Eight Sides of Steel 05.04.08
Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 05.04.2008
Kimbo Slice is the new face of MMA. Royce Gracie helped put MMA on the map. Bruce Leroy would kick both of their asses. All three of these men are represented in this weeks article. Why don't you join us for another few rounds inside the Eight Sides of Steel?
Howdy everyone. It's me, bringing you a few news bites and what not, so without further adieu…
NEWS YOU CAN USE
Rich Franklin's manager, Monte Cox, recently conducted an interview with MMA Weekly Radio. The highlight of the interview was Cox wanting his fighter to move up to Light Heavyweight to match up against fights like Forrest Griffin and Keith Jardine. Part of his reasoning is that Anderson Silva is the only challenge for Franklin and no one is ready to see them fight a third time just yet.
I wouldn't mind seeing that myself. Franklin is pretty much doomed to be only the second best middleweight as long as Silva keeps the belt, and no disrespect to the other middleweights, but they are not on Franklin's level right now so Franklin would be fighting a lot of fighters below his skill level and occasionally getting owned by Silva once or so year. Franklin has had a few fights at Light Heavy previously, including a win over Ken Shamrock, so I say go for it. Of course, then Rampage will destroy him too, but it will be fun watching Franklin fight his way there.
In a recent interview with www.TATAME.com, Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva discussed still wanting to fight Roy Jones Jr. as well as the prospect of fighting current Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre.
Essentially Silva would love take the fight, but only if GSP comes up in weight. Silva cuts somewhere in the vicinity of 15 – 20 pounds to get down to 185 so it would be nearly impossible for him to make 170 and perform at the level at which he and UFC fans are accustomed.
Just last week, Don Nguyen asked which fighter was better. If GSP comes up in weight, we will get a definitive
answer.
Monte Cox, who also represents Tim Sylvia has announced that Sylvia will be featured on the second Adrenaline card scheduled for early August. Adrenaline MMA's debut event will take place on June 14.
Tim's definitely got a busy few months ahead of him. At most, he would get a month off after his showdown with Fedor. Between helping run Adrenaline, trying to convince UFC of the benefits of Franklin at 205, and keeping Sylvia's name out there, Cox is one busy man.
Kimbo Slice will be the second MMA star to grace the cover of ESPN the magazine.
We've already discussed my feelings about the hype surrounding Slice. Until he fights someone that I've heard of and/or has a winning record against people I've heard of, he's just a sideshow to distract you from the other competitors. ESPN columnist LZ Granderson had these words for Slice: "Why else would Slice disregard all sense of honor, PRIDE and history to project an image that can best be described as a cross between Lil' Wayne and Kunta Kinte -- a runaway slave with a mouth full of gold teeth playing up every single stereotype of an African-American male in exchange for short-lived adoration from a soulless media with ADD. ... I find what Slice is consciously doing downright disgusting."
Obviously, Mr. Granderson forgot that perpetuating negative stereotypes about black people = Cena. And as we all know Cena = $$$$
With UFC 84 less than three weeks away, the war of words between former Lightweight Champ Sean Sherk and Lightweight Champion BJ Penn has escalated.
Penn brought up Sherk's suspension and Sherk fired back by calling Penn a quitter and that when they go head-to-head on May 24th, Penn will quit again. I'm still picking Penn to win this thing, but as the challenger, I hope Sherk does live up to his word to go full tilt and put on an exciting fight, the way title bouts should be.
BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MMA
Vol. 2: Taking it to the Ground
Last week'slesson centered around how some two decades before the emergence of the UFC, Bruce Lee popularized the notion of combining various fighting systems in order to find what works best against an opponent. Unfortunately, as several no holds barred events remained more underground spectacle than sport, the application of Lee's ideals went no further than his students many fighters stuck with their head hunting, go for the knock out style of stand up fighting.
Enter the Gracie family.
In the 1920s, brothers Helio and Carlos Gracie perfected what is now called Gracie or Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The two brothers would go on to issue the famous "Gracie Challenge" where they would fight and usually defeat bigger, stronger opponents utilizing their BJJ skills.
Inspired by his father's legendary bouts, and the tournament style format of Vale Tudo events (roughly translated from Brazilian to mean "Anything Goes") Rorion Gracie, with help from Art Davie devised an eight man tournament format pitting the practioners of various fighting styles against one another.
This event, the first mainstream no holds tournment held on American soil, would be called the Ultimate Fighting Championship. The single night tournament held on November 12, 1993 would launch the popularity of the sport and make eventual winner Rorion's younger brother, Royce, a super star.
Davie had originally wanted Rickson Gracie to represent the Gracie family, but Rorion felt that Royce's smaller stature would prove just how superior Brazilian Jiu Jitsu was.
Royce, who would be synonymous with the early days of UFC, would go on to submit 11 opponents over the course of the first four tournaments, winning three, and bowing out of UFC 3 in the quarterfinals after extreme dehydration.
Royce has admitted that essentially the early days of UFC were an infomercial for Gracie/Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, but contends that the tournament was never stacked in his favor.
Royce's domination of the sport led to more and more people adapting a ground game. Whereas kicks and punches dominated most prize fights, Royce made his opponents pay once he got them off their feet.
As the sport evolved, so did the fighters and many adapted submission wrestling and grappling to their repertoires. Some even began training in Gracie Jiu Jitsu.
Next week, we'll get to the fun stuff and talk about ways to finish a fight. In other words…MOVIE DAY!!!
THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL…AND BRUTAL
Pictures of kick boxers are so much easier to find for some reason.
AND IN THIS CORNER
This week, we take a look at one of the featured fights on the UFC 84 cards.
Tito Ortiz is arguably one of the most recognized figures in Mixed Martial Arts. His three fight domination over Ken Shamrock helped firmly establish MMA in the eyes of the average fan and his fight with Chuck Liddell shattered PPV buyrate records in 2006.
While not as well known due to his career starting in Japan and under the tutelage of a professional wrestler no less, Lyoto Machida has carved a place into a few top ten lists and hopes to extend his undefeated streak against the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Let's see how these two match up, shall we?
Machida
Ortiz
THE GOLD STANDARD
Next week, I'm going to talk a little about the various world titles in MMA, starting with the lightweight
championships in the UFC, WEC, and Elite XC
RANDOM MUSING AND BRUSING
One of my all time movies is "Last Dragon" starring Tamak. Enjoy the last fight scene.
FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
John Curry talks about new cover model Kimbo in the Ground and Pound.
Sergio Hernandez goes Beyond the Fight in part two of his fall of Pride FC feature.
OUT OF THE CAGE AND OFF THE CHAIN
We had fun, didn't we? Remember to make 411 your first stop for all the MMA coverage you can shake a fractured arm at and of course join me again next week for more mayhem within he confines of the Eight Sides of Steel.
You can never go wrong when Sho Nuff and "The Glow" are included!
Posted By: highone (Registered) on May 04, 2008 at 10:38 AM
Actually, Henderson can beat Silva, but people discount him because he lost once. He is strong where Silva is weak, and even surpasses some of Silva's strengths.
His wrestling is much better than Silva's. And while Silva is a much more refined, accurate and technical striker, he lacks the power Henderson has. Silva has knocked opponents out with an accumulation of blows, but Henderson has one punch knock out power in both hands. He is known for his powerful right cross, and knocked out Wanderlei Silva with a left hook. Henderson's fights could always end in any given second.
Finally, Silva used the Muay Thai clinch to punish his opponents, but in their fight Henderson was actually able to dominate Silva in the clinch due to is greco background.
I'm not saying Henderson is a better fighter than Silva, and Silva is definitely the better striker. But Henderson is definitely on Silva's level, and he was not at his top game last fight because of issues with cutting weight. Silva might call Franklin his biggest challenge because they are friends, but the fact is Franklin did not come anywhere close to manhandling Silva the way Henderson did. And remember, Henderson practically drew with Rampage in a light heavyweight fight. If Silva and Henderson had a rematch, it could be anyone's fight.
Posted By: guest (Guest) on May 05, 2008 at 11:59 AM
