MMA's Full 38' 09.26.07: IFL Final(S) Redemption
Posted by Sid Needelman on 09.26.2007
In this week’s article by Sid Needelman, we see a story emerge about redemption at the IFL Finals. A story that includes a fallen champ Ricco Rodriguez, a rematch for a young star Ryan McGivern and for an organization who is on an upswing.
Ricco Rodriguez looked amazing. He was calm and he was in good spirits though he was not drinking any spirits. He has truly cleaned up his life and proudly proclaims to whoever offers him a drink post-fight, that he is off every substance, including alcohol. It is a one shot deal with the IFL but he has a 3 fight deal with EliteXC, but by the end of the week, he may be unsure of that.
Ricco needs to show his redemption in the ring even though out of the ring, it appears he has. He looks and sounds clean and by the end of readying this article, you will understand what the former UFC champ has in common with ChynaDoll, and a rocker from the band Crazytown.
Another fighter seeking redemption is that of Ryan McGivern who has a previous loss to his opponent tonight. He says he will be much more careful about any leg/knee lock tonight. He has trained hard, even though he feels Miletich could have given him more personal attention. He is looking for redemption from his loss to Fabio Leopoldo, which took place 3 days short of a year from today. For the rematch, he trained predominantly with fellow Silverback, Mike C and Robbie Lawler. Robbie himself, had an exciting week with his title victory at EliteXC. I asked about how he felt Royce Gracie testing for steroids made him fell. After a quite pause, he said it was very upsetting, and a black eye for the entire Mixed Martial Arts community. I wonder what, according to Ryan, would Royce have to do to get his redemption?
And the IFL's redemption…. Well they had to move the weigh-ins because so many people wanted to attend. That's a good sign. They keep getting new coaches, the scored Ricco for tonight's show and may have Mario Sperry on board for a Florida team. When Sperry spoke however, he seemed reluctant to commit to Florida, though I hope he does chose this state.
The night of the event everyone seemed excited, even the most non-obvious in attendance. One person who flew across several state lines to witness the event was Justinian McAllister. He is a guy you would never know the name of, but you probably have seen his work. He is that guy on myspace ( and dmha.com ) who makes those almost impressionist versions of personalized fighter t-shirts. Currently they have 18 fighters signed and you can already get a Jeff Monson and Nick Diaz shirt for example, but I digress.
By now the event has been televised and play-by-plays are available everywhere, including on the 411mania.com MMA webpage. So let us skip to the aftermath…
What you could not hear, even sitting ringside but could hear on the MyNetwork telecast, was Miletich very upset with Ricco Rodriguez for the literal spit in the face to his fighter, Ben Rothwell. Yes, indeed spit to the face, possibly even twice. Later that evening at the press conference, coach Renzo Gracie jokes that it was a combination of sweat and exhalation. In fact, it was spit and Ricco admitted it, and apologized to Ben. Ben was upset at the press conference after the fight and said it was disrespectful. Ricco on the other hand, apologized and wanted to get over the incident and requested a rematch after Ben's Grand Prix expected win. The "powers that be" at the IFL agreed both publicly and privately, after the conference to the idea, at least in spirit. While Ricco's check was $100 smaller than expected due to a fine by the Florida Athletic commission, and while he did not have his hands raised, the night was a victory for the former UFC Champ.
Ricco is back and there is no question about it. He impressed everyone. He showed the Gracies who he greatly admires, just what he could do while attempting to help them win the IFL Finals. He was awarded a ring and he was complimented on losing nearly 60 lbs. in sluggish body weight. Ricco also had a smile on at all times during the week. He was in a good mood at the conference and when we returned to his hotel room, you could see his smile was not just for the TV cameras. Quickly he showered because he had more to do that night, and what turned out to eventually be morning.
Showing his redemption and the recognition by others of his comeback, he was congratulated as we emerged back onto the casino floor. Jamal Patterson would be one of the first to congratulate Ricco on being back on televised fights. Jamal, a Pitbull, won his fight in a very convincing way, submitting his opponent in a preliminary bout. Andre Gusmao complimented Ricco in an odd way. Andre was so fired up from the spit incident, that he was being almost held back from getting into the ring. While Ricco cannot take all the credit for Andre's win, I do not see why he cannot take some. Everyone was impressed with Ricco's changed behavior, it was only a few years back that he was drinking after fights. Now the only alcohol that came into contact with him, was the champagne that was sprayed onto the winning team, the Pitbulls.
How did he kick the bad habits/addictions? On a reality show of course. On VH1's Celebrity Rehab Ricco Rodriguez kicked his habits. Actually he had them kicked before the show, but he kept clean and reaffirmed his commitment there as well. He was on the show with Brigit Nielson, Chyna Doll, Tom Sizemore, one of the guys from the band Crazytown, porn star Mary Carey, and American Idol star Jessica Sierra. And yes, they have to call her Chyna Doll so as not to get sued. Ricco enjoyed his time in the house and while hanging out later that night. it was proven to be more than lip-service that he did indeed, get along with his fellow detox celebs because Jessica called to see how he was after his fight.
Besides a VH1 reality show, Ricco has gone "Hollywood" though he has kept his eyes on fighting. This week on the History Channel's Human Weapon, Ricco will be helping out the cast learn MMA. I am very interested in how the sport is shown because they could easily mess this one up by doing the whole "it was once called human cock fighting" angle. He will also be on network TV's Shark this upcoming season, acting the part of a pro-fighter across from the WWE's The Rock's stunt double.
His in-ring performance was great. He seemed to have more energy than he had in recent years for his fight, and while he could have been in better shape, he had the self described "Gusto!" that any New Yorker should have. He still had that energy at 6 a.m. the next morning after staying out with other fighters. At that point we sat down with Jamal for some breakfast, the first time Ricco has eaten since his fight. I do not think it could have been any funnier to see this huge man imitate his Puerto Rican mother, complete with accent.
He has a non-exclusive 3 fight deal with Showtime that if they are as impressed with his loss as many were, will still be in tack for fans to be excited about and he is happy to stil have two of his long time sponsors, Serious Pimp and Fairtex still with him.
Ryan McGivern also made his mark in terms of redemption. Coming back from a honeymoon and some mixed results in his last few fights, he scored an impressive win over his opponent Fabio Leopoldo. Fabio was on the wrong side of a beating this time around, as Ryan won his rematch. While the rematch did not get the press it should have, there was some healthy tension before the fight and and obviously the fight itself, was intense as well. In the post-fight conference, Ryan expressed his happiness and relief that he had in fact, redeemed his hardest loss to date.
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And for those of you wondering what is MMA's Full 38' It means: an octagon is 30 ft across with 4 feet extra on each side, for cornermen, doctors and camera crew. To know MMA, sometimes one needs to make sure they cover some of the lesser know aspects of it, and 38' represents a number a lot of hardcore fans would not recognize. But be warned, do not try to set up an arena without knowing how big the octagon really is, or there will be problems.
Sid Needelman
