Free-For-All

Jon Jones TKOs Shogun Rua

2011-03-19T23:59:00.000-07:00

Jones puts Rua in his proper place

It was all Bones and it was all Jones as height and youth beat bulk and experience. The physical advantages, more than skills and power, won over damaged goods. Jon Jones is now the toast of MMA much like Lyoto Machida was after he beat Rashad Evans for the UFC lightheavyweight title. Machida appeared untouchable and invincible when no one figured out yet how to beat him. Then his compatriot Rua came with a great strategy and all the wiles of his experience and defeated Machida. Jones is where Machida was and it will be a fantastic matchup if the UFC will get the two in the Octagon down the line; that is if Machida prevails over Randy Couture in UFC 129.

From the onset it was clear that Rua had big problems overcoming the 10.5-inch reach advantage of Jones, who used his left arm to keep the defending champion at bay. Rua was unable to utilize his power and it’s puzzling why he did not push the fight early to neutralize Jones’ length and youthful stamina. Even if the match had gone to five rounds (and it was rather evident that it wouldn’t as Jones had his way with Rua early on with takedowns, strikes and submission attempts) Rua would have been lucky to win a single round. He would have been hard pressed to earn a draw on a single round. So it happened that Jones won by TKO (referee stoppage) in 2:37 of Round 3.

If the 29-year-old Rua had come with better strategy and more aggression, he could have caught Jones in a clinch, tripped or taken him down with a quick double-leg but that kind of finesse never has been in Rua’s arsenal anyway. He’s a muay-Thai-style kind of striker who stands in front of his opponent, covers up to defend, and looks for angles to land his shots or simply trade bombs to see who’s the toughest. His mode of attack against Machida in their second fight was probably the best-planned bout of his entire career. So it’s perplexing why his team could not come up with fight plan against a foe who is not as slippery as Machida but has youth, athleticism/skills, and power.

Jones at no moment doubted he would not win since Rua hardly put up a fight. Rua looked like the old spent man that he looked like during his first few fights in the UFC. So Jones, 23, becomes the youngest champion ever of the UFC and Rua is now of the oldest to have held the UFC lightheavyweight belt.

To paraphrase Mike Goldberg’s oft-mentioned axiom: Youth beats experience when experience doesn’t come with a strategy. Let’s forget a Rashad Evans (who’s older than Rua by two years) title match for Jones. Not another “old man.” It’s rather easy to see how that fight will turn out. If the UFC wants more PPV moolah and a bigger take at the gates but still wants Jones to fight someone much older, it should arrange a superfight between Jones against an old fighter who knows how to use his experience and his available skills: Anderson Silva. That will be a true war for the ages.

URCC 6: The Prince comes up short in ‘upset’ loss to The One

2011-01-17T14:53:00.000-08:00

(Image from profile.ak.fbcdn.net)

Friday’s Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) 6 Cebu main event between Lapu-Lapu City’s Cary “The Prince” Bullos of SELDEF MMA and Iloilo’s Leonard “The One” Delarmino of Team Capanay is the kind of back-and-forth fight that makes protective men shout: Hide the women and the children!

It was that intense with hardly 10 seconds of respite at any time in their bantamweight bout. Bullos, confident as ever, started the first round with a smile like he’d just swallowed ambrosia and unleashed a three-punch combo, clinched but lost his balance as Delarmino fell on top of him. Showing his ground skills, Bullos maneuvered a bit before attempting an armbar. Delarmino got away but Bullos took him down and was on a side-mount full-mount transition in no time.

Before Bullos could pound Delarmino, the latter performed his own escape and in quick succession there was a side mount, a reversal, a guillotine choke, and an escape. It was the perfect closer to a night of a near-perfect card that matchmaker Markman Yap put up. It’s difficult to imagine the people behind URCC Cebu coming up with better matches than this.

The Bullos-Delarmino bout appeared it was going into a knockout as Bullos demonstrated his superior striking involving bunches of punches and a few spectacular high kicks, a submission victory with his repeated armbar attempts, or a decisive unanimous victory as the SEL-DEF flag carrier kept the pressure on a very durable Delarmino who took all sorts of hits to the head and body. But it didn’t turn out that way as an obviously gassed-out Bullos was running on fumes and his looping punches were not enough to knock out his opponent.

As it turned out, it was Delarmino who KOed Bullos before the second round ended with a frontal kick, a knee to the body and two right hooks to Bullos’ head as the latter was already down on his hands and knees, and the referee was called a stoppage after Bullos tapped about the same time his corner threw in the towel. If only Bullos had stayed on until Round 2 had finished, he was an almost-sure winner. This calls to mind the great quote by former UFC light-heavyweight champion Frank Shamrock: “My cardio is my best submission move.”

Actually, the Delarmino brothers made it 3-0 as Agustin defeated Maxilito Yong of Yaw-Yan Musang for the Visayas Flyweight Division championship, and Philip beat Jhon Edu Torbiso of Jurex Dragon Cebu in their pinweight match, both wins by submission in the first round.

Another pinweight fight started URCC 6 with star-potential Reynan “Flash” Noblefranca making his MMA debut over a much-older but overmatched Jessie Tambiling of Bullet Muay Thai. Noblefranca has made a name for himself as a spectacular striker and it was clear enough that he didn’t intend to go to the ground by staying light on his feet in avoiding Tambiling’s awkward punches and kicks. Tambiling barely laid a hand on the Yaw-Yan Ardigma fighter who is 12 years his junior. Noblefranca, on the other hand, early on messed up Tambiling with strikes, one a spinning backfist that caught Tambiling on the right cheek after the older fighter landed a left high kick to Noblefranca's head. Noblefranca knocked Tambiling down on the canvas and followed with more punches until the referee ended the punishment before Round 1 was over and Noblefranca earned his TKO win.

Other winners were Yaw-Yan Musang/DEFTAC Cebu’s Vaughn Donaire over an outsized but game Lorde Rey Yamit from Butuan City by tapout via rear-naked choke in the halfway mark of Round 1; DEFTAC Bacolod Fight Club’s Victor Torre over Yaw-Yan Ardigma’s Mark Revalde (Submission, Strikes R1); and Yaw-Yan Ardigma/DEFTAC Cebu's Tom Woodfin over Ricardo Sapno of Beefit Python’s Pit of Davao (Submission, Strikes R1).

The main co-event featherweight match between SELDEF MMA’s Jimmy Yabo and Cebu MMA’s George Flansbaum, where 16 years separated the protagonists, was declared No Contest midway through the second round. It mustn’t have been an unwillingness to fight by Yabo and Flansbaum as they did engage in the first round after Flansbaum got a yellow card from the match referee. At the restart, Yabo got the better of the expatriate American with his superior boxing, knocking his opponent down with a left hook to the side of the head.

Flansbaum is listed as a purple belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu, in theory is a better grappler, and that’s exactly what he did by repeatedly going for the single-leg takedown, successfully getting Yabo in a rear-naked choke that just couldn’t get past from under the chin to the throat as Yabo survived.

The Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) audience was pumped up for Round 2, but both fighters fought to their strengths and that’s when the problem started. Yabo maintained a wait-and-punch attitude, while Flansbaum waited for his chance to get takedown. Like two armies half a kilometer in front of each other waiting for who blinks first, it got boring and the crowd made the fighters in the ring know it with boos and catcalls. Soon enough another yellow card flashed then followed by a red card. Game over. No contest.

We can argue whether the referee’s decision was too harsh or if it was right on time and the fighters deserved to have the match end ignominiously. “Too harsh,” I heard a certain English daily newspaper sports columnist whose name starts with the letter J to my left say softly. Maybe yes, maybe no. But I wouldn’t have minded waiting for another minute to see if one or the other decided to be a fighter and fight like he badly wanted to win.

Overall, an MMA night of great fights, an SRO crowd, and like the matches, the best URCC round/ring girls so far. If only they allow fight judges to drink beer on the job. Sigh.

UFC 123: Machida vs Rampage -- The Dragon versus The Ram

2010-11-20T10:37:00.000-08:00

(Image from cdn.directv.com)

Ask any fighter of the difficulties of coming back after a loss and they’ll tell you the same thing: Of course, it’s difficult.

Levity is no match for severity, and Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson are in for some serious time in the Octagon hours from now. The loss that Machida underwent was more damaging than the one Jackson went through. Machida got knocked out in the first round in his defense of his UFC light-heavyweight title against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, while Jackson merely lost a three-round decision to Rashad Evans. Both losses were humbling for the former holders of the division title and they must have rethought their strategies for today’s UFC 123 main event.

Machida was under a lot of pressure to prove that he deserved to hold on to the light-heavyweight belt after his unanimous-decision win in UFC 104. That pressure made Machida more aggressive than normal and he paid a steep price by losing his belt and his consciousness courtesy of a Shogun right overhand/hook to the temple. Rampage, on the other hand, got soft after his Hollywood stint and allowed Evans to dictate their UFC 114 tussle with good wrestling and constant takedowns.

You could say that Machida has fallen in love with the straight-on attack and knockouts this offensive system produced after successive KO wins over bangers Thiago Silva and Evans. Machida’s mistake was that he took Shogun’s strength and determination lightly after the ex-Pride middleweight Grand Prix king proved to be a disappointment in his first few fights since jumping over to the UFC. Machida admitted that he knew early on even before signing up with the UFC that he would have to take on Shogun. What he didn’t expect was to get knocked out by his fellow Brazilian.

Rampage has dismissed Machida as a “boring” fighter and he has maintained his opinion going into UFC 123. If Rampage really believes that, it could be his undoing. If by boring Rampage means that Machida relies too much on strategy and counter-striking to earn his victories, then Rampage is right. But those are the things that make Machida such a formidable fighter. He is not impatient (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun) and sticks to his bread-and-butter moves (with the exception of the second fight with Shogun). Like another pro-fighter of Asian heritage, Manny Pacquiao, Machida is quick on his feet and uses a lot of lateral movement in picking his shots. Pacquiao may use way more punches than Machida but they both produce just about the same amount of damage on their opponents: Pacquiao has knocked out 10 of his ring foes since adopting the stick-and-move approach to fighting starting with the Marco Antonio Barrera fight and starting his tutelage under the supreme trainer and strategist Freddie Roach.

Machida has always been an elusive fighter since joining MMA and statistics show that (with the exception of the two fights with Shogun).

If we limit our appraisal of Machida-Rampage I on their track record especially their past UFC performances, we can easily be tempted to give the fight to Machida who has only one loss on his record (two, arguing that he actually lost to Shogun twice) while Rampage has eight losses to 30 MMA wins. But styles will always make fights, and based on this dictum Rampage has a big chance of beating Machida.

The Japanese-Brazilian karateka is a very calculating fighter and can hardly be goaded to go toe to toe. His training dictates him to only go for a strike when his opponent leaves himself open especially after a missed strike of his own. But Rampage does not always leave himself open even after a strike misses or not. Rampage reacts to an attack or an opening. So if Machida comes in with a punch, kick or knee, he has to be very careful not to get caught in the process by a Rampage retaliatory strike.

Former middleweight UFC fighter Dan Henderson is superb at hooking or jabbing then stepping back or doing it in one motion, protecting himself from counterstrikes. Machida, on the other hand, looks for an opening, strikes, then pulls back, and only strikes again if his foe is vulnerable enough. The difficult part is knowing when to do this and a split second of hesitation or an opening could be all that Rampage needs to throw a punch or go for a shoot prior to some ground and pound.

Machida and Rampage need this win. A victory will not only put them back on the championship picture but better still, boost their confidence that they still matter and belong in the upper echelons of the light-heavyweight lineup.

Pacquiao vs Margarito results: Pacquiao is too good for Margarito, makes boxing history again

2010-11-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

(Image from cbc.ca)

All apprehensions of Manny Pacquiao being too small for Antonio Margarito vanished even before the first round ended in their WBC super-welterweight title fight Saturday at the Cowboys Stadium in Dallas, Texas that Pacquiao won by unanimous decision with the judges scoring it 120-108, 119-109, and 118-110. Pacquiao also won his eighth world boxing title in as many weight categories.

Pacquaio’s near-mythic speed and volume punching obviously flustered Margarito, who at 5-feet-11 and 165 pounds on fight night, looked enormous against Pacquiao’s 5-6 ½ and 146lbs. The next 11 rounds were not much different as Pacquiao took on all of Margarito’s hardest punches even as he methodically destroyed Margarito’s mug and his chances of redemption. The hand-wraps controversy will forever mar Margarito’s legacy but his hopes of putting a sheen on his tarnished image with a win over the “Mexicutioner” diminished as the fight progressed.

Round 4 could have been the most dominating for Pacquaio as he pummeled Margarito with his arsenal of punches while dancing away from counterattacks. Margarito’s body language looked like that of a defeated man as he walked back to his corner when the bell rang. But that was only a third of the punishment he got.

Round 5 showed a reckless Pacquaio who allowed himself to be trapped in the ropes twice, taking on Margarito’s blows but deftly swaying from either side while punching back and eventually escaping. It is not difficult to lure Pacquiao into a toe-to-toe battle even against bigger and theoretically stronger foes as evinced by the Miguel Cotto fight exactly a year ago, the Saranggani Province congressman from the Philippines later admitting that he wanted to get a taste of Cotto’s supposedly more formidable power. Pacquiao did get hit by Margarito but the Mexican couldn’t consistently hurt the Filipino.

It would be redundant and cruel to go through the fight round for round as they practically resembled each other: Pacquiao either attacking and landing punches or gracefully avoiding being hit or countering after Margarito’s punches landed. It was a night full of frustrations for Margarito, who verbally expressed his confidence before the fight of doing what many of his countrymen have failed to do in the last five years: Put an end to the win streak of the bane of Mexico’s best boxers in the 126lbs-150lbs divisions.

Margarito was so confident of beating Pacquiao that he even bet his Mercedes Benz against his uncle’s Jeep. Not only did Margarito lose his car, he lost a lot of blood as Pacquiao cut him below his right eye which also puffed up with a purple hue.

Many are still asking why the fight was allowed to consume all of 12 rounds when it should have been stopped without much protestations except from Margarito, of course, four or five rounds earlier. Margarito, as brave as he was, clearly didn’t have much chance of winning at that point and had obviously taken too much of a beating already that by the 11th round Pacquiao looked imploringly at the referee to stop the carnage. Strangely, neither referee Laurence Cole nor Margarito’s corner with Roberto Garcia at the helm showed much concern and allowed him to finish the fight to the bitter end.

Cole, for his part, merely stopped the fight twice to ask Margarito to count how many fingers he raised to determine the state of his eyesight. The warrior that he is, Margarito could have merely made a guess and got it right to be allowed to continue fighting. Never was the ringside physician called to look at Margarito’s injuries and make his recommendations (as limited as our view of the fight was by the hours-delayed telecast and intrusive commercials).

At the start of the 12th and final round, Pacquiao, the softhearted humanitarian that he is, said something to Margarito, probably asking him if he could still go on. By that time Margarito was so banged up that Pacquiao clearly pulled his punches, merely letting the minutes tick away until the bell rang.

The question in every fight fan’s mind now is: Will Floyd Mayweather Jr. ever agree to fight Pacquiao, especially after seeing (he did watch the fight, didn’t he?) the present holder of the world’s best pound-four-pound boxer title that Mayweather once owned make mincemeat of the slugger that he (Floyd Jr.) so skillfully avoided fighting in the ring? The answer to that right now is a resounding no.

If Mayweather, who loves to tell anyone who still cares to listen that he is the world’s best boxer (throwing his unblemished 41-0 win-loss record at anybody who dares doubt his excellence) wasn’t afraid of Pacquiao, he would have already agreed to sign the contract which stipulated that he gets $40 million besides a share of the pay-per-view money to be generated by the would-have-been richest purse in professional boxing history. There is no arguing the fact: Floyd Mayweather Jr. is afraid of Manny Pacquiao. Another fact-to-be should Pacquiao-Mayweather I push through: Pacquiao will beat Mayweather.

Manny Pacquiao vs Antonio Margarito: PacMan Pacquiao ‘KOs’ Margarito, keeps munching on the competition

2010-11-13T08:20:00.000-08:00

(Image from rccayao.com)

That’s not the only way for Manny Pacquiao to beat Antonio Margarito, but if Pacquiao wants to bag his eighth world title in the same number of weight classes, he better get rid of Margarito fast – in three rounds or less. Ironically, Margarito has to do the same if he intends to be the first boxer to give Pacquiao a loss in 12 straight fights.

It is doubtful if Margarito can go 12 rounds with the same intensity as Pacquiao especially if according to plan Pacquiao makes the Mexican his moveable feast of a punching bag. If Pacquiao gains enough weight to replenish what he lost cutting down to 144.6 pounds, way below the catchweight of 151lbs., he will still have the speed that he relies on a large part if he stays near enough what he weighed during the weigh-in.

Size and length have been the basic keywords in arguments endorsing a Margarito win over the comparatively diminutive Filipino, who at an official 5-feet-6 ½ inches is very short to the Mexican’s 5-11. Margarito also has a six-inch reach advantage.

In terms of power, we could give Margarito that considering his size edge, but even though Pacquiao has to crane his neck up to look Margarito in the eye, Pacquiao is no slouch in the power and KO department, amassing a 38-knockout record in 56 bouts, to Margarito’s just as notable 27 KOs in 44 matches.

Bigger is not always stronger even in the power-reliant sport of boxing. Speed is just as important in pugilism since you cannot hurt what you cannot hit, and this is where the smaller Pacquiao excels, having those twinkle toes that mocked the also taller (5-10 ½) Oscar de la Hoya and the just as short as Pacquiao, English crowder-swarmer Ricky Hatton.

De La Hoya practically had the same six-inch reach advantage when he fought Pacquiao, but that didn’t do him much good, although semi-retired at the time, he was not as frisky and hungry as Margarito is now in light of his one-year suspension for glove padding.

Margarito has been tagged the “Tijuana Tornado” for his relentless attack and relatively heavy punches, but his persistence and power may not be enough to neutralize Pacquiao’s competitive power and superior speed and footwork. Pacquiao needs to crowd Margarito, turn the tables on the Mexican who seems to only know one direction: forward. Pacquiao won’t commit the mistake of standing in front of Margarito – a sure way to end up on his back. The clever Filipino long ago learned to run rings around opponents, which made de la Hoya say post-fight that taking on Pacquiao was like fighting several people all at once.

Pacquiao’s stamina is legendary, a product of his near-mythic training regimen – more than willing to go another kilometer on road runs, spar several more rounds than required, take a couple more whacks on the abdomen with those sticks, and take on another bigger opponent. His dedication to training and fighting is unquestioned, that skeptics and the envious go to the extent of alleging that he takes illegal performance-enhancing substances. That remains to be proven. In the meantime, we see Pacquiao lay it all out there on the ring, win or lose. He will go for a consecutive dozen victories in a few hours and nothing less of a knockout win over Margarito will please his literally millions of fans all over the world.

UFC 121 results: Cain Velasquez knocks out Brock Lesnar -- Viva Mexico!

2010-10-23T22:20:00.000-07:00

Control prevails over brute strength

(Image from usatoday.com by Jae C. Hong)

Expect the unexpected, that is a phrase that could best describe Cain Velasquez’s stunning win over Brock Lesnar. It doesn’t have anything to do with strategy or mode of attack – both fighters trained for what the other might do. It’s the unexpected manner by which Velasquez grabbed the UFC heavyweight title from Lesnar: relatively easy.

Sure, Velasquez got hurt. Lesnar kneed him and was able to take him down, but Velasquez was never seriously in danger and got back on his feet rather quickly after every fall.

The dominance was by Velasquez. He landed the heavier blows and was always in control of his emotions, never let himself be tempted to let go and just pummel Lesnar even when he had the advantage. He definitely picked his shots. Velasquez is notorious for his iron-lung stamina and now he is just as famous for his control and restraint.

Lesnar looked intimidating making his entrance into the Octagon with his full beard and Metallica’s Enter Sandman coming out of the speakers. Velasquez, on the other hand, walked towards the Octagon stoic as usual. No emotion registering on his face. His intro music, in contrast to Lesnar’s heavy-metal menace, was celebratory. It was as if Velasquez was with his posse wading into a crowd at a Mexican fiesta.

The crowd made known where its sentiments lay as it cheered lustily for Velasquez during the fighter introductions and booed Lesnar. Accustomed to his heel role in professional wrestling, Lesnar managed to smile even before MC Bruce Buffer introduced him.

In mere seconds from the start of the fight, the fighters clinched. Lesnar kneed Velasquez and took him down. It didn’t take long for Velasquez to get right back up on his feet, but Lesnar quickly pushed him to the fence. Velasquez, with his back securely on the fence, elbowed the side of Lesnar’s head.

For almost a minute, Lesnar kept Velasquez on the fence before taking him down. Velasquez got back right up. It was Velasquez’s turn to take down Lesnar who did a Velasquez by getting vertical rather easily but Velasquez again took down Lesnar and got his back.

Velasquez kept the pressure and at 2:16 he knocked Lesnar down and proceeded to ground and pound him. He separated but fell down on Lesnar, controlling the bigger fighter with a knee on the chest.

Lesnar found a way to stand up at 1:07 but Velasquez hit him again with a solid punch. Lesnar fell while trying to cover up, his face bloodied from a cut below his left eye not counting the other damage Velasquez had inflicted on him.

Velasquez didn’t go postal and was still picking his shots even as match referee Herb Dean yelled something to the fighters; probably telling Lesnar to defend himself or he would be forced to stop the fight, which he did at 4:12 of the round.

With 48 seconds left and kilograms of oxygen still left in Velasquez’s gas tank, he became the new UFC heavyweight champion.

“I trained for a five-round fight...You can’t expect a first round stoppage…Latinos!...We did it, ha!” a jubilant Velasquez said in the post-fight Octagon interview.

Joe Rogan also interviewed Lesnar predictably with the crowd booing. Lesnar smiled through the pain, promising he would be back in the gym to train.

Lesnar said: “He is a great fighter…What can I say? He was better than me tonight.”

Yes, Brock, but you were not expecting that.

Other results:

• Jon Madsen over Gilbert Yvel (TKO, referee stoppage, Round 1, 1:48)
• Chris Camozzi over Dongi Yang (Split Decision, 3 rounds)
• Sam Stout over Paul Taylor (SD, 3 rounds)
• Daniel Roberts over Michael Guymon (Submission, anaconda choke, R1, 1:13)
• Tom Lawlor over Patrick Cote (Unanimous Decision, 3 rounds)
• Court McGee over Ryan Jensen (Submission, arm triangle, R3, 1:21)
• Brendan Schaub over Gabriel Gonzaga (UD, R3)
• Matt Hamill over Tito Ortiz (UD, 3 rounds)
• Diego Sanchez over Paulo Thiago (UD, 3 rounds)
• Jake Shields over Martin Kampmann (SD, 3 rounds)

UFC 121 preview: Cain Velasquez looks to do an Abel on Brock Lesnar

2010-10-23T13:23:00.000-07:00

They’re not brothers. One is a Mexican American banger who has decent wrestling and grappling skills, has a granite jaw, is definitely smaller but is as tough as any Aztec warrior there ever was.

The other is a huge white boy who once did some acting in professional wrestling, has a head full of bricks, has more muscle on him than most overweight people have fat, and is as tough as any WWE product who ventured into MMA. Er, scratch the last one.

Cain Velasquez is the underdog in his match with Brock Lesnar in most fight fans’ eyes. Coming in at 6-feet-1 and 244 pounds to Lesnar’s 6-3 and 264 pounds, Velasquez weighs now what Lesnar did in college minus five meals in a week.

The size disparity alone makes Lesnar the prohibitive favorite. Considering that Lesnar earned all his past victories by submission through strikes and technical knockouts and possessing such amazing speed for a large man, Velasquez is already counted out as just another victim.

Lesnar will naturally want to take the fight to the ground and pound Velasquez senseless unless he taps out verbally or with a hand slamming the mat. But with a strong college wrestling background just like Lesnar, Velasquez (who also has a purple belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu) can fight on the ground. Lesnar may have heavier hands but Velasquez has more refined boxing skills.

Don’t expect either of them to use too much kicking. It will be feet planted on the ground and letting go of haymakers. Should Lesnar be on the receiving end of fisticuffs, he will use his superior speed and strength to take down Velasquez and try to pound him with those sledgehammer fists of his, or even surprise us again with a submission hold just like he did on Shane Carwin.

Lesnar said that he doesn’t expect Velasquez to give him much trouble, pointing out that smaller fighters like Randy Couture and Min-Soo Kim did not pose much of a threat to him before. The trouble is neither Couture nor Kim was as good, strong and young as Velasquez is at present. Both opponents were past their prime when they lost to Lesnar.

At 28 and on a hot eight-match win streak (seven by KO), Velasquez is as dangerous a challenger as Carwin was in the first round against Lesnar in UFC 116.

The non-garrulous Velasquez (in contrast to the brash and voluble Lesnar) is determined to take away Lesnar’s title. With the resolute look of a killer, wearing those Dethrone shirts and caps should help fortify Velasquez’s goal: Destroy Brock!

UFC 117: Chael Sonnen grinds his way into near upset of Anderson Silva

2010-08-08T13:04:00.000-07:00

(Image from content.usatoday.com)

Jon Fitch again shows why he is the most boring top-level MMA fighter

Chael Sonnen fights as well as he (trash) talks and gave Anderson Silva more of a beating than he underwent in all of his past 11 UFC bouts.

For most of four rounds and a half Sonnen grounded and pounded Silva and was a minute and 50 seconds away from winning the UFC middleweight belt when his tired body was unable to escape from a triangle choke.

Sonnen’s right hand tapped once on Silva’s left leg but when Silva let go, Sonnen feigned (or perhaps it was oxygen depletion that caused his confusion) not to have submitted.

Sonnen didn’t pretend to be something else. He came in to the Octagon with the reputation of a damn fine wrestler and that’s what he did. He did surprise Silva with some crisp punching, hitting Silva in the very first round with straight lefts that buckled the Brazilian.

Then the takedowns and pounding on the ground ensued. Except when Silva tapped out Sonnen in the fifth round, Sonnen’s Greco-Roman wrestling proved better than Silva’s Nogueira Brothers Jiujitsu.

While controlling Silva on the ground, Sonnen peppered him with punches, hammer blows, elbows, forearms, even some palms and slaps that you could almost see Silva’s round bald head start to get dented and his brain cells fall into place preventing another clownish behavior like in the Thales Leites and Demian Maia fights.

Sonnen is not really a powerful striker. If he had, say, fellow Team Quest Dan Henderson’s force, the fight would not have reached the fifth round and Sonnen would have been the new UFC middleweight king. But such is the way of should, would, and could have beens -- it’s pure speculation.

But the dominance with which Sonnen displayed was pure reality. It is proof that to beat a superb striker like Silva, it takes a superb wrestler. Maia’s world-class jiujitsu could not touch Silva. For jujitsu technique to be applied, one has to get hold of an opponent and preferably take the fight to the ground.

As capable a grappler Silva is, he favors standup battles. But Sonnen did not grant Silva that luxury. He took Silva to the ground every chance he got. It was Sonnen’s misfortune that he was too tired and got careless in the final minutes of the fight and got caught in a triangle choke. If Sonnen wants to win a rematch with Silva and grab the title, he better learn some (or a lot of) defense against submissions.

That is if Vitor Belfort doesn’t beat Silva first. Belfort is like Silva’s mirror image -– they are both Brazilian Jiujitsu black belts who prefer to strike. Belfort has the edge on Silva in the speed department, they are quite even power-wise, but Silva has the savvy advantage. Silva has shown that he can withstand a pounding. Belfort’s chin is still relatively untested. But that is what will make it fun, strikers who will be testing each other out as to who will last.

As both Silva and Sonnen tapped gloves before the fight started, it was no surprise that they hugged and shook hands after the fight despite all the jibes Sonnen heaped on Silva. Silva had to show his respect to Sonnen, battered as he was. This was probably the only time that Silva knelt in the Octagon and sincerely felt like showing respect to an opponent and the crowd. Right after ducking a bullet in the form of a 185.5-pound American-bred wrestler, Silva knelt before Sonnen and laid his belt on the ground.

The Brazilian striking specialist said in the post-fight interview that he doesn’t bear grudges but he wouldn’t have said it if he had lost. It’s easier to be magnanimous in victory. If he had lost, he would probably would have cursed Sonnen in Portuguese and let his manager Ed Soares do the translating.

BORING. Jon Fitch is right now the most boring fighter in the UFC. To start with, he doesn’t have much skills. Then all he does is try to take down his opponents and keep them there. He has submitted opponents before. The easy ones. Against an opponent with good defense, all he can do is sneak in a few ineffective punches before the referee starts to get as bored as the audience and stands up both fighters. Fitch’s win over Thiago Alves was a waste of 15 minutes better spent watching Arianny Celeste walk back to her chair outside the Octagon. What Joe Rogan said of Fitch’s fighting style that he fights ugly but it’s beautiful to watch doesn’t make sense. Boring is never beautiful, Joseph.

Semi-retired or should-be-retired Matt Hughes, on the other hand, is still worth the pay-per-view fee. At 36 years of age and past his prime, Hughes proved he is still relevant in the welterweight division by choking out BJJ third-degree black belt Ricardo Almeida in 3:15 of the very first round. That earned Hughes Submission of the Night honors and a cool $60,000 extra. But this should not put ideas in Hughes’ head that he can still get back his title. Georges St. Pierre still sits comfortably on the welterweight throne and the pretenders to that throne are guys named Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez, Mike Swick, Marcus Davis, Dan Hardy, and the aforementioned Fitch and Alves, who could make Hughes feel his age.

UFC 117 has one of the best cards this year even though the battle of giants -– Junior dos Santos and Roy Nelson –- didn’t produce a knockout despite all the leather thrown. There’s still five months left before the year ends but Silva vs. Sonnen will be hard to top.

UFC 112: Anderson Silva confirms he is the world’s best MMA showboat and clown

2010-04-11T12:32:00.000-07:00

(Image from centurymartialarts.com)

BJ Penn gets dethroned as lightweight king

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva could be bipolar. He certainly fights like he’s got split personalities. One round he looks like he’s indeed the best mixed-martial-arts fighter in the world, the next round he acts like he’s auditioning for The Last Comic Standing with his fists.

Yesterday, Silva gave detractors another reason to put him down. While he successfully defended his title against fellow Brazilian Demian Maia, he did it in such an eccentric manner. Silva showed flashes of his brilliance with quick and accurate strikes with his hands and feet but he suddenly decided to ham it up with rubbery torso swaying, doing circles with his arms, going down low with his hands nearly touching the canvas, and running circles around Maia.

At one point, Silva even hid behind referee Dan Miragliotta, who stepped to one side and pushed Silva by his shoulder. Miragliotta actually stopped the fight in the fifth round as Silva did everything to avoid making contact with Maia and warned the champion he would deduct a point from him if he kept literally running circles around the frustrated (and by then battered) Maia.

This latest weird episode in Silva’s UFC career is not that surprising in light of what he did in UFC 90 against Patrick Cote. Silva also avoided fighting it out with Cote in a good part of the match.

Yesterday was Silva’s most bizarre behavior in the UFC. He was not only weird, even worst, he was arrogant and haughty. After connecting with some good punches and kicks on Maia, he seemed to have decided he had done enough to show his superiority and kept on shouting and taunting with gestures at Maia to attack him.

Later in the fight, the crowd had enough of Silva’s shenanigans by chanting Maia’s name and then GSP’s (Georges St. Pierre). Silva said pre-fight that he would drop to 170 pounds after the Maia fight to challenge GSP for the welterweight crown. That is the fight many MMA fans would love to see, hoping that the excellent (some even believe is even the better fighter than Silva) Kyokushinkai black belt would be the first UFC warrior to put Silva in his place.

It is obvious all this talk about Silva being the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter has gone to the Brazilian’s bald head. Rock stars are constantly warned not to believe in their own press release because it would mess them up. Someone should give a similar warning to Silva.

In the co-main event, BJ Penn, another Top 10 PFP MMA fighter, got his lightweight belt snatched by challenger Frankie Edgar. This fight is one proof of the necessity of scoring judges. A fan’s passive view of the fight would create the impression that Penn did enough to retain his title. Sure, Edgar was the more active of the two if you see his prancing and dancing and faking as evidence of being more active.

But it did appear that Penn was the more accurate striker and he did manage to stay on his feet most of the fight. Edgar took him down twice. The first time Penn almost instantly got back up and the second time he got Edgar in his guard and got back on his feet without Edgar doing any damage with strikes or submission attempts.

The scores were 50-45, 48-47 and 49-46 for Edgar. OK, granted that the fight was close and the judges, whose business it is to keep close track of the fight and score it accordingly, actually saw Edgar had the edge and he deserved to win -- but casual observers, those who take their eyes off the fight to say to a friend Did you see that? or get up from the sofa to get more beer from the fridge could not be blamed for believing that Penn should have won.

Penn seemed he controlled the fight and whenever he hit Edgar, most of his strikes appeared solid and were more numerous. Anyway, Edgar won and that’s how the judges saw it. Even Penn touched Edgar on the head after the decision was announced. Too bad Joe Rogan did not get Penn’s opinion post fight.

As to the welterweight match between two grizzled veterans in Matt Hughes and Renzo Gracie: Wow! Hughes still got it. He can still bang and he still has most of his wits about him. Never did Hughes try too many times to take down Gracie and do his patented ground and pound. He knew too well that Gracie is better than him technically on the ground so he did more striking than takedowns.

Those leg kicks Hughes landed on Gracie’s left leg did their job. They took out Gracie’s base and he came in close to punch him out. TKO win in the third round for Hughes. But lest Hughes start believing he can capitalize on that win to get back on the title hunt, someone please remind him that he is 36 years old and that his best years are behind him. Knocking out someone seven years older than him and fighting guys 10 years younger than him are too different things.

In another middleweight bout, Mark Muñoz showed why he is called the “Filipino Wrecking Machine.” After Kendall Grove pummeled him and almost submitted him twice, he caught the six-inch taller fighter with one heavy punch and added several more heavy punches to force the referee to stop the punishment in the second round.

Another Filipino, Brandon Vera, hasn’t had much luck in the UFC lately and still another Filipino, Phillipe Nover, did not have his contract with the UFC renewed -- so it is now up to Muñoz to carry the Philippine flag in the world’s foremost MMA promotion.

If Muñoz can improve his defense (meaning, he gets hit less) and learns some submission techniques, he will be a meaner stud and could be one of the five best in his division.

UFC 108: Thiago Silva Nearly Makes Rashad Evans' Sugar Turn Sour

2010-01-04T20:34:00.000-08:00

Evans decisions Silva with superior wrestling (and takedowns)

(Photo from sherdog.com)

The fact of Rashad Evans being a top-class wrestler is inevitably mentioned whenever he fights. But aside from clinching his opponents in between episodes of striking, Evans has been more of a striker than a wrestler/grappler. Not anymore. Evans rediscovered his roots and used this to his full advantage in eking out a unanimous decision victory over Thiago Silva last Sunday.

Evans stuck to his game plan and almost got plastered because of it. Evans was quite successful in taking down Silva, unwilling to trade strikes with the taller Chute Boxe specialist and Brazilian Jiujitsu black belt (they both are, Evans earning his rank on the day of their match).

It was clear a minute into round one that Evans was not too confident standing up against Silva, who has a two-inch height and half-an-inch reach advantage over him. Evans thrived in rushing towards Silva, going for a single-leg takedown. Silva was smart enough to use the Octagon fence at times to get back up on his feet. But even after being taken down away from the fence, he didn’t have much difficulty getting right back up.

Clearly, due to his aggression and numerous successful TD attempts, Evans won both the first two rounds. But Silva’s striking finally caught up with Evans in the final two minutes.

Round 1 was typical of the way Evans fought. Not 10 seconds after the horn sounded to start the main event, Evans clinched Silva with a right underhook with the latter’s back on the fence. Silva temporarily had a Thai plum on Evans, pulled him down looking for a Kimura on Evan’s right arm.

Evans then transitioned to a double-leg takedown and slammed Silva to the ground. But almost just as quickly, Silva was able to stand up.

At the 4:09 mark, Evans again slammed Silva with double-leg TD, moving to side control. Evans got full mount to the excited howl of the crowd. Silva, finally getting lots of chances to show his jiujitsu skills, shrimped out grabbing Evans’ left ankle, using that for leverage to get back up on his feet.

They again got into a clinch until the 2:57 mark. Evans landed a weak left elbow to Silva’s head. They separated and traded punches at an even rate while moving towards the middle of the Octagon.

Evans walked in to a Silva left knee, but he took down Silva again and got side control. Evans went for north-south. Silva turned, grabbed Evans’ right leg, got on his knees before standing up. Excellent escapes were shown by Silva all throughout the fight, recalling another Thiago (Alves) who was taken down more than 10 times in his championship bout with welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre in UFC 100, but had no trouble getting vertical again.

It is safe to say that a very good wrestler constantly going for a takedown can neutralize the superior striking skills of a kickboxer or muay Thai specialist. Evans was an NCAA division 1 wrestler, while St. Pierre may not have had as stellar a college sports career, but his wrestling is just as good as Evans’.

For an awkward stretch (from 2:12 to 1:48), Evans and Silva simply stood in front of each other doing nothing until Silva initiated some striking with jabs and inside leg kicks. Predictably, Evans rushed in with punches then clinched Silva who was walking back to the fence. Evans got a right arm underhook, maneuvering for position. Silva got hold of Evans' neck, but the former light-heavyweight champion pulled out with 35 seconds left on the clock, exploding with punches.

Evans stepped back and hit Silva with a right hook to the body, immediately going for a double-leg TD. Silva fell but had both arms wrapped around the torso of Evans, landing in a sitting position, his back to the fence. In the final 21 seconds, Silva got back on his feet, but Evans pushed him to the fence. With eight seconds remaining, they disengaged, went to Octagon center. Silva ended the round with a left roundhouse to Evans head that fell short.

The rest of the three-round fight went practically the same except for the last two minutes of Round 3 when Silva tagged Evans on the jaw with a left hook and an overhand right, wobbling him. Silva landed one more punch before Evans fell on his hands and knees near the fence. Silva hit Evans on the head with another punch, before the latter somehow got back up on his feet.

Silva took his sweet time punching Evans. He landed two uppercuts and showboated by spreading his arms, pushing his head forward, baiting Evans to counter. The takedowns and the struggle to get out from under in the early part of the match took their toll. Silva gassed out and he stood in the middle of the Octagon, hands on his hips, looking spent.

With less than a minute left, Silva threw a half-hearted lunging left jab. A few seconds later Evans pinned Silva to the fence in a clinch and they stayed there until the end of the match when Silva pushed off Evans just as the horn sounded.

Silva looked frustrated with his business unfinished. He could have knocked out Evans if only there was enough gas left in his tank.

The judges were unanimous in handing the victory to Evans on similar 29-28 scores.

Evans said in the post-fight interview that he wants Quinton “Rampage” Jackson next. Evans is not careful with what he wishes for. Jackson is potentially more dangerous than Silva and definitely stronger. Evans' wrestling could not be enough to beat Rampage.

UFC 107: Nightmare’s End, Prodigy on the Mend

2010-01-04T10:22:00.001-08:00

BJ Penn powers past Diego Sanchez

(Photo from sherdog.com)

Apparently, BJ Penn has gotten over the humiliating defeat he suffered at the hands of Georges St. Pierre almost a year ago. Penn has accepted the fact that he is a natural lightweight and that the super fight with St. Pierre at welterweight was at a distinct disadvantage to him and he better put up stakes exclusively at 155 pounds.

In UFC 107, Penn legitimized his stranglehold with a just-as-dominant win over Diego Sanchez, the same way St. Pierre put Penn in his place in UFC 94.

Just when Jo Rogan finished saying: “Freddie Roach once said that B.J. Penn has the best boxing in MMA,” Penn knocked down Sanchez with an overhand right to the jaw in 4:33 of the first round. Sanchez got up quickly, but Penn had him in a muay Thai plum and kneed him on his mean-face contest-winning mug for another fall. With his left arm around Sanchez’s waist, Penn pummeled Sanchez with fists while “Nightmare’ stayed semi-conscious on all fours probably thinking to himself the punishment he was undergoing wasn’t for real – that it was just a terrible dream he was to wake up from.

Sanchez rolled and sought a full guard with his back to the ground. Penn was too smart to get caught in a guard, and too frenzied to knock Sanchez out. Penn stepped to Sanchez’s left and kept striking. Penn wanted to get side control but Sanchez’s butterfly prevented him.

At 4:01, the two fighters found themselves on the fence in a north-south position. Sanchez pushed with both feet on the fence while trying to escape, but Penn pushed him back. Sanchez was able to get back on his feet at 3:43 when Penn let go of his hold as he went for punches to the head of Sanchez, who seemingly did not sustain much damage despite the barrage of blows.

Penn got back to stalking Sanchez. The challenger’s left roundhouse kick missed Penn by at least a foot, proving that he hadn’t fully recovered yet.

At 2:54, Sanchez rushed Penn with hand strikes and a half-assed flying knee, pushing the champion to the fence, getting hold of his right leg but was unable to take Penn down. They disengaged as Sanchez landed a left elbow on Penn’s head.

The rest of the first round had Sanchez surviving, but not before getting hit with another right to the head before the bell rang.

Rounds 2 to the fateful 5 was more of the same, as Sanchez was intent on getting a takedown and perhaps grounding and pounding or submitting Penn with a choke or armbar or something. Something is the right word for Sanchez, because that’s all he could hope for as Penn clearly showed his superiority.

A kick to the head of Sanchez inside the last three minutes of Round 5 produced an obscenely huge cut on the left side of Sanchez’s forehead. It was a good thing referee Herb Dean stepped in to stop the beating that Penn was dealing Sanchez to have the latter’s wound checked by the ring doctor who decided Sanchez had enough for the night. Penn by TKO in the 5th.

Mir vs. Kongo

In the undercard, Cheick Kongo paid dearly by keeping his hands down as he ate a left overhand punch to the right jaw that dropped him in only 4:18 of the first round. Mir followed Kongo to the ground where the French kickboxer hit Mir on the rib with a rather weak shin kick followed by a right single-leg takedown attempt.

Mir missed with two hooks but trapped Kongo’s neck in a guillotine choke in a half guard. Kongo got back on his feet, but Mir took him down to the ground holding on tight while falling on his back. Referee Herb Dean lifted Kongo's right arm which went limp as he called a stop to the fight at 3:49 of the round.

Other results:
Jon Fitch over Mike Pierce via Unanimous Decision in 3 rounds; Kenny Florian over Clay Guida, Submission (choke) R2 (2:19); Stefan Struve over Paul Buentello, Majority Decision 3R; Alan Belcher over Wilson Gouveia, Technical Knockout, R1 (3:03); Matt Wiman over Shane Nelson, UD 3R; Johny Hendricks over Ricardo Funch, UD, 3R; Rousimar Palhares over Lucio Linhares, Submission (leglock), 2R (3:21); DaMarques Johnson over Edgar Garcia, Submission (choke) 1R (4:03); TJ Grant over Kevin Burns, TKO, 1R (1:57).

UFC 107: Penn versus Sanchez

2009-12-09T06:35:00.000-08:00

Prodigious Ego Versus Nightmarish Attitude

BJ Penn once believed he was the world’s MMA pound-for-pound best fighter, the reason he went on a rather unsuccessful rampage taking on heavier fighters like current Ultimate Fighting Championship light-heavyweight king Lyoto Machida. Diego Sanchez once believed he was God’s gift to MMA after racking up a 12-0 win-loss record including his TKO win over Kenny Florian in the Ultimate Fighter 1 Middleweight final in 2005.

Ego is no problem with both Penn and Sanchez. Ironically, ego is also their huge problem. A puffed-up opinion of oneself can help someone overachieve, it could also teach one a very valuable albeit costly lesson – you get your ass kicked. It applies to both MMA and real life.

On Sunday, the world (the MMA world, at least) will get to see self-image and self-worth take a beating as Penn and Sanchez take on each other in five rounds for the UFC lightweight belt. Penn will be defending the title

After another embarrassing foray into the higher ranks with his total domination by UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre, Penn gets back to the division where he is most comfortable to try to retain the lightweight title for the fourth time in almost two years.

Sanchez also had his humdrum days, losing twice in a row after a very impressive 17-0 W-L start. Penn is seeking validation and redemption, Sanchez is burdened with only one: validation.

Many don’t see this fight going the full five-round route. Both fiery fighters are fond of early stoppages, but if the first two rounds won’t go either fighter’s way, this could become a war of attrition that will favor Penn’s Brazilian Jiujitsu expertise and experience.

Sanchez has developed a reputation for impatience and great cardio, but don’t let Penn’s pudginess mislead you. The defending champ can go 10 rounds if needed, and he has somehow acquired a passion for training and discipline. He has the edge skills-wise and in athleticism, but Sanchez has a bit of youth on his side.

Betting odds have it -300 for Penn and +220 for Sanchez.

Penn many have a 5 on his L list, Sanchez just a 2. Sanchez, who is younger than Penn, actually has five more fights than Penn, but Penn has fought better fighters in his career, some he has beaten: Matt Hughes, Caol Uno, Takanori Gomi, Renzo Gracie, Jens Pulver, Sean Sherk, the latest being the late-blooming Kenny Florian.

Sanchez has had less distinguished foes, Nick Diaz, Karo Parisyan, Joe Stevenson, and Clay Guida, all who Sanchez defeated only by decision.

Knockout and submission wins are far more impressive than mere decisions. Both Penn and Sanchez may have earned reputations for fierceness (especially Sanchez who brings in a mean look into the Octagon, “a rental,” UFC color commentator Joe Rogan once said) but it is Penn who is more accomplished. Sanchez will need all his attitude and his renowned cardio plus physical skills, of course, to put up a good fight. Penn has been steamrolling the opposition in the lightweight division since his recent reign – his last four victories were either by submission or strikes. One could say that Sanchez is hungrier than Penn, having won no significant title except for the welterweight belt in King of the Cage five years ago.

To risk embarrassment, allow me a fearless forecast: Penn will win by either submission or knockout in less than five rounds, maybe the third. The only way Sanchez can triumph over Penn is to KO the latter early on or stay away from the Hawaiian for five rounds while sniping from outside with jabs and kicks. But it will be out of character for the Hispanic fighter to get on his bicycle. He has parlayed a well-nurtured reputation for aggression into a well-paying MMA career. Too late to stop now.

This is Penn’s fight to lose. On all avenues, Penn has the edge or matches close with Sanchez. Penn is one of the best pound-for-pound fighters (MMA or otherwise) in the last 10 years. He has somehow learned discipline and has gotten serious in his training and set his sights higher. He did go up in weight to take on another pound-for-pound luminary in St. Pierre.

No result is for certain in MMA, more so than in boxing or kickboxing. Penn looks to win, but watch out for Sanchez to pull a surprise.

UFC 104: The Dragon’s Soft Underbelly

2009-10-31T23:00:00.000-07:00

Machida retains light-heavyweight title in controversial decision over Rua

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida keeps his light-heavyweight belt against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua but barely. In five rounds that can either be seen as too close to call so the decision goes to the defending champion, or Dana White has set his mind to make Machida the next rock star of the UFC after Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell, so unless Rua knocks Machida out – let the slick Japanese-Brazilian keep his belt.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida according to hype (parts of which are true) is “very elusive” and virtually “invincible” that for many MMA observers, it has to take a heavyweight like Brock Lesnar or an RPG to beat him.

As it turned out, all it took was Shogun. And even that was not enough.

“Everybody was expecting him to destroy Shogun like he destroyed Rashad Evans, and he didn’t destroy him,” said Cecil Peoples, one of the three who judged the Machida-Rua fight last Sunday. “It was a close fight. So people think: (Rua) did good. If he did that good, he must have won the fight.”

Machida retained his title with a highly-controversial unanimous decision win over Rua. MMA writers and the Internet fan sites are still smoking over arguments as to whether Rua should have been declared the winner. Those who think so are armed with a plethora of arguments and a colored photo of Machida with split upper lip, cuts on the bridge of his nose, blood sprinkled on his mouth and cheeks, and redness on his left torso.

MMA forensic experts are eager to show video and photographic evidence of Machida’s supposed defeat. There’s only one problem: the cageside judges don’t agree. It’s their opinion that really matters. Fans can howl until Christmas that Rua got robbed and may even drop their contributions in the kitty to help keep Rua solvent until he gets a rematch. The rematch is justified. It was a close match, there were no knockdowns (a knockout of either fighter would have saved us of all this strife) and UFC president Dana White is of the opinion that Rua rightfully should have been declared the winner and more importantly he announced an immediate rematch.

Rua’s loss is not a complete waste. He has made a minor note in MMA history. He is the first losing fighter to move up in the rankings of a pound-for-pound-best list, tying for No.7 in Yahoo! Sports with Miguel Angel Torres, the former WEC Bantamweight champion, himself the loser in his last fight – and he got coldcocked by Brian Bowles, a notch higher above him in the same rankings.

Machida-Rua II should be a doozy. Rua has already found the antidote to the poison of Machida’s MMA-flavored karate. Likewise, Machida has realized that he is not untouchable in the cage. Rua could stick to his fruitful if unsuccessful formula, and Machida will surely tweak his strategy.

Rua did very well attacking Machida’s legs and staying away from Machida’s vaunted left straight punch and Thai-plum-knee combo. Rua was less successful in defending against Machida’s high kicks and multiple punches to the head, but Shogun more than made up for it with his aggression throughout the fight and accurate striking.

It is said that to judge a fight fairly on TV, one must turn off the audio to avoid being prejudiced by the commentators’ commentary. Joe Rogan’s shouts of “oh!” every time Shogun landed a blow on Machida, albeit not that damaging, helped sway TV viewers that Rua was really doing well. Even Mike Goldberg’s “You can just see Shogun looks in better condition, Joe,” helped make the case that Rua performed better than he really did.

Judges Peoples and Marcos Rosales gave rounds one, two and three to Machida, while Nelson “Doc” Hamilton had given rounds two, three and four to Machida. The disparity makes naysayers insist that the judges got it wrong for being unable to agree. Albeit they all gave the fight to Machida on similar scores of 48-47.

Those who disagree with the UFC 104 judges’ decision are not judges themselves. The judges were specifically chosen for their expertise, for their thorough knowledge of the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC is big and rich enough to afford professional judges to go along with professional fighters. They all do this for a living. The fighters hurt each other, while the judges see who gets the edge hurt-wise in the exchanges. The judges don’t get hurt that much unless most everybody disagree with them and accuse them of being in the hip pocket of UFC demi-god Dana White. This is not the first time that UFC judges or judges from other organizations have been accused of being manipulated by executives in rigging matches. As long as there will be fights like Machida-Rua I, the voices will not be stilled. Even then, there is no guarantee that a rematch will settle this issue once and for all, even if a knockout will show who the best light-heavyweight MMA fighter in the world is.

UFC 104: The Dragon versus Shogun

2009-10-24T05:38:00.000-07:00

Machida’s karate against Rua’s Chute Boxe; this is war

Lyoto Machida had to fight a fellow Brazilian tough guy to prove he is not a boring fighter. Machida totally dominated and knocked out Thiago Silva in the very first round of UFC 94 with punches. Both Machida and Silva were undefeated at the time. It was Machida who gave Silva his first loss in 15 fights. It was Machida’s 14th straight victory.

Tomorrow, Machida will defend his UFC light-heavyweight title for the first time. Machida took the title from another unbeaten fighter, Rashad Evans. It was Machida’s most impressive win in his MMA career. It was a display of aggressive striking against one of the hardest punchers in MMA. Evans didn’t fall without a fight. At least he tried to make a fight of it, standing longer than he had any business staying on his feet while Machida was making his head a speedball.

Another Brazilian is matched up against Machida: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, who has been inconsistent since jumping from Pride FC to the UFC after the buyout. Rua was once one of the most feared strikers in Pride, winning over such bangers as Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Alistair Overeem, and Ricardo Arona via knockout. Rua is not a bad grappler himself, submitting compatriot Renato “Babalu” Sobral by rear-naked choke, and the freakishly-strong Kevin Randleman by kneebar.

Rua can fight standing up or on the ground. But then, Machida is just as versatile, maybe even more so. Machida surprised many after he escaped from Tito Ortiz’s clamped-on triangle choke in the final round of their classic UFC 84 match, winning by unanimous decision.

Machida has been on a roll. Rua is just finding his feet. Machida is under pressure to keep his streak alive, while Rua needs to prove that he is still a force to reckon with in the 205-pound division’s top ranks. Rua also has the added pressure of proving that his win over Chuck Liddell in UFC 97 was no fluke, that he simply won over a veteran fighter who was too old and past his prime.

“It is funny and surprising to hear people say I beat an old man to get my title shot because these same people, before that fight, were saying I was going to get killed,” Rua said.

It is funny to think that Rua claims he is not under any pressure at all. “I think maybe that’s because I fight better when I am not under the pressure, and now all the pressure is off of me and on the champion,” he said.

The champion is always under some degree of pressure, but you can never say that the challenger is under less pressure. These are two warriors who make their living hurting other people in an arena. They know they can get hurt seriously or even die. Pressure is always there, no matter how cool they look or claim to be.

I wish I could say that the odds are even in this match-up. They are not. Sportsbook has it -500 for Machida and for +300 Rua. That is a rather accurate reading of this fight.

Speed:
Machida is one of the fastest strikers in MMA in any weight division. That is not to mention his strength. The good thing about Machida’s velocity is that it is not wasted on random quick strikes hoping he gets lucky. He is quick with his hands and with his feet. He only strikes with either punches or kicks when he sees an opening. While Rua is not as quick as Machida. Coming from a muay Thai background, being a Chute Boxe alumnus, Rua is more of an aggressive striker who will rush in with strong strikes with either hands or feet seeking to overwhelm his opponent. That works well with fighters who stand in front of Rua. With a smart opponent like Machida who uses a lot of feet movements for defense and attacks, Rua will have a hard time tagging him.
Advantage: Machida

Power:
You could say both are equally strong. In 15 fights, Machida has had only five knockout wins. In contrast, Rua, has a record of 15 KO wins in 21 bouts. But statistics can be deceptive. Rua’s aggression and reliance on power has earned him such a high knockout rate. Machida is a much more cautious striker. He sticks to his strategy of waiting before pouncing. But his knockout record is enviable. Of the five who suffered KO losses to Machida include such stellar names as Stephan Bonnar, Rich Franklin, Silva, and Evans, Machida’s power has been evident against such formidable opposition.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Machida has gone the distance eight times in 15 occasions, reaching the three-round limit nine times overall. He is no stranger to winning by decision. His relative youth, general good health, and splendid training would have allowed him to go two more rounds if needed be. Rua’s staying power, on the other hand, is suspect. Especially in the Mark Coleman fight, he was on the verge of gassing out against a much-older opponent, winning by KO with barely 24 seconds to go in the third and last round. That was a win for Rua, but then again, it was against another of the UFC’s legends, a veteran who had seen better days in the Octagon. Respect for Rua was still not quite unanimous.
Advantage: Machida

Guile:
Hands down, the edge goes to Machida. He is the least-hit fighter in UFC history if not all of MMA. His hybrid karate style, with lots of sidesteps, forward and backward motions that depend on an opponent’s movements have proven so confusing that his foes get frustrated, throwing caution to the wind, abandon their strategy and rush him just to land a blow or try to take him down. But Machida’s arsenal includes a black belt in Brazilian Jiujitsu, a background in both sumo and muay Thai. He is an extremely well-rounded martial artist. But that hasn’t made him overconfident. He will stick to his strategy of waiting out opponents, only committing to strike if he sees a reason to, decreasing the risk of being countered. You try to take down Machida and he will quickly step back, step to the side, or slide in to evade or throw a straight punch, a kick to the head or body, or even a knee (remember the strike to the abdomen that felled Ortiz?). Avoiding being hit while hitting one’s foe in the cage or ring is a very safe (some say boring) methodology. Machida has mastered this technique. You could say that Rua is the almost complete opposite. From Pride to UFC, Rua has fundamentally maintained an attacking style per the Chute Boxe school of fighting. Rua earned the nasty reputation of savaging downed opponents with stomps and diving punches. His foe might lie on the ground on his back, defending with up-kicks and kicks to the legs, but Rua will simply allow his foe to commit and miss then get back at him with a kick of his own or a strike with his fists or elbows. It is highly improbable that Rua will get Machida in this position.
Advantage: Machida

If the last two KO wins by Machida are a measure of how he will fight Rua, UFC 104’s light-heavyweight bout will not last five rounds. Or Machida will revert to his usual ways and stay safe from a distance, sniping at Rua, stretching the match to its full period, and try to eke out a decision. But is seems The Dragon has tasted blood and he likes the taste of copper on tongue. Fight fans hope that Shogun will accommodate The Dragon and it will be a fight to the death – so to speak. May the best man win, and may they still have their complete faculties after the fight is done.

Let’s get it on, indeed.

Quinton goes on a rampage…quits

2009-09-23T14:16:00.000-07:00

Jackson leaves MMA for the movies

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is not the first UFC fighter who smacked down on the organization. Years ago, Jens “Little Evil” Pulver slammed the UFC for not taking into account his loyalty to the organization despite fighting for it exclusively even though he had offers from other MMA groups. Pulver claimed that the highest amount he ever got paid by the UFC was $60,000; and to think that he was once the lightweight champion. In today’s UFC, that amount is a mere bonus for Fight of the Night.

The UFC could justifiably claim to be the savior of mixed martial arts. If Dana White had not convinced the Fertitta brothers to sink millions into buying out the UFC from SEG and developing the organization by taking it to Las Vegas and producing The Ultimate Fighter reality show, MMA would have stayed at best a fringe sport.

MMA fans and investors recognize White and the Fertitta brothers’ role in putting MMA on the international sports map, but the hubris that White has maintained – unfairly criticizing competitors and talking his butt off like he’s the god of the sport – has gained him as much vitriol as credit.

Jackson’s diatribical statement in his official website has blown the lid off White’s hairless pate. Not many have dared talk back to the great White trash talker.

Roger Huerta, another UFC contracted fighter who decided to give the movies a stab, is another victim of White’s machinations. After refusing to extend his contract with the UFC, it is widely believed that Huerta was set up to fight the formidable Gray Maynard. The fact that Huerta lost to Maynard is all the proof some suspicious minds need to confirm their theory that the UFC simply needed to send Huerta out of the organization on a losing note. A risky strategy but if it worked out it would be brilliant. Incidentally, Huerta has also branched out into the movies. He is said to play Matador in the movie version of the video game Tekken.

The loss of Jackson will impact not just the big daddy of MMA federations, but the sport as a whole. Despite or because of his loquacious ways, Jackson was one of the sports best envoys. His amusing patter even though sprinkled with plenty of profanity, was and still makes for good PR. It didn’t harm that Jackson was as strong as two welterweights put together and had the courage of Royce Gracie on steroids. Oops! Bad example. Strength and courage are Jackson’s strong suits.

So, it was ridiculous for White to order the Big Black Rampage to feign intimidation of Machida. The great Brazilian karate expert might be too fast and crafty for Rampage, but you never know what will happen once Jackson has Machida in his grasp. The fight against Evans would have been explosive. Like two silverbacks vying for the amorous attention of a simian supermodel, Jackson and Evans would have torn each other into shreds in the Octagon like two King Kongs in the African jungle. They hated each other, and still do.

White responded to Jackson’s move in atypical manner – he wishes him happy trails instead of mocking him. “He’s acting like a baby,” White said. “He’s acting like a baby right now but he’s a grown man. He wants to be in the movie business? Rampage, good luck to you, man. I hope you make it big — and I’m not being sarcastic because Rampage Jackson is a guy that I do like. But Rampage Jackson is a guy that doesn’t always make the best decisions.”

That doesn’t sound so bad does it? By saying this and if he stands by it without adding anything to put his foot in his big mouth, White will come out smelling like freshly-washed jockstraps.

Jackson does not deny the good things the UFC has done to his MMA career. “The UFC has done a lot for me, but I think I have done more for them,” Jackson admitted. But if he is really leaving MMA for the movies for whatever reason (Rampage as B.A. Baracus in the The A-Team movie is good casting), it’s his decision. If he later on changes his mind, finding Hollywood or independent cinema just as troublesome and painful as MMA, he should find a promoter willing to take him in and arrange for him to fight again.

Randy Couture versus Father Time

2009-08-30T00:28:00.000-07:00

If you care for Randy Couture as a person more than as a fighter, you would probably want him to retire from fighting – from mixed martial arts, from wrestling, from boxing, from mere training for a pro fight. Not many 46-year-olds of the earth’s six billion-plus people can do what Couture can (and make hundreds of thousands in the process). But in today’s three-round tussle against ex-Pride heavyweight king and UFC interim champ Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro,” Couture showed more proof (after the KO loss to Brock Lesnar) that he should just be content to watch UFC bouts ringside instead of being the one watched inside the cage.

The people usually get it right when predicting the outcome of matches, with 77% picking Couture over Nogueira in an online poll. But Nog had other plans, like taking the fight into the ground whenever he could to go for a submission.

Entering the ring with, appropriately enough, the Rolling Stones’ chestnut Gimme Shelter, Nog with his posse in tow including his twin brother Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” and middleweight king Anderson Silva (making the sign of the cross while Nog was being frisked standing on the Harley Davidson logo before entering the Octagon), Minotauro looks relaxed and ready to rumble.

Couture, wearing an Everlast baseball cap, walks towards the Octagon with his entrance music (a rather obscure tune, since I didn’t recognize it). It would have been perfect if Couture, as opposed to Nog’s Stones song, would have made his entrance to the music of the Beatles' Helter Skelter or Revolution 1 (Couture did revolutionize MMA fighting to a certain degree).

Eleven pounds lighter, an inch shorter, and with four inches of shorter reach, Couture looks smaller than Nog, but he has been here before facing bigger opponents.

Round 1

They keep the fight on their feet in the first minute and 10 seconds, going to the ground only briefly as Couture stands right back up. Nogueira knocks down Couture in 3:01 with punches. Nog goes for an arm-triangle choke, holding it for at least 10 secs, but Captain America amazingly escapes. Couture lands a left uppercut and a right straight. With less than a minute left in the round, they tangle as Couture gets Nog’s back to the fence and they stay there practically doing nothing until the horn sounds to end the round.

In Free-For-All’s card it’s Nogueira 10, Couture 9.

Round 2

At 4:30, Nog catches Couture in a guillotine but Couture struggles loose. Couture takes down Nogueira and finds himself in Nog’s guard. In a wonderfully-executed move, Nog rolls and reverses as Couture defends with a half-guard. Nog gets Couture in a left arm triangle, pulls his left leg for full mount, and punches Couture on the head and ribs. This time, it’s Couture’s turn to perform a great escape as he slips out of the triangle. Couture gets back on his feet as they throw punches at each other, Nog being more accurate. Couture lands two left hooks,
Nog retaliates with a right leg kick before the horn sounds.

Nogueira 10, Couture 9

Round 3

Nog lands good shots on Couture’s head. At 4:25, Nog knocks down Couture again (this time with a beautiful right semi-uppercut) and rains down blows while in Couture’s half-guard. Nogueira pushes Couture to the fence, controlling The Natural with his right arm while striking with his left hand. The referee lets them stay there for some time. At 2:28, Couture gets his right leg on Nog’s shoulder and tries to pull out, but Nog gets Couture’s back and looks to hook
in a choke. Couture tries to pull out from under Nog who is on his back too high unable to do a choke. Couture eventually escapes and reverses, is now on the full guard of Nogueira with a little over a minute left. Nog holds on tight to the back of Couture’s neck. In the last two seconds Nog reverses and mounts Couture but the horn sounds to end the match.

Nogueira 10, Couture 9.

Couture applauds. He could be expressing his approval to both Nog’s performance and his own. They both do deserve to be commend for duking it out unreservedly, going out to win instead of not losing. Nogueira just was too good for Couture today. But lest he entertains notions of challenging Brock Lesnar for the belt, he should not. Couture and Mir tried but were proved wanting. Lesnar needs a challenger who is striker who hits as hard as him and is just as physically imposing. Grapplers are just not good enough to beat Brock.

Surprisingly, one judge scored it 29-28 for Couture, while two had it 30-27 for Nogueira.

UFC 102: Mirror Mirror On The Mat

2009-08-28T09:49:00.000-07:00

People get older faster in mixed martial arts than in golf. Even if you have 46-year-old Randy Couture, a former two-division champion, and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, 33, a former Pride FC heavyweight champ duking it out on Sunday, these two with their 79 years put together are mere tots compared to the geezers in golf’s Seniors tours.

“Captain America” Couture is not only still healthy, he is ageless, immortal. He will be around for Christ’s Second Coming, if he has his way. The comicbook Captain America may be dead but this Captain America can still stop attacks on his person without the aid of an
adamantium-vibranium shield. Nogueira, on the other hand, is almost as indestructible. Run over by a truck at age 11 in Brazil, he spent 11 months in the hospital for an operation and convalescence and ultimately became one of the toughest light-heavyweight/heavyweight MMA warriors on the planet.

Sunday’s UFC 102 main event of Couture versus Nogueira is a sort of battle of the ages, with the Octagon smelling of liniment and smelling salts. There is little concern that any or both will undergo cardiac arrest. What every MMA fan is looking forward to is slam-bang technical action from these two veterans. Couture (16-9) is a great wrestler who has developed decent standup striking (“dirty boxing”) skills, while Nogueira (31-5-1) is a splendid Brazilian Jiujitsuka with fantastic submission moves coupled by just as decent striking abilities. They are almost mirror images of themselves stylistically and physically. Couture at 6-feet-2 inches and Nogueira at 6-3 are giants of the MMA game. Aging giants but still imposing. Their three-round tussle should be a doozy.

Let’s see how they match up.

Speed:
Neither Couture nor Nogueira is Speedy Gonzalez. None of them will overwhelm their opponents or each other by being seen as blurs. They are more of the wear-you-down types. Couture with his excellent wrestling and dirty boxing, Nogueira with his out-of-this-world jiujitsu and decent boxing. In a sense, they are mirror selves, reflecting on each other their speed or lack of it.
Advantage: Even

Power:
One would think that Couture with his bulkier look would be stronger. He had no problems taking down the likes of Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell, and Tim Sylvia. If he gets his paws on Nogueira, Minotauro will go down. But then, that’s exactly where Nog wants Couture to be – in his world. A BJJ black belt of Nog’s caliber should have in his arsenal a strong takedown or slam. Likewise, if Nog gets the edge position-wise, he should be able to take Couture down to the ground quickly.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Couture’s work ethic and conditioning are legendary. He wouldn’t have made it this far in time and stay competitive if he didn’t keep himself constantly in fighting trim. You could probably give him a week’s notice to fight any of the top 10 heavyweights in the world and he wouldn’t bat an eye agreeing. Nog, on the other hand, looks road-torn and weather-beaten more than Couture. They have both been in battles to cripple lesser fighters. It is a testament to their strong stock and discipline that they are still around fighting. But let is give the edge to Couture in this category, just a little.
Advantage: Couture

Smarts:
Couture was a world-class Greco-Roman wrestler before he made the switch to the much more demanding MMA field. He transformed himself from a man used to taking the fight to the ground to being able to stay on his feet striking with his fists. He is not exactly a well-rounded fighter (did you ever see Couture knock out an opponent with a kick?) but his three quarters of warrior skills is better than most fighters’ all-around game. Like Madonna, Couture reinvented himself and still surprises many. And he is not known as "The Natural" for nothing. While Nogueira, being a native Brazilian, trained himself (at least by being aware mentally) to fight in all categories. He focused on judo as a child, and added boxing to his repertoire, before concentrating in Brazilian Jiujitsu. He eventually earned black belts in judo and BJJ at 23. Nog knew how to fight and knew how to fight in many modes. This widened his martial horizons early on. Couture didn’t see the necessity to train in other avenues of fighting until his 30s. But considering the results for both fighters, Couture has overachieved – hence smarter.
Advantage: Couture

Winning two out of four categories on paper, Couture is set to win their fight. But as we don’t tire of saying: in MMA, on paper is not worth the spit it is written on.

Other bouts of note, for Filipino fans at least, are the Brandon Vera-
Krzysztof Soszynski light-heavy and Mark Muñoz-Nick Catone middleweight match-ups. Vera and Muñoz are both Filipino-Americans, both are trying to pick up speed after experiencing road bumps. Should they lose tomorrow, the UFC won’t have much reason to look beyond their present contracts. It is drop-your-opponents or your contract gets dropped.

In Soszynski, Vera will have not only a heavy-handed striker but also a ground fighter adept at submissions. Vera is a wrestler with modest skills and outstanding kickboxing talent. He will have to avoid being grabbed or taken to the ground. A clinch will be like a kiss of death to Vera. Keeping the fight a stand-up tussle will be to Vera’s advantage despite Soszynski’s power. Vera is quicker and more mobile. He can pick Soszynski apart as long as he doesn’t get tagged early on by one of the latter’s KO punches. Vera will have a very dangerous time figuring out Soszynski.

Muñoz (5-1) is a former NCAA Division I national champion wrestler. Catone (7-1) is not as accomplished as Muñoz in his college wrestling career, but he had achieved in the national level. Muñoz, with the moniker “The Philippine Wrecking Machine,” is a strong puncher – if he hits his foe. In his UFC 96, Muñoz earned his title in a reverse manner, by being wrecked by Matt Hamill with a head kick in the first round for a KO loss – the first of his pro MMA career. Muñoz dropped down 20 pounds for tomorrow’s fight. We will find out if it’s the right thing to do. Muñoz has three TKO victories, same as Catone, in keeping with the doppelganger theme of UFC 102. But Catone has more balanced skills judging by his three submission wins. On this we can conjecture that the only way for Muñoz to win is by making sure that he stays on his feet.

UFC 100: A Centennial of Striking, Grappling, and Grounding and Pounding

2009-07-11T10:44:00.000-07:00

Dan Henderson over Michael Bisping, Georges St. Pierre over Thiago Alves, and Frank Mir over Brock Lesnar.

It’s a wish list not prophecy.

Only the divinely-inspired are infallible but that won’t stop anyone from predicting the outcome of anything. The hype leading to the Ultimate Fighting Championship has been as relentless as Wanderlei Silva stalking Kazushi Sakuraba and as Dana White insisting that Anderson Silva is the world’s pound-for-pound best MMA fighter. There have been press conferences, a weigh-in, a top 100 UFC fights series, match-up predictions – lots of MMA on the buffet table – that you just get the urge to come up with your own crystal-ball gazing.

Free-For-All’s 10 cents’ worth comes from a fan’s perspective more than from a fight analyst’s point of view.

I am biased towards Henderson for his pug and pit-bull approach to fighting. He will try to knock you out as quickly as he can. If he has to use his formidable wrestling skills to do it, he will. But Henderson relies more on his striking than his wrestling, no doubt about that.

I also like St. Pierre’s workmanlike attitude and careful strategic preparation for a fight. He will study his opponent and set a plan on how to devastate his foe. His athletic abilities would not matter if his mental approach to the fight game were not at par.

I am a sucker for underdog. Mir is smaller and less powerful than Lesnar. More people believe Mir will lose to Lesnar. Mir was gone from MMA for about a year and a half after breaking his knee in a motorcycle accident. He fought again but lost two of his first three comeback fights. He did not quit and won all of his next three fights including a kneebar submission victory over Lesnar and a stunning win by strikes over legendary Brazilian jiujitsu black belt Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

Mir’s rise from the ashes of his terrible accident and discouraging early comeback defeats is inspirational. He was known for his world-class grappling and submissions but has added a standup game to his arsenal.

After the bells and whistles, Free-For-All’s look into the future less than 12 hours from now:
Henderson will win via knockout in Round 2; GSP by submission in three; and Mir by submission in two.

Don’t bet on it.

UFC 98: Enter The Dragon Machida

2009-05-24T13:26:00.000-07:00

Lyoto Machida overwhelms Rashad Evans

In one of the most stunning and exciting outcomes in UFC history, the light-heavyweight belt changed hands in just two rounds of a masterful display by the challenger. It wasn’t exactly unexpected as the online voting had something like 63% of the fans of the opinion that Machida would win it against 37% for Evans.

Round 1 seemed to confirm people’s belief as in the last minute Machida kicked Evans to the right side of the body and followed up with a straight left punch to the face, knocking down the defending champion. Evans did get up and survived the first round.

Besides Machida’s left kick to the body of Evans at 2:00, practically nothing happened in the first three minutes, as both fighters were still probing, waiting for each other to make the first significant attack and counter – which is a big part of both fighters’ styles.

At 3:03, Machida struck with a left roundhouse kick to the head of Evans, then Evans came back but missed with left overhand right.
At 1:21, Machida let go of a quick left straight punch and right straight that didn’t do any damage.

Round 1 obviously went Machida’s way.

In Round 2, both fighters again took some time to warm up. In 3:30, there was an exchange of punches but not many landed. At 2:22, Machida missed with a right frontal kick to the body. At 2:13, a left roundhouse kick to the body by Evans missed. But then, with 1:28 left in the fateful round, a hook to the jaw of Evans started it all. Evans crumpled. Machida got side mount and let go of several right straights to the head of Evans. Evans struggled to get back on his feet and got as far as the Octagon fence where Machida kept abusing him with punches to the head. A right hook to the jaw and a left to the other side knocked Evans senseless, falling on his back like a limp rag doll.

If Evans had not fallen properly, there would have been a repeat of the terrible accident that broke Mirko Filipovic’s ankle in UFC 70 when he fell after receiving a right roundhouse kick to the head by Gabriel Gonzaga.

The Lyoto Machida legend has been cemented. He had earned the reputation of being the most elusive fighter ever in mixed martial arts. Translation: Hard to hit. Very hard to hit. He has a knack of dealing so much pain while remaining unscathed. Ironically, that also earned him a lot of skeptics and naysayers had a field day sniping at him. They accused him of being afraid to engage in an offensive attack. Until yesterday, that is.

Well, Machida’s destruction of Thiago Silva (in one round) and Evans (in two) in succession should cancel out that criticism. Elusiveness equals good defense. And it makes a lot of sense. Why should you get hit in the process of hitting someone? MMA is not Christian charity. It is a black eye for a black eye, a broken tooth for a broken tooth. But if you can avoid getting hurt while beating up on someone, why not take that blessing?

Machida is a very quick and powerful striker. His martial-art base being karate, he is a natural striker. Add to his arsenal a black belt in Brazilian jiujitsu, sumo and muay Thai training, and maybe also in other arts, make him one well-rounded mugger.

Indeed, and if he stays elusive as an eel with the sting of a stingray, it will be sometime before he gives up the UFC lightheavyweight championship belt.

Petruzelli's Turn At 15 Minutes Of Infamy

2008-10-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

After Kimbo Sliced Off In 14 seconds

Four million three hundred thousand TV viewers saw Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson humiliated in 14 seconds. Talk about 15 minutes of fame and all that transitory glory certain individuals enjoy or suffer from. Mr. Slice had his temporal anomaly, his chance at disproving naysayers and he blew it. But not before cashing in on whatever amount of fame and glory that was available to him...and poor cash-strapped EliteXC. Slice reportedly got $500,000 for his troubles, $200,000 more than what Fedor Emelianenko supposedly got for battering Tim Sylvia in the more credible newbie promotion Affliction MMA's Affliction: Banned heavyweight championship bout.

OK, a bit of recent history. Ken Shamrock, once tagged as the World's Most Dangerous Man, was another in a series of tomato cans thrown Slice's way to add to the illusion of his being one of the, if not the, toughest banger out there. Shamrock, is not exactly a worthy opponent to who is supposedly the meanest mother in existence. Shamrock is a mixed martial arts pioneer who helped make the Ultimate Fighting Championship what is today the most lucrative MMA organization in the world with reported assets of at least a billion dollars. But having lost all of his last four fights since April 9, 2005, Shamrock at 44, is no spring chicken with everything to gain and nothing to lose in the MMA arena. But, yes, Shamrock had a lot to profit from with a win over Slice. But it wasn't meant to be, as Shamrock was deemed unfit by Florida state fight officials to go up against Slice as Shamrock suffered a cut on his eye during training. His adoptive brother, Frank Shamrock, a former UFC champion who is part of the EliteXC commentators pool, said that he was offered and agreed to take his brother's place but EXC brass realized that Frank was too dangerous an opponent. EXC said that Florida state fight officials did not clear Frank to fight. Frank said it was EXC promoters who blocked the proposal.

Whatever the truth of the matter, what is true is that the honor of exposing Slice as purely a product of Internet (particularly YouTube.com) hype went to Seth Petruzelli, a cast member of The Ultimate Fighter 2 who was dropped by the UFC after losing to Wilson Gouveia in 39 seconds of Round 2 by submission via guillotine choke in Fight Night 9 on April 5, 2007.

PINK SPOTS AND STREAKS. As the bell for Round 1 rang, Slice, pumped up by three wins in his short MMA career and at the sight from across the cage of a white boy with bright pink spots and a streak on his hair, rushed to his doom. A weak left jab by Slice at nothing was met by Seth (much easier to type and spell and it alliterates with Kimbo's faux last name) with a right-hand parry and right push-kick and a short right mestiza jab/overhand that missed, even as Seth backed off while maintaining balance. Slice kept on charging, letting go of a right straight that got nowhere. Seth kept him at a distance with another right push kick and the short right jab that landed on the face of Slice, felling him. With Slice down on all fours, Seth hit him on the back of the head with hammer fist.

Probably realizing he just did an illegal blow, Seth's next strike was on the right side of Slice's head. Hitting Slice on the shoulder with the next two punches, Seth kept on delivering power punches that made Slice turn and roll on his back, maybe seeking to get Seth in his guard, but Seth was relentlessly striking, forcing referee Troy Waugh to step in between the two fighters, pushing Seth away as a dazed Slice grabbed Waugh's left leg, thinking it was Seth's.

It was all right hands. Seth could have fought Slice with his left hand tied behind his back and still knock him out. He was that dominating and he deserved to celebrate like he had just sank a last-second 3-pointer to edge out the other team by a single point in the last game of a best-of-seven basketball championship game, or hit a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth.

No, Seth Petruzelli (no e) did not make like Ralph Macchio (no a) in Karate Kid with a crane stance after referee Troy Waugh stopped the punishment. Seth merely threw away his mouth guard and threw his arms up in celebration as he ran around the cage while Kimbo, half out of his mind, grappled with the referee. And, yes, one of the guys in the commentary booth was right to dig up a Rocky analogy. Seth Petruzelli was indeed Rocky-like in earning a win over the Apollo Creed-like Kimbo Slice. Not many expected white-boy Seth to pound out black-dude Slice. To distinguish MMA Seth from the Hollywood Rocky, it didn't take Petruzelli 15 minutes of pounding and a bucketful of blood to have the crowd rise to its feet and roar in unison. Fourteen frigging seconds...That's all it took. Even the fading power kicker and puncher Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic might have needed 30 seconds to take out Slice.

EXCITING COMMENTARY. If the outcome of the match didn't excite you enough, the fight commentary might have:

“And it's about to get serious. Slice quickly across...the fight is over...”

“Slice goes down. Slice in trouble. Oh, my goodness. Slice gets pounded out and they stopped it. Rocky, Rocky is here! Seth Petruzelli shocks the world!...Kimbo Slice is shooting on the referee. He is trying to get the referee down...The most incredible victory in the history of mixed martial arts. Seth Petruzelli!!!...It can happen! Believe!...This is what mixed martial arts is all about. If you have a dream. If you're willing to step into a cage and fight for your life, you!, can be anything you want...Kimbo Slice battered, bruised, bloodied...Seth Petruzelli, a young man from Fort Myers, Florida. His nickname is The Silverback. He came here tonight, found out that he would be the main event. And he has shocked the entire world of mixed martial arts!”

Well, shocked is not exactly the word for it. Try, amused. The casual fight fan, brainwashed by EliteXC and CBS' hype machine on the awesomeness of Slice would be stunned immobile on his/her feet or seat at the sight of the largely unknown Petruzelli taking out Slice in less than 20 seconds of the very first round. Who wouldn't, if you had figured out Slice to be the best thing in the fight game since Mike Tyson? Thirty pounds heavier, two inches taller, and with a reach four inches longer, the then undefeated Slice (now 3-1, 2 KOs, 1 submission), on paper, looked like an overmatch for Seth (now 11-4, 9 KOs, 1 submission).

Anyone skeptical of Petruzelli's KO win over Slice should be allayed that the former can really hit and hit hard. His MMA win-loss record is rather middling, unimpressive from a Western boxing fan's perspective. But in MMA, a winning record like 11-4 is a badge of honor and respect. Considering that Petruzelli's nine wins before the Slice fight included eight victories by KO and a lone submission, while his four losses were by way of three submissions and a decision, Petruzelli is a decent MMA fighter.

TRADITIONAL. Like traditional karatekas Lyoto Machida (Shotokan) who looks so cool in the Octagon he makes cool hot, and Georges St. Pierre (Kyokushinkai), Petruzelli (Shito-Ryu) didn't get stuck in his traditional base and explored other avenues of martial arts. Machida has done sumo and Brazilian Jiujitsu, St. Pierre wrestling, Petruzelli kickboxing, all of them are mixed martial artists.

Now, the bad news. In an interview, Seth Petruzelli claimed that EliteXC offered him money to stand up and trade punches with Kimbo Slice; meaning, if Seth had any plans of going to the ground to cancel out Slice's assumed advantage on strikes standing up, he better give up that notion for an x amount of cash. As it turned out, Seth did say that he planned to shoot or take down Slice.

On The Monsters in Orlando radio show, Seth said: “The promoters kind of hinted to me, and they gave me the money to stand and trade with him. They didn’t want me to take him down, let’s just put it that way. It was worth my while to try to stand up and punch with him.”

That is exactly the kind of dubiousness that EliteXC and mixed martial arts in general do not need. Growing by leaps and bounds after the novelty early years of the UFC in the 1990s, MMA has gained fight fans' interest, if not loyalty, for its brutal mystique and general reputation for reality, as opposed to the fantasy of the WWE nee WWF, the UFC of professional wrestling.

Critics (read: boxing purists and loyalists) are waiting on the wings to descend on every perceived weakness and fakeness of MMA. Slice-Seth I was hardly rigged: neither did Slice take a dive nor did Seth put a horseshoe in his glove, but that kind of talk plants the seed of distrust in the minds of fight fans.

Petruzelli did explain himself right after, saying that he didn't mean to say what people heard on the The Monsters in Orlando. He told yahoo.com MMA writer Dan Wetzel in a phone interview: “What that meant was they offer a Knockout bonus, Submission bonuses, Fight of the Night bonuses. I think it just got misconstrued.

“I wanted to have an exciting fight and I wanted the Knockout bonus, so I wanted to keep it standing...They just said, ‘We want to see an exciting fight no matter what happens.’ I took it as I wanted the Knockout bonus.”

This suspiciously sounds like backtracking and spin control by a professional fighter pressured by management to turn bull shit into chocolate cake.

This is bad news for MMA. But, if bad publicity is good, this is the kind of bad that is very good for MMA. Bad seed can grow into a twisted tree that bears edible sour fruit. Tamarind* anyone?

* Tamarindus indica (from the Arabic: تمر هندي tamar hindi = Indian date) is in the family Fabaceae.

UFC 88: Breakjaw

2008-09-09T22:33:00.000-07:00

Breakthrough for Rashad Evans; maybe Chuck Liddell's career is through

Polled by sherdog.com on UFC 88: Breakthrough's main-event match of Chuck Liddell vs. Rashad Evans, MMA pros Randy Couture and Jaime Fletcher proved to be the most prescient. Couture said pre-fight: “Tough one to pick! Can make a case for either guy, but in my mind, it depends on Evans. We know what Chuck is gonna try to do. Can Evans pull the trigger and push himself and Chuck? That’s the question.” While Fletcher had this to say: “Liddell by KO. Rashad is a good fighter, but Chuck takes chances, is hard to take down and looping punches from weird angles are hard to deal with.”

Both were non-committal but came closest to making good predictions. Could Evans pull the trigger and push himself and Chuck? Yes, Evans did pull the trigger and push himself and The Iceman. And what result did this create? Fletcher provides the rest of the answer: Chuck takes chances, is hard to take down and looping punches from weird angles are hard to deal with. Only that it was Evans' looping punches from weird angles that were hard to deal with, giving Liddell possibly the most devastating knockout he ever suffered.

Ironically, or prophetically, Liddell had his two-cents' worth: “I don’t tend to take any shots, so he won’t have to show his takedown defense with me. I am planning on striking. We’ll see how he responds.”

And boy, did Evans, respond.

Evans jabbed, missed, jabbed and missed again. Liddell's jab missed too and almost simultaneously both fighters loaded – Evans with a looping right hand and Liddell with a right uppercut. Evans' punch landed, Liddell's didn't. With full force and his stance perfect for a strong strike, Evans hammered Liddell on the left jaw. The slow-motion replay shows Liddell's head bearing the brunt of what might as well have been a rock on a fist. Liddell fell backward unconscious. Any more strikes after that would have been overkill.

Evans tried that particular punch a few times before striking the motherload and mother of all knockouts – the kind where the victim is asleep even before hitting the deck without a pillow and a good-night lullabye. Evans faked with a short left jab and quickly followed with that arcing right bolo punch which found its mark on Liddell's jaw.

“Age won’t be a factor in this fight. I feel sharp and I’m ready for Rashad.” Liddell was right on the first one, he indeed looked fit and moved well for a 38-year-old, sadly for him, he was wrong on his second statement. He was sharp but he wasn't ready for that looping right by Evans. Call it a lucky shot, call it carelessness but luck had nothing to do with it. Evans obviously practiced that shot knowing Liddell is a sucker for a quick strong strike. It helped that Evans had Keith Jardine, who knocked down Liddell 12 UFCs ago, giving him tips on how to deal with The Iceman. It helped that Greg Jackson trained Evans. It helped that Liddell is 10 years older than Evans and has taken a lot more damage in a decade of fighting in the UFC.

Good punch. Liddell always had a problem with standing up to a good punch. When Quinton “Rampage” Jackson kayoed him in UFC 71, Rampage's right hook didn't look much but it knocked down The Iceman and eventually he was knocked out with a few more shots on the ground. Rampage's strike is nothing compared to the one-punch bomb that Evans almost decapitated Liddell with.

Yes, maybe encroaching middle age and all those knocks on the head in mixed martial arts have something to do with it. That is not to count the time Liddell spent fighting as a kickboxer.

The main co-event of the night was the Rich Franklin-Matt Mitchell encounter. It didn't have the fireworks of Liddell-Evans but it had its moments. Strangely, some will remember this fight not for the rare kidney shot that took down Mitchell in Round 3, but for the hearing-impaired (this politically-correct thing can be difficult) Mitchell looking at his cornermen asking for instructions with Franklin just a few feet away ready to pounce on him. Ironically, Franklin won but he looked like he lost with that huge cut under his right eyebrow.

This is one of those fights where you start rooting for one fighter but gradually is impressed by the other fighter and end up wishing no one gets hurt. If only a draw could be had for all fights like this.

This fight is a breath of fresh air especially with the memory of the bad aftertaste of Mitchell's bout with Michael Bisping in UFC 75, the calling out in the traditional media and in the Internet. This time, Mitchell let his fists do the fighting for him, not his mouth and his manual sign-language skills. After he lost, there was no rancor evident, Mitchell took it like the man that he really is, while Franklin, gentlemanly and a sport that he has always been, consoled his former training partner and said: “Thanks to God I don't have any serious injuries, and thanks to God my opponent doesn't have any serious injuries.”

I am not sure, though, if God approves of two grown men fighting for the entertainment (and edification) of thousands of people live in the arena and millions more on TV, while adding to the hundreds of millions in the bank accounts of Dana White and the Fertita brothers.

Anyway...we love MMA. Call it a sport, call it sports entertainment like its distant cousin professional wrestling, but one thing millions of God's creatures in hundreds of countries will agree on – this is one fragging bloody affair we don't tire watching month after month if White and the F Bros. had their way. And watch out for Affliction 2! Dang! Randy Couture is back in the UFC! Looks like there won't be a Fedor-Couture I at least until the year ends. The
Emelianenko will have to content himself with fighting lesser lights in his chosen organization and for lesser money, we think.

Hollywood Dangerous. Oh, before we forget, another of MMA's greatest fighters ever – Dan Henderson – call him Dangerous or Hollywood but one thing's for sure, he will deliver win or lose. He lost both his Pride welterweight and middleweight belts after he made the jump back to the UFC after it bought out Pride FC, but judging by the way Henderson fought a very game but less experienced, less-gifted (meaning, he doesn't have the striking ability of Henderson) and shorter by five inches, Rousimar Palhares, Henderson still has a lot of fight left in him.

The Brazilian jiujitsu black-belt Palhares was surprisingly adept with his striking especially with his kicks (marvel at those wheel kicks!) but he was simply outsized (outreached?) by Henderson, who landed the more solid blows while escaping from Palhares' submission attempts. Henderson deserved the Unanimous Decision victory. Palhares may have lost but he proved he deserves to be in the big leagues by lasting three rounds with a future hall of famer.

Other results:
Nate Marquardt over Martin Kampmann by TKO in 1:22 of Round 1. Marquardt overpowered the muay Thai specialist from Sweden with a surprise roundhouse to the side of the head followed up with punches to the head and body, a knee to the head. All Kampmann could do was cover up and wait to be knocked out or for the referee to put a stop to his suffering. The Referee Stoppage came first.

Dong Hyung Kim over Matt Brown, Split Decision in 3 rounds. This one was an injustice. Except for a late takedown in the 3rd round by Kim, Brown dominated the fight. An SD is always controversial. “I don't fight for the judges, I fight for a submission and the fans,” Brown took a shot at the men on the table. Kim had his say too: “I will be different next time.” This was a translation, so maybe he meant something else, because if he means he will win decisively next time, we sure hope so.

Tim Boetsch over Michael Platt, TKO 2:03 R1. Boetsch misses with a left hook to the head but his right straight/overhand lands squarely on Platt's chin. Platt falls on his back, Boetsch follows up with more strikes. Referee Herb Dean steps in to stop the punishment.

“I would like to thank God, without Him none of this is possible,” Boetsch said. A brawler after my own heart, someone who flashes the website nosubmit.com (Jesus Didn't Tap).

Kurt Pellegrino over Thiago Tavares, UD. Tavares almost gets armbarred but improbably escapes the hold of Pellegrino. Pellegrino though gets all the judges' nod.

Jason “The Athlete” Macdonald over Jason Lambert, Submission Rear-naked choke R2 1:20. Both very good grapplers with Macdonald with the edge on striking but he wins this with a real tight rear-naked choke. The Athlete was in Lambert's guillotine choke twice in the first round but survived with great stamina and high pain-threshold level.

De La Hoya ‘will beat’ Pacquiao

2008-09-01T02:28:00.000-07:00

God forbid – PacMan forever but Manny, please, be careful out there, the Golden Boy is one tough hombre

De La Hoya will beat Pacquiao.

That’s the biggest fear in the minds of Filipinos this year, bigger than the fear of the peso-dollar rate not reaching 50-1, bigger than the fear of a resurgent Muslim insurgency in Mindanao, bigger than the fear of killer storms and killer inter-island ships, bigger than the fear of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo somehow finding a way to run for president in 2010, or worse, Joseph “Lalo Tayong Maghihirap Erap” Estrada vying for the same seat, bigger than the fear of the oil, rice, and Iraq-Iran-Afghanistan crisis put together.

It’s only boxing but we love it. With too few things to be happy and optimistic about, at least with Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao we have reason to be hopeful. Whoever first dubbed him Pambansang Kama-o or National Fist is a genius. And whoever (everyone has this feeling it was Bob Arum) came up with the idea of pitting little Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao against “Golden Boy” Oscar De La Hoya in a big-money fight is a mercenary.

PacMan, at 5-feet-7 or thereabouts and perhaps 150 pounds when not watching his weight, taking on a decidedly taller 5-10 ½ Golden Boy who could naturally balloon to 175lbs when he downs too many tacos and doesn’t scrimp on tequila, is like a wide-eyed first-grader standing up to a polished fourth-grade bully. OK, defiance has its merits, but not when you could get beaten to a pulp. Live to fight another day is way smarter than no guts no glory.

Moving up five pounds to 135lbs to pound out a decisive TKO victory over erstwhile WBC lightweight champ David Diaz, Pacquiao was on top of the world, a celebrity in such lofty firmaments that even newly-crowned NBA champions the Boston Celtics mobbed Pacquiao for photo ops. In fighting De La Hoya, Pacquiao will add another 12lbs for their match at 147lb, the heaviest Pacquiao will be as a pro. In some (actually, many) quarters they're saying that the move is ill advised for Pacquiao.

Not many will question Pacquiao’s courage and smarts. He did show he could be a sucker to a sly businessman’s promises. And definitely no one will doubt De La Hoya’s business acumen. From being an Olympic boxing gold medalist, media monster, world boxing champion many times over, and a big-time boxing promoter, roll all of these into one and you have Oscar Gonzalez De La Hoya. That’s not to count Grammy-nominated recording star and playboy.

The nation of Mexico and the vast Mexican community in the US put De La Hoya on a pedestal, but their breadth of idolatry for Golden Boy pales in comparison to that of Filipinos' hero worship for Pacquiao. PacMan is the kind of national hero that Golden Boy will never be. PacMan bears the expectations and hopes of a whole downtrodden nation, archipelagic and abroad, that clutches at anything that resembles Filipino international achievement. Golden Boy bears the expectations of his accountants.

This fight is not about pride, it is about money. Lots of it. How much exactly is up to speculation. We have been fed figures of 65-35 sharing in favor of appropriately enough -- the Golden Boy. A disparity, perhaps, but all things considered including the current US dollar-Philippine peso exchange rate, that’s a lot of campaign funds for governor/congressman wannabe PacMan. Whatever De la Hoya wants to do with his share is up to him. We, the “once-great” (remember “this nation can be great again” quip by someone we still remember?) Filipino Malayan race is collectively concerned with our national fist. There are not many like him in supply. In fact, he is the only one we got. Boom-Boom Bautista proved to be a bust and is now reduced to fighting Mexican throwaway boxers that promoters won’t stop advertising as “world-rated” and “one of the best” this and that. AJ Banal was just as big a disappointment as Bautista, so were Rodel Mayol and Z Gorres.

PacMan doesn’t grow on trees. He is an aberration, a rebellious gene that fought neighborhood bullies or maybe was a bully himself. He knew he was good with his fists and he built his life on these. He grew up in poverty, worked for a living, learned to warm his stomach on a cup of cheap coffee and just-as-cheap pan de sal.

Pancho Villa, Gabriel “Flash” Elorde, Rolando Navarette, Luisito Espinosa, the list grows of past and present heroes who flirted with the title Greatest Filipino Boxer Of All Time. Some still vie for that honor; some have fallen on the wayside with the footnotes.

Manny Pacquiao could still prove to be the best Pinoy pug there ever was -- if he keeps on winning. If he starts losing, starting with De la Hoya, his star will dim and fall just as fast as it rose. We never tire of being told: “Boxers are only as good as their last fight.”

Here’s hoping that Pacquiao-De La Hoya I will not be the beginning of the end for our National Fistic Treasure. Go PacMan! Yes, but go with care.

P.S. We love you.
P.P.S. Win or lose we will always love you…maybe.

Was Kung-Fu Panda the Olympics mascot?

2008-08-24T11:52:00.000-07:00

2008 Beijing Summer Games a success, yes!

Fittingly enough, the only sporting event I saw in the just-concluded Summer Olympics in Beijing was the US-Spain basketball game in the elimination round -- all 5 minutes or so of the game.

I'm not sure why I ignored the games (the way it ignored me, I guess). About three years ago, when Cebu hosted several events in the Southeast Asian Games, I was still with the print media. I had a 4 by 3 inch (thereabouts) official ID with all the trimmings, signatures and photo, but I did not once use it or had someone else use it (substituted photo or not) to enter the games venues, not even the Cebu Coliseum for the pentjak silat martial arts competition.

After working for the sports section of a community newspaper for almost a decade, it seemed I reached a saturation point. Or maybe I was just bored. It was too predictable. Only two things could happen (three if you counted a draw), one contestant or team would win and another would lose.

Surely, China either made billions or lost a corresponding number of money on the games. What the heck! They were the hosts, and for almost a month, China was the focus of the world stage despite more pressing issues elsewhere in the world -- the never-ending war in Iraq and Afghanistan, the melodrama and comedy of the US presidential campaign, the MILF war in Mindanao, the price of gasoline and pirated DVDs.

So, London gets to host the next Summer Olympics. Congratulations and all the luck to you, mates! May you have fewer pseudo-terroristic events and more gold medals (Wow! Britain placed fourth overall this time with 19 golds!) May the notorious but romantic London drizzles and downpours not rain on your parade.

Bayan kong Pilipinas? Hey, why not send more than a 15-person contingent to the 2112 Games? Medal or no medal (again), what does it matter? It's how you play the game, right? Wrong! Junket anyone? That's one Filipino sport we always excel in.

P.S. John Pages, hey, partner, let's have that beer again sometime, OK?!
P.P.S. Sadly, I never got to read much of your colored-page correspondent-in-Beijing columns (no newsprint budget and laziness) but I'm sure you had lots of fun; next time we have beer (light for you, and on you :) naturally, pilsen or Red Horse for me, maybe) you could tell me some of your escapades, er, experiences (place smiley here).

UFC 87: Sought and Destroyed

2008-08-20T13:38:00.000-07:00

KenFlo’s even flow, Hard Brock’s afternoon café, GSP’s Fitch Festival

Florian was very smart and surprising. Lesnar was huge and unrelenting. St. Pierre was just being himself.

I take it back. Kenny Florian is a stud. I’ve always thought he was too soft to be successful in MMA. He wasn’t particularly tough against Roger Huerta two Sundays ago, but he used as much brain cells as muscles in carving a win in three fun (for Florian and fair-minded fight fans -- alliteration can be fun too) rounds.

Staying away most of the time from Huerta’s Superman punch and a toe-to-toe stand-up battle, Florian circled, stepped back, kept his distance from Huerta except when he struck, took down and tried to submit No Conquistador, er, El Matador (lo siento mucho, Rogelio).

In honor of Florian’s well-deserved victory over Huerta, I hereby name my new puppy KenFlo. (Wipe that smile/smirk off your mug! Or I’ll have “KenFlo” bull rush you for a quadruple leg takedown and lick your lips. She hasn’t had her shots yet.)

While Brock Lesnar was just sheer size, power, and determination against Heath Herring. Getting in the first shot attempt (a flying knee, of all things), then a right straight that landed on Herring’s chin, dropping him, Lesnar charged into Herring with what looked like a spear against a stunned horse who reverse rolled. Lesnar got caught in a left standing guillotine. He escaped and kept the fight on the ground for most of the three rounds of 15 minutes. Herring did get in licks of his own a few times, but these were few and far between, hardly fazing the hard Brock.

At 3:39 of Round 1, Herring was already bleeding below the left eye. Lesnar controlled Herring’s back with a little over two minutes left, Herring fell back to get Lesnar in his guard but Lesnar pushed him away and kneed Herring on the body, three times before the bell rang. Herring’s left eye was obviously damaged. Lesnar’s speed was amazing.

The next two rounds were almost picture-perfect copies of the opening round. It was Lesnar all the way. He fully deserved the unanimous-decision victory.

As to Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, what can you say about the cool GSP? With talk focused on Fedor Emelianenko and Anderson Silva as to who is mixed martial arts’ pound-for-pound best fighter in the world, GSP tends to get left out in the mix. Rush is as well-rounded as Fedor and Silva, maybe even more so than “Spider” Silva, and definitely at par with “The Last Emperor.” The trouble is GSP has his two losses to two former welterweight champions, the two Matts -- Hughes and Serra. But he did win in the rematches, decisively at that.

That’s similar to what GSP did to No.1 challenger Jon Fitch in UFC 87. Judging by the way GSP manhandled a game and durable Fitch, GSP has no plans of letting go of his belt, not even to Mickey-Mouse-voiced but Mighty-Mouse-muscled BJ Penn.

After Fitch had lifted GSP on his shoulders as Rush was declared the winner by an all-too obvious Unanimous Decision, Penn entered the Octagon and declared on the microphone Joe Rogan was holding: “Let’s do it! Let’s put the fight together.” Penn, looking manic as usual, spoke in a squeaky voice that sounded funny. But him and GSP in the Octagon is not funny at all. And yes, GSP-Penn would be an explosive match. Let the UFC grant Penn’s wish!

The other results:

(Middleweights)
Demian Maia over Jason McDonald (by Submission/Tapout Rear-Naked Choke in 2:24 of the 3rd Round) -- Great technical ground game with some strikes.

(Lightweights)
Robert Emerson over Manuel Gamburyan (KO R1 12 seconds) -- Emerson’s right straight overhand to Gamburyan’s chin and left hook to the head when Gamburyan was already on the ground did in the latter. Referee Yves Lavigne caught Emerson’s right hook to prevent more punishment.

(Heavyweights)
Cheick Kongo over Dan “The Viking” Evensen (TKO R1 4:55) -- Thrice Kongo got Evensen on the ground, twice ref Lavigne stood them up. Kongo hit Evensen on the chin with a right straight, knocking him down, pounded him some more before the fight was Stopped for a TKO win by Kongo.

Joe Rogan tried to interview Kongo post-fight but was brushed off with an I-am-wasting-my-time-I-am-one-¬of-the-best-fighters-in-the-world-give-me-a-title-shot!

(Lightheavyweights)
Jon Jones over Andre Gusmao (UD 3 rounds) – Jones dominated a stand-up and ground match that was marred by capoiera stylist Gusmao acting as if he got hit in his groin but the crowd disagreed and expressed its displeasure with boos. The judges seemed to agree and awarded Jones the victory after three rather uneventful rounds.

(Welterweights)
Tamdan McRory over Luke Cummo (UD 3 rounds) -- McRory had several submission attempts, while Cummo tried to strike quite successfully but not consistently enough to lose by unanimous decision.

Addendum: Looking at the UFC 87 poster, you will notice that all the fighters to the left won. Perhaps for UFC 88, managers should do everything in their power, including bribery and grave threats, to have their clients take the left spot. There’s a thin line between superstition and faith. Another reason those who subscribe to this dictum can be excommunicated by the Church.

UFC 87: Destroyer and Destroyee

2008-08-09T18:27:00.000-07:00

UFC 87: Seek And Destroy -- Who'll do the seeking, who'll do the destroying?

Aug. 10, 2008; Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota)

UFC 87 topbills Georges “Rush” St. Pierre and Jon Fitch, but might as well have Brock Lesnar and Heath Herring as the main event. The Roger Huerta-Kenny Florian tussle is not bad either.

The only reason the GSP-Fitch fight headlines is because there is a welterweight title at stake. Defending champ Rush still seems strong and fast enough to run over Fitch, and Huerta also looks to roll over Florian. The iffier scenario is that of Lesnar and Herring.

With the most-anticipated pairing that of the supporting bout, this makes UFC 87 the most highly-stacked UFC main card since UFC 84 – a mere three promotions ago. Which is not exactly in the previous century, but it’s hard to beat a promotion which has five matches in the main card that includes Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes, Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto Machida, Wilson Gouveia vs. Goran Reljic, Wanderlei Silva vs. Keith Jardine, and B.J. Penn vs. Sean Sherk.

Brock Lesnar is a giant by any standards. But this 6-foot-2 265-pound behemoth has a soft side. Just by looking at those big gray-blue eyes (they seem gray-blue on TV) one can almost see the pain and joy, defeats and victories, not limited to thousands of hours on the wrestling mat and the World Wrestling Entertainment ring and cage. Lesnar is a huge teddy bear a child could cuddle up to, but is also strong enough to smother opponents in the mixed martial arts arena.

His opponent, Herring, is no slouch in the fighting department. Nicknamed “The Texas Crazy Horse” in Pride FC, Herring holds a 28-13-0 fight record and an enviable roster of past opponents, including: Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera, Fedor “The Last Emperor” Emelianenko, Mirko “CroCop” Filipovic, and Vitor Belfort. To all whom he lost, by the way (thrice to Minotauro). And how! He fought his ass off in losing but he could take solace in the thought that he gave all of them and many others a fight they will never forget, win or lose.

Herring is strong, fast, smart, aggressive, and very seasoned. Losing to such high-quality fighters can be read as a testament to his toughness. At 30, Herring is still one of the most dangerous heavyweights in MMA.

Lesnar, on the other hand, is a generally untested entity in MMA. After making a living in “sports entertainment” in Vince McMahon’s pro-wrestling circus called WWE, which was once called WWF but was finally renamed due to a clash of acronyms with the World Wildlife Fund, “Brock” Lesnar is trying his hand at real fighting as opposed to “fake” wrestling.

A former NCAA Division 1 wrestling champion, Lesnar has the prerequisite ground skills and the size and power for a fruitful MMA career. (Think Randy Couture, Mark Coleman, Mark Kerr, Kevin Randleman, and Mall Lindland.) Lesnar’s MMA record is a middling 1-1-0 and this could be his last chance for a contract extension with the UFC. He loses and his novelty practically wears off. If the UFC hadn’t swallowed Japan’s defunct premier MMA promotion, Pride, Lesnar and others could have another option for career advancement. But as of now, the one-billion-dollar megalith that is the UFC is the only game in town that really matters.

This could go either way. Neither Lesnar nor Herring have any distinct advantage over the other. Herring is faster but Lesnar is more powerful. Herring can take a punch but Lesnar still has to prove that he can. With his solid wrestling credentials, though, plus his bulk, he can create huge problems for Herring if the fight goes to the ground and Lesnar gets on top.

If Herring successfully keeps the fight on their feet, he just might earn a knockout win. The native South Dakotan Lesnar needs all the support he can get from his fans in Minnesota, where he currently fights out of.

Roger “Matador” Huerta, like Lesnar, might find his UFC career on its last legs if he loses to Kenny Florian. But that is unlikely. Huerta has the edge over Florian in just about all departments: speed, power, skills, and marketing. The good-looking Huerta has the enviable distinction of being the very first MMA fighter to make the cover of Sports Illustrated.

Huerta is like night to Florian’s day. Coming from a hardscrabble background in his native Mexico, physically and psychologically abused as a child by both his biological parents and his stepmother, Huerta earned a living on the streets before his teens. Huerta has a lot of demons to exorcise. Fighting in the Octagon gives him an opportunity to expel those demons, while beating up on someone he might visualize as those who have wronged him. “Anger can be power/Don’t you know that you can use it,” The Clash sings in their debut record.

In Kenny Florian’s case, the Bee Gees “Staying Alive” might be apropos. That is what the middle-class Massachusetts native has to do against El Matador. When someone nicknamed The Slayer goes up against someone saddled with the rather gayish nickname “KenFlo,” it’s much easier to believe that The Slayer (Murderer, Killer, Assassin) will have KenFlo for breakfast and lunch, not counting snacks in between.

In the main event, Georges St. Pierre gets another opportunity to add to his growing legend. The soft-spoken French Canadian has only lost twice in 18 MMA fights, once by submission to his “idol’ Matt Hughes and once to Matt Serra by strikes. In MMA, unlike in boxing, a 16-2 record is a mark of excellence not a questionable record. GSP is at the top of his game right now, his confidence soaring. He avenged both his losses to Hughes and Serra and fittingly in the same way he lost.

Jon Fitch has earned the right to challenge GSP. Losing two of his first four MMA fights, Fitch has gradually gotten stronger and better and amassed 15 straight wins since a No Contest result against Solomon Hutcherson in HookNShoot -- Boot Camp on March 8, 2003.

Like GSP, Fitch is on a roll, only longer. Whose winning roll will be stopped today? That remains to be seen.

The Last Emperor Holds On To His Throne; Spider Snares Sandman

2008-07-22T20:56:00.000-07:00

Fedor Emelianenko drives over another heavyweight hump in Tim Sylvia; Spider Silva puts Sandman Irvin to sleep...early

OK, allow us to cram before the results filter in. Let’s go straight to prediction time. Free-For-All doesn’t see anything wrong about conventional wisdom -- Fedor Emelianenko may struggle against Sylvia, but despite…oh, man. Sorry about that. Thank God for wikipedia.com (sherdog.com was mysteriously offline, or just too difficult to log on to at the time I was writing this piece), I just found out Fedor did win over Sylvia via rear-naked choke, in a record thirty-six fragging seconds! This is 10 seconds slower than Emelianenko’s submission-by-strikes win over the just-as-huge Zuluzinho in Pride Shockwave 2005, and three times as long as the Ukrainian’s fastest win, a 12-second wipeout of Hiroya Takada in Sept. 5, 2000 in RINGS -- Battle Genesis Vol. 6.

Starting with a left hook followed by a left uppercut in the clinch, Emelianenko launched nine head shots on Sylvia, knocking him down, before pouncing on the Maine-iac on the ground with more punches, eventually controlling Sylvia’s back and sinking in deep a rear-naked choke.

Emelianenko, the 31-year-old balding accountant-looking Ukraine-native has proved that he is (arguably) still the best heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, bagging the first-ever WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts) heavyweight title. Emelianenko lost more sweat in the dressing room than in the ring with Sylvia. This is the second consecutive time that Sylvia has lost by choke (he tapped out to Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera by guillotine choke in UFC 81 just last Feb. 2). This proves, most especially in Sylvia’s mind, that to defeat someone bigger and taller than you is by taking him down and choking him out. Much like cutting down tall trees; even tall trees that hit back.

Who’s next for “The Last Emperor” Fedor? Bring on Randy Couture!

Or, if Dana “Kill ’Em All and Let the UFC Sort ’Em Out” White insists that Anderson “The Spider” Silva is the world’s pound-for-pound best MMA fighter on the planet, let The Spider eat more flies and bloat to 215lbs. Then Silva will be heavy and tall (at 6-feet-2 to Emelianenko's 6-0, the Brazilian is even taller) enough to take on Emelianenko. How about that, Dana dear?

Toughest

Then we can finally settle this who’s-the-toughest-mother-on-the- planet-or-at-least-in-the-MMA-firmanent argument. And in effect, find out who’s tougher, UFC or Affliction.

Sorry for digressing. Now back to our regular programming.

At the UFC, middleweight champ Anderson Silva proved that his knockout power has not been diminished with added poundage, as he took out James Irvin in a second over one minute. Irvin foolishly kicked Silva on the leg, opening up his defense to the opportunistic Spider who caught Irvin’s leg with one of his elongated arms (two not eight) and struck Irvin down with a right straight punch. More strikes on the ground and referee Mario Yamasaki was convinced enough to put an end to the punishment.

Much like Fedor proving that he is still worthy of the Last Emperor title, Silva is still one of the UFC’s supreme strikers (Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell might have something to say about that). Silva’s venture into the light-heavyweight ranks might be deemed successful with the knockout of Irvin, but that doesn’t really prove anything…yet. The inconsistent Irvin (remember his KO loss to the just-as-inconsistent Mike Kyle and submission by Kimura to the diamond-in-the-rough Stephan Bonnar?) is not in the league of either Jackson or Liddell, or mayhaps Kyle and Bonnar.

Don’t let it go to your bald head, Spider. Go back to the middleweight ranks and clean it up some more, maybe rematch with Dan Henderson (Hollywood Dan’s loss via rear-naked choke was decisive but you can always rumble again as HD is still good to go, and you know it), or Yushi Okami (whom you stupidly kicked on the head while both his knees were still on the mat, earning you a loss by disqualification). And there’s also Ryo Chonan, whose spectacular flying-scissor heel-hook submission win over The Spider almost broke one of his two (not eight) legs.

The Spider Silva is the current almost-unanimous pound-for-pound best MMA fighter right now in most lists, but we all know what that means. It only means he is ripe for the picking, if the 33-year-old UFC champ doesn’t retire now, in the next few years (nah!, make that in the next few months or even within a year) he will find someone stronger, faster, smarter to beat him.

In MMA, it doesn’t take much to pop a bubble or penetrate an armor. After Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell became champions and convinced everyone they were invincible, they came up against the rather lightly-regarded and definitely older Randy Couture to learn humility and respect for elders. Weren’t Ortiz and Liddell also pound-for-pound best in MMA before? Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Noguiera also held that title while still fighting in Pride FC, that is until he went up against a stoic Ukrainian named Fedor Emelianenko and was pounded near senseless, the Brazilian’s excellent submission attempts brushed off by Emelianenko like Brazil’s national debt to the World Bank.

History

Speaking of the Last Emperor, he could also learn from history. If he hasn’t yet, he should watch the Oscar-winning film, he was named after. The real-life last emperor, Pu Yi, was eventually dethroned not by another pretender to the throne but by the rush of history. Emelianenko, most likely, realizes his place in MMA history and its accompanying precariousness. Maybe the smartest decision he has made in his career was not to sign up with the UFC and be just another of Dana White and the Fertita brothers’ high-profile slaves. Instead, Emelianenko became an Affliction slave. That’s too harsh a term, actually. Emelianenko and all who make their living fighting would prefer to be called modern-day gladiators. Learn from history again. All those ancient gladiators who shed blood in the Roman Colosseum and elsewhere were either captured enemy soldiers or slaves who preferred killing other humans over lifting rocks in some remote quarry.

That’s enough on history.

The fighters who were expected to win won. But the real battle wasn’t really in the ring or Octagon; it was fought in the ticket gates and pay-per-view ratings. Affliction: Banned would have been more aptly titled Affliction: Stacked, because the T-shirt giant’s initial venture into mixed-martial-arts promotion was just that, stacked to the ceiling. Rumor has it that Affliction spent $2 million to put up Banned. If Affliction broke even, it would be glad. If it turned a profit, it would be ecstatic. If it lost its baroque T-shirts to promote Banned, it can always go back to the drawing board and concentrate on selling shirts.

But whatever the financial results of Affliction’s initial MMA fight promo venture, you have to give it to Affliction; it truly was a great night of fighting. Banned, my derriere! Tanned is more like it. That’s what you call a healthy MMA fight card. Stacked and credible. What more can you say when you have Emelianenko and Sylvia, the top two heavyweights in MMA. Sure, only Antonio Rogerio “Minotoro” Noguiera fought that night, not his twin brother, Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro,” the better fighter of the two. Couture was there. He shook Fedor’s hand after Emelianenko won. Fedor’s brother (MMA brothers everywhere!) Aleksander was banned by the California State Athletic Commission from fighting Paul Buentello (hence, Gary “Big Daddy” Goodridge as replacement fighter) for health issues, a heart condition according to the grapevine.

Banned, indeed.

UFC, on the other hand, had a lame name for its lamer promotion -- UFC Fight Night 14: Silva vs. Irvin. How can that match up with Affliction: Banned? The UFC started this whole MMA thing on PPV cable TV, more is expected of them. In the first place, if the UFC wants to drive Affliction out of the MMA fight promotion business, why not schedule one of their flagship fights like Aug. 9’s UFC 87: Seek & Destroy with Georges St. Pierre defending his welterweight belt against Jon Fitch; or more appropriately, UFC 88: Breakthrough, with Chuck Liddell and Rashad Evans headlining the event when they battle for higher vantage point in the 205-pound division?

Only the all-wise Dana White knows. Well, the UFC is the UFC and Pride FC is Pride FC. Oops, forgot, UFC swallowed up Pride. Monopoly used to sound good to Mr. White, until Affliction: Banned, that is.

NEXT: The undercards.

The Truth Ducks The Dragon…For Now

2008-07-16T02:26:00.000-07:00

Brandon Vera refuses to fight Lyoto Machida

Brandon “The Truth” Vera, despite two straight losses in less than 10 months, is still one of the most marketable UFC fighters. Vera has the power, speed, skills, and length, to beat most of the top fighters in the heavyweight division. With his move to go down to light-heavyweight, has only added more fuel to the furnace that is the 205-pound division.

Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida, on the other hand, is a fast-rising star in the 205lb category. By virtue of a five-fight win streak in the UFC, Machida could be the most promising warrior in the arena.

Put Vera and Machida in the Octagon and you get a surefire hit in so many ways. Both excellent strikers with respectable ground skills, these two mestizos will have blood pumping in their cool veins and temperatures rising in the fight venue. Machida-Vera I (the Japanese-Brazilian’s name gets top billing over the Filipino-American by virtue of a superior fight record) might just set records for pay-per-view and gate receipts.

At 13 and 0 against Vera’s 8-2-0, Machida naturally will become the odds-on favorite in both Vegas betting and fan polls. But an immaculate record is no guarantee of another victory over an inferior slate. We could do a rundown of their strengths and weaknesses:

Speed:
Machida is not only fast, he is slippery. Rich Franklin and Michael McDonald found out about this the hard way. So did Tito Ortiz and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou. You want to keep Machida right in front of you so you could hit him, but he almost always stays a safe distance from a punch or leg strike, while moving just enough to hit you with one of his rather unorthodox karate-flavored snap kicks and hand strikes. Grapplers may want to take him down, first distracting him with a punch or fake before lowering for a single or double-leg takedown, but the Shotokan and Brazilian Jiujitsu black-belt Machida is wise to the ways of the ground and pound, or ground and submit. While Vera is more of a striker, a muay Thai stylist who tries to capitalize on his substantial reach to land a blow. Vera has respectable talent on the ground, but it is doubtful if he could escape from a tight triangle the same way Machida did against Tito Ortiz.
Advantage: Machida

Power:
Machida only has three victories by way of knockout (all TKOs) and eight triumphs by decision in his 13-fight win run. That is testament to his reliance on speed and under-reliance on power. Machida will not only wear opponents out by evading their strikes, clinches, and takedowns, he will add on to his foes’ frustrations by hitting them almost at will, but almost never engaging them in an all-out brawl. He will hit and pull out, dance away, then come back for more when he sees an opening. Vera is a kickboxer more than a feint-hit-and-backout artist. Vera will try to pound the man in front of him with a straight punch, a roundhouse or lower kick, and go for the kill if he sees an opening or if his foe is hurt enough. Vera is a tiger shark with the tendency to go on a feeding frenzy if he as much as smells a milliliter of blood. Machida, on the other hand, is a mite, sucking blood in small degrees until he is bloated enough to let go and come back for more at a later time. By then, he will be big enough as a great white shark to munch a huge mouthful.
Advantage: Even

Stamina:
Vera has only gone the distance once in 10 MMA fights. Machida has finished the maximum allotted rounds nine out of 13 times, including eight in the last nine. Vera evidently was on the verge of gassing out against Tim Sylvia in UFC 77, one of the reasons he lost by decision to the “Maine-niac.” Machida comes prepared for his fights, with a cardiovascular conditioning comparable to that of Olympic long-distance runners. Vera, we hazard to guess, doesn’t as much care for jogging and sparring for periods of time longer than five minutes.
Advantage: Machida

Guile:
Hands down, Machida bags this one. The poker face, the cool demeanor, even his ever-polite language that refuses to trash talk, even complimenting his opponents, are hallmarks of an honorable warrior with the calculating powers of an assassin who waits and waits before delivering the death blow. In sharp contrast, Vera is a loudmouth, a loveable one, though, much like his paisan Hulk “Terry Gene Bollea” Hogan. Vera plays to the crowd and the media, generating enough interest for his fights. He gets the attention and the amused smiles, but Machida earns the respect and perhaps the fear.
Advantage: Machida

Machida 4, Vera 1

All these comparisons might ultimately be in vain. Vera just refused to take on Machida for Sunday’s UFC Fight Night 14. For reasons of being unprepared, the usually game Vera did admit that a month’s notice isn’t the best way to get ready for a formidable fighter like Machida. He did not rule out, though, a future pairing with Machida.

Vera told www.mmajunkie.com, “For sure, I turned down the fight with Machida. Don’t get me wrong. I’m down to fight Machida but not in my first time cutting down to 205 on four weeks’ notice.”

The MMA fighter cut in the mold of Tito Ortiz in the trash-talk department did pay tribute to Machida by admitting that he can’t simply jump into the ring or Octagon with a supreme athlete like The Dragon: “I want to be ready for Machida. That bastard’s good. I want to make sure I’ve got good sparring and a good game plan for Machida.

“Machida’s not somebody you can just jump in the cage with and fight. I don’t care who you are; if you think you can just beat Machida because you’re tougher than him, he’s probably going to whoop your ass.

“He doesn’t go in to destroy people and finish them. Man, you can’t hit him, and he just keeps touching you. People just get frustrated and pissed off. So, I did turn down the fight with Machida, but I’m down for sure to fight Machida, given good time.”

UFC 86: Rampaging Forrest Fire

2008-07-05T18:56:00.000-07:00

Strikefest: Jackson-Griffin I

Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s brute strength and Forrest Griffin’s not-to-be-scoffed-at physical gifts and aggression make today’s UFC 86 light-heavyweight championship bout very exciting. “Styles make fights” is a boxing dictum that applies to all sports, fighting or not. The Jackson-Griffin brawl (it is hoped) is no different.

Many are of the opinion that Jackson beat erstwhile lightheavy king
Chuck Liddell with a lucky punch. The right hook that fell Liddell was followed by more punches on the ground forcing John McCarthy to put a stop to the fight and award a TKO win to Jackson. It took Jackson only a minute and 53 seconds in the first round to dethrone Liddell, now claiming a 2-0 edge in their match-up extending back to the old Pride tournament in Japan. This will be Jackson’s second defense of his UFC belt, and technically and by extension, his first defense of the defunct Pride middleweight crown he wrested from Dan Henderson 10 months ago.

The inactivity may have put some rust into the well-oiled pumping machine that is Jackson. Griffin, on the other hand, has also been away from the Octagon for 10 months, two weeks shorter than Rampage’s absence. The difference is Jackson came off a less-than convincing win over Henderson, while Griffin choked out one of his weight division’s strongest and most talented fighters, Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. Although, it can be said that Rua was not at full strength when he lost to Griffin, having ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament but still decided to push through with the fight.

But Jackson-Griffin I will not be won on who they last beat. Both have their formidable strengths and subtle weaknesses. Jackson is freakishly strong but is a sucker for a fast and strong striker. He lost to brutal Wanderlei Silva, the former Pride middleweight champ, not once but twice. Griffin is a warrior through and through. His three-round unanimous-decision win over Stephan Bonnar in the Ultimate Fighter I Finale is one of the most definitive examples of an all-out striking contest between two great competitors who won’t take a draw for a result. Griffin won by UD, but barely. UFC top honcho Dana White was so elated with the slambang show the two put on that he decided to reward not just the winner, Griffin, a UFC contract, but also Bonnar.

In today’s UFC 86 main event, if Jackson risks striking with Griffin, he just might be at the wrong end of a lucky punch (or kick or knee or slam) like he did Liddell.

Let the carnage begin, Rampage…and Fire. (N.B. I Googled Griffin’s mixed-martial-arts nickname. He currently doesn’t have one. Someone in a www.ultimate-fighter.ca forum suggested in jest that since Griffin resembles the image of a gremlin or Firby, that he should have the moniker Gremlin or Firby. Surely that name-caller will change his mind if he gets a taste of Griffin’s punch. Just one weeny teeny punch. While Rampage is aptly nicknamed.)

Yes, just one well-placed punch on Rampage’s hard head and muscle-bound body can give Griffin the chance to pound the champion with more strikes. Still, Griffin is the underdog to the junkyard-dog Jackson. See him howl on the way to the Octagon, with that mean look of his, huge chains around his neck and all. Henderson offered a gentlemanly hand to Rampage before the bell rang for their fight, but Rampage was too busy with dagger looks at Henderson, incidentally, a very good friend of Rampage. Rebuffed, “Dan Hollywood” Henderson quickly lost his grin and tightened his girders.

Prediction time: Griffin by KO in Round 3. I wish! Being almost always for the underdog, I would like Griffin to win in three but the odds are stacked against him. Although, the good thing about the UFC and MMA in general is that surprises and shocks are never wanting.

Let’s get it on!

PacMan eats goat

2008-06-28T09:02:00.000-07:00

– ‘David’ versus ‘Money Goliath’ –
Diaz doesn’t get it; Pacquiao pets the goat

Time was when Filipinos from every geographical location on the globe squirmed every time a reference was made to this Malay race having a taste for canines. With dog for a meal, who needs a best friend?

The notoriety may have been shed some three days ago.

With WBC lightweight champion David Diaz rejecting, or perhaps unable to comprehend, the hype of the Chicago Cubs goat, made the scapegoat of the Chicago baseball club’s “Curse of the Billy Goat” misfortunes in Major League Baseball, title-challenger Manny Pacquiao eagerly stepped up to the plate to bat one out of the Mandalay Bay. Diaz, a Chicago resident and a Cubs fan, could have earned for himself a Play of the Day highlight if he had any showbiz in his blood, but he turned his back on the chance, walking out to probably work out some more in the gym.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, who has starred in a movie in his native Philippines, has endorsed everything from potato chips to politicians, running for Congress himself and failing (you a boxer, man, not a politico), has long accepted the show-business aspect of his profession.

Someone got the bright idea of bringing in a goat during a news conference for the Pacquiao-Diaz fight. Surprised and not wanting anything to do with the responsibility of being a Steve Bartman, Diaz walked away. Pacquiao saw an opening and jabbed. "Goat is my favorite food," Pacquiao said while petting the goat. And he probably meant it. Paklay and calderetas, dishes made from goat meat, are staples in makeshift carinderia public market stalls throughout the Philippines.

DAVID VS. GOLIATH, HO-HUM. David slew Goliath with a slingshot, but it will take David Diaz more than a puny riverside stone to take out his 135-pound Goliath of an opponent in Manny Pacquiao in tomorrow’s 135-pound WBC lightweight title fight at the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

Sure, the 135lb division is “uncharted territory” for Pacquiao, but the PacMan has gradually risen all the way down from 107lb to 135lb with not too many obvious ill effects. Damn! The man has won three (at 112, 122 and 130) legit international boxing titles to get where he is now, is a star in international boxing and a superstar/megastar in his native Philippines where his popularity spans all economic and social levels. Pacquiao probably makes three times on endorsement deals than he does boxing.

It was another Diaz, “Baby Bull” Juan, who wanted to take Pacquiao down his pedestal, boldly saying that Pacquiao has fought and beaten all the current Mexican boxing greats in his weight division, but they (Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, and Juan Manuel Marquez) are old and on the wane. Juan said that it was high time that Pacquiao fought a younger and stronger Mexican pugilist – him. HAHAHA! Famous last words, Baby Bull. Juan Diaz didn’t get to fight Pacquiao. He did fight someone even older than Pacquiao and Diaz lost. Nate Campbell did the honor of shutting the brash and young Juan’s mouth. He rearranged his face too. For 12 rounds, Campbell, 36, took everything Juan gave him and gave back in return. If the 135lb WBA, IBF and WBO title bout wasn’t fought in Cancun, Campbell would have gotten a unanimous points decision victory. He won by split and he more than earned it.

Since a big-money fight with the bullied Baby Bull wasn’t viable anymore, another Diaz volunteered. Fresh off a far-from impressive win over Ramon Montano last March and one over one of Pacquiao’s aging (take that, Baby Bull!) conquests 10 months ago, David Diaz has lucked on a fight with one of boxing’s most bankable stars. Thank your lucky stars, David.

PROPHETS GET STONED. Predictions are for prophets. At the risk of being branded one and stoned by an unbelieving nation, as I once was stung by just a few (honest!) disagreeable readers after writing in my defunct sports column in a local English daily that Pacquiao might lose to Erik Morales, let me say this – Pacquiao will lose.

Put down that rock! Let me explain. That is a big if…that is, if Pacquiao will lose, he might get knocked out in five rounds or less. If Pacquiao does win, he will KO Diaz in nine rounds or less.

Diaz, 32, is slightly older, perhaps stronger than Pacquiao, 29, but Diaz is much slower. Diaz knows just one direction -- forward. Even if he absorbs punishment, he is too stubborn to back down. While Pacquiao, under the brilliant tutelage of Freddie Roach, is light on his feet and can rival a whirling dervish, running circles around foes, evading blows. Latent lateral movement skills of Pacquiao have contributed to him becoming a complete fighter, boxer-slugger.

With just about everybody, boxing critics and the average boxing fan alike, saying that Diaz is overmatched by the PacMan, Diaz has a lot to prove. The surest way to make his detractors eat their words is for Diaz to knock out Pacquiao, not win just by TKO but by devastating KO. Another 12-round affair with no one losing consciousness will bring back the ghosts of Pacquiao-Marquez I. Pacquiao won. Marquez won. It should have been a draw.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, has less pressure on him to win. That is if 90 million Filipinos in the tropical depression and economically-depressed archipelago and perhaps five million more living abroad demanding nothing short of a dominant win is not pressure enough. Pacquiao has shown us his mettle and cool in previous pro fights. He can come into the ring smiling his endorsement-rich mug below bangs and leave the ring less than an hour later sweating and humming, “Para sa ‘yo/Ang labang ito…” one belt or another resting on his shoulders or worn around his waist.

If (sorry), when Pacquiao racks a win over Diaz, he will smile that sly beatific smile looking a million smackeroos and look into the horizon for the next victim and million-dollar-purse and pay-per-view share. It’s just too good to ponder.

That’s what’s so difficult about boxing. A win is never assured. Even if you have the referee and the judges in your pocket. Even if everybody is saying that you are too good for your opponent. Nothing is assured the same way you cannot predict the exact price of oil per barrel. It was $120 per barrel last April, now it’s $142 per barrel, going up to $150.

Only two things can happen in a boxing bout, one boxer loses, the other boxer wins. Three things if you consider a draw. But nobody likes a stalemate. The reason boxers train like Roman gladiators and starve like African refugees to make the weight is because they want to win. Period. But even then, a comma, a semi-colon, a hyp(h)e(n), another period can follow a period. It never ends.

If (sorry), when Pacquiao wins, he could take on Marquez for a second dance on the canvas, or maybe even a resurgent Baby Bull Diaz. Who knows?

The Shadow claims to be omniscient but even he loses his rep in the daylight. Sorry for ancient radio serial and comicbook reference. To be current, let’s try: “Don’t make me angry. You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry.” Sorry (again), that’s a Lou Ferrigno-Bill Bixby Hulk not the Edward Norton incarnation.

See what happened to Marvel’s mightiest hero/villain? Sorry (again), I haven’t seen the latest Hulk movie yet, not even on a pirated DVD copy. It must be tragic-comic, much like Pacquiao will be if (sorry) when (much sorrier) he loses. He could. I am not banking on it. I am rooting for a fellow Filipino, of course.

Add this blog to the pressure that Manny Pacquiao carries on his heroic shoulders. And add tomorrow’s fight to my blood-pressure reading.

Here’s hoping that the perceived Goliath in this setup turns the tables, or at least deflects all of the perceived David’s stones, avoiding a direct hit right in the middle of his forehead.

Fight, Pacquiao! Fight!

The Garden of Kevin

2008-06-17T23:19:00.001-07:00

Paul Pierce, with his 10-year loyalty and superb Finals performance, deserves to have the TD Banknorth Garden’s name attached to his. But even Pierce has to admit that without Kevin Garnett (we’ll discuss Ray Allen later), the Boston Celtics would still be languishing in the Eastern Conference, drinking cold beer in the warm summer months, enjoying the playoffs in front of the TV.

Pierce, though, truly earns the Finals MVP title. His 17 points, 10 assists (nine alone in the first half), and three rebounds are proof of his Game 6 all-around court command. Pierce made like Kobe Bryant, slashing to the paint for a lay-up and when he found himself caught in the trees, passed off to whoever Celtic was free in the perimeter or the 3-point arc.

Also playing his best in the series today, Boston’s starting point-guard, the sophomore Rajon Rondo, a good five inches shorter than Pierce, had four rebounds more than the Finals MVP. More importantly, Rondo had six crucial steals, two on Bryant alone, and had just one turnover in 32 minutes of play. Doc Rivers may still be eight championship rings short of Phil Jackson’s Red-Auerbach-tying nine, but he out-coached Jackson in the Finals.

Consider Rivers’ second-quarter decision to go small with Eddie House, Pierce, Leon Powe, James Posey, and PJ Brown. Garnett was on the bench, while Allen, his eyes poked by Lamar Odom during one of Allen’s daring lay-ups earlier in the first half, was being treated in the locker room.

OF ROOKIES AND RISKS. Practically, no matter who from the bench Jackson puts on the floor will still outsize that Celtics batch. When Garnett came back to replace Powe at 7:32, the Celtics still had the lead, 32-29. The break gave Garnett not only a breather but also kept Garnett from committing more fouls as he is wont to do. Now, how about Glen Davis, how many coaches out there are willing to take the risk on a rookie playing in the Finals for the very first time. Trust and prescience are two of the hallmarks of a very good basketball coach.

Davis played for almost 15 minutes and had a measly three points, a field goal and a free throw, but with Kendrick Perkins not a 100 percent, Davis played a minute longer than Boston’s starting center.

Overall, the Los Angeles is the better team, man for man. Almost nobody thought Boston would last more than five games. Indeed, Rivers did better than Jackson. The Celtics beat the Lakers. By 39 frigging points! You need more proof than that? Likewise, it was the first time in the Finals that the winning margin was more than 10.

So it was, the Celtics reclaimed NBA Finals on the 17th of June year of our Lord 2008 for the legendary team’s 17th title, with one of the greatest Celtics ever in the audience, John “Hondo” Havlicek, who sported a No. 17 jersey. Hang it up on the rafters of the TD Banknorth Garden, KG! along with Havlicek’s retired jersey number. Superstition may just be a combination of gut feeling and statistical mumbo jumbo, but also consider who won the jump ball. The Lakers did, same as the Celtics in Game 5. The Finals teams who got the ball in the first seconds of the ballgame eventually lost.

Reserving their best for last, the Celtics had almost total domination of a Lakers team that despite the just four-point Celtics lead (24-20) after the first quarter, had the seeds of the Lakers’ destruction planted on the Garden. Since Game 1, it was the first time the Celtics led after the first quarter, proof that Boston makes a habit of coming back.

RIFLEMAN RAY. Oh, sorry. Ray Allen. Sorry, Ray. You did very well, Mr. Rifleman. Allen had 26 points, including 7-of-9 from the arc, which tied a Finals record, 8-of-12 on field-goal attempts, and not surprisingly, was perfect from the line, 3-3. The stats don’t tell the whole story. They never do. Allen showed the warrior in him by getting back into the game despite Odom’s long fingers invading his eye sockets. There are those who mistake Allen of being soft just because he is soft-spoken and prefers to shoot from the outside with that picture-perfect textbook-model jumper. But Allen can drive to the hoop just as gracefully, with or without a defender.

Boston’s Big 3 all played big. But five makes a basketball team on the court. Whoever played with the Big 3 were just as important in winning No.17. With an intact line-up next season, No.18 wouldn’t be too difficult to visualize.

Same time next year, Lakers? Bring Big Andrew Bynum with you. The Celtics aren’t worried. They’ve got Big Baby Davis.

myPOST-ITS:
“Regal,” ESPN color commentary team member Jeff Van Gundy called John Havlicek “regal” for sporting thicker, though, white hair at age 68 than Van Gundy at 46. Van Gundy has a few strands he combs across his pate. Van Gundy is one of the most knowledgeable and perceptive, if not the most incisive, NBA commentators now working, and definitely the funniest. He is even funnier than Charles Barkley.

In the Garden lurks the inevitable

2008-06-16T18:43:00.000-07:00

KG, KJ; Kobe, from mediocre to great

Don't know which is worse, watching the Celtics come so close to finishing off the Lakers or listening (forced to listen, more like it) to the encyclopedic babbler Quinito Henson and carabao-English proponent Chino Trinidad doing their best to make it interesting watching an NBA game, trying to convince those with access to cable TV that they are better off tuning in to Crime/Suspense/RPN 9’s coverage instead of at Basketball TV.

Stil (i.e. steal) by Kobi Bryant…Kobi. Kobi. KOBI MIKS A TREEEEE!!!!

It’s not funny anymore listening to Trinidad mangle the Queen’s English, the King’s English, and Tayshaun Prince’s English in two hours it regularly takes an NBA game to run its course.

HISTORY AGAIN. There they went again, repeating themselves.
The Lakers went on to leave the Celtics behind in their first-quarter dust, 39-22, and, as if on cue, the Celtics pursued them with road detritus in their mouths, to come closer, 52-55, at the end of the first half.

Kevin Garnett, as aggressive (read: passionate) as ever, committed his third (unearned) foul on Pau Gasol, a mere 13 seconds after relieving P.J. Brown, who himself committed his third foul earlier. Brown was exemplary, in his first-half stint, putting up not much on the stats sheet with just four points and three rebounds, but his defense helped the Celtics get back. Without the hulking Kendrick Perkins, out on a shoulder injury, Brown filled the lanes well.

Smiling, the 15-year-veteran Brown came back to give Garnett another unnecessary breather. Sure, Garnett didn’t really commit a foul, slapping his hand on the hand of Gasol holding the ball. According to NBA rules, the hand holding the ball, being part of the ball, if it is hit, no call is to be called. But we all know how the rules don’t always work, or how the referees don’t always see or choose not to see.

“One bucket at a time,” Celtics coach Doc Rivers exhorted his players in a timeout. Indeed, as the Celtics racked up 15 straight points to the Lakers' zero for a stretch, it seemed the Celtics were well on their way to ending the series at the Staples Center, thousands of miles away from the TD Banknorth Garden.

In the minds of many fans, both pro-Boston and pro-Lakers, the Lakers were too spent on excessive expectations and unexpected defeats to put up a fight in Game 5. Entering Staples Center locker room, the cameras zoomed in on Paul Pierce and Perkins, in dark suits and darker glasses, looking like they were on their way instead to audition for Men In Black 3 at a Columbia Pictures soundstage. Call it confidence, or call it conceit, but surely, many Celtics must have already felt some of the euphoria of grabbing the Larry O’Brien trophy Sunday night. Overconfidence is never a good thing.

GREEN GRIT. But Boston did play with a lot grit and confidence yesterday. After they were only four points down, 86-90, after James Posey’s three, time down to 5:48 in the fourth, you could almost feel the cold go up the collective spine of the Staples Center crowd, and cold sweat start to pour from Jack Nicholson’s bald spot to his shades.

They call it the Boston run. Garnett’s 14-foot jumper tied the game, 90-90. Shine the trophy, boys! But it wasn’t to be. Pau Gasol’s baby hook regained the lead for the Lakers, which they kept until the final buzzer, 103-98.

A lot of drama went down from 90-all to 103-98, and Bryant contributed to it. He will undoubtedly be acclaimed as one of the greatest players in the NBA, right up there in the basketball firmament with Bill Russell, Jerry West, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and…drum roll…Michael Jordan.

With less than a minute left in the final quarter, Bryant showed his greatness and his weakness. He attempted a three at 1:15 when they didn’t need it, causing Lamar Odom to foul Pierce, who went to the stripe but made only one of two shots. Bryant could have used his one-on-one superiority to slash to the paint and make a two or get fouled to earn two free throws. Instead, he missed his jumper, the Celtics got the rebound, Pierce’s 1-of-2 cut LA’s lead to just three, 97-94.

Then Bryant redeemed himself. Pierce had ball possession, Bryant sneaked from behind to tap the ball to Odom, who in turn passed it to Bryant for a fastbreak dunk, 99-95. In a span of 38 seconds, the Lakers superstar showed two sides of his basketball personality: middling and great.

The Game 5 win wasn’t as ugly as the Lakers’ Game 3 victory, but they did live to play another day. Boston, on the other hand, was just a bit too predictable: Let the Lakers take the early lead, let’s do catch-up. Catsup on meat patty tastes good, but patty alone tastes good, too, our neighborhood burger-store owner always says.

When Doc Rivers sat down Garnett for Rondo with nine seconds left, all Celtics on court were guards/forwards, all capable of shooting threes. And for that reason, they should have taken care of the ball much better, not having James Posey casually pass the inbound to a waiting Derek Fisher who dribbled the precious seconds away to secure the win for his team.

Bryant was waving to the crowd, clapping his hands, while the sidecourt lady was waiting to interview him. Odom was being interviewed by another person himself a few feet away, while their teammates walked past them not looking like they had just won. The Lakers had the look of the defeated (which, in many ways they still are), or the defeated who are merely suspending the inevitable.

Like this very game that they had numerically won by five points. It was a scrambling triumph at best, forging a Game 6 back in…wait, don’t let Los Angeles hear it…Boston, where the Celtics are 2-0 against the Lakers in this series. It is now, 3-2, for the Celtics. Just one more game. Just one more win. The Celtics have two chances to end it. And it will be another championship banner hanging from the rafters.

Yes, home is indeed sweet, especially if you are primed to let the balloons, confetti, and buntings fall in celebration.

This is it. Game 6. The buck stops here.

FFA myNOTES:
If there were any Cebuano-speaking members of the audience at the SC in Game 5, they would have sported knowing smiles listening to the “LO LO LO…” chant of the nervous crowd.

It ain’t easy being Celtics green in Lala land

2008-06-14T18:39:00.000-07:00

-- Sasha, get your goat; Ray of light; God; Fear of the unknown --

Game 3:

“He lost a goat…no big deal.”

There are seemingly inconsequential things in this world that reinforces my hardened belief (faith, if you will) that there is a God. Watching a Los Angeles Laker dribbling the ball while waiting for the final buzzer, and the Boston Celtics losing, 81-87, I pressed the TV remote jump button and saw the caption text of the quote above by a grizzled old man in a National Geographic feature on Iranian nomadic goat herders.

The Celtics lost Game 3. Big deal. They were expected to. Some quarters might even expect the Lakers to win Games 4 and 5 after the euphoria of that victory. I have publicly (to friends and colleagues, at least) spoken that I would love to see a Game 7 at the TD Banknorth Garden/Fleet Center.

But that was a troubling win for the Lakers. Even in their homecourt, even with naysayers earlier declaring that the Celtics were overmatched (despite a 2-0 regular-season record against the Lakers, despite having the best regular-season record at 66-16), Mr. Kobe “Ballhog turned passing superstar now MVP” Bryant and Co. had a tough time earning that win.

Now we have a Finals.

Game 4:

If by some unjust quirk of the cosmic forces, and saintly Ray Allen is sent to hell, the Boston Celtics shooting guard will still stay cool.

This game will forever be entrenched in the minds of basketball fans and conspiracy theorists. Comebacks from 20-plus points in any quarter in an NBA Finals are not just rare but heroic. Did the referees swallow their whistles to give the Celtics the edge?

This game will forever be remembered for Allen’s superheroic moves: an up-and-under reverse lay-up from the left wing past the defense of Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, and a one-on-one cha-cha-cha lefty lay-up past a hapless Sasha Vujacic to up the Celtics’ lead to five, 96-91. Allen’s expression didn’t even change after those baskets. His Big 3 teammates Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett and the Celtics on the court and on the bench, and the whole of Massachusetts, were whooping it up as if they had already won the series. Who could blame them? By the looks of it, with 16 seconds left, they had. Eddie House sank 1-of-2 free throws for the final score, 97-91.

History is on the Celtics’ side. No team has ever come back from a 3-1 deficit in the Finals. The Celtics are 30-0 after winning the first two games in the playoffs.

By some quirk of the cosmos, as I was writing this piece, Steely Dan’s Change Of The Guard was playing on my PC. It is the second to the last song on the band’s classic 1972 debut album, Can’t Buy A Thrill. (Plug time: check out steelydanfanmach3.blogspot.com and poetasterix.blogspot.com for more of this blogger’s follies). Lakers head coach Phil Jackson should have changed the guard on Allen. There is no way jump-shooting self-declared “machine” hair-farm Vujacic can take on the bald-headed brilliance of playground-maestro Allen one-on-one. Don’t argue. You saw what happened.

Leon Powe’s (him again, Mr. Jackson) jumper tied the score at 73-all not two minutes into the fourth quarter. After coming back from 24 points down in the second, 21-45, the Celtics took the lead, 84-83, for the first time on Eddie House’s basket in the final 4:07. They kept it until the final buzzer.

OK, it’s not over ’til it’s over, the fat lady hasn’t been sited yet on stage…provide your own cliché here. All right, let’s wait and see. But as always, Free-For-All is sticking to the Boston Stranglers.

Until Larry Bird flips the bird on Red Auerbach, make mine Celtics.

Game 5 is still at Lakers territory. A lot of good it will do the Lakers. They may win Game 5 but they will still be a game down with the last two games in Boston. No more stats! Just figure the odds yourself, and more importantly, whether you are for the Lakers or for the Celtics, to enjoy the games.

It will be fun.

Especially if you are not green-eyed with envy. Apologies to The Bard. Smirk.

Game 5:

I have openly said that I would love to watch a Game 7 of this series. After that historic Game 4 turnaround by the Celtics in enemy territory, I don’t relish the thought of a for-all-the-marbles encounter anymore.

Being three games up over one in an NBA Finals series is something to crow about, yes, but it is not an impregnable advantage. As Sasha the hairy goat said, “This should be a good test for us if we are ready to win the championship,” citing that the Phoenix Suns did it in the 2006 playoffs.

Mr. Vujacic is right. The Suns did it. The Phoenix Suns, Sasha, sir. Who did the Suns beat the stuffings out of to earn that distinction? Your team, Sasha. The Suns with slippery smart eel point-guard genius Steve Nash and a motley support crew of Boris Diaw, Leandro Barbosa, Raja Bell, Tim and Kurt Thomas, and the now sorely-missed Shawn Marion. Amare Stoudemire was recovering from an injury at the time but the Thomases, Marion, and Diaw, filled the vacuum down low admirably.

Who do you have with you in this playoffs, Sasha? You as a sniper from the wings (.522 FG% and .545 3P% against the Celtics in the Finals) and regular season MVP Kobe “Still a Michael Jordan wannabe but never will be” Bryant, a great one-on-one player but just good in this Finals. You have late-season addition Pau Gasol, inconsistent Lamar Odom, and Andrew Bynum on sick bay (shades of Amare Stoudemire). I am biased, admittedly, but the only players in the present crop of Lakers, after Bryant, that I admire are Luke Walton and the seemingly ageless and very resilient Derek Fisher. Fisher never gives up. His high-arching 3-point shot is thing of beauty and grace. Walton doesn’t have the height and skills of his father, Bill, one of the 50 Greatest NBA Players of All Time and future Hall Of Famer, but Luke has inherited the fighting genes of his dad. Bryant, Fisher, and Walton will never give up, even if two points down with a second to go in the game, even with a two-game deficit in a seven-game series.

They are the Lakers' Big 3 (Gasol and Odom are playing like bench players at this time), in my estimation. They can make things turn around for their team. Getting out of a deep hole they have dug for themselves is a daunting task. It is not impossible but highly improbable. Only one sure way to find out if the Lakers can do a Lazarus -- let’s see them play in Game 5. If they force a Game 6, let’s see if they can force a Game 7.

This is one of those times when I wish I were more careful with what I wished for. I just might get it. Get it?

Linux is the Word; Ubuntu is the magic word

2008-06-10T17:14:00.000-07:00

I don’t know if the South African man that Boston Celtics head coach Doc Rivers asked to talk to his team uses a Microsoft or Linux operating system on his computer, but when he tried to psyche up the Celtics with the mantra ubuntu (“a philosophy of life that promotes the greater good rather than individual success,” from the “Bantu group of languages” of Africa – thank you, Wikipedia), it was like a schoolmarm teaching a wide-eyed class of fourth graders the wonder word magic (not Earvin Johnson). Rabbit out of a hat drawing smiles and claps, Chris Angel impaled on a fence smiling, drawing disgusted oohs and ahhs. Tells you lots on generation gap on wonder level there.

My computer’s OS used to be Linux Ubuntu, not because I liked it that way. No. I didn’t even know what Ubuntu was until I spent hours struggling over an operating system that was supposed to be “user-friendly.” But for someone who has been using a Microsoft OS for the good part of a decade, shifting, or trying, or better still, forced to try (it came with the laptop I just bought) a Linux OS was like being forced to sleep in the same bed with a woman I had only met an hour ago at an anti-government rally…in Zambia. And she doesn’t even speak the same language (or languages, I know three, one of these is English, as most Filipinos with a high-school education) as I do. OK, the prospect of having a strange woman in your bed is exciting, especially if she keeps saying to you, “Ubuntu! Ubuntu! Ubuntuuuuuu!!!”

In my first language, Ubuntu rhymes with a very sexually-charged word. But we just met! I like my conquests smiling and able to say words to me like: “How about this one, sir…Not too expensive…Thank you, come again.” Who doesn’t like to shop in a store with a very accommodating sales lady?

Ubuntu and the Celtics. From the regular season to now, the Celtics have had remarkable success. Ubuntu rulz! That’s the most important thing …it works. So, no more digs on this Ubuntu thing. I had a friend replace my OS with Windows XP. I am back in familiar surroundings but I kind of miss Ubuntu's quirks and novelty, though. I have an older laptop and I plan to find a place for Linux Ubuntu there.

JACKSON’S MIND GAMES. Lakers head coach Phil Jackson is at it again. Playing mind games is a big part of Jackson’s success as coach in the NBA. Nine Finals championships and counting. But after a heartbreaking Game 2 loss, despite coming back from 24 down in the fourth quarter to just two in the last 7.55 minutes, the Lakers failed to upend the Celtics, 102-108, and Jackson again digs deep into his bag of tricks.

Harping on the 43-17 free-throw disparity, using seldom-used Leon Powe, who had 21 points, more than either Allen or Garnett, as a peg for his criticism of the officiating, Jackson is of course aware that the far-from perfect (and it will never be) refereeing will not always be to his team’s advantage. Jackson doesn’t have to think far back into history for images of the Sacramento Kings complaining of biased officiating (if you saw the game, you might just agree it was horrendous) for the Lakers after the still-notorious Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals, where the referees in their eternal wisdom and fairness, called 27 fouls on the Kings and only nine on the Lakers in the fourth quarter alone, when it was the Kings who were more aggressive going to the basket.

History has a way of biting you on the butt, Mr. Jackson, if you ignore it. Or conveniently forget it. Learn your lessons well.

Celtics head coach Doc Rivers, on the other hand, is right to say that his team was more aggressive (sounds familiar?) in going into the paint. Naturally, they gave the referees a lot more reason to call the fouls. The referees cannot be everywhere all the time. Even God rested on the seventh day. It was a Sunday when Game 2 was played in Boston’s TD Banknorth Garden, so maybe the Supreme Being was watching the game, too, even though it was His day off. Unfortunately, He wasn’t activated to officiate the game, so, sorry, Mr. Jackson. Maybe next time. Games 3, 4, and, “if necessary,” Game 5 will be played at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Who knows, the calls might go your team’s way by then.

Where was I? Yes, the Celtics, who at the time of this post are up 2-0 over the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals. Retired and semi-retired Celtic fans come out of your shells! Game 3, 4, and 5 may be at the arena that Jack Nicholson built, but if Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the rest of the Celtics cast steal just one in LA, our beloved green-clad heroes will look like the DC superhero Green Lantern in a cabbage patch. Green, green all the way.

Now, who said the Pau Gasol-reinforced Lakers are too tough for the Garnet-and-Allen-reinforced Celtics? If I remember my math, two is bigger than one. But a basketball team is bigger than the sum of its parts. And an NBA Finals journey doesn’t stop until one team racks up four wins over the other. OK, two to go, Celtics. You do the math.

Celtics, Lakers Rekindling Dynasties; Don't Just Brush Off Detroit Yet

2008-05-29T21:27:00.000-07:00

For two consecutive days, NBA fans have been treated to excellent games with all the drama and thrills of real playoff basketball.

Too bad for San Antonio for that no-call on Brent Barry on a foul by Derek Fisher in the final seconds. Too bad for Richard Hamilton to get poked in the eye through his mask and suffer an elbow strain of some sort in the closing minute of the fourth quarter.

The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are a win each from earning the right to take on each other in the NBA Final.

(N.B. This was written when the Lakers-Spurs series was still 3-1 in favor of LA; it's 4-1 now.)

Not in a thousand (OK, a hundred, perhaps, if the Apocalypse doesn't fall on a Sunday in this century) years did I ever think I would be rooting for the Los Angeles Lakers.

From 'Big-Shot Bob' to 'Cheap-Shot Bob'

Well, not really rooting as in Go! Lakers! It's like: I don't give a panda's thumb who wins in the Western Conference; the Phoenix Suns disappointed and the Spurs didn't deserve to beat the Suns on Robert “Cheap-Shot Bob” Horry's sacrifice bump on Steve Nash in Game 5 of last year's West semis, the Suns losing Amare Stoudemire and Boris Diaw for entering the court from the bench during the scuffle. This year, the former “Big-Shot Bob,” again did his thuggish thing on David West in the Spurs' second-round match-up against the New Orleans Hornets.

In the sunset of his NBA journey, with his statistics all down, his usefulness mainly bench-based, Horry has taken a career decision to be a hitman with the motto: If you can't beat them, beat them.

In Game 5 of this year's second round match-up with the Hornets, Horry made a nasty pick on West with a little over a minute into the fourth quarter. As Manu Ginobili slashed towards the basket on the left wing, West backtracked, looking to double team on Ginobili, not seeing Horry behind him, waiting, bracing for impact. The replay clearly shows Horry leaning in to make contact with West, particularly to hurt his back – an injury that was and still is public knowledge. Knowledge is power and by sapping someone's power, you take it for yourself.

West fell face first unto the floor in a world of hurt. Mission accomplished for Cheap-Shot Bob hoary Horry. With seven NBA rings, what frontiers are left for Horry to conquer? If he can't hit those clutch threes with regularity anymore, hurting opposing stars and possibly taking them out of the game is just as vital a factor in winning or losing. Nash survived the shoulder-check by Horry to play in Game 6, but Stoudemire and Diaw didn't, both suspended for Game 7; West didn't survive this Game 6, and the Hornets lost the game, and the next one, and the series. Good nasty job, Cheap-Shot Bob.

Safe lead

The Spurs were leading, 84-63, 10:46 left in the 4th quarter, when Horry fouled West. It was safe lead even by the NBA's make-a-run-in-minutes standards, but Horry just had to make sure. His coach, the venerable Gregg Popovich may or may not have ordered Robert The Enforcer Horry to do the dirty deed. Horry, in his mercenary best, may have decided on his own to make himself important.

Judging by the chanting of the bloodthirsty SBC Center home crowd of “HORRY! HORRY! HORRY! HORRY!” Mr. Cheap Shot still gets a lot of love for hateful action.

By the same token, I don't mind who wins in the East, I'm a fan of both the Boston Celtics and the Detroit Pistons.

But for the sake of the NBA, and longtime fans who still remember the joy and drama brought on by the rivalry of Larry Bird's unexpected court brilliance for someone so white and can't-jump-can't-run physical no-gifts, and Magic Johnson's, OK, can-do-anything-because-ball-players-of-his-race-are-expected-to-be-that-athletic, the anticipation of a Celtics-Lakers dynastic encounter is just too exhilirating.

So, Spurs are down, 1-3. No tears here. It's only history (stick to odd-numbered years, Mister Duncan, Signore Ginobili and Monsieur Parker) repeating a pattern, while the Celtics-Pistons series has the Celtics ahead, 3-2. This one is far from over, unlike the West series. The Celtics and Pistons have demonstrated that they are fully capable of winning in hostile arenas. And if the Pistons tie it up at 3-3, Game 7 is anybody's ballgame.

The real fun has only begun. It would be a lot more fun if it's the Celtics taking on the Lakers in the NBA Finals. By then, it will be Go! Celtics! from this end all the way.

UFC 84: Have Ill Will, Will Rumble

2008-05-29T18:20:00.000-07:00

The best of the best in the best UFC tourney in recent memory.

UFC 84 is arguably the most exciting installment of the giant MMA franchise going back five tournaments. It had submissions and knockouts on chokes, armbars and strikes.

It saw, probably, Tito Ortiz's last fight in the Octagon. It had one of BJ Penn's most masterful wins in the weight division where he fits best. And best of all, on a personal level, one of my favorite fighters, the karate king, Lyoto Machida, a converted MMA warrior (a contradiction in terms right there, as real karate stylists don't just train in the empty-hand methods but are quite well-rounded, adept in ground techniques, usually from judo, stick and blade, on top of striking skills) methodically (root word, method...see?) picked Ortiz apart and nearly kayoed him before getting a unanimous decision victory.

The first televised bout, at least on what I saw on the Studio 23 replay Sunday night, was between Thiago Silva and Antonio Mendes. Silva got hit with a roundhouse kick to the right side of his head. He was able to block the strike with his right hand, but felt the impact enough to get knocked down. The Brazilian recovered, reversed the momentum, took down Mendes, mounted him, and pounded long enough to get a submission win in 2:24 of round 1.

Ivan Salaverry, 37, is a veteran. He carried a 12-5-1 win-loss-draw record into the fight with Rousimar Palhares, several years younger (Brazilians are notorious for not revealing their true age, even macho men MMA fighters) and four inches shorter at just 5-foot-8.

It was a beautiful, technical grappling fight on the ground. Palhares got Salaverry in back control and several attempted rear naked chokeholds that Salaverry wonderfully defended against. And just when Salaverry found a way to escape Palhares' hold, the Brazilian jiujitsu stylist transitioned to an armbar on Salaverry's left arm. Salaverry tapped out almost immediately, with 2:36 left in R1.

Machida-Ortiz. It could have been billed as the co-main event. No titles at stake, only Tito Ortiz's record and pride. Lyoto Machida came into this fight undefeated in MMA, seeking to keep a clean slate; the stakes for him were just as high.

Round 3 was war. It was a classic. Forget the first two rounds, which were all Machida – elusive, smart, accurate, brave. Machida was darting in and out of punching range, moving from left to right, while landing jabs and kicks on Ortiz, who tried his best to take down Machida, but the Japanese-Brazilian was just too quick and clever to be caught.

Ortiz, realizing he was trailing on all the judges' scorecards, came out very aggressive in the final round, challenging Machida to get it on. He got his licks in, catching Machida with some punches, a Thai clinch, and was ready to take him down for some of his old specialty, the ground and pound. But all of those backfired. As Ortiz was chasing Machida, he left himself open to a left knee to the kidney-abdominal area. Ortiz fell to the ground in obvious pain. Machida tried to finish Ortiz with punches, but Ortiz weathered the assault and even managed to grab Machida's neck for a triangle choke/neck crank. Machida twisted and turned on his back, pulled out his head, got to a far more comfortable position on Ortiz's guard, and went back to hitting Ortiz until the bell rang. The results on the judges scorecards painfully, figuratively and literally, obvious in Ortiz's mind. He looked at one of the cameras, ever the ham, and said something like, “I tried,” or “I did my best!”

That round 3 was like the best round Ortiz had in the last five years of his 11-year UFC career. He showed guts, strength, intelligence, resilience – too bad he lost. That means only one thing – Machida is the real thing. He is the best 205-pounder to have entered the Octagon in the last three years or so. And he only looks like a middleweight at 6-1, 205lbs. The bulky Ortiz looked like he outweighed Machida by 10 pounds.

Incidentally, “The Dragon” Machida, a Belem, Brazil native, turns 30 today, along with Rudimar Fedrigo's Chute Boxe Academy in Curitiba, Brazil. May you have more fire-breathing birthday celebrations and victories, Dragon, sir. And may CBA keep on rolling out more Wanderlei and Anderson Silvas, and Ninja and Shogun Ruas.

The Wilson Gouveia-Goran Reljic match had a lot of fire exchanged between the two light-heavyweights even before the fight started. It took Reljic eight minutes and 15 seconds to prove he was the better man that night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Nevada.

Forty-four seconds into R1, Reljic ate leather and decided to go for a flying guard defense. On the ground, Reljic attempted an omo plata with his left leg but couldn't quite get it.

In R2, after escaping from a near mount and being grounded and pounded by Gouveia, Reljic was backtracking when Gouveia followed him and walked right into a left roundhouse kick to just below his right ear. Down went Gouveia, Reljic put in the finishing with a lot of pounding. Referee Herb Dean stopped the fight, giving the TKO win to Reljic in 3:15 of R2.

Keith Jardine versus Wanderlei Silva. This was a battle between unorthodox fighters. Jardine, his arms in odd angles while squaring off with an opponent, looks like superflyweight boxer Armenian Vic Darchinyan, who was dealt his only professional loss, so far, by WBC flyweight champ Nonito Donaire Jr. of the Philippines.

Jardine went into this fight with a 13-4-1 win-loss-draw record and arms poised like spider legs about to pounce on a fly. Too bad the fly he wanted for a meal in UFC 84 is called “The Axe Murderer.” Axe beats legs anytime.

Thirty-six seconds into R1, the curse of the counterstrike struck again: Jardine threw a right kick to Silva's left leg, Silva countered with a right hook to the left jaw, followed with a left hook to the right jaw when Jardine was falling down. Then, more fist punishment. Silva got a mount, his right leg on Jardine's tummy, his left hand on Jardine's neck.

Third man in the Octagon, Steve Mazzagati, might have stopped the fight too late. Jardine had suffered serious punishment. He lay motionless on the floor, eyes dead, and looked critically injured, reminiscent of John Matua's stiffened arms and legs after David “Tank” Abbot laid him down with heavy punches in UFC 6 in just 20 seconds. It took Silva 16 seconds longer than Abbot to win over Jardine, but it was just as devastating.

BJ Penn vs. Sean Sherk for the 155lb lightweight championship. Hype preceded this match. Call it hype, call it ill temper. We call it the thunder before the storm...and tsunami.

We will score this one.

R1
Penn had the edge on punching. He defended well against early takedown attempts by Sherk. It was basically a standup fight after Sherk's takedown try.
Penn 10, Sherk 9

R2
Sherk's cuts on the face started to get worse. Penn was still jabbing, throwing body punches, shrugging off the TD tries of Sherk. Sherk swinging wildly, missing. Penn ended the round with a strong right hook to the jaw.
Penn 10, Sherk 9

R3
Penn unsuccessfully tried a TD himself near the middle part of the round. He went back to jabbing, stepping back, very elusive; almost at will hit Sherk with jabs and hooks to the head and body. Sherk still on a Rocky strategy -- letting Penn hit him repeatedly on the face with punches and on the legs with isolated kicks. In the closing seconds, Penn's left hook was blocked by Sherk's right hand, right uppercut got Sherk on the chin. Sherk backtracked, got his back on the fence. Penn chased him and threw a flying knee which hit Sherk both on the chin and on the chest. Sherk fell to the ground. Penn continued his attack with right hooks and hammer fists on a defenseless Sherk, who was semi-conscious.

The bell rang. Referee Mario Yamazaki seemed unsure on what to do. It was declared a TKO win for Penn after some indecisive moments. Even before that, Penn gestured that the fight was over, mockingly licked his gloves and ran back to Sherk seated on the ground. Penn touched Sherk's face and licked his own fingers as if tasting blood in an arrogant display of victory.

Then, Penn's split personality took over. He made like a gentleman, asking Sherk if he was okay, embraced him, telling him, assumably, were soothing words. Honey on wound after vinegar.

“Drop by anytime!” Penn told a still dazed Sherk, offering his beaten foe to train with him in his Hilo, Hawaii gym. Well, if Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, after being pummeled senseless by Wanderlei Silva in Pride, not once but twice, could train with Silva in the latter's Chute Boxe gym in Curitiba, Brazil, why not Sherk at Penn's Hilo MMA hideaway?

If Silva gets to fight Jackson again, this time in the UFC, and exacts revenge on the Axe Murderer, Sherk could try to duplicate the fantasy feat, make history repeat itself for himself, against Penn. Muscle Shark over The Prodigy in Penn-Sherk 2? Stranger things have happened in MMA.

The other preliminary bouts, not carrying the same cachet, were just as exciting in their own way.

Yoshiyuki Yoshida vs Jon Koppenhaver (170lbs)
R1, the Japanese UFC debutante, lean and mean at 5-11 170lbs, from the clinch on their feet, Yoshida judo threw Koppenhaver to the ground and caught the American's neck and left arm tight in a left-armed choke. Koppenhaver tried to escape, but Yoshida gator rolled and anaconda choked Koppenhaver into dreamland. The American managed a weak right hook to the ribs, but in seconds, he stopped moving. Herb Dean looked in, pulled Koppenhaver's right arm up to see if he was still conscious. Koppenhaver lay still. Dean stopped the fight in 56 secs of R1.

Rich Clementi vs. Terry Etim (155lbs)
Clementi by unanimous decision after three rounds. The Studio 23 replay didn't have this one.

Kazuhiro Nakamura vs. Rameau Sokoudjou (205lbs)
Like in the Ortiz-Machida bout, Sokoudjou looked several pounds heavier than Nakamura. R1 was action packed. Nakamura with elbows and flying knees, Soukodjou with kicks and a Superman punch. Nakamura was knocked down with just seconds left in the round. “The African Assassin” Sokoudjou kicked Nakamura's ribcage. The Japanese tried to catch Sokoudjou's leg, but the African followed up with a strong right cross to the chin, Nakamura fell on his butt, sitting on his right foot, probably hyper-extending his ankle.

The Japanese wobbled to his corner, crumbled to the ground again, and couldn't continue. Rack that one up as a TKO win for Sokoudjou. In the post-fight interview, he said that he knew Nakamura would try to catch his leg when he kicked, so he followed up with a punch. Before letting go of the microphone, the muscle-bound Sokoudjou called out Shogun Rua.

Shane Carwin vs. Christian Wellisch (206lbs-up)
Just as massively built, 60lbs heavier than Sokodjou, but of lighter tone, Shane Carwin upped his MMA record to 9-0-0 with a 44-second R1 one-punch destruction of Christian Wellisch. Carwin hit Wellisch with a right cross to the jaw, his mouthpiece dislodged from the strength of impact. KO. None of Carwin's fights have gone beyond one round.

What a night. It could have been, What a day! if Solar Sports were still broadcasting the UFC, but SkyCable's Balls (really) has bought the rights to the Philippine broadcast, and non-subscribers like Free-For-All have to content themselves with half-a-day-later replays at Balls' sister station, Studio 23. Kindred channels from the same ABS-CBN seed, it seems.

Nothing beats “Live,” or at least, “Via Satellite” an hour or two-hour delays on free pay-per-views. Well, you know how it is with beggars.

We still roll, though.

Suns down

2008-04-26T03:01:00.000-07:00

Phoenix 0, San Antonio 3.

There is still a measure of justice in this world.

Now that the Suns are just a game away from going on a fishing trip, it would be nice to know what Shawn Marion (who is already holding a fishing reel along with the rest of the Miami Heat) could be thinking right now.

I have a few conjectures. Marion is thinking: Serves you right for trading me...The Suns could have been 2-1 ahead in the series if I was still with them...In recent memory, the only time that a team won the NBA Finals because it added an aging All-Star to its lineup was when the Houston Rockets won in 1995 after it acquired Clyde Drexler...Charles Barkley tried to win a Finals ring with the Rockets and so did Karl Malone with the Lakers after making sudden jumps from their previous teams, but they all failed...

Something vital is lost when you tamper with the chemistry of a team that had gelled after years of playing together. There are hardly any instant solutions in the NBA where a long regular season is the battle field where team work and bonding are developed not just in a single season. Look what happened to the Sacramento Kings of Chris Webber, Mike Bibby, Vlade Divac, Peja Stojakovic, and Doug Christie, which almost knocked out the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2002 Western Conference Finals. Kings management gradually chopped off the top players from the roster until only Bibby was left, until even Bibby was out. Head coach Rick Adelman was fired in 2006, after nine seasons where he took the Kings with him to the playoffs every year of his tenure. The Kings never made it far in the playoffs after that particular player and coaching roster got broken up.

A team might be shaken up with good results when management dips its dirty fingers into a well-baked pie. But bad results are the norm.

When loyalty and hard work are rewarded with an axing, there will be consequences, because justice, unlike apple pie, is best served cold.

Reel it in, Mr. Marion. You caught one.

Looks like good fishing post-season.

Iceman thaws; Suns cool

2008-04-24T05:34:00.000-07:00

SINCE IT'S CHUCK LIDDELL'S PICTURE here that you have seen for the longest time, in fact, the only picture you have seen in this untended blog, it's only fair I write a few things about him first. For those who don't know yet, Liddell's fight with Rashad Evans in UFC 85 has been canceled due to the injury Liddell suffered on his hamstring.

It should really be serious, for Liddell to back out of a scheduled fight for the first time in 10 years as a professional mixed-martial-arts fighter. The Iceman never backed out of a fight before even when he got hurt in training. He fought Tito Ortiz and Quinton Jackson before while being not 100 percent.

Put some ice on it, Iceman. Oh, that's terrible.

Now, secondly, the next thing is proof that MMA is not all that I write. Hey, that's what this blog title is all about: Free-For-All. No, it's not that I write this for everyone for free, it's because I damn write what I like. Although I have a separate blog for my musical musings and plan to have one on my poetry.

This is what I want to discuss next.

The Phoenix Suns.

I was devastated after former Suns forward Shawn Marion along with Marcus Banks was traded to the Miami Heat for Shaquille O'Neal. After nine or so years of dedicated service to the Suns, Marion was unceremoniously dumped to get more meat from the veteran center, O'Neal. You can call O'Neal a journeyman for the way he has journeyed from East to West in 16 years. Although, technically he isn't.

The Suns wanted O'Neal to match up with Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spurs. The Suns would have made it to last year's NBA Finals if only Amare Stoudemire wasn't suspended for leaving the bench after Robert Horry intentionally fouled Steve Nash hard in the playoffs. Last year's Suns line-up may lack a legitimate center against Duncan but it had everything it needed to beat the Spurs and anybody else in the NBA.

They also let go of Kurt Thomas because they were so confident of having O'Neal in their line-up. The Spurs picked up Thomas and he is now giving O'Neal a tough time defensively.

O'Neal to match up against Duncan? The Suns are currently down 0-2 against the Spurs. Go figure.

If the Suns are eliminated in the first round, they deserve it. Karma of the negative kind floats in the air. Cebuanos have an exact word for it -- gaba. Now you have learned two Visayan words in two successive posts.

Slumber before Knockout

2007-09-22T13:01:00.000-07:00

WE’LL MAKE THIS QUICK. IT’S ABOUT SEVEN HOURS before the broadcast starts; that is an hour after the event really kicks off at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California.

We’ll risk error and humiliation by making known our picks for UFC 76: Knockout. Drum roll, please. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua over Forrest Griffin by knockout. Rua is too strong, too quick, too complete, too brave for Griffin. Despite the injury to his right arm suffered in the Pride match against Mark Coleman, Rua will win by sheer dominance. But then again, the UFC has been blessed with a lot of surprises the past five tournaments or so.

Chuck Liddell over Keith Jardine. Again, on sheer superiority. By KO. Liddell is still the supreme striker in the light-heavy 205-pound division. Don’t let the loss to Quinton Jackson fool you. There are humps in the road you just can’t get over. Rampage is the Iceman’s bump too high too climb. There is a word for it in Cebuano – nabalhibo-an. Against most other opponents, Liddell will need just a few minutes to warm up and get his range. He is the best at picking his shots and making them count.

This corner roots for Diego Sanchez against Jon Fitch. Nothing against Fitch. We just want Sanchez to get back on the road to winning, just like Liddell. They’re both gifted athletes with big hearts whose winning records will be good for the sport. Although underdogs have an uncanny way of biting you in the ass when you least expect it. Sanchez by submission. We hope.

That’s all the time we have. I got to get some sleep for the big event later. Dabbled and wrangled with a new blog…on classic rock…of all things. Among many things. I fancy myself a writer but I ain’t no visual artist/designer. Took me 10 hours to get it all together.

YAWN! G’night. Or g’mawnin’. See you around the Octagon or in front of your TV set.

'Doggymeat' At Ringside

2007-07-30T09:07:00.000-07:00

Almost as quickly as I read the following email yesterday, I just as quickly replied to it and promptly got a bounce. That shows how not-so Internet savvy this Free-For-Aller is. It's only appropriate since I got this email from "'Anonymous' ." Anyway, read on...

"This message is not flagged. [ Flag Message - Mark as Unread ]

Date: Mon, 30 Jul 2007 08:11:01 -0700 (PDT)
From: "Anonymous" Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert
To: paulotaneo@yahoo.com
Subject: [Free-For-All] New comment on Addendum.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Addendum":

Hey Paul. nice to see you writing you blog again. Its me, Aldie aka Doggymeat.

What did you think of GnP 3 last week? I was at ringside enjoying the action and was surprised none of the MMA bouts went to the 3rd round. MMA in Cebu has gotten to the next level indeed.

What's your take on UFC 74? I have "The Natural" winning by decision. another match i'm looking forward to is GSP vs Kos with GSP winning by a split decision. That card might as well be called "Really Stacked" as card looks really solid on paper. Asides from the GSP vs Kos tussle, I think the match of the night would be against Marcus Aurelio vs Clay Guida.

Lastly, try to visit www.mmaplayground.com if you have time to kill. It's a Fantasy MMA site and is quite fun. Earn points by predicting who wins in what round and how they will win.

"Hope to see more columns from you."

Aldie,

It's also nice to read you email again.

I took notes right after scoring the rounds of the GnP 3 bouts. I will write about the competition as soon as time allows. It would also be fun to speculate on UFC 74 but there's a lot of stuff I want to write about going four to six UFCs back. I will always root for Randy "The Natural/Captain America" Couture until he turns Unnatural/Captain Universal Cop. I hope he wins by submission/referee stoppage but a decision will do all right.

If you were at ringside, you must have seen me. Were you the tall Filipino-looking English-speaking guy with what appeared to be two Middle-Eastern MMA fans behind me to my left who kept on doing color commentary and giving fight suggestions as the matches went along?

By the way, Aldie, please use your name instead of "Anonymous" next time. I tend to ignore Mr./Mrs./Miss/Ms. Anonymous when I see their names on my Inbox. Fortunately, this wasn't one of those times.

Thanks and do keep on reading Free-For-All and emailing me.

Paul

The Flash’s flashback, the Executioner’s slowburn

2007-07-22T05:55:00.000-07:00

EARLIER today, the most exciting fight for Filipino fight fans was a replay. Bernard “The Executioner” Hopkins did not really fight Ronald "Winky" Wright, he followed the brilliant strategy of his trainer cornerman, Freddie “I promise you” Roach, to the letter and kept the smaller and younger Wright at bay for 12 rather boring rounds. The cut that Wright sustained above his left eye in the third round was the single most galvanizing moment of the match. Hopkins thoroughly deserved the unanimous decision win and the anger of the fat guy at ringside who kept on standing up and yelling what may have amounted to insults on Hopkins’ (and maybe also Wright’s) mother, for raising such pansy world-class fighters -- one surely bound for the hall of fame. Shame on both of them Sunday. The weigh-in scuffle at the Mandalay Bay had more excitement and elicited more damage – Roach reportedly tore a stomach muscle.

On the other hand, Nonito Donaire Jr.’s devastating KO win over the previously undefeated (28-0) Vic Darchinyan two weeks ago (shown on GMA 7 while Hopkins-Wright was on ABS-CBN 3 -- which scored a coup by hiring Donaire to do commentary for Hopkins-Wright) was a picture-perfect match-ending display of courageous and smart counterfighting that suddenly placed the Filipino-American in the top 5 of his division. Taller, younger, and just as powerful as the Armenian slugger, Donaire also had a burning desire to avenge his older brother Glenn’s just as damaging KO loss to Darchinyan.

The faux redhead Czar Amonsot’s defeat to Michael Katsidis for the WBO interim lightweight belt, on the other hand, had more thrills for half the number of rounds than the 12-round chess-match Chinese checkers (more chess than Chinese checkers) dance-o-rama of the Hopkins-Wright championship bout. Two of the most exciting portions of the Amonsot-Katsidis fight were the knockdowns Amonsot suffered in the second and 10th rounds. A fairer judge would have declared it a draw at worst and a slight win on points for Amonsot at best, but despite the profuse bleeding and swelling on Katsidis' left eye, Amonsot did not do enough to convince the judges to give him the win. The Aussie fighter claimed that the damage to his left eye was caused by Amonsot's elbows and head butts. "I said I was going to introduce new blood to the sport and I guess you saw a lot of new blood," Katsidis said in a post-fight interview. He failed to mention that most of the blood was his. Match referee Jay Nady could have stopped the fight before the 12th round due to Katsidis’ badly-injured eye and could have warned the Australian-based slugger as often as he did Amonsot for infractions, still…Okay, Amonsot lost but at least he wasn’t knocked out and didn’t have his hair turn back black.

“The Filipino Flash” Nonito Donaire’s victory to claim both the IBF and IBO 112-pound titles made up for the dreariness of Hopkins-Wright and the frustration of Amonsot-Katsidis. Donaire is now a name that Filipino boxing fans can lump with the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Boom-Boom Bautista, another two-fisted fighter you can root for and not feel too scared he might lose because he knows his craft like Pacman and Boom-Boom do.

Donaire’s left-hook that landed on the lower part of Darchinyan’s jaw was a thing of lethal beauty, a Tomahawk sea-launched cruise missile taking out an Iraqi bunker from miles away. You know it's destructive but you just have to admire it. As Darchinyan stepped in, faked a right jab, his right hand near Donaire’s head, his left hand winded up for an uppercut, Donaire had already winded up for his own left-hook counter. Just like a smart bomb, at the exact moment that Darchinyan had presented himself as a target, Donaire lit the fuse of his left fist and detonated it on Darchinyan’s jaw. BLAM!

Donaire had positioned himself so perfectly that his left foot was between Darchinyan’s feet the moment he hit him. Donaire said pre-fight that he did not respect Darchinyan’s power. After Darchinyan got KO’ed, the Armenian should have developed respect for Donaire’s power. Grudging respect, perhaps, but respect nevertheless.

In the fight game, it’s all about respect, power, winning, money, and all the intangibles and tangibles in between. When Rodel Mayol fights Ulises Solis on Aug. 4, here’s hoping he has learned his lessons not just from his 24 wins but also from his single loss. Who knows, Mayol might do a Donaire and have his name enshrined in the hearts and minds of Pinoy fight fans along with Pacman, Boom-Boom and the Filipino Flash. "Magnum Force" looks good side by side with the Terrible Trio among our current ring heroes.

Addendum

2007-07-10T11:46:00.000-07:00

I wrote my take on UFC 73 -- Stacked almost right after watching the slambang action at Arco Arena last Sunday on Solar TV (a great blessing to MMA “freaks” like this blogger) but having no Internet connection, yet, I had to make do with hitting the keyboards on my second-hand laptop and saving my latest masterpiece (cough cough) on my trusty USB and biding my time until I could go to a wired location to post it. So, without further ado...Free-For-All presents (drum roll, please) after a long while...the latest (don't ask how late) FFA post. Thank you for putting up with me and hooking up again. “Without actors, critics won’t have jobs.” And acting is not limited to the stage, screen, ring and Octagon. Jobs? That’s another story. Another post for lack of a print column. Hopefully, not for long.

Of Missed Opportunities And Equestrian Idiocy

2007-07-10T11:37:00.000-07:00

UFC 73 – Stacked
July 8, 2007 Arco Arena

THIS one didn’t have the MMA world-shaking upsets of the previous three UFC tournaments or the blank space in my mind of UFC 72 (which I didn’t see) but it sure lived up to its “Stacked” title. Although the main event welterweight championship between Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Nate “The Great” Marquardt was ironically the least exciting of the card.

The Antonio Rodrigo “Minotauro” Nogueira-Heath “The Texas Crazy Horse” Herring barnburner is the figurative perfect match to start a martial arts tournament. The legendary heavyweights, picking up from where they left off in Japan’s Pride, exchange punches. Herring falls while Nogueira gets side cradle control and goes for back control but Herring suddenly stands up to escape. On their feet, the Minotaur hits the Horse with a strong left straight that slightly buckles the latter. Later, with about 30 seconds left in the round, Nogueira misses a left straight and Herring counters with a left roundhouse head kick that hurts Nogueira a lot more than he hurt Herring earlier. Nogueira falls to the canvas and Herring follows him to the ground to deliver a pounding.

Inexplicably, Herring disengages, gets back on his feet and motions for Nogueira to do the same. Nogueira does not look a gift horse in the mouth (heh…) and Herring again fells him. With Herring in Nogueira’s guard and punching out Nogueira, the Texas Crazy Horse, true to his moniker, acts crazy and again stands up while motioning with his hands for Nogueira to get back up. Nogueira survives Round 1 with his wits and poise intact. In our scorecard, we give it, of course, to Herring, 10-9.

In Round 2, Nogueira, fully aware that he has to rally, tries several submission holds on Herring, which the strong and patient Herring all escape from. On those failed submission attempts alone, Nogueira wins the round, 10-9.

Herring, in the last round, again does one of his great escapes from Nogueira’s chokes and Kimuras, the most dangerous looking is a rear-naked choke that locks on the lefts side of Herring’s face, Herring bides his time and pulls out of the hold and even manages to reverse into a dominant position while landing on Nogueira’s guard. Herring fights on but is obviously fading, while Nogueira having gone back to boxing Herring, increasingly gets more confident and does enough to win Round 3 to add to his points from Round 2 – no mean feat, considering the dire straits he was on in Round 1. Nogueira, 10-9.

The UFC judges had it officially at 29-28 for Nogueira just like Free-For-All’s. To beat a dead horse (sorry, the pun is irresistible), we have to question Herring’s chivalry, sportsmanship, stupidity, or a combination of all. Although, it’s no big mystery. Even though Herring was on the verge of taking out Nogueira with his striking while the Brazilian was dazed and very vulnerable on the ground, the two previous defeats (a decision and submission by Anaconda choke) he suffered to Nogueira had planted the seeds of fear and respect in his mind. Nogueira can submit anybody anytime when all his resources are locked on predatory mode. Perhaps also flushed with his power, Herring wanted to show the world that he could end the fight on his feet instead of on the ground.

Everyone is welcome to post their opinion on the matter. I used to write a sports column just as long as this one in a local English news daily where I was getting paid a pittance (everything is relative), so you can’t blame this Free-For-Aller for reserving the rest of the card for (no, not three or four days later, as my schedule had it then) next time when I feel like it. Take that, editors of all stripes and egos! No deadlines this time…and no column pay either. Well…c’est la vie.

Back From The Dread

2006-09-23T06:54:00.000-07:00

So it happened. IceMan KOed Babalu. It's no surprise, really, Chuck Liddell is now at the top of his game. Forget the stunning loss by TKO to Randy Couture and Quinton Jackson and Babalu's impressive previous record. Like Matt Hughes, Liddell is king of the hill...for now. And Hughes? He is likewise his promontory's top dog. He may have lost by submission via rear-naked choke to BJ Penn in UFC 46, but that is ancient history now. Seventeen editions of the Ultimate Fighting Championship later, Hughes is a changed man, and so is Penn. Hughes has run over all five of his opponents, including the Bob Dylan of the MMA -- Royce Gracie. It's like Bruce Springsteen blowing Dylan off the stage. Age has something to do with it beating a legend is like giving God a scratch. It's not just possible. But this is MMA not theology and anything can happen. Like a fight promoter challenging a journalist to go up the ring. Challenge accepted, prick! GnP 2, October 28, 2006. Mark the date. Names withheld to protect the guilty. But people already know. What are you gonna do, make the rules? Get in the ring, punk. Receive your just punishment. Yeah, YOU! You know who you are, deluded ass. OTSS. What is that? Another spelling for OUCH? Four and counting, start discounting. GnP may be the new kid in the MMA block but the older (not by much) "group" is starting to feel the pinch. A GnP guy told me that one of the incorporators of OTSS offered a tie-up of sorts. My GnP source said that his colleague said "no, thank you." Good. Two "groups" can play this game. It's the same game but played with different rules. I would love to write about the rather touchy city ordinance on local MMA, re: only those 18 to 40 years old allowed to fight legally. How about illegally? Heh... Hey, ass, remember the time you told Richard (you know who) to hold MMA fights with betting in your family's building basement? You conveniently cannot remember? That's because your memory is selective, same as(s) your few friends and plenty of enemies. Oops! Not a very politically-correct term...how about opponents? Adversaries? Rivals? I like the last one. No more monopoly.

Back to reality. Hughes vs. Penn. I have to take Penn on this. The way he dominated Hughes in their first fight, despite going up in weight to welterweight from lightweight. That was the upset of the year in MMA in 2004. At the time, Penn was arguably the best pound-for-pound MMA fighter. Then he left the UFC and was lost, directionless in his fighting career. Sure, he lost two of his five fights by decision. Decision, sometimes the judges see it differently or it just means the match was boring and someone had to be declared the winner so let the better looking fighter get the win. Penn also looks Filipino. Despite the Anglo last name, Penn looks Oriental and being from Hawaii...he could be Ilocano. Let's root for the Pinoy or maybe Pinoy here.

Evenly matched on paper, this fight could go the full route and anything could happen. MMA is by far the more difficult sport to judge compared to boxing. Ringside judges have to consider strikes by hand and foot, knees and shins, elbows, grappling prowess and ring control. And if you are a bleeder, that could be a minus. Penn by KO in less than five, Hughes by decision in five. Betting starts now.

Hey, readers, if any. Please excuse the grammatical errors and typos; the cybercafe girl is yelling: "Five minutes na lang!" I don't even have time to spell check. Whew. Just barely.

Three weeks without a new post. Well, when I was doing this for pay (ahem...and the self-expression), 90 percent of the time, at the very least, I was 10 to 20 hours early in sending my column. Giving up that far-from lucrative enterprise, I have no editors, ASSistant editors, manAGING editors, NOOSE editors, editors in CHEAP, yeah, CHEAT, too, pressuring me to make the deadline that they themselves can easily disregard. Admit it! Now, I only have the Internet cafe attendant saying: "Manirado mi og 9 p.m.!" I used to rush against the onslaught of daylight, now it's a lowly-paid cybercafe attendant baying at my heels. Did I omit anybody? Reporters, your time will come. Photographers! Yours too. Nah, reporters and photographers are the coolest people in print media. There are exceptions, of course. But the bad is outnumbered by the good.

Speaking of one reporter, SSC ace justice beat reporter Karlon N. Rama of Stage Fright (sorry, couldn't resist, grasshopper) fame/infamy -- thanks for the mention of this blog in your column, man. I owe you coffee. KNR doesn't drink alcoholic substances anymore, he only smells gunpowder nowadays. And Bong Wenceslao (one of the more cool print editors in Cebu), my gratitude goes to you too, Sir Bong, for the similar mention in your column. That's how it goes in local media: you scratch my back, I will knife yours. Joke.

Saturday Night's All Right For Blogging

2006-09-02T07:21:00.000-07:00

Did I say Saturday? Well, we've got about an hour to go before Sunday, so technically,it's still Saturday. Okay, sorry for the delay. I'm still trying to get a phone line and just got hold of a brand-new second-hand laptop sans mouse. I'm setting up, so please bear with me.

For all those who sent in comments, good and bad, to Free-For-All, thank you. A little request, though, please use a name besides Anonymous -- that guy's gotten too famous for his or her own good.

To Lionheart, John Pages and "Anonymous", I appreciate your posts, I just got a few comments of my own: Lionheart has always been one of Free-For-All's biggest supporters, and dare I say it...fans. Go on, my friend, do the thread. To John, a mean columnist himself, I still have those heartwarming text messages you sent me regarding the "brilliance," AHEM!, of my print columns. Nah, I was never your "boss," buddy, yes, I was your buddy. You never gave me a hard time waiting for your columns. And you always called to inform if you couldn't send in one. "Assistant sports editor"? I was a sports editor before I was coerced into sliding down to asst. ed. And "Anonymous," you freak, I neither "tapped out or was axed or passed out" -- I quit! Now stop using that gasgas moniker. Glad to know though that despite the namecalling, you "missed" my column.

'Til next time (Saturday? Sunday sounds good to me), keep submitting and tune in. Peace.

Stay Tuned

2006-08-29T05:22:00.000-07:00

That article was my last print column for my former employer (yeah, you read that right). Now, Free-For-All is really free! Anything goes from now on. I can't promise you a regular update on matters mixed-martial-arts local and/or international, that really depends on the availability of material, but this I can assure you -- you will have a post to peruse once a week, at least...tentatively every Saturday, depending on your time zone.

Now, if you will excuse me, I have to take a break to take a meal or I will have to tap out due to decreased blood-sugar level. 'Til next posting. Tune in on Saturday (RP time), same blog site, same blogger. Take your vitamins and practice your submissions. Spread the word, Free-For-Allers!

UFC-Pride, The Violent Union

2006-08-29T04:51:00.000-07:00

CHUCK “The Iceman” Liddell will beat Renato “Babalu” Sobral, that’s for sure. But as our neighborhood sage said, “Nothing is sure under the mango tree.” But if Liddell plays it stupid by letting Sobral take him down, Sobral will have a huge chance to steal the win from The Iceman.

Liddell relies on his striking, more on punches than on kicks but he can do both well, having been a former kickboxer with a record of 20-2-0 with 16 knockouts. Sobral can stand up with Liddell but he can’t sustain striking it out with Liddell for long.

From the get-go, Sobral has to take down Liddell and go for a submission or mount Liddell for the pound. That’s easier said than done. Liddell’s sprawl and escape from the single-leg takedown is very good. And when he breaks away from a hold with his opponent still in the ground or just about to get back on his feet, Liddell will be waiting to pounce.

“Chuck also wants to prove that his first victory over Babalu was no fluke. My pick, Chuck by decision…The last big event I’m waiting for is the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix semifinal round. CroCop versus Wanderlei, and Rodrigo Nogueira vs. Josh Barnett. These are, by far, the best fights.

CroCop and Wandy drew their first match. But I would give CroCop the advantage as he is a natural heavyweight. Wandy is a light heavyweight, but who knows.”CroCop will always have the edge over Silva due to his size, like Liddell against Sobral. CroCop may have drawn with Silva the first time out, but things this time may change this time.

CroCop has improved a lot his defense to the sprawl and push out. And his punching and roundhouse kick are still a force of nature.

He wasn’t able to knock down or knock out Silva the first time out because Silva, as usual, was so aggressive, taking the fight to Crocop and getting very close.

It was also CroCop’s first mixed-martial-arts match and he was swamped by the type of attack. He said that it was confusing defending against, punches, kicks, clinch, takedown, etc.

Silva is one of the most athletic MMA fighters active. He is strong, quick, and almost totally fearless. He loves toe-to-toe exchanges and is very durable.

After his defeat to Ricardo Arona, a little shine was taken off his being one of the world’s best MMA fighters. He has a lot to prove, everything to lose, while CroCop, being bigger, has his pride and future prize money to think of.

Silva is still one of Pride’s top attractions and CroCop is right behind him. If no one plans to play it safe, Silva-CroCop will be a blast.

“The second match up would be interesting, grappler versus grappler. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (the older of the twins) has never lost to a guy that wasn’t named Fedor (Emelianenko). Josh is on a roll.

I would give Big Nog the edge as he is a very good striker being a former amateur boxer. Also, I want to know what you think about the decision of UFC and Pride to pit their top fighters (Chuck vs. Wanderlei) against each other? I think this is very good for MMA as this will be the first ‘true’ undisputed world championship match for MMA.

“Thanks for taking the time to read my somewhat amateurish view on the fights. Hope to read your expert views on these fights. More power to you!”

You have never been amateurish, Aldie. If you had a column yourself, I would be a tad insecure as you see the fighters and analyze fights as well as anybody I know. I have never claimed to be an MMA expert, I just know more than most and have the upper hand in articulation and venue (I have a column, you don’t) like CroCop over Silva size-wise.

Nogueira has some edge over Barnett. Big Nog has probably the best submission of all heavyweights. Barnett is no slouch in that department, either, but on a level of one to 10, Big Nog is at least a nine, while Barnett can barely make seven. Barnett has a better chance striking it out with Big Nog. You have to break eggs to make eggnog. Heheheh…

I see this as a win for Nogueira by submission. A KO win for Big Nog is not a remote possibility either.

As to UFC and Pride getting together? This is a momentous event in MMA. It’s like the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association agreeing to unify their rating systems and putting all their champions in one pool. The UFC-Pride combo can only mean good things for MMA.

from SunStar.com.ph