Eight Sides of Steel 04.20.08
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 04.20.2008
UFC 83 is in the books and the dream has been deferred. While I mourn, pour yourself your favorite beverage as I talk about MMA news, introduce you to another beautiful fighter, talk trash about Kimbo Slice and say URIJA, at least twice. Welcome to the Eight Sides of Steel
Howdy everyone, it's time for your favorite Sunday column. If it's not, just pretend okay? I don't take rejection very well. I'm probably hiding in your bushes right now. But don't think about that, just keep on reading. On with the show!
NEWS YOU CAN COUNT ON MAYBE
UFC 83 was last night. JB Lederman covered the event live right about here
So the two main events went exactly as I predicted. Lutter got knocked smooth the hell out because despite what he thinks, he's not as good as Silva and Rich Franklin waned to remind him of that fact.
GSP ended the dream that was Serra's title reign with a series of unrelenting knee strikes to reclaim his Welterweight title. I hated being right on this one because I've grown to love Matt Serra. Here's hoping he slaps around Matt Hughes in route to another shot at the belt.
Assie Hector Lombard signs with Elite XC.
Here's a quick look at our man Lombard. Don't blink.
Considered one of Australia's most promising young fighters at both middleweight and welterweight, Lombard signed a long-term deal with ProElite, parent company of Elite XC, which allows him to fight outside of the company as long as it doesn't conflict with an existing event.
Elite XC recently acquired a deal to broadcast fights on CBS, so this young man is going to get a ton of exposure soon.
Kimbo Slice has resigned with Elite XC
Maybe it's the playa hata in me, but I could care less. Good for Elite XC since he puts asses in every 18 inches of space, but as much as I love his crazy homeless man look, he does nothing for me as a fighter. Yeah, definitely me hatin' the playa and not the game. He, like Gina Carano will play a huge part in the debut event to be broadcast on CBS May 31st.
Dan Henderson is looking to stay at Middleweight and earn a rematch with current MMA deity Anderson "Spider" Silva.
I admire that the man wants to earn a shot. Though he went onto attribute his previous loss to Silva as Silva "getting lucky" and "at 100% there's no comparison between us."
I like Silva. He's not my favorite fighter that distinction goes to "I wish he were my dad" Quinton Jackson, who also beat Henderson but the man is arguably the best fighter on the planet right now and Hendo should just accept that. Next time, show us your 100% and we'll see if Silva got lucky.
Frank Trigg announced that rumors of him fighting for the Dream MMA promotion are just that.
Trigg, who bares an uncanny resemblance to my Olympic Hero Kurt Angle, shot down this rumor in a recent interview. According to Mr. Trigg, who's latest victory came in December with HDNet Fights, sited the lack of an American broadcast deal for the event as well as not wanting to fly to Japan while his very pregnant wife stays at home. Not bad reasons. I mean, the latter is just the sort of thing that keeps him from sleeping on the couch, and the former makes sense because as a pro, you want to be as visible as possible to promote yourself.
Fedor confirmed that his fight with Sylvia will take place July 19 in Dallas.
It's put up or shut up time for both guys. How far has Sylvia fallen? He's still top ten material, but is he a solid 3 behind Randy Couture and Fedor? Or is he a 9? Is Fedor an unstoppable cyborg, or will he be exposed, having not fought a top contender since 2005? I'm not at all intrigued at the fight itself, but the ramifications do.
A BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MMA
It came to my attention recently, that my shameless self promotion has netted a few eyeballs from people in and around my workplace. Several enjoy my column, but aren't all that familiar with this sport I love so dear. So in interest of drawing in more readers, starting next week, I'm going to provide an abridged lesson to get the new or potential fan familiarize and maybe refresh a memory or two for the older fans.
Royce Gracie Legend?
THE YOUNG AND THE RESTLESS
Kaitlin Young
AND IN THIS CORNER
Speaking of Ms. Young, she's taking on Gina Carano at the big CBS "Elite XC Saturday Night Fights" event. Let's take a look at our competitors.
Carano Gotta love the presentation.
Young Fast forward to 1:34 for the beginning of the fight. Check out those knees.
Who will emerge victorious? Only one way to find out. Tune into CBS May 31 and watch these ladies get it on!
THEY SWEAT, THEY BLEED, AND THEY PAY THE COST
Founded in 2001, World Extreme Cage Fighting became the sister promotion for industry leader UFC in 2006. In addition to developing future UFC fighters, WEC focuses on the lighter weight classes and offers two weight classes bantam and feather that are not present with UFC.
Since June 3, 2007, the Versus channel has been the home of WEC's live events as well as WECE Wreckage, which provides recaps of previous bouts. But enough of that, you guys want to see the men holding all that gold.
Light Heavyweight: Brian "All American" Stann (d. Doug Marshall on March 26, 2008 WEC 33)
How much more American can you be? The guy's a freakin' Active Duty Marine, kicking more ass in six minutes than many of us have in our entire lives. Seriously the man must have a fear of the second round because he avoids extending the bout past the first, evident by the fact that poor Craig Zellner was only three seconds away from hearing the sweet, sweet melody of the bell that would end his torment when Stann put him to sleep. Stan's entire six fight career, all of which ended by knockout mind you, has lasted less than fifteen minutes of bell to bell time, proving the stereotype that yes, Marine's will beat the crap out of you. Ain't that right HBK?
Middleweightt: Paul Filho (d. Joe Doerksen on August 5, 2007 WEC 29: Filho vs Doerksen)
After UFC purchased WEC, the middleweight title was vacated. So someone noticed that arguably the number two (yeah, nobody's touching Anderson Silva's spot for a while) middleweight in the world was just sitting at home watching eating non-fat yogurt and watching daytime soaps and offered him a title shot. So Filho shows up, knocks out Doerksen and we have a new champ. In December, he successfully defended his title against NCAA wrestling standout Chael Sonnen. Not a bad way to end the year, right?
Unfortunately, the win was mired in controversy so a rematch was signed for March.
I'm no one for prying into a man's private life, but according to rumors Filho had to pull out due to checking into a substance abuse clinic. For all I know, the guy took one too many pain pills. I'm not here to judge. I just hope that if there's any truth to these rumors, he receives the help he needs, even if that means stepping away from the cage for a while. I'm sure Chael Sonnen and Joe Doerksen would not be reluctant to fighting for an intern championship in the meanwhile.
Welterweight: "The Natural Born Killer" Carlos Condit (d. John Alessio on March 24, 2007 WEC 26: Condit vs. Alessia)
This submission machine from Albuquerque, NM has made 12 different men tap, which if you were Kimbo Slice, would mean Condit has 12 bitches to his name. Unfortunately for Carlo Prater, when the eternal query "Does Carlos have to choke a bitch" was raised, Prater said yes twice.
Like Filho, Condit stepped into WEC and won a vacated title. Unlike Filho, there's nothing to moisten the panties of Globe reporters, so alas, we move on.
Lightweight: Jamie "The Worm" Varner (d. Rob McCullough on February 13, 2008 WEC 32)
So while the rest of us pansies were frantically searching at the last second for the perfect gift that conveyed "nah really baby, I do care about you and not just when you're naked," this man was being a real man's man and pounding McCullough's face with his fists.
I have it on good authority that after the fight Varner howled at the moon and made love to his girlfriend and her best friend for like 13 hours straight. He did it, not because it felt good, but so that we could live vicariously through the actions of the last American Hero.
I just wanted to say I love saying this guy's name out loud. I just did it as I was typing that sentence.
Currently, this featherweight kingpin is a month removed from two years as the reigning champ and shows no signs of slowing down. I mean if 12 guys in a bar couldn't stop him, who may I inquire will? Or is it shall? Jens Pulver thinks he can and has a shot June 1st. I'm there. Not in person because I can' t afford to fly to Vega AND watch the fight, but definitely in spirit.
Bantamweight: Miguel Torres (d. Chase Beebe February 13, 2008 WEC 32)
I present yet another manly man that eschewed all that mushy pre-Valentine's Day mush and whooped some ass. Beebe is an odd name for a fighter by the way. "He just choked out Beebe" sounds wrong for some reason, but that's exactly what Torress did.
RANDOM MUSING AND BRUSING
So right now, and only 15 years too late to appreciate it, I'm in love with Nirvana. It just snuck up on me. So here's a video combining two of my favorite things. "Heart Shaped Box" and professional wrestling. Enjoy
And I'd be remiss if I didn't show a little violence.
That does it for this week. Join me and the rest of the 411 family for the best coverage of MMA on the planet. Yes, the entire planet. Take care folks. I'm Wendell Michell and be thankful that you have survived another bout inside the Eight Sides of Steel.
