So, I listened to Dana White today on the Adam Carolla podcast. I was impressed with White. I think he gets a bum rap from the mainstream media. They make him out to be a hot-headed thug, a guy who just got lucky and was in the right place at the right time, but doesn't deserve to be the commissioner of a major sport. Well, they're idiots. White is bright. He just comes from a blue collar background and so these white collar guys don't get him. I do, because I come from blue collar as well. He's direct and doesn't pussyfoot around using euphemisms and being afraid to offend people. Those are blue collar values -- good values, and ones that I share.
I've always been a fan of the UFC. Today I became a fan of Dana White.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Saturday, July 11, 2009
UFC 100
Alright, we're live in the Big Chair at my house for UFC 100.
So far, we've seen two fights. Yoshihiro Akiyama v. Alan Belcher, and Michael Bishping v. Dan Henderson. Akiyama is apparently a big star in Japan, and you could see why. Heavy hands, smart, and a judo champion. Had a lot of confidence. Not intimidated, even though this was his first fight in the US. But Belcher, a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, fought very well. Escaped an ippon from the judo master. Knocked Akiyama down briefly with a hook. It was a very good, close fight. Both guys went all out. Belcher did kick Akiyama in the balls, after which they stopped the fight for a minute. The ref gave Akiyama five minutes, but to his credit the Japanese dude didn't take half that time. But it just shows you how far the UFC has come from its origins. I mean, it's not self-defense if you can't kick someone in the balls. And if you can't even protect your balls, how good of a martial artist are you? Anyway, the fight continued, it was a good fight, and in the end, the judges gave the split decision to Akiyama. Big surprise: the undefeated dude with the big following in the relatively untapped by the UFC Asian market got the close decision. Even Joe Rogan said Belcher got robbed.
The Bishping-Henderson fight was a disappointment. Bishping, a favorite of mine from the Ultimate Fighter, let me down. I remember Bishping as a smart, skilled fighter with a chip on his shoulder. He showed some smarts tonight, by staying the hell away from Henderson, circling, circling, moving his head, keeping his hands up to defend. That got him through the first round. But Henderson was much bigger -- thicker, more muscular. Basically, I think Henderson was on the juice, whereas Bishping, though taller, just looked skinny and weak. He never threatened Henderson, and was threatened by Henderson the whole fight. And, in the second round, Henderson caught Bishping with a perfect hook. Bishping was circling to his left, and he circled directly into Henderson's right hook. "The Count" was unconscious before he hit the canvas, but Henderson showed the killer instinct, gleefully jumping on the prone Bishping and landing another hard shot to the chin before the ref could pull him off.
Now, we've got Thiago Alves v. Georges St. Pierre. GSP is the current golden boy of MMA, the pound-for-pound champ. I haven't watched him in a while. I remember him looking, well, not tough, not physically tough, in losing to Matt Hughes. How does he look now?
Awesomely quick and skilled. Alves is very quick, but he St. Pierre is a beat quicker. GSP gets takedowns at will. Controls the fight. At one point, Alves, a muay thai star, throws a fast, skilled kick to the body. GSP still caught it and used the leg to take Alves down.
I'm looking forward to the main event. Frank Mir v. Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is freakishly huge. Looks like an action figure. I remember when he tried out for the Vikings a few years back. Apparently, he didn't have the skill to play D-line at the pro level, having not played college football. But he had the skill to knock out Randy Couture in his last fight. So, we'll see. Mir, I first heard of when I went to Vegas for my buddy Jay's bachelor party a few years ago. Harris Brumer, former Florida high school wrestling champ and still the toughest guy I personally have ever known, told me that Mir had been a great fighter back in the day and was making a comeback. I don't think Mir won that night's fight -- if I remember correctly -- Brumer went to the watch the fight live and text-messaged the rest of us at the steakhouse with the results of each fight.
St. Pierre still dominating, by the way. Nearly knocked Alves out there. (By the way, the amount of blood-stains on the floor of the Octagon is amazing. It's everywhere. These guys -- the blood of their predecessors is literally under their feet.) Then he nearly submits Alves.
In the end, Alves gets the moral victory of surviving all five rounds. But St. Pierre takes a really, really unanimous decision.
The real surprise is Joe Rogan. Shows some knowledge of martial arts. And asks a good question. Will St. Pierre move up to middleweight to fight Anderson Silva? The crowd roars. St. Pierre gives an embarrased smile. Says he is already the champion, but he might do it for the challenge. Bad idea. St. Pierre is small. He was smaller than Alves. To fight at the next weight class up? Tough. Bigger guys have more power. And they can take harder shots. So, St. Pierre's blows won't hurt as much, and the blows he takes will hurt more.
Ok, we're on to Lesnar-Mir. I'm gonna take Lesnar, only because I know little of Mir. That said, Lesnar looks a little chubby. Huge, but with a layer of blubber. A whale of a man. And the sword tatto down his chest looks weird.
Fight starts. Lesnar ends up on top in a scramble. Bad place for Mir. Lesnar pounds away with short, powerful blows to the head. Mir is bleeding. Round one to Lesnar. But the crowd boos. Technical fight so far, on the ground the whole time. The mob prefers stand-up.
Second round. Mir has a moment, when he throws some quick punches and a flying knee during some close quarters standup. But then it goes to the ground again. The Whale on top. More of those short, extremely powerful blows to the head. They take their toll. The Whale smells blood. Lands a flurry of blows to Mir's head. Mir is defenseless, and the ref stops the fight.
The crowd continues to boo. The Whale gives them the finger! He gives the fans the finger! The he beckons them to keep booing, and says he loves it. Yeah, you can tell this guy used to be a pro wrestler. He's still playing the villain.
His post-fight interview is a joke. Talking about pulling a horseshoe out of Mir's ass. Howling into the mike. Saying he's going to go home and get on top of his wife. That's fine -- hell, I'd get on top of my wife in that situation too, but I wouldn't announce it to an audience of millions of strangers.
I think I've become a Lesnar hater. Bring on Fedor Emilianko!
So far, we've seen two fights. Yoshihiro Akiyama v. Alan Belcher, and Michael Bishping v. Dan Henderson. Akiyama is apparently a big star in Japan, and you could see why. Heavy hands, smart, and a judo champion. Had a lot of confidence. Not intimidated, even though this was his first fight in the US. But Belcher, a brown belt in jiu-jitsu, fought very well. Escaped an ippon from the judo master. Knocked Akiyama down briefly with a hook. It was a very good, close fight. Both guys went all out. Belcher did kick Akiyama in the balls, after which they stopped the fight for a minute. The ref gave Akiyama five minutes, but to his credit the Japanese dude didn't take half that time. But it just shows you how far the UFC has come from its origins. I mean, it's not self-defense if you can't kick someone in the balls. And if you can't even protect your balls, how good of a martial artist are you? Anyway, the fight continued, it was a good fight, and in the end, the judges gave the split decision to Akiyama. Big surprise: the undefeated dude with the big following in the relatively untapped by the UFC Asian market got the close decision. Even Joe Rogan said Belcher got robbed.
The Bishping-Henderson fight was a disappointment. Bishping, a favorite of mine from the Ultimate Fighter, let me down. I remember Bishping as a smart, skilled fighter with a chip on his shoulder. He showed some smarts tonight, by staying the hell away from Henderson, circling, circling, moving his head, keeping his hands up to defend. That got him through the first round. But Henderson was much bigger -- thicker, more muscular. Basically, I think Henderson was on the juice, whereas Bishping, though taller, just looked skinny and weak. He never threatened Henderson, and was threatened by Henderson the whole fight. And, in the second round, Henderson caught Bishping with a perfect hook. Bishping was circling to his left, and he circled directly into Henderson's right hook. "The Count" was unconscious before he hit the canvas, but Henderson showed the killer instinct, gleefully jumping on the prone Bishping and landing another hard shot to the chin before the ref could pull him off.
Now, we've got Thiago Alves v. Georges St. Pierre. GSP is the current golden boy of MMA, the pound-for-pound champ. I haven't watched him in a while. I remember him looking, well, not tough, not physically tough, in losing to Matt Hughes. How does he look now?
Awesomely quick and skilled. Alves is very quick, but he St. Pierre is a beat quicker. GSP gets takedowns at will. Controls the fight. At one point, Alves, a muay thai star, throws a fast, skilled kick to the body. GSP still caught it and used the leg to take Alves down.
I'm looking forward to the main event. Frank Mir v. Brock Lesnar. Lesnar is freakishly huge. Looks like an action figure. I remember when he tried out for the Vikings a few years back. Apparently, he didn't have the skill to play D-line at the pro level, having not played college football. But he had the skill to knock out Randy Couture in his last fight. So, we'll see. Mir, I first heard of when I went to Vegas for my buddy Jay's bachelor party a few years ago. Harris Brumer, former Florida high school wrestling champ and still the toughest guy I personally have ever known, told me that Mir had been a great fighter back in the day and was making a comeback. I don't think Mir won that night's fight -- if I remember correctly -- Brumer went to the watch the fight live and text-messaged the rest of us at the steakhouse with the results of each fight.
St. Pierre still dominating, by the way. Nearly knocked Alves out there. (By the way, the amount of blood-stains on the floor of the Octagon is amazing. It's everywhere. These guys -- the blood of their predecessors is literally under their feet.) Then he nearly submits Alves.
In the end, Alves gets the moral victory of surviving all five rounds. But St. Pierre takes a really, really unanimous decision.
The real surprise is Joe Rogan. Shows some knowledge of martial arts. And asks a good question. Will St. Pierre move up to middleweight to fight Anderson Silva? The crowd roars. St. Pierre gives an embarrased smile. Says he is already the champion, but he might do it for the challenge. Bad idea. St. Pierre is small. He was smaller than Alves. To fight at the next weight class up? Tough. Bigger guys have more power. And they can take harder shots. So, St. Pierre's blows won't hurt as much, and the blows he takes will hurt more.
Ok, we're on to Lesnar-Mir. I'm gonna take Lesnar, only because I know little of Mir. That said, Lesnar looks a little chubby. Huge, but with a layer of blubber. A whale of a man. And the sword tatto down his chest looks weird.
Fight starts. Lesnar ends up on top in a scramble. Bad place for Mir. Lesnar pounds away with short, powerful blows to the head. Mir is bleeding. Round one to Lesnar. But the crowd boos. Technical fight so far, on the ground the whole time. The mob prefers stand-up.
Second round. Mir has a moment, when he throws some quick punches and a flying knee during some close quarters standup. But then it goes to the ground again. The Whale on top. More of those short, extremely powerful blows to the head. They take their toll. The Whale smells blood. Lands a flurry of blows to Mir's head. Mir is defenseless, and the ref stops the fight.
The crowd continues to boo. The Whale gives them the finger! He gives the fans the finger! The he beckons them to keep booing, and says he loves it. Yeah, you can tell this guy used to be a pro wrestler. He's still playing the villain.
His post-fight interview is a joke. Talking about pulling a horseshoe out of Mir's ass. Howling into the mike. Saying he's going to go home and get on top of his wife. That's fine -- hell, I'd get on top of my wife in that situation too, but I wouldn't announce it to an audience of millions of strangers.
I think I've become a Lesnar hater. Bring on Fedor Emilianko!
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