Kid Yamamoto, Michihiro Omigawa, and with his decided lack of shots at the middleweight title, Yushin Okami – boy, it’s a crappy time to be Japanese in the UFC.
Gabe Ruediger’s loss to Paul Taylor was still a vast improvement over the time he lost to that giant piece of cake.
Apparently Miguel Torres thought he was getting paid by the jab.
Before he's through, Don Cerrone will stamp out every worthless lightweight in the division. God bless him.
Carlos Eduardo Rocha had some badass jiu-jitsu moves. Too bad he lacked the badass wrestling and boxing moves.
Jon Jones ate Ryan Bader like he was a plate of cheap Waffle House pancakes. I don’t know how he’ll do against Shogun, but damn will it be interesting.
Watching Forrest Griffin and Rich Franklin fight is like watching two old athletes a bit past their prime do their best to stay employed. Which, um, is exactly the case.
I had high hopes for Vitor Belfort and his elite-level striking, but it’s clear only one man on this Earth can ever dethrone the great Anderson Silva. Unfortunately, that man hates revealing what meds he’s on to athletic commissions and he loves mortgage fraud. Damn you, Sonnen!

Cage Fury Fighting Championship Postscript

Solid show. Nah-Shon Burrell simply could not miss when he was punching Craig Thieme's cut. His hands were like homing missles. Victor O'Donnell belongs in the UFC/Strikeforce. His wrestling, his grappling and his heavy hands are just too much for the minor leagues. Too much. And James Meals really continues to impress. Watching him is like watching a new fighter emerge on the scene. Back at UCC 2 he gave Jason McLean fits, and at CFFC on Saturday night he was calm and poised and totally freakin' deadly. I recently posted about Melvin Guillard and Mark Hominick transforming themselves - the same is true for James Meals.