Punch Drunk Hangover 1.7.08: Rachelle, Rachelle...

Posted by Bren Oliver on 01.06.2008

In the first Hangover of 2008, read ahead for Bren Oliver's thoughts on HDNet Fights' cancellation of a February event, Matt Serra being forced to defend his Welterweight strap in Canada, Lyoto Machida potentially taking on Tito Ortiz, as well as five things he is looking forward to in 2008. Those delicious tidbits, plus Fedor's MMA debut and some quality time with Kimbo Slice...



Good morning, afternoon, evening, or whatever in-between time it is that your eyes have found their way to the Punch Drunk Hangover! I hope to once again offer a handful of laughs and a dash of insight into the Mixed Martial Arts world in a way that makes the first day of the work-week breeze by a little faster. However, before getting into the nitty-gritty of this ditty, I want to first thank "Cardio Freak" guru and all-around wonderful human being, Jeremy Lambert, for putting me in touch with his friend Isaac who created the brand spanking new "Punch Drunk Hangover" banner that you see at the top of this week's column! Lambert, or St. Jeremy as we call him around these parts, is a compassionate, understanding 411Mania comrade who, in his spare time, solves the world's hunger problems, works on a cure for cancer, and saves cuddly puppies and kittens from house-fires.

Also, to clarify matters, it was in fact my 7th Grade Lunch-Lady, Dana White, who said I'm awesome, but you're all welcome to pretend the UFC President has time to read my column. Lord knows I do...

I don't have too much to rant on this week before firing up the ol' Flux Capactior and going back in time to review our pieces o' news from last week. Just quickly, I want to touch on five things I think fans can look forward to in 2008, and then we'll move on to the juicy center of this week's PDH. By the way, this was a fairly tame week in terms of MMA news, which I'd primarily attribute to the holidays...

Five Things to Look Forward to in 2008 (in no particular order)

1. Great MMA Fights outside of the UFC... - Two on the horizon which instantly come to mind are Urijah Faber taking on Jens Pulver at a future WEC event and Frank Shamrock taking on his half-brother Ken Shamrock. Both these fights are interesting for different reasons, as Faber vs. Pulver is essentially a changing of the guard where Pulver is the cagey veteran who has never lost a fight at 145-pounds and Faber is the new breed - an exceptional fighter who is well-rounded, hungry, and seemingly impossible to beat at Featherweight. Shamrock vs. Shamrock has the drama instantly created by pairing up two brothers who have each made a significant name for himself in Mixed Martial Arts. 2008 also delivers the very real possibility of another Yarennoka event, Frank Trigg vs. "Mayhem" Miller at HDNet Fights, Gilbert Melendez vs. Josh "Punk" Thompson for the Strikeforce Lightweight Championship, and a ton of other appealing match-ups outside of the familiar entrapments of the UFC.


2. Dan Henderson vs. Anderson Silva at UFC 82 - The PRIDE/UFC Middleweight unification bout scheduled for Columbus, Ohio in March should result in an incredible fight between the weight class' top two competitors. Anderson Silva has destroyed every individual he's faced in the UFC and Henderson is as solid a combatant as you will find in MMA. He went twenty-five minutes against "Rampage" Jackson and knocked out Wanderlei Silva. His style matches up well against "The Spider" and he will absolutely pose the toughest test Silva has faced to date. The winner of this match will be the top 185-pound fighter in the world and it's rare you end up with such a scenario.


3. Randy Couture vs. Fedor Emelianenko - This likely won't take place in the UFC but it's almost a forgone conclusion that Couture and Emelianenko will be locking up at some point in 2008. I'd say the most likely scenario involves a New Year's Eve bout. Randy is locked up with the UFC until October and a fight the magnitude of Couture/Emelienko deserves the kind of hype, and special treatment, a NYE event can deliver. Again, this is another bout that will clearly determine the world's best fighter at a particular weight class, and that's a beautiful thing in the contract-based landscape of Mixed Martial Arts.


4. The UFC on Network Television - 2008 will almost certainly be the year the UFC makes its way onto one of the five big stations with CBS being the most likely destination. The timing could not be better in terms of the writers' guild being on strike and the UFC pulling in ratings that are putting basketball, baseball, and hockey to shame.


5. TUF 7: Team Jackson vs. Team Griffin - Never before have two men as charismatic as Forrest Griffin and Quinton Jackson been cast as coaches on the Ultimate Fighter. I fully expect my belly to ache after each episode from the countless one-liners and self-depricating humor. Beyond that, I also see Forrest and "Rampage" as instructors who will fully invest themselves into the contestants who will be more in the vein of Tito Ortiz/Matt Serra than Ken Shamrock/Matt Hughes.

That's my three cents on the matter. Now on to my humble opinion on a variety of subjects rearing their ugly heads over the past seven days. Pop that cork a little early, review your list of potential midnight kisses one last time, and settle in to your seat - here comes the New Year's Eve 2007 episode of the Punch Drunk Hangover...


The following medley of items were reported between December 31st, 2007 and January 6th, 2008:



Brock Lesnar, who is set to appear in his UFC fight debut at UFC 81 against Frank Mir on February 2, is confirmed as appearing on the cover of the latest issue of Muscle and Fitness magazine which is on newsstands now.


Did I not forewarn you all that it was a slow news week? While Lesnar may be a genetic freak when it comes to muscle mass, I'd rather focus on another UFC employee featured in a January edition of "Muscle and Fitness" Magazine, albeit last year's, in order to spice up the ol' news report - Rachelle Leah.










In other magazine-related news, rumors have placed Fedor Emeliaenko on the cover of next month's "Home and Garden".


UFC 79's "Fight of the Night" honors went to Wanderlei Silva and Chuck Liddell and both recieved $50,000 bonuses for the effort on top of their base salaries reported below. "Submission of the Night", in no surprise, went to Georges St. Pierre for his armbar submission victory over Matt Hughes in the main event for the Interim Welterweight Championship. St. Pierre took home a cool $50,000 more, along with that interim belt, to add to his base salary. Almost by default, the "Knockout of the Night" went to Eddie Sanchez for his stoppage of Soa Palelei and was also worth $50,000.


I'm disappointed to hear the bonuses were issued in the way they were. I think $50,000 is a generous amount, so I'm pleased with the figure, but I feel the money was dished out to the wrong parties. Eddie Sanchez did not deserve to win fifty grand for his performance against Palelei. Even if it was one of two TKO finishes on the card, there's nothing in the rulebook that says a "Knockout of the Night" has to be paid out. St. Pierre's submission of Hughes was slick, but felt Machida's choke of Sokoudjou was equally impressive (along with Gamburyan's wrenching of Nate Mohr's knee), and I'd like to see lesser guys receive priority in terms of bonus consideration. I suppose the first two rounds of Silva vs. Liddell merited the "Fight of the Night" label, plus the atmosphere was tremendous, but the third round was complete monkey feces and somewhat embarassing in terms of two guys who are supposed to be elite fighters.


HDNet Fights has confimed that their upcoming February 15th show has been cancelled and as of this time there is no date set of a rescheduling. Word is that the event will be held in early spring or the summer based on the availability of the American Airlines Center, owned by HDNet Fights owner Mark Cuban. "The availability of our venue is tough in March and April," said Guy Mezger, President of HDNet Fights. "We're taking the time to build a little more infrastructure that's all our own," said Mezger. "Right now, we share a lot of it with HDNet and the [Dallas] Mavericks."

This is believed to be the one of the reasons for the cancellation and the extra time off is also believed to be to allow HDNet Fights to adequately meet obligations to partners like the IFL, Ring of Combat, and Sportfight. There are also talks with M-1 to possibly put on another joint Yarennoka promotion tentatively scheduled for sometime in March.


I have no problem with HDNet Fights postponing their February show and am not going to read too much into it unless something more troubling comes across the wire. The company put on two live events in the span of eight weeks, the first of which came less than three months after Cuban and Mezger first announced the creation of the HDNet Fights' promotion. I'd say a period of time off to evaluate what they've done right and wrong is well-deserved. Also, sharing space with the Dallas Mavericks who will likely be involved in the NBA Playoffs come April and have some home games at the American Airlines Center, so that makes booking a show a little tricky given the playoff schedule won't be available until the end of the NBA season (April 16th). I would not be surprised if Mezger finds a way to cross-promote with another company and even hinted at such on last week's "Inside MMA" while talking to Bas Rutten and Kurt Otto.

Could this mean we'll finally see the Aoki vs. Calvancante fight that was supposed to take place on NYE prior to JZ's withdrawl due to injury? The idea of a second Yarennoka show in March has my salivary glands working overtime! Someone needs to fill the void created by Zuffa's consumption of PRIDE FC and the New Year's Eve Yarennoka event proved to be a successful attempt at doing so. I find it bizarre that Dana White hasn't made a bigger push to put on, at minimum, a UFC event in Japan.


Xtreme Couture has announced a late February or early March opening for it's newest facility in Toronto, Ontario as the first of four planned Ontario facilities. The training center will feature Chris Horodecki, Brent Beauparlant, Mark Hominick and Jeff Joslin as trainers, and will also be equipped with a full-sized octagon, a boxing ring, and a complete fitness center.

This leads to the formation of a Canadian branch of Team Couture, that its namesake, Randy Couture and partner Shawn Tompkins plan on visiting 6-8 times per year.


This move shows me Randy Couture is starting to have a very good understanding of the business side of Mixed Martial Arts. Franchising XTreme Couture will likely prove to be an extremely successful venture. MMA is white hot right now and there seems to be a significant increase of people enrolling in classes related to the sport, even in terms of simply using jiujitsu/sparring as a workout and not a means to actually use in combat. Randy's name is known to the mainstream public, while being instantly associated with Couture's legacy as a winner and professional. Xtreme Couture has also proven to do quite well as far as training actual fighters so that is another feather the training center can put in it's cap. Don't be too surprised if you see one pop up in your neighborhood over the next 2-3 years...

Speaking of Couture, I also want to take a minute to send my Ali G style "respekt" towards our own beloved brethren Damian Sarcuni for landing this sweet interview with "The Natural":


411Mania gets au natural...





It looked like a simple submission to an anklelock live, but apparently it was much, much more. Nate Mohr, the talented lightweight who fought and lost to Manvel Gamburyan at UFC 79 this past Saturday night, has suffered a torn posterior cruciate ligament in the fight which led directly to his loss.


This was less surprising to read than the athletic commission's medical report not listing any kind of knee/ankle injury for Mohr. It was fairly clear Manny tore or broke something in Mohr's leg. It's hard to say how long the injury will keep Nate from competing. PCL rehabilitation is tricky, as there is little consensus on the best way to handle it. Generally, an individual would undergo physical therapy, but you run into a foggy area when it comes to reconstruction of the ligament. Based on what I've read pertaining to similar injuries I'd wager it will at least be a few months before he can train full speed let alone fight in the Octagon.


According to reports on NBCSports.com and Sherdog.com, Matt Serra has confirmed he will be fighting Georges St. Pierre to unify the welterweight belts in April in UFC's first venture in Canada. St. Pierre is coming off his victory over Matt Hughes at UFC 79 to win the interim welterweight belt. Of course earlier in 2007 he lost his welterweight belt to Matt Serra at UFC 69. Serra was forced off the UFC 79 card because of a herniated disk in his back but has said his back has been "rapidly improving."


Matt Serra is becoming the Rodney Dangerfield of the UFC because he "gets no respect". That, and I've heard Serra can do a "Triple Lundy", but that's a story for a different time. Look, I'm one of the first people in line when it comes to discounting the ascension of the brash East Coast jiujitsu whiz to most sites' top Welterweight in the world, and I fully believe his win over St. Pierre was a fluke. Serra couldn't finish Chris Lytle or Shonie Carter, so excuse me if I don't buy him being the best 170-pound fighter out there. That being said, Serra did beat GSP, and he is the UFC Welterweight Champion. For him to deal with, first, an interim title being created due to injury (when it was the UFC's decision to push his fight with Hughes back to December to sell the bout on the Ultimate Fighter Season 6) is a big enough slap in the face. To now force him to defend his shiny beltbuckle against St. Pierre in Montreal is equivalent to following up the first smack with a stiff knee to the nuts. Serra's title win should be a "feel good" story and instead the UFC is treating him like the bad guy.


Bob Meyrowitz, the owner of the UFC from 1993-2001, and event promoter Live Nation have signed a deal to start their own MMA promotion. The name, first event, and goals of the promotion are expected to be announced in the next two weeks.


Being the guy who owned the UFC from its inception to 2001 is equivalent to being Pete Best (the guy who was the original drummer in the Beatles). I appreciate what he did for MMA, but I expect absolutely nothing out of Meyrowitz's attempt to make his way back into the Mixed Martial Arts world. However, one factoid I will forever pay tribute to him for was not only giving "Big" John McCarthy his nickname, but also asking McCarthy to come up with a catch-phrase to begin bouts with which eventually became, "Let's get it on!"


Lyoto Machida's manager has confirmed that the undefeated Light Heavyweight has accepted an offer from the UFC to fight Tito Ortiz. According to Ed Soares (Machida's manager), Machida has accepted the offer for the fight and now they are just waiting for Tito Ortiz to accept the fight.


I fully believe Ortiz will turn this fight down. Machida is a bad match-up stylistically for "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy". Tito tends to rely on his wrestling ability (and the ground-and-pound following takedowns). The Brazlian is a slick jiujitsu practitioner, so he'll be more than happy to work from the guard, and I actually believe Machida is a better striker than Ortiz. At this point I think the best people for Lyoto to fight are Chuck Liddell or Keith Jardine to help firm out the next contender to the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship. Regarding Tito, he's smart enough to understand that it is in his best interest to fight competitors he can likely look good against, like Rashad Evans or the afore-mentioned Jardine. I also wouldn't mind seeing him give it a go against Wanderlei Silva in a re-match of their old school affair at UFC 25, even if just for the pay day. Houston Alexander would also make for an intriguing opponent against Ortiz.


In a recent interview with PunchDrunkGamer.com, Phil Baroni claimed that he had offers from EliteXC & WEC on the table. He mentioned that he doesn't have intentions of fighting in WEC as it's a "step down" from the UFC. He said he is interested in EliteXC's offer as well as an offer from a new promotion in Japan.


I think Caleb Newby, our MMA editor, needs to get the 411Mania lawyers on the phone to look into that website. I think we'll be able to get things straightened out, as I'm not associated with thos imposters, as long as Newbs doesn't give our legal advisors a ring during happy hour.

I agree with Baroni about WEC being a step down from the UFC, but he's not at a point in his career where he is ready to step into the UFC and make a real impact at Middleweight. A Japanese promotion would make sense because Baroni can use steroids...er, because the fans in the land of the Rising Sun love his larger-than-life personality.


From the UFC 79 Press Conference...


- Dana White mentions that UFC 79 brought in a live gate of $4.9 million making it the highest grossing MMA event of 2007 and the second highest grossing MMA event ever.


Amazing what can happen when you put together two huge main events involving popular fighters in bouts almost everyone wants to see, isn't it? Based on those numbers I think it could be fair to say the UFC is throwing away around $5 million because Dana White refuses to work with M-1 Global in putting together Couture vs. Emelianenko. It must be nice to be at a position in life where egocentrism can cost your company that sort of scratch...


- He mentions that the UFC will be holding a live card in Canada most likely in April. He also mentioned that he would love to take the UFC to Germany in 2008 as well.


Ach, mein Wienerschnitzel! All I ask is that, if the UFC ventures into Germany, a fighter comes out to the "Chicken Dance" song. The Montreal card in April will be fun and I look forward to the reversal of environment as there will definitely be overwhelming favoritism from fans towards the Canadian fighters.


- He mentions New York & Mexico as possible destinations for the UFC in 2009.


I'm still holding out hope the UFC gives Mexico a shot in May 2008 as no event has been officially announced and it will be just about the time Roger Huerta is ready to fight again. Tito Ortiz has also mentioned fighting on a May 2008 card and "Cinco De Mayo" happens to fall on a Monday (meaning Saturday, May 3rd would be a perfect date). NYC in 2009 is more realistic since the New York has yet to legalize Mixed Martial Arts competition. Still, the thought of the UFC eventually putting on an event in Madison Square Garden is exciting to say the least!


- Since Georges St. Pierre came out of his fight with Matt Hughes at UFC 79 in pretty good shape, White mentions that if Serra heals fast enough that a St Pierre/Serra fight could happen at UFC 83 in April.


Matt Serra has stated he should be healthy enough to fight in April at UFC 83 so barring injury from either camp that bout is absolutely going to happen. I already mentioned my thoughts on Serra having to defend the actual UFC Welterweight Championship in Canada in an above sectoin.


- White then mentioned that the UFC will be "making some announcements that are going to shake up the entire industry again."


Yes, but of course he could not discuss what the actual announcements are. The UFC President is well-known for the emptiness of his words so I'm putting no stake in this comment by White. I don't doubt the UFC is working on some things for 2008. I assume the possibility of a future UFC event broadcasting live on CBS thanks to strike-shortened seasons of original, scripted programming might be one of them. But, Dana is the king of hinting at stuff that never happens, so I need there to be actual, factual basis to the announcements before I'll start believing any of them to be true.


From M-1 Global Yarennoka...


I didn't get to comment on Yarennoka last week as my deadline for submission is Sunday night and the event took place early Monday morning. I wasn't 100% sure my body would allow me to wake up at five o'clock in the morning to watch a Japanese MMA show, or that perhaps I might find myself lost in dream by the midpoint of the second bout's ten-minute opening round, but I'm happy to say M-1's tribute to PRIDE held my attention from the opening bell...heck, from the opening drum session and introduction of the night's combatants. It was wonderful to hear Lenne Hardt once again putting her trademark herky-jerky spin on all the fighters' names. The one thing missing, which HDNet Fights should have been able to put together given their connections, was Mauro Renallo and Bas Rutten working the announce table. That being said, Kenny Rice and Frank Trigg still did more than an adequate job. The Japanese crowd was great throughout and the production was top notch except for the lack of showing hype videos for fighters which the crowd certainly got to view. Would it have been so difficult to hire a Japanese translator and run subtitles? Overall, I found Yarennoka to be a lot of fun, and I have no problem stating it was one of the best shows of 2007. The send-off to PRIDE was done well and there were some excellent fights on the card. Speaking of which...




Mitsuhiro Ishida def. Gilbert Melendez - Judges' Decision


I'm not sure I agree 100% with Melendez's assessment that he would have won the decision if the fight had taken place in the United States, but I can see why he was emotional after receiving his first loss in such a close fashion while competing on foreign soil. Ishida didn't do much damage from start to finish, but he controlled most of the action and unfortunately a number of wrestlers tend to act as "wet blankets" to ride out wins. Melendez's slam of Ishida and well-timed knee were both nice but "El Nino" was definitely fighting an uphill battle after the opening round. I believe Gilbert will use the loss as motivation and come back a better fighter in 2008 which is somewhat hard to believe given his already incredible ability.


Kazuo Misaki def. Yoshihiro Akiyama - KO - RD 1


The atmopshere for this fight was as good as you'll find in MMA. The crowd of more than 20,000 people were into it as soon as the names came up on the big screen and remained electric throughout. There was apparently a lot of trash talk and bad blood between the two warriors stemming from Akiyama's illegal use of lotion on his body before fighting Kazushi Sakuraba at K-1 Dynamite 2006. After some great exchanges, one of which left Misaki rocked, the "Grabaka Hitman" put Akiyama down for good with a solid punch followed up by a swift kick. I loved the post-fight exchange where Misaki lectured Akiyama for his actions, stating something along the lines of him letting down the fans and children of Japan, then getting on his knees and bowing in respect. It was as beautiful a moment as any in a sport viewed by many to be barbaric.


Shinya Aoki def. Bu Kyung Jung - Judges' Decision


Shinya seemed to be in some legitimate trouble during the first few minutes of his fight against Jung and the Korean judoka's armbar attempts looked very close to finishing him off. Aoki also had trouble locking in submissions and was unsuccessful in multiple attempts at getting something locked on Jung's leg. I felt striking made the difference and Aoki was certainly fortunate to come away with a win.


Fedor Emelianenko def. Hong Man Choi - Submission - RD 1


This fight went almost exactly as expected minus a few split-seconds where it seemed Choi's mass might be too much for Fedor to contend with. The size difference between the men was surreal! I'm glad this bout is behind us, for as much as the Japanese fans loved the pairing, I'm on the side who feels it was another far-inferior opponent for Fedor's camp used to protect his reputation. It will be a sad state of affairs if the current top Heavyweight in the world takes on another after-thought in the Heavyweight division or someone in a lower weight-class before facing someone like Josh Barnett.

Also, just for shits and giggles, here's video of Fedor making his MMA debut in 2000 against Levon Lagvilava. Wanna take a guess at how this goes for Lagvilava?


I must break you...





Jibber-Jabber:

The following soundbytes were delivered over the past week...

From Matt Hughes' blog regarding his future and his performance at UFC 79...

"My match didn't go like I thought it would at all. It seems I never got my gameplan started. Georges came in there and didn't hesitate on anything, when he wanted to do something he did it and it seems when I wanted to do something, I thought about it and then I didn't have the chance to do it. When you have a chance to do something, you just have to pull the trigger and do it right then and there. I'm going to take some time off and think about things. I've already talked to Dana and Lorenzo, and we'll probably see what happens with Georges and Serra. And if Serra loses, I might go against him. Nothing is set in stone, just an idea right now. Like I said after the fight, I came in in shape with a good gameplan, I just didn't execute. I want to thank everybody for their support, for the emails and mostly for the prayers."


Really? The match didn't go like you thought it would? Maybe that's because it's 2007 and you're still training like it's 2002?

As I said last week, there is no way Matt Hughes' ego allows him to retire after being humbled in the Octagon as he was against St. Pierre. Hughes will absolutely fight Serra if GSP wins the Welterweight strap at UFC 83. If Serra retains then I could see Akihiro Gono or Ryo Chonan as possibilities simply because of the PRIDE vs. UFC selling point (as well as the fact I believe Hughes views them as beatable opponents and he wants to go out on a high note).


Brock Lesnar in an interview with UFC.com...

(On transitioning from the WWE to the NFL) "I went from Wrestlemania right to the NFL and the Vikings training camp and was like ‘what the hell am I doing here?' I should have taken a break, but one thing, if anybody really knows me, they know I dive in headfirst and whatever happens happens. I'll deal with the consequences later. You only live one time, and what I hate are those people that can't make a decision. I just go for it. Of course, as I get older and a little more experienced, some of these headfirst things I think about a little bit, but I'm still kinda the same way."


You tell em, Brock! Those stupid people and the way they think before acting!


(On wanting to fight) "I originally wanted to fight when I was in junior college. I took some summer school out in Lassen, California, where I met up with some guys who trained out of the Lions Den. They booked me in a show in Reno, Nevada, and then I had to pull out because once you got paid to participate in something, the NCAA wouldn't accept me, and I wanted to wrestle. But I had actually started rolling and learning jiu-jitsu back in junior college when I was 19-20 years old."


I'd say Lesnar's bank account owes a big "Thank You!" to the NCAA preventing Brock from fighting as I'd say his transition from amateur wrestling into the WWE turned out to be a slightly more lucrative venture. However, it's good to hear Lesnar dabbled in MMA at an early age, as I believe the previous interest will benefit him when it comes to dedicating himself as one must do in order to find success in Mixed Martial Arts. Hopefully this makes sense, but the sport is not necessarily "new" to him because he's been fascinated in it for upwards of ten years and even trained some to compete.


(On getting into MMA) "I didn't think anybody would really even be interested in me. But here I am, caught between a rock and a hard place. Everybody on Earth knows who I am because of pro wrestling and because I went through the NFL, so where do I even start? Who's gonna take me seriously? Do I start in the bingo halls and start all over? I can't do that because I've already got a name. I'm more well known than the first guy that ever showed up on ‘The Ultimate Fighter'. So where do you start? Well, let's just find a promotion that's willing to promote you, let's go from there, and let's just see what comes out of it."


Brock has dropped "The Next Big Thing" tag and become "Mr. Modesty". Uh, you're an internationally marketable Heavyweight who dominated collegiate wrestling. Of course promotions were interested! Truthfully, I am looking forward to his Octagon debut against Frank Mir at UFC 81 with great anticipation. I am very interested to see what Lesnar can do in MMA given his background and chimpanzee-on-PCP strength.


From Tim Sylvia in an interview with 15Rounds.com...

"I think he [Fedor] is being a pussy. I think Fedor is very good, but you have to fight the top level competitors all the time to keep that status, and he is just not doing that."


Timm-eh, before criticizing Fedor's choice of opponents, let's take a look back at your record, shall we? One should not cast stones in glass Octagons...

In 2004, Sylvia was 1-1 with a win over Wes Simms and his heart-breaking, arm-breaking loss to Frank Mir at UFC 48. Emelianenko, on the other hand, was 4-0-1 beating Mark Coleman, "Minotauro" Nogueira, and Kevin Randleman along the way. He also beat Nogueira in 2003 when Sylvia was still fighting the likes of Gan McGee. In 2005, "The Maine-iac" was 2-1 with epic wins over Mike Block and Tra Telligman while also being quickly submitted by jiujitsu whiz Andre Arlovski. And yes, I'm being sarcastic. Fedor has not lost since 2000 and never been finished. Sylvia has lost three times in the last three years and all were decisive wins for his opponent.


More Tim Sylvia, this time to ESPN regarding Brock Lesnar...

"I've trained with Brock. I think Frank Mir's gonna submit him. He's a baby. Don't kick him because he'll get hurt. He's a hell of a wrestler man, the guy can wrestle and he's strong, but he can't punch and he can't get kicked. And he don't know how to kick. He can only go straight forward. I think Mir will submit him. I think Mir has what it takes to submit him. They could be lining this up between Frank Mir and myself down the road. They tried to [set up the] fight when I was supposed to fight Randy, but the Nevada State Athletic Commission would not sanction it. They thought I was too good for him. If he wins this fight I don't think they could say he's not good enough to fight me anymore."


I think Lesnar vs. Sylvia is more likely than Mir vs. Sylvia, especially given earlier trashtalk from Brock regarding the Miletich giant even prior to signing with the UFC. I don't believe Sylvia has enough perspective on Brock's abilities at this point to judge them given how much time has passed since Lesnar spent time training with MFS in Iowa. However, I do believe Frank possesses the ability to submit Lesnar from his back, but I also don't doubt the potential for the former WWE Superstar to maul Mir and send him back to the Vegas buffets.


Wanderlei Silva comments on his website about UFC 79...

"I was very well prepared physically and technically, my team deserves congratulations. They did an excellent job. I really did give it my best and I'm here to prove I'll take on anyone at all to prove Brazilians are macho and go all the way to the end. I'd like to thank all my fans. Were you excited? I'm just happy to have made you all enthusiastic!! It was worth it for the fans, my crew…and now let's go for the next one!!"


That Wandy sure has a way with words! How can you not smile when thinking of Silva stating that he's here "to prove Brazlians are macho and go all the way to the end"? I also look forward to Wanderlei's next fight and I believe he'll show more aggression than in his bout against Chuck Liddell at UFC 79. I think Keith Jardine is a logical next opponent, though I'd love to see Silva take on fellow hard-hitters Houston Alexander or Sokoudjou.


--------------


Before wrapping up here, I'd like to leave readers with a few more minutes of Zen for those of you returning to work and school this week. Enjoy, if you will, "A Morning with Kimbo Slice", where subjects range from his confirmed fight against Tank Abbott in Miami this February, his disappointment in the bout against Bo Cantrell, how he plans on eventually celebrating a championship win, and even touches on his ability to part the sea with his fists...


Black and strong, like a good cup of coffee...




Thanks to all for checking out another edition of the Punch Drunk Hangover - your friendly, neighborhood MMA News Report and Commentary column. I hope you enjoyed its offerings. Join me next week when I attempt to induce a few more thoughts and hushed guffaws. Also, keep your eyes peeled for 411Mania's "Year in Review: 2007" Roundtable which should be gracing our Zone in the next few days. In it you'll get a chance to see your favorite columnists' opinions on the best fights, biggest events, and biggest disappointments of last year.

Ya'll come back now, ya hear?


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