The Lay and Pray 7.08.08

Posted by Chris Heyward on 07.08.2008

Uncle Dana's Wet Dream, I hate Mac Danzig, ESPN sucks, Boldenone, and of course Josh Koscheck.

The Lay and Pray

Thank you for your fee..oh wait I didn't actually get any. The world must be coming to an end as I have access to millions of people and get to write a second column, Forrest "Bleepin" Griffin is a World Champion and Mac Danzig (He's a UFC fighter for those of you who have never heard of him) slags Rampage and Dana White says F%&K everybody else. Oh well leave it to Uncle Dana to keep things in line.


UFC Light-Heavyweight Champion of the World……Forrest Griffin

During the days prior to the fight, I was ready to recant my earlier prediction of a 4th round TKO for Rampage. After seeing the normally affable Rampage's surly demeanor during his ESPN interview and at the weigh- in, I though Forrest would be lucky to survive the first round. I thought Rampage genuinely thought that Forrest had no chance to beat him and his confidence made a believer out of me. Forrest was able to prove us both wrong as he hobbled Rampage with a leg kick that helped produce a 10-8 score in the 2nd round and out-hustled him to earn a close decision. As usual with any close decision there was some controversy; but as I saw it Forrest won the fight 48-46.

If there is any solace for the former champion, it is that he left the Mandalay Bay a bigger star than he was when he entered. Despite his victories over Liddell and Henderson, it seemed that UFC fans did were surprisingly slow to warm up to the charismatic Jackson. Ratings for TUF 7 weren't particularly strong and the crowd reaction he received when he appeared at UFC events was dwarfed by the ovations for stars like Liddell and St. Pierre. With fight fans, it is not always about winning or losing. Check out the contrasts in fan response at UFC 84 between Wanderlei Silva and Lyoto Machida. Silva, who had just lost his last three fights, was coming off of a thrilling battle with Chuck Liddell, while Machida even after defeating former poster-boy Tito Ortiz was greeted with a rousing round of indifference. To steal a line from some guy "It is not what you do, it is how you make them feel". Rampage gave us a great fight that had us on the edge of our seats. No matter who you were rooting for, you were entertained by the two valiant warriors pouring their hearts out into the cage. Every true fight fan should respect that.

As for the other guy it would only be fitting for MMA's Rocky Balboa to win his crown in a riveting slugfest against a seemingly unbeatable champion. Before July 5, 2008 you never would have been able to write the history of MMA without mentioning Forrest Griffin. Now you never will be able to rundown the list UFC titleholders without mentioning his name. For anyone who doesn't have an extensive collegiate wrestling background or a BJJ black belt, Forrest Griffin should serve as a model of what a strong mind and a great work ethic can do. Those characteristics took a guy, who was supposed to be fodder for Tito Ortiz's UFC return and made him rise up and steal the spotlight from the Huntington Beach Bad Boy. Those qualities allowed him to rebound from a devastating KO loss to Keith Jardine by defeating a man widely considered the best at 205 in Shogun Rua. Finally on Saturday, Forrest was able to channel his talents in order to stand toe-to-toe with a man that he knew could knock him out and persevere through a grueling battle. For someone, who likes to say the "juice is worth the squeeze", I hope that he enjoys the fruits of his labor that have allowed him to claim the most distinguishing honor is all of sports…champion.


UFC 86 Rundown

There was a noticeable lack of buzz around UFC 86, as it had a seemingly one-sided main event (WRONG) and a lackluster undercard featuring predictable fights with no real championship consequences. As it were the fight results were predictable; but the show did give us a quick knockout (love those), a bloodbath, and a fight of the year candidate.

Justin Buchholz def. Corey Hill by Rear Naked Choke in the 2nd Round

My belief that Hill wasn't at the level to make this an easy fight was correct. However, I underestimated the skills of Buchholz, who survived a tough first round to submit Hill in the second. I don't really know where Hill goes from here. If he can't beat Justin Buchholz, I am not sure who he can beat in the UFC. It appears that Hill despite his physical prowess isn't quite ready for the UFC. He would probably benefit from gaining experience in smaller shows and working his way back.

Melvin Guillard def. Dennis Siver by 1st Round TKO

This is the type of tantalizing performance that Guillard puts out that makes you wonder why he can't put together a steady win streak in the UFC. It took 36 seconds for Melvin to do what Gray Maynard couldn't do in 15 minutes in dismantling Dennis Siver. Guillard has one punch knockout power and explosive athleticism packed into as solid a 155 lb frame that there is. While this win doesn't exactly make him a contender, here's hoping that Guillard can mature as a fighter and make the most of his considerable talents.

Cole Miller def. Jorge Gurgel by Triangle Choke in the 3rd Round

For those who wonder why the UFC keeps bringing back Jorge Gurgel, this is why. Gurgel is a talented fighter, who always looks to put on a show. This time he had a willing counterpart in Cole Miller, who was coming off a loss and was desperate for a win. Those two factors combined for a Fight of the Year candidate as both men laid it on the line and went back and forth for three rounds. Gurgel, who has been criticized for striking too much, was actually winning the stand-up war and was on his way to decision victory. However, Miller was able to pull it out with a literally last minute triangle choke. For those keeping score within the past two months, we have seen 2 BJJ black belts submitted by guys of lower ranking. That just goes to show how overrated that particular stat is. Jiu-jitsu is much different in the context of a fight where your opponent can hit you. Also with the caliber of competitors in MMA, a lot of the guys are very well rounded and having a black belt doesn't mean you are going to tap everybody you fight. As for Gurgel and Miller, I am sure they were financially compensated for their efforts and deservedly so. I can't wait to see BOTH of these guys again in the Octagon.

Gabriel Gonzaga def. Justin McCully by Americana in the 1st Round

McCully is also a BJJ black belt and while I am not sure of Gonzaga's rank he is also an accomplished BJJ practitioner. Not much to say here, good on Gonzaga for doing what he was supposed to do against his given opponent. The UFC heavyweight division sorely needs him back in the mix as the talented Brazilian would still make for intriguing fights with….Syl..Arlo...Cou..Cro..whoever.

Tyson Griffin def. Marcus Aurelio by unanimous decision

Despite the talent level of the two combatants this fight wasn't particularly compelling due to its predictability. Griffin takes Marcus down and Marcus wouldn't be able to do anything from the bottom. Rinse Lather Repeat. Tyson did spice it up as he showed his underrated boxing skills and was able to out-strike his taller opponent. While he is a very talented competitor, I think that fighters like Tyson suffer from the fact that BJ Penn is such a dominant champion that nobody thinks anybody can beat him. There is no contender in the lightweight division tearing through the competition. While they create great fights, there is so much parity throughout the division and Griffin seems to be at the top of the middle. Going forward the only fights that make sense for him are against Joe Stevenson or Sean Sherk.

Josh Koscheck def. Chris Lytle by unanimous decision

This result of this fight was predictable; however a bad cut and a spirited comeback by Lytle made this a much more eventful affair than anticipated. Coming off of a highlight reel knockout of Dustin Hazelett, it appeared early on that Josh wanted to test his stand-up against striking specialist Chris Lytle. However, Koscheck comes from the win-first camp of American Kickboxing Academy and used his wrestling to control his opponent. A Koscheck elbow in the 2nd round opened up a bad cut on Lytle. Desperate for a knockout, Lytle ignored the cut and opened up on Koscheck to the cheers of the anti-Koscheck crowd. However it was too little, too late and he dropped a decision. For those who hate to hear pro wrestling compared to MMA, listen to the crowd react and notice how the blood contributed to the drama of the fight. All sports is theatre and seeing the likeable underdog Lytle comeback on the hateable Koscheck was a very exciting moment in an not so compelling fight. With Diego Sanchez and Thiago Alves paired up in October, there really isn't an opponent that jumps out for Josh to fight. Perhaps the UFC can use MMA outcast Drew Fickett, who holds a victory over Koscheck. Koscheck also mentioned dropping to 155 to fight BJ Penn. This would be an intriguing possibility as Josh's size and athleticism would provide the only foreseeable test for Penn at lightweight. As for Lytle, he still has value as a gatekeeper and guy who can put on a good show. How about Chris Lytle vs. Marcus Davis?

Joe Stevenson def Gleison Tibau by Guillotine Choke in the 2nd Round

An ARM-IN guillotine…blasphemy. This fight was very competitive and Tibau became the 57,984th guy to not finish a fight with the omoplata. Having been in it, the omaplata can be a very painful move; but it also very easy to escape. Although I am sure that was no comfort to Stevenson, who could ill-afford another loss. Thankfully for him he was able to rebound and submit Tibau in the 2nd. For Stevenson, this keeps him in the mix at 155 and will hopefully lead to a fight with either Sean Sherk or former stablemate Tyson Griffin.

Patrick Cote def. Ricardo Almeida by Split Decision

The thought of this fight makes me very sleepy as this clash of styles produced an ugly fight. Striker vs. grappler usually results in either one-sided beatdown or style clash were neither guy wants to make a mistake. Of course the biggest mistake for either guy might be earning a shot at Anderson Silva, which Cote did with this win. There was probably nothing Patrick could do to convince anyone that he had a shot at beating Anderson Silva; but he managed to be even less convincing in his performance against Almeida. In important fights such as the Scott Smith fight at UFC 67, Cote has been conservative in his approach. With his best chance at beating Silva being via knockout, he will have to be more assertive when they fight later this year. However, we do live in a post-Matt Serra world and let's not forget Forrest ‘Bleepin" Griffin is the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.


Sherdog.com reports that Rampage Jackson's trainer Juanito Ibarra plans to protest the decision in Jackson's title loss to Forrest Griffin.

Ibarra cites the first round knockdown by Jackson as warranting a 10-8 round for Rampage and that Jackson won the third and fourth round thus giving him the victory. The fight was extremely close and I can understand Juanito's frustration as nobody likes to lose a close decision especially when a championship is on the line. His disagreement with Judge Roy Silbert scoring the first round for Griffin is understandable as Rampage clearly did the most damage and deserved the round. However, Juanito's assertion that a knockdown should warrant at 10-8 round is ludicrous. Under boxing rules a knockdown would warrant a 10-8 round, however in MMA a 10-8 round is based upon total domination of the round i.e. Griffin's second round assault on Jackson. This sounds like the type of sour grapes situation that we see all too often in boxing. Most major MMA fights seem to end decisively and it is rare that we have a controversial decision in a main event that could leave some fans disenchanted and devalues the fight. Thankfully Griffin and Jackson delivered an exciting fight that would soften the blow if there was any discrepancy in determining the victor. Try as he might, I think Juanito is probably wasting his time considering that there have been far worse decisions in MMA and boxing and none of them have been overturned. It seems like Juanito has developed a bit of the TV personality. If you will remember he played to the camera by offering to retire if Forrest beat Rampage during the countdown special and he reportedly got angry at media members at press row when they expressed that they didn't share in his outrage. It seems that Juanito has taken to his role of celebrity trainer. I would advise him that this is not a "We wuz robbed" situation and that his whining is likely going to fall on deaf ears.


Dave Meltzer reports that Joe Silva and Dana White have mapped out the convoluted Light Heavyweight picture. It is "extremely likely" that Lyoto Machida will be paired with Thiago Silva and that Rampage will fight Wanderlei Silva. The current champion Forrest Griffin will fight the winner of Liddell/Evans at the New Years show in Las Vegas.

In this situation I think that Juanito would have a legitimate gripe as he also had demanded an immediate rematch. This set up is clearly designed for a Liddell title shot against Griffin, so that the UFC could do a superfight between two of their biggest stars. I doubt the UFC would trade Forrest/Rampage 2 for a Forrest/Rashad showdown. Otherwise, there would be no reason for Rampage to not get an immediate rematch of a very close fight that people would want to see again. For whatever reason the UFC is allergic to rematches as the only automatic rematch that has taken place recently is Sylvia/Arlovski 3 at UFC 61, which only happened due to a lack of contenders. After taking a nine-month layoff and losing his title in a close, exciting fight Rampage would have to fight for the right to regain his title against a dangerous opponent who has beaten him twice. While some would argue that champions such as Liddell, Hughes, or St. Pierre weren't granted immediate rematches, the champions in those cases already had scheduled opponents, Forrest does not. This is clearly a case of the UFC putting its commercial interests ahead of its fighters' interests.

As for Machida/Silva, the UFC gets it right as Silva is deserving of a big fight and he finally gets one against the man that no one wants to fight in Lyoto Machida. While his style doesn't make him appealing to most, I appreciate that Machida doesn't fight with the sparring partner style that we are so accustomed to seeing in MMA. He makes his opponents conform to his style and pace and when he wants to he does damage. Witness UFC 70 when he dragged David Heath by his head kneeing him in the face repeatedly or UFC 84 when a frustrated Tito Ortiz dropped his hands and challenged him to come forward. Two quick punches later and Ortiz was cut and retreating. Also let's not forget that sneaky knee to the liver that almost finished the Huntington Beach Bad Boy in the third round. Silva makes for the type of opponent that should bring the best out of Lyoto, as he comes forward and is not afraid to take damage to give damage.


MMAJunkie.com reports that Dana White has no plans to adopt the new unified rules being proposed by the ABC.

I am shocked that Uncle Dana doesn't want to play nice with people outside of the UFC. While some may point to the hypocrisy of the UFC, which has always run toward regulation and unified rules rejecting the new proposal, I don't fault them. The new rules call for more weight classes, which is one of the problems that has plagued boxing. More weight classes plus more championships equals titles that don't mean anything. Imagine if the UFC welterweight division were split at 165 and 175. Then you would have guys like Diego Sanchez and Josh Koscheck in one weight class and guys like Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves in another. It would take away the depth in the division and create weaker weight classes. While people like Gary Shaw will point to fighter safety as a reason, in the end fighters are always going to cut down to the lowest weight class possible. MMA isn't boxing where 5 pounds can make a huge difference. With the different skill sets involved, fighters have much more to choose from that would allow them to use the necessary skills to win a fight. Witness undersized fighters such as Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emelianenko, and Dan Henderson who have had great success in MMA.


According to an interview with MMAWeekly.com Dana White announced that The Ultimate Fighter will air for five more seasons on Spike TV.

While most have cooled on the groundbreaking reality show, I still remain a fan and see value in the franchise. The TUF series will always be linked to the explosion of MMA and is still the only consistent television presence the UFC has. It is remarkable that the UFC does the business it does when it only has about six live television cards per year. While the Ultimate Fighter isn't the star making vehicle it once was, it does give the UFC a chance to find undiscovered talent such as Amir Sadollah, who didn't even make the cut for the IFL. It also gives young fighters a chance to work with some of the best in the business. Obviously with the all the different promotions around we won't get casts such as the one in Season 1 which featured Sanchez, Koscheck, Leben, Florian, Bonnar, and the current Light Heavyweight Champion Forrest Griffin. Nowadays TUF is more like a tryout, where the winner is almost the like the top draft pick and gets to be featured on TV and PPV as a star. Anyone else who catches there attention is also given an opportunity to earn their keep in the big show. TUF is also good promotional vehicle for the established fighters as it gives people a chance to get to know guys like Tito Ortiz and Rampage Jackson. After all it's not like they have ESPN doing features on them or anything. While many frown on reality TV and the UFC still relies on it as its primary TV programming, TUF is still MMA on free TV and 4 years ago who would have ever thought we would see that.


According to ESPN.com former UFC Heavyweight Champion Andrei Arlovski will likely compete in a professional boxing match on the undercard of the Juan Manuel Marquez-Joel Casamayor HBO PPV fight on September 13.

Andrei has apparently been working with famed trainer Freddie Roach, who also trains Manny Pacquaio and Bernard Hopkins. This could possibly explain his exit from the UFC as surely he realized that the UFC would never let him pursue a boxing career while he was with them. Arlovski will likely be given a manageable opponent that he could beat and this fight probably won't receive much mainstream coverage, however, a loss by Andrei could give ammo to MMA detractors. There is a perception by the misinformed, which sadly includes the majority of mainstream media that MMA fighters are lower caliber athletes. When you consider that Arlovski is considered one of the best physical specimens and a former champion, a loss to a journeyman boxer would be especially damaging. Here's hoping for an Arlovski victory.


Sherdog.com reports that WEC fighter Alexandre France "Pequeno" Nogueira tested positive for Boldenone and has been fined $2,500 and suspended through May 31, 2009.

Like so many others caught using steroids, "Pequeno" lost his WEC debut in a second round stoppage to Jose Aldo. Nogueira had a long successful run as a Shooto champion in Japan and was thought to be a contender to current WEC Featherweight Champion Urijah Faber. "Pequeno" was scheduled to fight Jens Pulver on September 10 at WEC 36. It always sucks to hear a fighter get busted for steroids and it makes you wonder if Nogueira's run in Shooto is tainted by the use of performance enhancers due to the relaxed or perhaps non-existant drug regulation in Japan. This sounds like the perfect opportunity for Leonard Garcia to step up and fight Pulver as Garcia has gotten out of his drug charges and is coming off of a big knockout win over the highly-regarded Hiroyuki Takaya at WEC 32.


ESPN Sucks

I know that may sound a little harsh; but my disenchantment with the "Worldwide Leader" grows as I watch its perfunctory treatment of Mixed Martial Arts. I didn't expect much from the sports media when MMA was put under its microscope. After all there is a natural disconnect when you have old people talking about something that young people are into. However given that this was UFC weekend featuring a fairly big star in Rampage, who gained tons of media coverage after his win over Liddell last May, I figured we could at least get some decent coverage. After all we got two days of talk on Kimbo "Freakin" Slice from people who didn't know what a ground game was. Instead we got a cursory interview with a surly Rampage where the interviewer foolishly asked for a howl as if Rampage were a trained dog. This was after ESPN devoted much more time to the freakin' Hot Dog Eating Contest and of course it's stupid Titletown series which replaces their Who's Now Tournament as their most self-indulgent promotion. Witness 30 people with nothing better to do but pretend to care about winning their town winning some meaningless award. Then on SportsCenter's Top Plays the epic fight between Rampage and Forrest ranked at number 9 and only featured Forrest's hand being raised. The fight did get brief mention on PTI as it was relegated to 5 second mention during the Big Finish, where Forrest's name isn't even mentioned. I am not asking for much; but considering that they spend endless coverage on things like Big Brown and Brett Favre's Hamlet act is a little fight analysis or rundown of the card too much to ask for a network that is supposed to have its finger on the pulse of the sports fan.



"I might be a little biased because Forrest is a good friend and training partner, but in my opinion Forrest won the fight hands down, three rounds to two. He outworked him from beginning to end, and even though not everything he threw landed, at least he fought the whole time instead of just looking for one big shot. You know, Forrest trained hard for this fight and it showed. He was training in the gym everyday, not running around with a chain around his neck, telling people he's a thug." – Mac Danzig from Sherdog.com's fighter inquiry about Jackson/Griffin

I hate Mac Danzig. War Guida.