The MMA 5 & 1 01.18.12: The Rio Carnival Edition
Posted by Stewart Lange on 01.18.2012
Michelle Waterson is your "& 1" Model of the Week, Pat Miletich takes on Mark Coleman in Vs, Muhammed Lawal tests positive for steroids, Kenny Florian considers retirement, plus thoughts on UFC 142, Dana White vs. ESPN and more!
It's Wednesday........
It's 411mania.com........
It can only be........
The MMA 5 & 1 Rio Carnival Special!
What makes this week's edition a "Rio Carnival Edition," I hear you ask? Well, in coming off of what may turn out to be one of the best cards of the year, I felt it was only fitting we keep the Brazilian flag flying, with their rabid fans and hell, the fighters from there aren't too shabby either, are they?
I'll keep the crap brief as I've got a fair amount to get through, including a load of comments, a (minor) new feature and maybe, just MAYBE a little MMA chat. You ready? Me too.
It's the Evan Rachel Wood mailbag!!
As per usual with the crazy weight class match-ups in the Grand Prix, BJ taking on Brock caused a fair few comments, most describing Penn as a crazy bastard.
Actually that match up is not that crazy. And there was a time when I believe BJ would quickly accept it.
Posted By: Guest#5526 (Guest) on January 11, 2012 at 12:17 AM
open weight grand prix!!! whooot!!!!
the funny part is in real life, bj would have no problem fighting brock at heavyweight LOL..
brock.. 265.. bj penn.. 185-190 fatty.. just like when he fought machida... gotta love him!
Posted By: wylun (Guest) on January 11, 2012 at 12:30 AM
Even with the weight disadvantage, I believe a motivated B.J. in his prime would have been a problem for Brock "please dont hit me in my face, cause I don't like that" Lesnar. Penn has defeated heavyweights in open weight grand prix's before. If you throuw age and weight out the window, B.J. picks Brock apart and beats him into a bloody pulp until he turtles up and begs the ref to stop the fight. Think about how B.J. beat Shawn Sherk, and then imagine someone with much less heart. In fact, Sherk vs Lesnar, might be a great matchup in the consolation tournament.
Posted By: Brock Smash (Guest) on January 11, 2012 at 06:54 AM
Brock via TKO in the second, much like what he did to Mir. BJ can't handle guys who are great wrestlers who pressure him, and Brock would do both before pounding him out in the second.
Posted By: Robert Winfree (Registered) on January 11, 2012 at 01:11 PM
Yeah, I agree with those of you who think BJ Penn in his day would actually step up to fight Lesnar.
Stewart, as a fellow Brit, I have to ask, why on Earth are you using the term, 'douche' of the week?! Can't we get something more traditional like Wally or berk???
Posted By: Guest#4251 (Guest) on January 11, 2012 at 01:30 AM
Ha ha, what a great comment. While I totally agree with the fact that "douche" is an almost unheard of insult over here, I can't change it I'm afraid. The concept was lifted straight out of Tony Acero's Low End Theory so I have to be faithful to the concept. "Wally of the Week" is fantastic though.
Am I the only one that clicked to see Jade Bryce? She's hotter than most of the skanks AJ posts up on this site.
Posted By: Guest#0497 (Guest) on January 11, 2012 at 06:12 PM
While Jade Bryce certainly IS hotter than most of the skanks AJ posts on the site (is it just me, or is that Coco just NASTY looking? Let me know I'm not alone here), I will take the time to point out that if you want to thank ANYONE for the lovely ladies in this column, it's me, since I choose who goes there. I will take requests of course, hell, if you are indeed a lovely looking female, be sure to just email your pictures in.
Oh WOW was last week closer than I expected it to ever be! Brock beat out BJ by only ten votes, so Brock advances in the tournament. Since you enjoyed last week's crazy match up so much, how about we enjoy another, with Mark Coleman taking on Pat Miletich? Bring it on fellas!
The MMA Dick-tionary
Well, I decided it was about time to introduce a new feature the 5 & 1, one which is very dear to my heart. As you will know, MMA pundits, writers, arm-chair fans and fighters all enjoy using fantastic buzzwords and the like, a lot of which don't mean shit, but if they do, are totally stupid. I'm going to try and narrow down some of these phrases, and you can shout at me later. Sound good? We can build a Dick-tionary over time.
This week:
"Gut Feeling"
I'll kick off with this one, as it's pretty close to home. I'm really, REALLY bad for saying this in my roundtable picks. Just you watch. I'll probably use it for this week's FX event. Former 411 staffer Jeremy Lambert called me out for it a few weeks back and I've noticed JUST how bad I am for using it.
But it's not just me. Dana has used it. Other writers on other websites use it.
So why is it stupid? Because, it literally MEANS NOTHING, and bears no relevance to anything. So, you have a "gut feeling" Carlos Condit will vault the cage to escape being hit by Nick Diaz? Great. That's not punditry.
Just watch though, I'll continue to do it. Why? Because I'm not a "pundit", I'm a fan with a keyboard. It just happens I have a great forum here to make myself look stupid. Which I do. A lot.
Like now.
UFC 142: F*CK YEAH!
Love a girl in uniform
Well, unless you've been living under a rock, this past Saturday we saw the UFCs second recent trip to Brazil and well, I'll be damned if it wasn't a topper! It started pretty well, with Edson Barboza and Terry Etim having a bit of a battle, with the Brazilian taking Etim apart slowly, but surely. In the third round, Barboza clearly found his rhythm and gave us what I'm almost promising will be my 2012 knockout of the year. You know why I'm making such a bold prediction? Because if I'm wrong, then we'll have seen two of the best knockouts EVER in one year. Can't be bad, huh?
In other news, we had bat-shit mental Paul Harris Rousimar Palhares almost removed the leg of Mike Massenzio, and an even MORE bat-shit mental call by Mario Yamasaki to disqualify Erick Silva from his fight with Carlo Prater due to strikes to the back of the head. Despite the fact only one landed. After Prater was already out. And the fact the referee has to actually warn a fighter, THEN deduct a point, THEN call the fight a DQ. While this sort of crap is usually reserved for Steve Mazzagatti fights, Mario Yamasaki is generally a pretty good referee so I don't know what was running through his head making this decision. Harsh.
In the co-main event, Vitor Belfort choked out Anthony Johnson in a back and forth round, with some fairly inconsistent refereeing, with the pair constantly being stood back up fairly quickly. While Johnson has a reputation as a bit of a lay and pray kind of guy, Big Dan had no business doing it as quickly as he was on Saturday. Maybe he just HATES fat people. More on that later.
The main event of the evening saw "Scarface" Jose Aldo defeat Chad "Money" Mendes with a huge knee in the final second of round one. While Mendes was not doing well in his efforts to take down Aldo, I did think that if he persevered, the takedown would come. What I didn't bargain on, though, was the deadly efficiency of Jose, who swung his knee perfectly into the face of Mendes, who had just lost Aldo's back, knocking him clean out. The celebration afterwards saw Aldo rush into the crowd, straight into the arms of his countrymen in what will no doubt go down as one of THE iconic moments in UFC history. Absolutely fantastic.
Finish Of The Week
That just makes me laugh, EVERY single time.
PUT DOWN THE FORK!
Vitor successfully wrestled the Reece's Pieces away from Johnson
This past weekend saw the latest in a line of repeat weight offenders dropped from the UFC in Anthony Johnson. If there is one thing that really irks Dana White, not to mention the majority of fans, if the message boards are anything to go by at least, it's fighters missing weight. While cutting weight is hardly a new thing in combat sports or MMA, most of these professional athletes will have coaches to help with the drop, or at least have an idea of how to do it themselves.
Anthony Johnson broke the scales at 12 pounds over his 185lb target on Friday and within a few minutes of the news spreading, it was clear that "Rumble" would soon be appearing on a Bellator card near you. Karma, however, is a bitch as we saw Vitor secure the choke on Johnson with one fully functioning eye, ensuring the UFC wouldn't need to do the unfathomable and release a victorious fighter at the post fight press conference.
The solution to this problem? Well, as much I'd love to say "put down the fork," it's not anywhere as close to this reality. Would same day weigh-ins curb the trend? Probably not. What about restrictions in the amount of weight that can be cut? It's a tough decision and one I'm glad I don't have to make- but I think the current set up is probably the most reliable and fair way of getting this done. As long as Paul Daley and Anthony Johnson aren't around.
It's the UFC 142 MMA Podcast folks, get involved and enjoy the show!
Dana White Vs ESPN
Angry wee man
Well, Dana white has got upset about something else this week. This time, it's the turn of ESPN. While I'm, honestly, partly baffled by what Dana is shouting about, the crux of it seems to be that ESPN presented a story on its show "Outside the Lines" that was fairly brutal when it came to talking about the pay for the UFCs fighters. Here is Dana getting upset here:
The biggest problem? I agree with both parties. Do the UFC pay the fighters either well OR fairly? Not really. Not if the figures are correct. But as a lot of the fighters say in the video above, they also get a win bonus, sponsorship payments and so on. It's just the basic salary looks like it sucks.
Dana is also right, in that the UFC fighters are still not being shown on the mainstream channels, but hey, they aren't being paid the same as major baseball or football stars. Maybe though, it's a vicious cycle. Further promotion from partnering networks; now Fox Network would equal to higher fight card revenue which would also mean bigger basic purses for the low-mid card fighters.
Maybe I'm just being naïve.
Douche Of The Week
Because she's much, much hotter than Rumble
I've had to replace the picture of Anthony Johnson I planned to have here with one of Adriana Lima, in keeping with the Brazilian theme. Rumble fans, don't be sad, I just couldn't find a picture of Johnson that wasn't too fat to fit in the column.
King Mo Steroid Fail
Not anymore, he isn't
Strikeforce stalwart Mohammad Lawal yesterday failed a drug test, testing positive for drostanalone. If you don't know what drostanalone is, ask the guy standing next to the phone box at the end of your street. He'll sell you some. Mo has truly done himself big time here, as not only was he probably due to fight for the Strikeforce Light Heavyweight title later this year, but he was also one of the favourites to make the jump from Strikeforce to the UFC, likely to take on foe Rampage Jackson at some point in what could have been a huge pay day.
So, what's going on over at Strikeforce? Is there some sort of crazy issue there with PED's? Is someone selling them? Are the bigger names so desperate to get to the UFC they are quite happy to take the drugs in the first place? Who knows, but what do you guys think is making the drugs so prevalent?
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Florian- Is he Done?
Always the Bridesmaid.....
All round nice guy Kenny Florian this week has not only hinted strongly at retirement, but also was added to the commentary team for the UFC on FX with Jon Anik. While the two know each other well and it's not exactly Kenny's first rodeo on the microphone, I don't like him as a commentator. He seems a little too biased, too often for my liking. I preferred Stephan Bonnar during the later WEC days.
Florian hinted earlier in the week that he's been having troubles with his back, to the point we may have seen him in the cage for the last time. As we all know, Florian also has a horrible allergy that has stopped him reaching heights in the Octagon- the fairly unknown Title-itis, which is a condition that stops the sufferer from performing during Championship bouts, or big fights with a lot on the line. Shame really.
You know who Michelle Waterson is? Well, she's lovely. Check it for yourselves......
The Post-Fight Press Conference
That's it for another week here in the 5 & 1, so I hope you enjoyed the column! Please, leave a comment below and be sure to check some of the other amazing work here on the 411.
I hope you enjoyed the column, remember and vote on the undercard and leave a comment for me below! If you fancy a game of Battlefield 3, give me shout on Xbox Live- outafterdark216. Be warned though: I suck.
Poor Kenny if he does retire. But he does have a strong career to look back on even though he never became champion. He did really help build the lightweight division and make it legitimate.
Also he likely has a UFC job for life as an analyst.
Posted By: Jeffrey (Registered) on January 18, 2012 at 02:11 AM
Everytime I look at Adriana Lima I just cant believe that Marko Jaric owns that.
King Mo blew it big time failing the drug test, expect that guy to be cast off to Bellator by next year.
Ive never thought that a pregnancy that wasnt an accident a draw-back in anyone's career but Michelle Waterson couldve been headed to mainstream appeal with a couple more high profile fights good luck to her come back whenever that is.
Ive said this over and over about the UFC but if you want your fighters to be looked at as elite athletes then you have to pay them like elite athletes. Sure UFC pays the most for MMA but your bench warmer in the NBA gets $500K a season. A player that qualifies as a "veteran" gets a minimum of $1 million a year. Look at Derrick Rose, his max contract extension is 4 years for $80 million and his lifetime endorsement deal with Adidas is $240 million. That makes UFC payscale look like chump change.
Posted By: TheR (Guest) on January 18, 2012 at 03:09 AM
"And the fact the referee has to actually warn a fighter, THEN deduct a point, THEN call the fight a DQ."
Not necessarily. If an illegal blow leads to a fighter being unable to continue, then the fight has to be stopped. The ref then has to decide whether the blow was accidental (no contest) or intentional (DQ), which I guess gives another reason why it was a bad call because even if Silva did hit Prater in the back of the head, it was in the midst of a flurry of punches and in no way was intended to land on the back of Prater's head. Also, if Mario was concerned about an illegal blow, he should've checked with Prater to see if he could continue, then he could've deducted a point and restarted the fight that Silva probably would've then won seconds later. I'm sure that Prater couldn't continue after that onslaught, but that is standard referee procedure in most fights I've seen where an illegal blow occurred and Mario didn't follow any of it in that fight.
Also, I'm fine with Kenny commentating on more fight cards just so long as he doesn't call every kick to the body a liver shot like he was doing at UFC 134. That was getting annoying.
Posted By: Alan (Guest) on January 18, 2012 at 11:37 AM
Ugh, Miletich and Coleman. This results in two rounds of clinching against the cage, then Coleman finally getting a takedown and riding out a decision victory.
Posted By: Robert Winfree (Registered) on January 18, 2012 at 12:47 PM
"Ive said this over and over about the UFC but if you want your fighters to be looked at as elite athletes then you have to pay them like elite athletes. Sure UFC pays the most for MMA but your bench warmer in the NBA gets $500K a season. A player that qualifies as a "veteran" gets a minimum of $1 million a year. Look at Derrick Rose, his max contract extension is 4 years for $80 million and his lifetime endorsement deal with Adidas is $240 million. That makes UFC payscale look like chump change."
Forrest Griffin had a good point though about UFC taking a loss on all undercard fighters. Even if they only make $5,000 to show, there are probably only a handful of people (if any) who will buy a PPV just to see them fight. They are being paid to complete a card for the live and Facebook (and Fuel now I guess) audiences. How much are you supposed to pay those guys?
Also, sponsorship doesn't count because it costs the UFC exactly 0$.
Posted By: Guest#3575 (Guest) on January 18, 2012 at 01:02 PM
Not all fighters are on TV.
Compare the Non televised card to practice squad in pro sports.
They get $30-40k on average.
Fight 3 times a year (and win) and you match that.
The problem also lies with pro sports incomes.
There is a metric fuckton of money in major sports, and they grossly overpay "stars" to perform.
UFC bought Brock, he drew huge, he got payed huge.
Other fighters that build up also get payed well. Plus the locker room bonuses, sponsorship endorsements, they are doing okay.
Sure, the little guy fighting the first fight of the night for the first time in UFC is getting $5k. That's to be expected. If he wins, he doubles.
Imagine if pro sports required performance levels and victories for pay. The lockouts that would be sure to follow would be ridiculous.
Comparing grossly overplayed athletes to MMA fighters is comparing apples to oranges, really.
When MMA reaches NFL recognition and revenues, then the fighters will get a bit more consideration.
Posted By: MPMoore (Guest) on January 18, 2012 at 01:05 PM
ok am i the only one that is going to point out that aldo cheated? did everyone else notice mendes pick aldo up but not be able to throw him down do to the fact aldo was hanging on to the fence... this wasnt one of those little fence grabs that ultimately changes nothing in the fight..we all have to beleive mendes would have gone into the second round if that did not happen right? now im not saying mendes would have came back to win the fight but crazier things have happened and if i were "money" i would be pissed about this. now i dont know what could have been done...but i do believe mendes should have actually gotten something from this because it just may be the reason this one ended the way it did
Posted By: Mike "The Show" Harris (Guest) on January 18, 2012 at 01:44 PM
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