Eight Sides of Steel 05.11.08: You Got Knocked The F...

Posted by Wendell Mitchell on 05.11.2008

We got KOs and submissions up the wazoo, pretty faces,criminal charges, trash talking and more Pulver than any other column this week. Tape up your fist, say a little prayer and join me inside the Eight Sides of Steel

Happy Mother's day folks. Make sure you tell your mom and/or wife that you love her and let your baby mama know that you don't hate her. Let's get to why you came here, shall we?


IN A WEEK WHERE NO ONE SUES, I STILL BRING THE NEWS

Chris Leben was issued jail time and therefore had to pull out of his scheduled bout with Michael Bisping. Jason Day will take his place.

And probably take Michael Bisping apart. Day made his UFC debut just three weeks ago by dismantling Alan Belcher with his fists. Not shortchanging the hometown boy Bisping, it's just that I have a feeling Jason Day wants to make a name for himself and whooping a man in front of his home crowd is just the way to do that.

Maximum Fighting Championship's MFC 16: Anger Management had a show Friday Night

Here are the results:
Evan Sanguin def. Dave Nippard - TKO (Strikes)

Troy Sorenson def. Mike Tubbs - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Brandon Curts def. Sean Wright - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Mike Sorenson def. Jeremy Martin - Submission (Guillotine)
Gavin Neil def. Ryan McGillivray - Split Decision
Aron Lofton def. Jason Kuchera Submission (Guillotine)
Chris Camozzi def. Dwayne Lewis - Unanimous Decision
Ben Henderson def. Mike Maestas - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)
Matt Veach def. Matt MacGrath - Unanimous Decision
Chase Gormley def. Eric Pele - Unanimous Decision
Ryan Ford def. C.J. Fernandes - Submission (Rear Naked Choke)

Gotta love the amount of submissions on this card. I mean, what better way to spend your Friday night than choking somebody out? I wonder if Eric Pele would have choked out Gary Goodridge if the old guy hadn't broke a hip? Nah, that's mean of me. It was actually his back. Old people are so brittle.

Debbie Purcell, founder of FighterGirls.com, has just signed a three fight deal with Elite XC.

I'm a big supporter of women in the fight game, so congratulations to Ms. Purcell, who takes on Carinna Damm June 27th. She's been fighting for recogniation herself and her fellow women fighters for over a decade and I wish her all the best.

The International Fight League (IFL) plans to debut a new hexagonal ring for their August 15th event.

Now all they need is a cage to surround it and they can totally rip off TNA and have people settle their differences in the "SIX SIDES OF STEEL!" I personally like TNA and Lucha Libre's use of a six sided ring so it wouldn't be anything new to me.

UFC 85: Bedlam, which will be held in London on June 7th, has garnered an incredible demand for seating, prompting the UFC to release additional tickets.

Man, these people really love Bisping, don't they? Too bad he has to fight "Doom's" Day.

Not to be outdone by big brother, WEC has also had to release more tickets for their June 1st event pitting Jens Pulver against Featherweight champ Urijah Faber. The lower level was previoiusly sold out, so upper level seating was to accommodate these fans.

You can't help but love news like this. By the way, Urijah's going to kill Pulver. Just saying.

Galavision, the United State's leading Spanish language cable channel, announced a partnership with UFC.

Like I always say, you can never have too much MMA as long as it's of high quality. Galavision will produce a weekly highlight show called El Octágono del UFC. Hispanic fighters such as Roger Huerta and Diego Sánchez will be featured heavily, but the show will also serve as an introduction to the UFC as a whole for newer fans.



BEGINNER'S GUIDE TO MMA

Volume Three:Victory

Howdy all. This week, we're going to take a break from the history of the great sport and treat your eyes to highlights of some of the finest athletes on the planet.

Like any competition, the object is to win. Sometimes that win is highlight reel worthy, other times, not so much. But as the old adage goes, "A win is a win."

Sometimes, a fight ends with neither combatant scoring a knock out of submission. In those cases, we resort to the judges.

In most organizations, the judges score on a 10 point must system, meaning that the winner (fighter that did the most damage, looked busier, landed cleaner hits, etc.) of a particular round is awarded ten points and the opponent nine or less. Points are deducted for illegal tactics such as biting, head butting, intentional strikes to the groin, or disregarding what the referee says.

Judges can award the following decisions:

Unanimous: All judges score the bout in favor of one fighter.

Split: Two judges vote for one fighter and the third in favor of the other fighter.

Majority: Two judges vote for one fighter and the third judge votes a tie.

Unanimous Draw: All judges score the bout a draw.

Majority Draw: Two judges score the bout a draw.

Split Draw : The total points of the two fighters are equal.

Technical decision; Technical draw; No Contest; Disqualification: All stem from one of the fighters committing a foul (employing illegal tactics). If a fighter is ahead on points, but a prior injury affects him later in the bout, the contest is rendered a technical decision in favor of the injured party. If the fighter was behind on points, then it is ruled a technical draw. A no contest occurs when an accidentally injury incapacitates one of the fighters. A disqualification occurs when the foul is intentional.

Forfeit, Corner Stoppage, Doctor Stoppage: When one opponent concedes defeat either before or during a fight because they can't go on. Not to be confused with a corner stoppage, which awards a TKO victory to the opposing fighter because the corner men decide their fighter has taken too much damage. Commonly referred to as "throwing in the towel." If a fighter is bleeding to bad or otherwise deemed incapable of fighting by a ring side physician, the opponent is award a TKO.

Now for a bit of excitement. Not that I don't admire two warriors that can duke it out for 15 – 25 minutes and leave the outcome to judges, but if you're like me, you like seeing a definitive finish.

Submission: I ask you, what's more manlier than making another man, an equal or better in some instances, tap out? I can't think of too many things. Let's take a look, shall we?



One of the most common ways to finish a fight is via a choke hold of some sort.

This video showcased the guillotine choke (all but the second were variations of this move) as well as a rear naked choke.

Another popular chokehold is the Triangle Choke, as demonstrated in this video.


Joint locks are always a good way to secure a victory.

The Kimura is one of the first holds I learned.


The History Channel has taught me so much. Here they are teaching me how to snap a man's arm with the juji-gatame, aka cross arm lock aka cross arm breaker


As fun as it is to sweep the leg, trapping it is a more effective means of obtaining a victory.

Knee bar


Frank Shamrock getting fancy with his knee bar


Ankle Lock


Shake and Break time


Knock Out: No explanation needed.


Can you handle more? I believe you can:


I hope this lesson was as fun for you guys as it was for me. Next week's lesson is a so secret, even I don't know what it is yet. So stay tuned.



THE BOLD AND THE BEAUTIFUL…AND BRUTAL

With the CBS broadcast of Elite XC nearly upon us, it is my civic duty to remind everyone just how beautiful one Gina Carano is.





And here's one of the newest addition to Elite XC - Debbie "Whiplash" Purcell





AND IN THIS CORNER


As you guys are coming to realize, I am a simple man, with simple tastes. And one of those simple pleasures I indulge in is saying the name URIJAH!!! So of course, I'm going to feature the Featherweight King Pin who hasn't lost a fight in three years.

He's taking on "Little Evil" Jens Pulver June 1st. Jens, who I'll talk about a little later in this column, went to WEC specifically to fight for the belt wrapped around Urijah's gorgeous waist because there is no Featherweight Division in UFC.


First a word from our Challenger



Next, the Champ



Let's see how these two men get it done in the ring


Little Evil



The California Kid



As I mentioned earlier, I'm going with my boy Urijah. Either way, I'm expecting a good fight.



CHAMPIONS COME IN ALL SIZES


As alluded to in the prior section, let's talk a bit more about the man in the picture, Jens Pulver.

Prior to 2001 when Zuffa gained control of the UFC, and the before the New Jersey Athletic Commission stepped in, any fighter under two hundred pounds was considered a Lightweight.

Pat Militech won the very first Lightweight tournament, therefore earning the right to be called Lightweight Champion.

At the turn of the new millennium, Militech was reclassified as a Welterweight (156-170 lbs.) and thus named the first Welterweight Champion.

A new Lightweight Champ needed to be crowned and Jens Pulver decided that a little championship gold would look fantastic in publicity shots. So on February 23, 2001Pulver was crowned Bantamweight Champ, which a month later was converted to what we now call the Lightweight Championship.

Currently, the Lightweight Championship is being held by a man that has choked Pulver out.


B.J. "The Prodigy" Penn is scheduled to defend his title against Sean Sherk in two weeks.

In the seven years since the current iteration of the title, it was vacated a total of four years. The first occurred after a contract dispute with Pulver. This led to him leaving the company and the belt remaining dormant for a year. Almost immediately, the dvision was cast aside as B.J. Penn and Caol Uno fought to a draw in 2003.

Sean Sherk would win the belt from Kenny Florian in 2006. Unfortunatley the Muscle Shark would be stripped of the belt last year after his fight with Hermes Franca amidst allegations of steroid use. Franca would confess to using performance enhancers to rehab from an injury, yet Sherk maintains his innocence, citing improper testing and the fact that the substance found in his body could theoretically be from a perfectly legal over the counter drug.

Unlike the previous times, UFC quickly set up a championship match, pitting number one contender Penn against Joe "Daddy" Stevenson.

Through it all, the Lightweight belt has been through some rocky times, but has managed to still be prestigious enough to main event a PPV as it will when the Prodigy defends against he man he was originally trying to take the title away from.



RANDOM MUSING AND BRUSING

Marvel at the sheer awesome that is my Olympic Hero




ONE DAY SOMEONE WILL LINK TO MY COLUMN

Adam Tool takes a Fighting Stance and brings the news.

Alex Mattis matches up Tito Ortiz and Lyoto Machida in this weeks Sunday Sprawl

John Curry Grounds and Pounds his way to a decision: the Ultimate Fighter does not help fighters

As if I haven't mentioned him enough in the column, Mr. Curry, not to be confused with the Hot, Spicy, Great Tasting Curry Man, also has an interview with Jens Pulver

Randy Harrison has another Five Rounds of News

Frederick Peterson talks about the constant reshuffling of UFC 85 in this week's MMA Crap Shoot

Finally, part three of the epic saga of Pride FC's downfall as told by the illustrious Sergio G. Hernandez



OUT OF THE CAGE AND OFF THE CHAIN

Hope you enjoyed starting your week with me. Stay tune for all the MMA coverage you can handle. I'm Wendell Mitchell and you've just been inside the Eight Sides of Steel.