Five Rounds Of News 05.16.08
Posted by Randy Harrison on 05.16.2008
Five Rounds kicks off your weekend with my thoughts on DREAM 3, why the DREAM-o-philes have to calm the hell down about where their promotion stands in the MMA world, and why I'm convinced that Tito Ortiz is an ass. Fight videos aplenty will help you get ready for the IFL show coming up and you'll see why phone sex is NEVER a good idea. Trust me.
Introduction
Hello again friends, and welcome to another edition of your main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds of News. I'm the MMA zone's favorite rodeo clown, Randy Harrison, and this week we've got a full plate with a recap and thoughts on DREAM 3, a preview of the big championship fights the IFL has on tap for tonight, as well as this week's reason why Tito Ortiz is an ass. The Ultimate Fighter's seventh season is still going strong, as is the quick recap in the final round, and as usual we've got Random Strikes and fight video goodness aplenty, so let's get right to it shall we? Well first it's my hockey rant, so if you don't want to read that then just go ahead and skip to the first round, I won't hold it against you. For those of you sticking around, it's hockey time.
First though, I have to say that I have NEVER seen a team get as badly ripped off as the Detroit Red Wings did on Wednesday night. I would be saying this even if they weren't my team because that was possibly some of the worst refereeing I have seen in professional sports, period. The Red Wings were denied the first goal of the game because of a crease violation, which I could have totally understood, IF ONE HAD TAKEN PLACE!! Replays showed Wings forward, Tomas Holmstrom, inches outside of the crease which should have allowed the goal to stand. I'm not saying that this somehow cost them the game as they had been playing poorly all the way through the first period, but the first goal in this series and particularly this game would have been huge because it would have really killed the Dallas crowd, as well as put doubts in the minds of the Stars players, which could have easily swung the entire game into Detroit's favor. This doesn't even get into my level of anger when Dallas' first goal went in off of the body of a Dallas player that had BOTH SKATES in the crease. If I talk about it any more, I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a prime candidate for a stroke, so let's just move on to the MMA news before I have to call myself an ambulance.
Round One
DREAM 3 Recap
For everyone that got an early start to their Mother's Day by checking out DREAM 3 live on HDNet, I say salut, and I also applaud your gigantic balls because I know that a lot of you probably drew the wrath of your mothers /or wives by showing up for Sunday brunch looking like you'd been hit by a bus. I was up doing the live play-by-play and while HDNet is no choppy Japanese stream in the middle of the night, it was fun to be able to see fights live from Japan again. First to touch on the production of the show, I know that the contract came up at the last minute, but the HDNet coverage was terrible with Bas Rutten being the only saving grace, as always. Kenny Rice was horrible, and the production was no better than during the Yarennoka broadcast, with wide shots aplenty. I will say that it was nice to see that Ron Kruck didn't make the trip over to do fighter interviews because those were pretty much the worst part of Yarennoka outside of Frank Trigg's commentary. I hope that it will improve with DREAM 4 and that Kenny and Bas will actually be in Tokyo, as opposed to in the studio, trying to sound extra pumped in an empty room. Now that that's out of the way, let's get to some of the fights!
Jason Miller def. Katsuyori Shibata
An absolute beating that served to introduce Miller to the Japanese audience at the expense of a former pro-wrestler. Shibata had absolutely nothing for Miller and Mayhem looked like he felt bad about it on a couple of occasions. The best part of this fight was Miller's zebra-print leggings that he had on under his fight shorts. Other than that, there was no real reason for this fight to be here, other than to put Miller into the second round of the MWGP.
Melvin Manhoef def. Dae Won Kim
Manhoef definitely had one of the more uncomfortable entrances of the night, coming down on a collar with his handler behind him holding a leash. A little too S & M for my taste, so let's just move on from that and get to the fight. Kim surprised me early on, actually managing to hold his own and win the stand-up exchanges with Manhoef. Of course, Melvin was two weeks clear of being KO'd in a K-1 fight, so it was understandable that he'd be a little gun-shy. He finally put some punches together, stunned Kim and took over, winning with what most everyone agrees was a highly questionable knee that looked to land on the back of Kim's head. That's not the real story of this fight to me though. The real story is that Manhoef fought after being KO'd AND had a surgery to repair the damage from said KO. He fought despite having a recently closed hole under his armpit that went into his chest and was used to clear out some blood in the space surrounding his lungs. I have only one thing to say to that:
Melvin Manhoef = MAN
Nick Diaz def. Katsuya Inoue
Diaz made his DREAM debut, as part of the talent exchange deal that was recently announced between DREAM and EliteXC and he made the most of his opportunity in this Welterweight Championship Eliminator fight. Inoue was more than happy to stand and exchange and landed some quality shots, but Diaz showed that his chin is still as strong as ever, absorbing them all and firing back with his ten-punches-for-your-one style. He had Inoue rocked on numerous occasions throughout the fight, picked him apart and then literally knocked him out on his feet. Inoue was staggering around like a drunk kid in a parking lot looking for a bush to puke in before the refere FINALLY called a stop to things, and it probably only would have gotten worse. Diaz was on fire and looked the best that he has since the Gomi fight. I also noted in the PBP and will say again here that it looks as if the surgery he had to try to repair the scar tissue around his eyes was a success because he took some HEAVY shots and he came out of the fight with nary a scratch and no swelling at all around his eyes, so that's a positive for him. That being said, he really needs to change his style. It's exciting sure, but he could be just as exciting and still take about a hundred less punches, just by moving out of range after throwing his combinations. Bas pointed out numerous times on color where Diaz could have avoided punishment simply by taking a step back after finishing his flurry. He really needs to consider that because while bravado is a good thing to have stepping into a ring or cage, it has already proven to be a hindrance once to the career of Diaz and it will again if something doesn't change.
Eddie Alvarez def. Joachim Hansen
I proclaimed it as a candidate for Fight of the Year when I was doing the PBP on Sunday morning and even after multiple viewings, I stand by that assessment now. This was a great fight that featured all that is right with Mixed Martial Arts. Both men stood and threw solid combinations, showing a ton of heart to take the other man's best shots and continue to fire away, especially Hansen, who was knocked down twice in the first round. That's not to say that Alvarez didn't show a ton of heart himself because he managed to extricate himself from a VERY deep kimura into an armbar attempt from Hansen right near the end of the second round. I sincerely thought that Hansen had weathered the storm and was going to be able to snatch out the victory at the last minute, but it ended up with Alvarez escaping, landing two beautiful right hands at the bell and landing the decision for the biggest win of his career. Not only was the actual fight a joy to watch, but the post-match was just as great, and also a wonderful testament to this sport we all know and love. Both men had such pure, honest respect for each other afterwards and spoke glowingly of each other in the post-fight interviews, after embracing and bowing to each other immediately after the bell. Hansen went so far as to say that Alvarez was the toughest opponent that he has ever faced, and coming from a guy that has been in wars all across the world with some of the absolute best in the lightweight division, that's no small compliment. A wonderful fight that I strongly suggest you all make time to see if you haven't already. For those of you that haven't had the pleasure yet, you're welcome.
Eddie Alvarez vs. Joachim Hansen, DREAM 3 Lightweight Grand Prix Second Round
Caol Uno def. Mitsuhiro Ishida
The main event and really the only upset of the entire evening since the Alvarez/Hansen fight was pretty much a pick'em fight. Uno was coming off of an eight-month layoff and the questions have been dogging him for quite some time as to whether his best days were behind him. After this performance against a top-ranked fighter like Ishida, I would say most certainly not. Uno had superb takedown defense, stuffing the stronger Ishida on numerous occasions and actually keeping the fight where he wanted it for the most part. Ishida has been known to dominate opponents just on size and strength alone, but he couldn't do it against the elusive Uno. The cherry on top is that Uno managed to choke out Ishida, doing something that no one had been able to do up to that point in Ishida's career. Uno went from being an afterthought to a legitimate threat in the semifinals of the tournament in one fell swoop. His comeback story is sure to be a HUGE draw to DREAM 5 when he'll fight next and for a new promotion that has played to less than full houses so far, anything to draw more attention and more fans to their product will be welcomed. If Aoki is able to win his fight at DREAM 4, we'll be looking at Kawajiri, Uno, Aoki and Alvarez as the final four, which should lead to an amazing climax to the tournament.
On the whole, this was a solid event from DREAM, easily their best to date, but since they have only had three that's not saying a whole lot. I really enjoyed the event and gave it a solid eight out of ten, but as I found out on Sunday afternoon, my opinion was apparently in the minority. For the continuation of that thought, feel free to join me in Round Two!
Random Strikes
You know the drill, peeps!
§ During a recent interview with MMA Weekly, Nick Diaz confirmed that his next fight in DREAM will be against Hayato "Mach" Sakurai for the DREAM welterweight title. The title fight could happen at DREAM 5 on July 19th. Diaz made his DREAM debut on May 11th and defeated Katsuya Inoue. Sakurai was victorious over Hidetaka Monma at DREAM 1 back in March. However, Sakurai was recently upset by David Baron at the Shooto event on May 3rd.
Diaz and Sakurai should be an interesting matchup, especially in light of the comments that Diaz has made, saying that he'd rather fight Shinya Aoki rather than a washed-up, old, has-been like Sakurai. After being upset in his last fight, Sakurai will have a lot to prove and he'll come out with both guns blazing, but it will be up to him to see if he's able to withstand the pressure of Diaz' pitter-patter punches, as well as his slick jiu-jitsu on the mat. It should be a great fight and I'm really hoping it happens on the DREAM 5 card because the more Nick Diaz in the ring, the better.
§ Sherdog is reporting that Gesias "JZ" Calvancante will only miss up to 3-4 months with a torn ACL. Calvancate also confirmed that DREAM officials came to the airport asking him if he would like to take Shinya Aoki's spot in the Lightweight Grand Prix tournament, however due to his injury JZ had to decline.
The report also mentions that Calvancante would like to face the winner of the Lightweight Grand Prix as he is expected to make his return to DREAM by year's end.
This is a shame for JZ as he's suffered a second knee injury, which I'm hoping isn't becoming part of a pattern where he is injury-prone and it either ends up cutting short on his career length or compromising his career quality. Get well soon JZ, and I will be hoping that you get your chance against the winner of this tournament because JZ against any of the four remaining fighters would be an explosive fight that could really get people buzzing even more on DREAM.
§ Spike TV announced today that UFC heavyweight champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira & Frank Mir will be the coaches for season eight of The Ultimate Fighter. The two are then expected to meet for a title fight in the near future. Production on the show will begin in late May, with the season premiere shown in September. The show will feature light heavyweight and lightweight fighters.
The heavyweight division now gets the hurry up and wait treatment as their title will seemingly be on hold until December, most likely on the New Year's Eve spectacular. Mir and Nogueira both have a wealth of experience on the ground and they should be able to give a lot of guidance to these young fighters. I know that a lot of people are suggesting that Mir doesn't deserve this shot at the title, but really who else is left to face Nogueira? Seriously, I'll wait.
§ Here are the results for Cage Rage 26 which went down last night at the Birmingham NEC in Birmingham, England:
-Ian Freeman def. Paul Cahoon via Decision
-Che Mills def. Marios Zaromskis via TKO (cut) in Round 1
-James Zikic def. Rodney Faverus via Submission (armbar) in Round 3
-Ross Pointon def. Ross Mason via Submission (heel hook) in Round 1
-Mark Epstein def. Matt Ewin via Decision
-Marc Goddard draw with Henrique Nogueira
-Brad Pickett def. Paul Reed via Decision
-Popek Rak def. Kev Simms via TKO (strikes) in Round 1
-Chris Rice def. Edgelson Lue via TKO (strikes) in Round 1
-Harvey Harra def. Garry Kelly via Submission (triangle choke) in Round 1
*The UFC's Michael Bisping was in attendance.
Wow, very impressive for Freeman to come out of retirement like he did and pretty much dominate on Boom Boom Cahoon. Also interesting to see that perennial loser, Ross Pointon managed to make a rare appearance in the win column, with a heel hook no less. Good on you Ross, and I'm sure that you're enjoying the much needed win with pint after pint at your local pub. The rest of the card went pretty much according to plan, but on the whole it was an entertaining show to watch, as most of the Cage Rage shows tend to be.
§ At today's press conference for DREAM 3, officials from DREAM & Pro Elite Inc. announced that the two have formed a partnership that will include the two promotions swapping fighters & referees, as well as co-promoting shows. The following is a quote by Pro Elite executive William Kelly on the partnership:
"In the last year ProElite and EliteXC and other brands have made a lot of progress, and some of our progress is due in part to our relationship with FEG and now with Dream. We are sharing fighters. We are sharing referees. We intend to do co-promotions with Dream both in Japan and in the U.S."
This is big for both companies and during the conference call for EliteXC earlier in the week, Gary Shaw stated that he would love to send some of his stable of women fighters over to DREAM to allow them the chance to show their skills on the grander stage of the Saitama Super Arena. It will be interesting to see which DREAM fighters will end up making their way over to the US to fight in the cage of EliteXC though, with one of them for sure being Eddie Alvarez. Perhaps a Sakurai/Shields match-up or an Aoki/Melendez fight anyone? This could be a huge thing for fight fans all over the world as the best from the United States (not in the UFC), will get to face off against the best that Japan has to offer. To say I am very happy with this deal would be an understatement.
Round Two
DREAM 3 Was Great, But Calm Down, PLEASE!!
I didn't want to add this to the recap so I thought I would just give it its own round to stand alone. I went to sleep or actually dozed for about ten minutes on Sunday morning and thought that DREAM had managed to pull off a pretty good event. Nothing spectacular, but a solid night of MMA and something that was well beyond what they had put together with their first two efforts. I kept checking in throughout the day to get a bit of a feel for what some other fans had thought about the card when I began to feel like I was in some sort of black hole where all sense and reason went out the window and the only thing left was hyperbole. For whatever reason, there are people who feel like this was the greatest event in the history of the universe and I have to be the one that breaks the news to them that they're fucking crazy.
As I said before this was actually a pretty good event, with the outstanding fight between Alvarez and Hansen, as well as a very good main event with a surprise ending and a feel-good story. The rest of the fights were exciting enough and had finishes, but really, every single one of them was a mismatch that went exactly the way it was supposed to go, even to the point where watching Miller completely dominate poor Shibata was a little uncomfortable. So on an eight fight card, where one fight is excellent, one fight is good and the rest are mediocre at best, people will go so far as to claim it a 10 out of 10 and that DREAM is now better than the UFC? The very idea of it was nearly enough to send my computer out the window, but then I started reading gems about how DREAM 3 was better than PRIDE 33 and that DREAM was now better than PRIDE had ever been. Had people really gone that mad? Was it the lack of sleep that was preventing people from rational thought?
For whatever reason, people have begun to latch on to this event and claim it as a second coming that was better than The Second Coming. I have no idea why there are so many people that think that this was the greatest card of all times, but I have a sneaking suspicion that it has to do with a bit of an emptiness that people have been feeling since the loss of PRIDE and that they are relying heavily on DREAM to fill that void. Yes, it looks a lot like the old PRIDE shows, from the ring to the entrances to the pre-fight video packages, but that is where the similarities end really. PRIDE should be able to stand on its own in its legacy and DREAM should be allowed to forge their own legacy instead of being immediately shoehorned into a role that it might not be ready for. There are still some growing pains that DREAM will have to endure before they can even begin to consider themselves on the level of PRIDE and I don't think that I'm the only one that feels that way.
Granted, the first three DREAM events have been better than the first three events that PRIDE put on, but it's a different world now and to try to compare the two companies this early on is like comparing apples to cannonballs. To compare DREAM to the way that PRIDE shows ran at the end is also a bit of a misleading statement because sure they look like late-PRIDE shows, but those shows ran on primetime network TV to huge ratings, while DREAM has seemingly been relegated to PPV, a far less lucrative market in Japan than it is here in the United States. PRIDE shows would fill Saitama Super Arena on a regular basis with 40,000 fans or more, while this past DREAM event barely got past 25,000. While that's still a great number for them, they still have a lot of proving to do before they should even be considered in the same breath as an organization like PRIDE.
Finally, to all the people who are convinced that DREAM>UFC, all I can say is that the UFC has put on more than 80 PPV events, 13 Ultimate Fight Night Cards, 6 Ultimate Fighter Finale cards, opened the eyes of the world to the sport known as MMA through the Ultimate Fighter show, and has managed to grow the sport more than any other fighter or organization could have ever imagined. DREAM has had three shows and has yet to really make any sort of impact in Japan yet, let alone on a global scale. I'm not trying to rag on DREAM at all because I enjoy their product and I really hope that they're able to succeed, but I think that the people who are so quick to bandwagon up behind the "next big thing" in promotions just because they aren't the UFC should take a step back and remember what has happened to the likes of Bodog, the WFA, M-1 Global and others. I'm not saying that this is the fate that awaits DREAM, but I am merely saying that they'll have to continue going through the fire for a while yet before they can prove that their iron is strong enough to stand the test of time.
Thank Jeebus For The Interwebz!!
Thank Jeebus returns this week, with something that I was alerted to a few months back and I can never thank that person enough for something that will CONTINUE to make me laugh for years and years to come. Thanks to funnyordie.com for the video and here's what happens when robots take over something as simple as a phone sex line. I'll give you a hint, hilarity ensues.
Hells yeah, hot damn, we just finished on your chest. Pearl necklace, complete.
FUNNIEST SHIT EVA!!
Round Three
IFL Championship Preview!
The IFL has another HUGE show coming up this weekend with three more title fights and they decided to kick things off a little early by announcing their new idea for a revolutionary fighting surface known as "The HEX!!" I added the exclamation points because it just sounds like it needs exclamation points. Actually, it sounds like it's the name of some B-movie, horror-teen-slasher flick that's PG-13 and doesn't have any real blood in it. The new surface is set to be an adaptation on the IFL's current four-sided ring, turning it into a six-sided ring, a la the TNA wrestling promotion. I'm on the fence about it since I've seen the six-sided ring a few times before and I've actually liked it. If they make it a big enough ring to allow fighters to have space to do what they need to and have room to move and grapple then it could end up being a good thing for them. The thing for me though is that they need to have a LOT more than a fighting surface to change for them to be able to consider surviving out the year. Their last fight card was probably the strongest one they've had in a long, long time and they'll have to follow that success up with another great card tonight and another after that to have any hopes of keeping things going long-term. That being said, here's a look at the three title fights that are set for Friday night in Connecticut.
Schultz is a wrestler and it looks like that's going to be his gameplan going into this fight like it seemingly has been in every fight. Takedowns and punches while trying to wear down his opponent will be the order of the day in this fight and I think that he's going to be able to make it happen, despite Taurosevicius' skills on the mat. Deividas' chance in the fight is going to lie in whether he can stuff Schultz's textbook takedowns and keep things standing where he can exploit the lack of stand-up game that Schultz is seemingly stuck with. Schultz will be pushing for the takedowns early, but if he gets stuffed on more than a couple of them or for any length of time on them, he could tire himself out and become susceptible to being knocked out or at least knocked down by the punching power of Taurosevicius. I think that DT is one of those bright prospects, along with Heavyweight Champ Roy Nelson, that the IFL might be hoping to lead to a boom for the struggling fight organization. He's exciting and has a ton of skill and I think that in a VERY mild upset, we could see another new champion in the IFL, where new champs are seemingly the rule rather than the exception. DT stuffs the takedowns, tires out Schultz and then finishes him with a crisply put together combination late in the fourth round.
McGivern is making his first title defense since winning the strap from Matt Horwich at the Orleans Arena show in February. He's a Miletich fighter so you know that Pat is going to have him ready mentally and physically and that there will be no letdown in McGivern's game. Miller is a New Jersey product that is facing the biggest fight of his career and has seemingly not done anything to get a title shot other than to be in the weight class and be free on the night of the event. I don't have a lot to say because I honestly think that McGivern is going to dominate this fight and take Miller out somewhere in the third or fourth round after grinding him out and wearing him down with takedown after takedown and lots of grounding and pounding. Not a short fight, but it definitely feels like a one-sided one.
This was originally intended to be Brandon Lee Hinkle facing off against Nelson, but Hinkle ended up hurt and for once the IFL scrambled and actually found a BETTER match than they had planned on. Nelson may not look like he could fight his way out of his lunch sack without getting winded, but seeing the videos of his training on Inside MMA, as well as the last time he fought on the IFL on HDNet shows, he's a MORE than capable fighter and probably the hottest unknown prospect that the IFL has found in the heavyweight division. Imes is known best for his Ultimate Fighter appearance which led to him ending up being shipped out of the UFC soon after the Finale and off to the lesser-levels of MMA to re-prove himself. This is a HUGE chance for him and win or lose, if he puts on a great performance he could secure himself a long-term deal with the IFL, or perhaps garner enough attention to have EliteXC or Strikeforce come calling his way. I expect Nelson to come out on top as long as he can handle the reach of the somewhat talller "Hillbilly Heartthrob". If Imes can get the fight down to the mat and use his length to do some grounding and pounding from the guard, or use his jab to keep Nelson at the end of his punches, he could pull the upset. As I said earlier though, I think that Nelson is just going to be too quick and he'll duck inside to do damage before pulling back to avoid Imes shots. Nelson will test his endurance as well as Imes' and this fight will more than likely go to the later rounds, but Imes will tire first and Nelson will get the stoppage.
Links In The Cage
As per the usual, the content is rocking the HOUSE here on 411mania.com, and I'm more than happy to cram some pimpage for all of the talented guys on the staff!!
I'll admit that I've never been a Tito Ortiz fan. I say this in the interest of full disclosure, but it's not going to affect anything that I am going to write along the next few paragraphs. It's a known fact that Tito Ortiz is going to be leaving the UFC after his fight with Lyoto Machida on Memorial Day weekend and that he's been fielding offers as much as he can while still under contract, including an apparent offer from EliteXC. I have no problem with that at all because it's been well-known that Ortiz and Dana White have been having issues for years, and Tito more than has his right to be able to ply his trade at what he thinks is his fair market value.
The problem that I have with Mr. Ortiz now comes from a recent interview he conducted where he had the following to say:
"Of course they're commenting on it. There are all kinds of guys … Georges St. Pierre, I know he's very disgusted with the UFC, but it's just one of those things where they give him little small things that he thinks are great. He gets a brand new Hummer, like "Wow, I get an awesome new Hummer" (and it) costs 50 grand, and all of a sudden I gotta pay taxes on it, and I gotta pay for gas, and dutta-dutta-duh.
These little small things they give them to make fighters happy because they know they've never had those things before. Well let's think about when fighters have their cars and have their houses, and now all of sudden, they're like, "Well I want to start paying bills. I want to start paying for all this stuff, because I'm not gonna be able to fight for the rest of my life," you know.
That's what it really comes down to, because there are other fighters who are screaming as loud as they possibly can … under their own tone. And they can't say anything, because the UFC holds a thumb over them. If they speak out, they'll squash ‘em. Just as they did with Randy Couture, they squashed him."
I get that he referenced the Randy Couture situation because that is going to be the siren call of every fighter having contract issues until the end of time. The thing that I don't understand is when he decided to throw Georges St. Pierre under the bus with his "I know he's very disgusted with the UFC" blast. There was absolutely NO reason, under any circumstances to drag someone else into his fight, but I guess that Ortiz felt like it would lend his plight more legitimacy if he was also going to be talking about a fighter who has gotten the most publicity in the UFC, both leading up to UFC 83 and in the immediate time afterwards. I just don't understand why Ortiz, who claims he is fighting for fighters everywhere would feel the need to sell out one of his brothers to further his own war of words with the UFC and Dana White.
GSP is a class act and would never bring about a complaint in such a public forum like Ortiz has. To me the worst thing is that Georges St. Pierre is in a lose-lose situation because if he ignores the situation, he will be branded as someone who has problems with the UFC but won't say anything about his status. He's someone who won't air his laundry out in public like that, so he's going to be thought of as the guy that didn't have the guts to say something and that needed someone else to fight his battle for him. If he actually addresses these comments and refutes them, people will say that by arguing them so vehemently that he's merely proving that he IS disgruntled and that he's merely trying not to disrupt the gravy train that he's riding on after his huge win in Montreal. St. Pierre gets put in a position where no matter what he does, he comes out looking worse than he did going into it, through no fault of his own, only because Tito Ortiz couldn't keep his big mouth shut. I'll be hoping for a dominating Lyoto Machida win next weekend where he renders Tito mute for a long period of time afterwards.
Random Strikes Part Deux
IFL Fight Videos to preview the big night of fights from the Mohegan Sun, focusing on participants in the championship bouts!
Ryan McGivern vs. Tim Kennedy
Dan Miller vs. Dave Phillips
Roy Nelson vs. Bryan Vetell
Brad Imes vs. Chris Adams
Ryan Schultz vs. Chris Horodecki
Round Five
The Usual TUF Stuff
Another pretty good episode, and another two-fight episode, which is REALLY cutting down on all of the house nonsense that has completely overwhelmed other seasons and nearly turned me off of them. Here's my usual thoughts and opinions on the latest episode.
Rampage Had The Right Guy For His Team
Jackson, the King of Slams, definitely had made a precise pick for his team, if the first round of the first fight was any indication. Amir was flying around like a ragdoll and Gerald had the slams WORKING for him. That one powerslam up against the cage was particularly vicious and I honestly thought that it might have been enough for him to end the fight, much like Riggs vs. Devela at the Strikeforce event in Tacoma where Riggs ended up with the back injury. Amir is CRAZY tough for withstanding those slams and still being able to go on in the fight, which ended up being to his advantage.
Slams Are Only Useful If You Do Something With Them
Unfortunately for Gerald, he didn't do anything with the slams in the first round, or the takedown he scored in the second and he just ended up on top and riding for the most part. Amir managed to weather the storm and get the fight back to the feet, landing a PICTURE-PERFECT knee to the temple that resulted in a flash KO that he pounced on, flurrying and finishing in a fight that he was seemingly well behind in. Gerald was upset with himself after the fight, and understandably so since he didn't do much of anything with either of the big slams or the top position that he had. Rampage was all slams early on in his career and it tended to work for him most times, but it wasn't until he added in some aggression and sound, solid ground and pound to go with those slams that he became the force that he is now. Gerald really needed to do something with his slams and hopefully with a little more seasoning he might get a chance to prove himself again in the future because he certainly has a dynamic fighting style all the way up until he is down on the mat.
There Really ISN'T Anything More Annoying Than A Boston Accent
I was just PRAYING for Cale to win that fight because if I had to hear Patrick's accent one more time, I was going to gouge my eardrums with a pencil. That being said, they actually had a nice little fight, with Cale doing some takedowns, which I'm sure shocked Patrick to no end since the scouting report on Cale was strictly stand-up. He did really well with the takedowns though, which was lucky for him since he lost a LOT of the stand-up exchanges in the first round in my opinion. He got knocked down once and slipped once and was dangerously close to losing that round before he picked it up at the end and probably stole it with the takedowns. Hooray to Cale for winning a tough fight and goodbye to Patrick, may he annoy me silently and off-camera for the rest of the season.
Rampage Loses His SHIT
Rampage was MAD at the end of this fight, almost madder than he was when he took that parking lot sign down and made it his bitch. He really thought that Patrick had won that first round and that there should have been a third round, which led to Forrest getting involved and then the real shit started going down. Patrick started talking smack to Forrest, who should have pie-faced him on principle alone, and then Rampage made a bit of a bet/threat to Forrest, stating that he's so sure that their fight won't need a decision that he'd put his purse up against it. I think that Chedda Rampage had better have a talk with Frustrated With Losing Rampage, because if he doesn't he could end up being Broke-Ass Rampage. I can understand the frustration that he's feeling with his team doing so poorly, but there was really nothing to be gained by all of this. Maybe he'll get it to carry over to the next two fights, but it doesn't seem like it really motivated anyone the last time he had a meltdown.
So Much For The Competitive Season
Team Rampage is getting schooled and it's rather disappointing to see it because it's starting to look like the trend for every season is going to be that one team gets their asses handed to them for nearly all of the elimination fights in the first round of the tournament. It might be an indicator that the time for teams is over and perhaps they should have the fighters split into two groups of eight, with the coaches rotating between groups every couple of days. It seems like every year has been really lopsided and while it doesn't really mean a whole lot in the end, it'd be nice to have it either be competitive between the teams or to just do away with them altogether. It's not like getting to pick fights in the second round is such a MASSIVE advantage anyhow, so why not just have them do a random drawing for the first round with the two groups and then have Dana and the coaches do their sit-downs in the quarterfinals and semifinals, instead of just for the semifinals. It seems like every new season has to have a new twist, so maybe this will be the twist for next season.
Another solid episode, but I think that what the series needs is a bunch of blowaway episodes or a really excellent season to regain any type of foothold with the average MMA fan. The ratings have pretty much stagnated though, and I think that it's a bit of a moot point to try and rebuild them because if Forrest and Rampage can't do it, I don't think anyone can.
Post Fight Wrap-Up
That does it for me this week folks, thanks for stopping by and checking out the column. I'm off to curse at the referees who have spoiled my Red Wings attempts to get to the Stanley Cup Finals for one more game. Enjoy the IFL this weekend everyone and I'll be back next week with another helping of your main event, championship fight of MMA news, Five Rounds of News. Good night Springton, there will be no encores!
Be sure to check out my fellow Canuck, Joe Ferraro and his "Showdown" radio show, every Thursday at 10 PM EST, on FAN 590 or the archives of the show at Showdown Entertainment.
Tito's gonna kill Machida. Stop suckin GSP's nuts, I doubt he gives 2 shits about what Tito has to say. If he did have a problem, I'm sure Tito wouldn't mind knockin his ass out too.
Posted By: MBD (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 11:39 AM
On the fight from TUF - I wonder what the score was. It would not shock me if Patrick DID win the first round, but the second was so lopsided, it may have gone 10-8; making the final score 19-18.
I am not sure if the Dana-Tito stuff is good, as it garners publicity for a sports that is not quite mainstream; or bad, as it is unprofessional, especially since league officials are not supposed to root - imagine what will happen (in the eyes of sports conspiracy theorists) if it goes to a controversial decision.
Posted By: Jamie (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 12:33 PM
I hate Tito, he is a shit talking asshole. But the more important question about him calling out GSP is: If what Tito said wasn't true, why haven't we heard anything from GSP either denying or confirming what Tito has said. I'm not trying to create controversy, but if some dick was dragging my name through the mud with his, and it wasn't true, I would damn sure want to address that situation as soon as possible.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 01:01 PM
I need to read a whole article before posting a comment, I see now that you said something in regards to my first comment. But why is everyone so sure GSP is a class act? Remember his comments for Matt Hughes before their first rematch? Not exactly the paragon of classy there.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 01:04 PM
I like how everybody who slams Tito seems to believe that they share some sort of personal bond w/ GSP. Like, they all REALLY know how he feels. All logic tells that Tito Ortiz is MORE LIKELY to know how GSP feels about the situation than most other people who seem to be commenting on the situation.
Posted By: daniel (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 01:43 PM
It's not so much that I somehow think that it's completely implausible that GSP feels that way. The issue I have is that if GSP chooses to make his issue public, it should be just that, HIS decision, not someone else speaking for him. No one knows moreso than GSP how he feels and unless he has specifically said to Tito that he was "disgusted" then Tito should never have said anything. Period. It's not about being a fan of one and not of the other, rather someone speaking for someone else, which is never a good thing in my opinion.
Posted By: Randy Harrison (Registered) on May 16, 2008 at 03:18 PM
I agree with you on that Randy, but again that raises the speculative question about why GSP has been quiet since this... Tito is Tito, and I fully expect him to run his mouth about anything and everything to get himself over. But again, if some assclown was putting my name out there and connecting it to possible lies, I would want to rectify that situation immediately.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 04:00 PM
Well I agree it was somewhat questionable for tito to bring GSP into this. If your GSP and you know how tito is so outspoken wouldnt you keep your mouth shut about it? And if you didnt then that might be on GSP. because if GSP didnt want anyone to know GSP shouldnt of said anything. Besides sometimes emotion gets the better of you and everyone calling you out (ie tito) when you know you have a point must get frustrating. Its like tito was just like "look I'm not the only one, he feels the same see." GSP's walks away like "yeah, but dont get me into it." Its like a high school over their. With the principale going around asking for boxing matches and throwing out personal insults and cussing at his students instead of addresing the problem. Also if anyone outside of Tito or ken said these things Fans would be calling for danas head. Maybe it who's saying it rather than whats being said. Think about it..
Posted By: non tito fan (Guest) on May 16, 2008 at 09:55 PM
