Category: mma

mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 14, Episode 3: Dodson the Mole?

Posted on by Beau Dure

Did Mayhem do something else to his hair? In any case, he brings in a bunch of swimming-pool noodles and says he’s going to teach people the first rule of the Octagon: Defend yourself at all times. He then whacks Dodson in the head with a noodle, starting a noodle fight.

Bisping gets revenge for the tire gag from last week. But he goes a bit farther, taking the tires from Miller’s car. Miller congratulates him but suggests he might want to focus a little less on the pranks and a little more on the fights.

Team Bisping does some vicious sparring. They say “60 percent.” But guys get mad. Akira says he wants to put fear in his teammates because it’s a competition. Meanwhile, Diego and Marcus go at it. Marcus says he doesn’t mind. Bisping, though, is pissed. At least, we think that’s what he said through the bleeps. Marcus says something about being from Alabama and speaking Ebonics and Redneck, while the other guy is from Brazil. Something about kidnapping. Do real camps deal with stuff like this?

Back in the house, Akira of the ever-present hat is the jokester. Slip and slide into the pool. Sitting on the pool table wearing a cup, asking housemates to shoot right at his jewels. Everyone else sleeps early, so Akira has time to put marshmallows and rice in everyone’s gloves. Dustin Neace apparently has three testicles, so Akira puts a pool ball with the number 8 in his glove. Oh, I’m sorry — that’s a 3.

We interrupt this moment of fun for a fight announcement. Mayhem picks Johnny Bedford from his team. Then,  “for your crime of calling Bryan Carraway a bitch,” Mayhem calls out Josh Ferguson. Josh anticipated the matchup and has “F–k you Bedford” scribbled on a piece of paper. The staredown turns into some serious smack talk.

“I felt like a guy in the middle of a country/western bar about to get stabbed,” Miller says.

Bedford’s right hand is a little injured from his prelim fight.

At the ad break, Miller Lite questions our masculinity.

Back from the break — Akira and TJ do the old water-bucket-over-the-door trick. We leave that hanging while Bisping trains Josh. The Josh backstory: He grew up in a family of seven, so he had to fight for everything. That’s all we hear before we jump back to Bisping’s tactics: Keep the fight within striking distance but not clinching distance.

Back to the house — the water bucket lands in front of the approaching fighters. Dud.

Dustin, though, doesn’t like the pranks. He takes a carton of food (rice? cereal?) and dumps it on Akira’s bed telling him not to mess with his stuff. So Akira confronts him, and we have a trash-talk scene so rapid-fire you’d think Aaron Sorkin wrote it.

Back at the house, we learn that my buddy from TUF tryouts, John Dodson, has a lot of friends on the other team. And that’s how Josh knew he was going to be selected to face Bedford. And then Josh learns about Bedford’s hand problem. Uh oh. Tattletales generally haven’t fared well on this show.

Ironically, Bedford corrects Dodson and Friends’ spelling of  “leprechaun,” someone’s nickname.

Meet the fighters … Bedford has a family and has been chasing the dream for 6-7 years. Ferguson has garden-variety confidence and wears his straw hat to the cage.

Looks like we’re going to start at 10:40 or so, which means this is likely not a short fight. The ad break has one of those awkward juxtapositions of Marines and TUF contestants talking about fighting.

Herb Dean is the ref, and Josh comes out firing. Bedford gets in for a clinch, exactly what Bisping didn’t want, and Josh’s attempt to wrap himself around Bedford doesn’t stop the takedown. Bedford grounds and pounds, then lets Josh back up. Josh again throws a decent combo in the standup. Bedford clinches again, takes Josh to the cage and lands some knees. Closeup shows blood on the bridge of Bedford’s nose. Again they stand, and Josh looks sharp again, but Bedford gets a Thai clinch, lands a knee and gets another takedown. This time, he’s in side control and would be well-advised to stay there. He shifts into more of a north-south and starts to work for an armlock. They’re right in front of Bisping, who yells a few instructions. Josh reverses, but Bedford stands. Josh goes for a guillotine, which is enough to slow Bedford for the moment. They break, and Josh has a nice welt under his left eye. Bedford dodges some punches and gets a bodylock to take Josh down. He gets position for a rear naked choke but not enough time. Round 1 to Bedford.

Round 2: Now Bedford’s winning the standup, countering effectively and then taking the initiative. He’s clearly the more experienced fighter, and he’s a good bit bigger. Clinch again, takedown again, and Josh has a look of “Aw geez, not again” on his face. Josh establishes guard, but Bedford passes to half. As Bedford moves to side control, Josh goes for a Hail Mary choke. Bedford escapes, pounds a bit more but lets Josh up. For a second or two. Then it’s a slam right back down, and Bedford’s in side control. He’s working Josh’s face with elbows while Herb Dean yells “Work!” Into the last minute we go, and it’s clear Josh has no answer for anything. Bedford, though, forgets about the big bonuses for the best knockout and submission on the show, and he’s content landing elbows until the fight ends.

Decision: Unanimous for Bedford. Bisping can’t believe Josh tried a flying knee, from which Bedford easily deposited him on the ground.

Mayhem says he notices a recurring theme on the show. Bisping says it’s just two fights.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 14, Episode 2

Posted on by Beau Dure

Slight change in the opening credits from season past — it’s almost all fight footage. Very little from the gym. It’s as if they’re sending a message that the fights this season are going to be as impressive as we saw last week.

Rare bit of trivia: The house is 15,000 square feet.

“We ate and ate and ate and ate,” they say of their early time in the house. John Dodson is manning the grill.

Draft day — we see Miller’s rankings. Dodson (bantamweight) and Diego Brandao (featherweight) are No. 1.

The coin toss goes awry when “we have a roller,” in Dana White’s words. Bisping wins and opts to take the first pick rather than first fight. That suits Mayhem, who’d rather have the first fight.

In a change from years past, they draft each weight class separately. Bantamweights first:

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 14, Episode 1

Posted on by Beau Dure

I’m optimistic about this season. It might be because they’re bringing bantamweights and featherweights into the mix, two weight classes that haven’t already been scraped of their top talent by several seasons of this show and years of UFC scouting. It might be because Michael Bisping and Jason “Mayhem” Miller have compelling personalities — neither one a true villain but both willing to mix it up verbally. It might be because I’ve outgrown my youthful cynicism.

I also saw the tryouts, and I’m worried about one thing. The most best personality there was John Dodson, a strong flyweight fighter I’ve seen in action before. But we’ve been told that there were some surprises in the preliminary fights (seriously, Dana — have the “wild card” after the prelims, not after the first round), and I didn’t see Dodson in a long preview for the show. The second best personality there was a guy nicknamed “Haggis Basher,” and he didn’t even make the final 32.

Can’t have everything, I suppose. As Steven Wright said, where would you put it?

Off we go …

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mma

Kids in the cage: How not to do mixed martial arts

Posted on by Beau Dure

A big fear for the UFC and other reputable MMA promotions is that some promoter or sports commission with more brashness than brains will put on a card that puts the sport in a bad light or actually gets someone seriously hurt.

Case in point: This youth grappling exhibition from England. See the YouTube video and the Telegraph piece about it.

Some of the criticism in the Telegraph is nonsense. The griping about protective gear misses the mark — this is grappling. They’re not hitting each other. And the condescending quotation marks around “mixed martial arts” are unnecessary. It’s as if people saw two kids walk into a cage without gloves and headgear and just assumed the rest.

Kids grapple all the time. They do it in youth wrestling programs — locally, we start at age 7. Kids can start training in jiu-jitsu at an early age, just as they can learn karate and do “sparring” sessions with more protective gear than the kids who do sumo matches in between innings of minor league baseball games. Like any other youth sport, the safety is a matter of proper supervision. You wouldn’t let your kid play football for a maniac teaching dirty play, and you wouldn’t let your kid grapple without nearby adults who know what they’re doing.

The exhibition in question, however, is a shaky concept executed poorly. The promoters are simply lacking common sense in a couple of facets:

1. Stop the danged fight. The announcers, who seem fairly level-headed, plead for several minutes for the ref or one kid’s corner to put an end to the proceedings. One poor kid is clearly overmatched, and his tears may be tears of embarrassment or frustration rather than tears of pain. He clearly can’t defend against the other kid’s leglocks. An MMA bout ends with one tapout. Bully Beatdown bouts ended with five, but that show’s raison d’etre was to humiliate an adult who deserved it. This bout should’ve stopped by the third tapout.

2. Leglocks? Seriously? U.S. grappling promoter Grapplers Quest has a lot of restrictions on leglocks. For beginners, none. For advanced kids’ classes, only a couple of holds are allowed. These are kids — they might not understand the damage that a leglock can cause, and they might not tap until their underdeveloped joints have been stretched. To put this in perspective — UFC president Dana White doesn’t even allow leglocks at tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter, and these are professional adults.

3. Hey ref! Wake up! In at least one case, the announcers are pleading with one kid to tap out. The ref should be able to see what the announcers see. Let’s put this in perspective: At Grapplers Quest tournaments, they remind the adults to tap out and make sure they leave the mat without a limp or a messed-up arm. At tryouts for The Ultimate Fighter, White stops the proceedings and awards a submission bonus when one guy clearly has a strong hold, even if the other guy is being stubborn.

This is pretty simple, folks: When a referee sees an 8-year-old kid trying to be brave by not tapping out to a leglock, he needs to step in and stop it.

4.  Should this be in a cage with a crowd? Kids love to be in the same arenas as their athletic heroes, sure. I played football in front of about 20 people at the University of Georgia’s Sanford Stadium about two hours before the Bulldogs played. (All I remember is that I missed a tackle.) D.C. United and the Washington Capitals let youth teams play in between halves or periods. But a one-on-one bout, particularly a mismatch such as this one, might be a bit too much for an 8-year-old to handle in front of a riled-up crowd. Most martial arts sparring sessions take place in front of fellow students and watchful instructors … and no one else.

So is this footage “disturbing”? Not quite. They’re not punching each other and causing potential long-term damage. There are some trained supervisors in place, even if they’re operating under dubious rules.

But the promoters really need to rethink the way they’re doing things. And we can only hope the media and the tut-tutting medical boards will realize that major promoters have a little more sense than this.

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mma

Sort-of review: McCarthy/Hunt, “Let’s Get It On”

Posted on by Beau Dure

I should say at the outset that I’ve known Loretta Hunt, who wrote Let’s Get It On with “Big” John McCarthy, for a few years now. I don’t think you can know her without being impressed by her ability to maintain her professionalism and passion for the sport in what can only be described as a uniquely hostile work environment. She and I have had terrific conversations, funny and productive, about MMA, its history and the publishing world.

So I’m a little biased on this book, but I have another reason for giving this disclaimer. I’ve known for a while that Loretta was working on this book, and I probably wasn’t as enthusiastic as I should’ve been. He’s one of the sport’s enduring figures, yes, but would people really put a book by a referee at the top of their reading lists?

I mention those misgivings because, of course, I was dead wrong. This is an essential book for anyone who wants to know how the UFC made the transition from outlaw organization to billion-dollar phenomenon.

In retrospect, I clearly should’ve known better. McCarthy has had a unique view of the sport’s growth, being the third man in the cage in hundreds of important bouts from UFC 2 to the present. Yet his role is even larger than that. He didn’t just set the standard for how to be a referee — he developed the rules and sold them to skeptical commissioners and promoters. He saw the promise of the UFC as a legitimate sport and stuck with it.

And in the book, he’s remarkably candid. He speaks freely about other people’s mistakes, but he also takes responsibility for falling out with current UFC management.

The first part of the book is about his police career. Here, again, he has a unique perspective, being in the middle of three generations of law enforcement. Not everyone would agree with his take on a few issues facing the LAPD over the years, but it’s rare to have such a well-expressed view from someone in the line of duty.

His police career continued to overlap with his MMA career, and they’re woven together well. The book is an easy and engaging read. But at its core, it’s far more than an autobiography. It’s essential history.

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medal projections, mma, olympic sports

2012 wrestling: Not just an MMA prep course

Posted on by Beau Dure

With all due respect to the revamped formats international wrestling organizers trot out every couple of years, mixed martial arts is the best and worst thing to happen to wrestling in the past decade. Hard-core MMA fans have expanded their combat-sport interests to the more traditional mat-and-singlet sport, and the possibility that today’s U.S. champion could be tomorrow’s UFC champion doesn’t hurt the interest level.

On the flip side, the sport’s top talents may decide that learning to punch someone and get paid beats toiling in international tournaments in the former Eastern Bloc for a shot at the Olympics. That trend is extending to women’s wrestling as well, with 2004 silver medalist Sara McMann now plowing through the women’s MMA ranks. Some people, like Joe Warren, will try to balance MMA with a run at London.

But that migration is happening mostly in the Western world. This sport is still huge in Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan and elsewhere in the Eastern Europe/Central Asia range. In women’s wrestling, which merges the seven World Championship weight classes down to four in the Olympics, add Japan and Canada.

This is another combat sport with two bronze medals per class. And World Championships every year — last September in Moscow, this September in Istanbul.

Unfortunately, FILA basically doesn’t compile rankings based on any other competitions. Think I’m deterred by any of that? Nah. Here’s what we’ll do: Take the 2010 World Championships previews at USA Wrestling’s lively site, TheMat.com, which compile plenty of information from the past several years. Then check the 2010 results.

MEN’S FREESTYLE

55kg: Russia’s Victor Lebedev moved up from bronze to gold in 2010. The two wild cards here are North Korea’s Yang Kyong-Il, the 2009 champion but a no-show in 2010, and gold medalist Henry Cejudo, who has taken time off but plans to return. Japan’s Yasuhiro Inaba won the 2010 Asian title and was third at Worlds behind Lebedev and Azerbaijan’s Togrul Asgarov. The other 2010 medalist was Cuba’s Frank Chamizo.

2008: Henry Cejudo (USA),  Tomohiro Matsunaga (Japan), Besik Kudukhov (Russia),  Radoslav Velikov (Bulgaria)

Projection: Russia, USA, Japan, Azerbaijan

Top Americans: In Cejudo’s absence, Obe Blanc ranked 10th at Worlds.

60kg: Three of four 2009 medalists repeated in 2010, including champion Besik Kudukhov of Russia. Ukraine’s Vasyl Fedoryshyn has vacillated (sorry) between silver and bronze over the past three World and Olympic events. Azerbaijan’s Zalimkhan Huseinov has moved up from fifth in 2008 to silver in 2009 and bronze in 2010. The other 2010 bronze medalist also is no stranger to the podium — Iran’s Seyed Morad Mohammadi won the 2006 world title and Olympic bronze in 2008. Falling off the podium from 2009 to 2010 was Uzbekistan’s Dilshod Mansurov.

2008: Mavlet Batirov (Russia), Vasyl Fedoryshyn (Ukraine), Seyed Morad Mohammadi (Iran), Kenichi Yumoto (Japan)

Projection: Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Iran

Top Americans: Mike Zadick took silver in 2006 but hasn’t been in the top 10 since.

66kg: Russia has taken second in this class at two straight World Championships with two different wrestlers. India’s Sushil Kumar bounced around the top five — bronze in 2008, fifth in 2009 — before taking the world title last year. Azerbaijan’s Jabrayli Hasanov took the European title and World bronze last year. Cuba’s Geandry Garzon has medaled in four of the last five Worlds and was fifth in Beijing.

2008: Ramazan Şahin (Turkey), Andriy Stadnik (Ukraine), Sushil Kumar (India), Otar Tushishvili (Georgia)

Projection: Russia, India, Azerbaijan, Cuba

Top Americans: Brent Metcalf was a disappointing 20th at Worlds.

74kg: All Russia, with Denis Tsargush taking over from the decorated Bouvaisa Saitiev and winning two straight world titles. Iran’s Sadegh Goudarzi has taken bronze and silver in the last two Worlds. The 2010 bronze medalists were the relatively unheralded Abdulhakim Shapiev (Kazakhstan) and Gabor Hatos (Hungary). Bulgaria’s Kiril Terziev, who took bronze in 2008, was seventh at Worlds.

2008: Bouvaisa Saitiev (Russia), Soslan Tigiev (Uzbekistan), Murad Gaidarov (Belarus), Kiril Terziev (Bulgaria)

Projection: Russia, Iran, Hungary, Bulgaria

Top Americans: Travis Paulson couldn’t make any headway at Worlds. This was Ben Askren’s weight class before his departure for MMA.

84kg: Bulgaria’s Michail Ganev had been bubbling under the podium for a while before dethroning Uzbekistan’s Zaurbek Sokhiev in last year’s final. Sokhiev didn’t medal at the Olympics but had taken bronze in 2006 and 2007 in addition to his 2009 title. The bronze medalists were Russia’s Soslan Ktsoev (the European champion) and Cuba’s Reineri Salas. Ukraine’s Ibragim Aldatov slipped from third to fifth in 2010.

2008: Revaz Mindorashvili (Georgia), Yusup Abdusalomov (Tajikistan), Taras Danko (Ukraine), Georgy Ketoyev (Russia)

Projection: Uzbekistan, Bulgaria, Russia, Ukraine

Top Americans: Jake Herbert had a rough time at Worlds but has had some success in this class, where “King” Mo Lawal once roamed.

96kg: Azerbaijan’s Khetag Gazyumov completed the progression from bronze (2008) to silver (2009) to gold, ending a long run for Russia atop the weight class. In the final, he beat four-time world champion and 2004 Olympic champion Khadshimourad Gatsalov, who did not compete in 2008 while his countryman Shirvani Muradov won gold. Georgia’s Georgi Gogchelidze has bronze in three straight competitions. Alexei Krupniakov of Kyrgyzstan took the other bronze in 2010 after some quarterfinal appearances in the past.

2008: Shirvani Muradov (Russia), Taimuraz Tigiyev (Kazakhstan), Georgi Gogshelidze (Georgia), Khetag Gazyumov (Azerbaijan)

Projection: Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan

Top Americans: Jake Varner was ninth in 2009; J.D. Bergman 10th in 2010.

120kg: Another class in which Russia has a multiple-time world champion (Beylal Makhov)  missed the 2008 Games. He beat 2008 gold medalist Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan) in the 2010 final. Greece’s Ioannis Arzoumanidis has taken bronze twice in a row. Georgia has had a couple of different wrestlers in the mix, and Iran’s Fardin Masoumi has the 2009 silver along with some quarterfinal performances.

2008: Artur Taymazov (Uzbekistan), Bakhtiyar Akhmedov (Russia), David Musulbes (Slovakia), Marid Mutalimov (Kazahkstan)

Projection: Russia, Uzbekistan, Greece, Iran

Top Americans: Tervel Dlagnev took bronze in 2009. Les Sigman beat him to earn a spot on the 2010 team and placed ninth.

WOMEN’S FREESTYLE

48kg: We’ll make a potentially dangerous assumption here — this weight class is so stacked that few 51kg wrestlers will make the effort to cut weight and wrestle in this class. Azerbaijan’s Mariya Stadnik added a 2009 world title to her 2008 bronze, and Olympic champion Carol Huynh (Canada) returned from a year off to take bronze in 2010. And yet they were upstaged in 2010 by Japan’s Hitomi Sakamoto, who had retired after winning six world titles at 51kg but returned to make a run at the Olympics at 48kg. She beat European champion Lorisa Oorzhak (Russia) for the title. China’s Shasha Zhao took the other bronze, while Britain has a contender in quarterfinalist Yana Stadnik.

2008: Carol Huynh (Canada), Chiharu Icho (Japan), Mariya Stadnik (Azerbaijan), Irina Merleni (Ukraine)

Projection: Japan, Canada, Azerbaijan, Russia

Top Americans: Clarissa Chun won the 2008 world title (yes, a separate competition was held) and placed fifth in the Olympics, but Alyssa Lampe took her spot in 2010 without making an impact at Worlds.

55kg: Now we have two weight classes to deal with — 51 and 55. The 51kg contenders are Sofia Mattsson (Sweden) and Aleksandra Kohut (Ukraine), who traded gold and bronze in the past two Worlds. Two different Japanese wrestlers also medaled at 51, but they’ll never qualify at 55 ahead of the legendary Saori Yoshida, who has dominated the 55kg class for the better part of a decade. Azerbaijan threw two different wrestlers at her in the past two Worlds, each taking silver. North America counters with 2008/2009 bronze medalist Tonya Verbeek (Canada) and 2010 bronze medalist Tatiana Padilla (USA).

2008: Saori Yoshida (Japan), Xu Li (China), Tonya Verbeek (Canada), Jackeline Renteria (Colombia)

Projection: Japan, Azerbaijan, USA, Canada

Top Americans: See above for Padilla. Jessica Medina was ninth at 51.

63kg: No dominant wrestler at 59kg — Soronzonbold Battsetseg (Mongolia) won the 2010 world title ahead of China’s Zhang Lan, who won the 2010 Junior Worlds and could be poised to move up. Japan’s four-time world champ Ayako Shoda shared bronze with 2009 Euro champion Johanna Mattsson (Sweden). Canada’s Tonya Verbeek, moving up from 55kg, shared fifth with American Kelsey Campbell. But Shoda, Campbell and Mattsson might have a hard time qualifying at this weight class ahead of 2010 world medalists Kaori Icho, Elena Pirozhkova and Hanna Johansson. Icho has two Olympic golds and five world titles; countrywoman Mio Nishimaki took the titles when Icho took a post-Olympic break. Russia’s Lubov Volosova has medaled in the last three Worlds.

2008: Kaori Icho (Japan), Alena Kartoshova (Russia), Yelena Shalygina (Kazakhstan), Randi Miller (USA)

Projection: Japan, USA, Sweden, China

Top Americans: Russian-born Pirozkhova’s silver medal was a good follow-up to two top-10 finishes at Worlds. Sara McMann wrestled here before jumping into the cage.

72kg: Canada’s Martine Dugrenier owns the 67kg class, winning three straight world titles. Nigeria’s Ifeoma Inenacho has two straight bronze. At 72kg,  Bulgaria’s Stanka Zlateva has won four of the last five Worlds along with the 2009 bronze and Olympic silver. Canada’s Ohenewa Akuffo has two medals from the last three Worlds. Russia has stiff competition just to make the team, and Ekaterina Bukina took bronze in 2010. China also has depth here. Japan’s Kyoko Hamaguchi won five world titles from 1997 to 2003 and keeps making the podium, taking bronze in 2010.

2008: Wang Jiao (China), Stanka Zlateva (Bulgaria), Kyoko Hamaguchi (Japan), Agnieszka Wieszczek (Poland)

Projection: Bulgaria, Canada, Russia, China

Top Americans: Kristie Davis (formerly Marano) has nine World Championship medals. The bad news is that they’re mostly at 67kg, and she struggled at 2010 Worlds. Stephanie Lee reached the 2010 quarterfinals, while Ali Bernard was fifth in the 2008 Games.

MEN’S GRECO-ROMAN

55kg: Hamid Sorian Reinhanpour (Iran) is one of those perennial world championships who disappointed in Beijing. He took the 2010 world title ahead of Asian champion Choi Gyu-Jim (South Korea), 2008 gold medalist Nazyr Mankiev (Russia) and 2008 bronze medalist Roman Amoya (Armenia). Fifth place was shared by two European bronze medalists — Peter Modos (Hungary) and Vugar Ragimov (Ukraine). European champion Elchin Aliev (Azerbaijan) was ninth. Basically, we have a lot of consistent performers here, making an outright shock unlikely but making it tough to pick from a few elite guys.

2008: Nazyr Mankiev (Russia), Rovshan Bayramov (Azerbaijan), Park Eun-Chul (South Korea), Roman Amoyan (Armenia)

Projection: Iran, Russia, South Korea, Azerbaijan

Top Americans: Spenser Mango had a disappointing run in the 2010 Worlds but has had some top 10s in big competitions and a strong junior record.

60kg: In case you haven’t noticed yet, Azerbaijan is pretty good at wrestling. Vitaly Rahimov has moved up, and 2009 European champion Hasan Aliev stepped up to win the 2009 European and 2010 World titles. Ryutaro Matsumoto (Japan) was a slightly surprising 2010 silver medalist. Kazakhstan and South Korea shook up their rosters and took 2010 bronze medals anyway. Not sure what happened to teen phenom Islam-Beka Albiev after his gold medal in 2008.

2008: Islam-Beka Albiev (Russia), Vitaly Rahimov (Azerbaijan), Nurbakyt Tengizbayev (Kazakhstan), Ruslan Tumenbaev (Kyrgyzstan)

Projection: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Japan, South Korea

Top Americans: Jeremiah Davis qualified for Worlds and won the first period of his bout with former world champion Dilshod Aripov but lost the next two.

66kg: European champion Ambako Vachade (Russia) won the 2010 world title ahead of 2008 bronze medalist Armen Vardanyan (Ukraine), Turkey’s Vasif Arzimanov and the aforementioned Vitaly Rahimov (Azerbaijan). France’s Steeve Guenot, the 2008 gold medalist and copy desk nightmare, shared fifth with Hungary’s Tamas Loerincz.

2008: Steeve Guenot (France), Kanatbek Begaliev (Kyrgyzstan), Armen Vardanyan (Ukraine), Mikhail Siamionau (Belarus)

Projection: Russia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, France

Top Americans: Faruk Sahin was 11th at Worlds.

74kg: Turkey’s Selcuk Cebi has won two straight world titles. Armenia’s Arsen Julfalakyan took silver as one of several good performances in 2010. The class has had some turnover beyond those two — Russia’s Imil Sharafetdinov and Kyrgyzstan’s Daniar Kobonov shared bronze ahead of yet another wrestler from Azerbaijan, Rafig Huseynov.

2008: Manuchar Kvirkelia (Georgia), Chang Yongxiang (China), Yavor Yanakiev (Bulgaria), Christophe Guenot (France)

Projection: Turkey, Armenia, Russia, Azerbaijan

Top Americans: Jake Fisher was introduced to World Championship competition in 2010.

84kg: Bulgaria’s Hristo Marinov came from nowhere to win the world title. Cuba’s Pablo Shorey was a little less surprising runner-up, having taken bronze the year before. Russian veteran Alexei Mishin shared bronze with Croatia’s Nenad Zugaj. 2009 champion Nazmi Avluca (Turkey) shared fifth with Poland’s Damian Janikowski.

2008: Andrea Minguzzi (Italy), Zoltán Fodor (Hungary), Nazmi Avluca (Turkey), vacant (Sweden’s Ara Abrahamian tossed the medal aside soon after its presentation and was officially stripped of it for disrupting the medal ceremony)

Projection: Cuba, Turkey, Russia, Bulgaria

Top Americans: Jacob Clark ranked 11th at Worlds.

96kg: Amir Ali Akbari (Iran) moved up from bronze to gold in 2010. Timofej Dzeynichenko (Belarus) was second at Euros and Worlds. Sweden’s Jimmy Lidberg has a silver and bronze from the last two Worlds, while 2008 gold medalist Aslanbek Khushtov (Russia) has bronze in the last two.

2008: Aslanbek Khushtov (Russia), Mirko Englich (Germany), Adam Wheeler (USA), Asset Mambetov (Kazakhstan)

Projection: Iran, Belarus, Sweden, Russia

Top Americans: Justin Ruiz is a legit contender, holding a bronze from 2005 and a fifth-place finish in 2010.

120kg: Cuba’s Mijian Lopez is simply the best — 2008 Olympic gold, world titles in 2005, 2007, 2009 and 2010, plus a silver in 2006. Armenia’s Yuri Patrikeyev added world silver last year to his 2008 Olympic bronze. Riza Kayaalp (Turkey) has two straight bronze medals, sharing the 2010 prize with Nurmakhan Tinaliev (Kazakhstan). Veterans abound in this class — former world and Olympic champion Khassan Baroev (Russia) was seventh at Worlds, and former world champion and Rulon Gardner training partner Dremiel Byers (USA) was fifth.

2008: Mijain Lopez (Cuba), Khasan Baroyev (Russia), Mindaugas Mizgaitis (Lithuania), Yuri Patrikeyev (Armenia)

Projection: Cuba, Armenia, Turkey, USA

Top Americans: Byers is gearing up for that elusive Olympic medal.

 

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mma

Friends, athletes, objectivity and professionalism (SEO adds: MMA and sex)

Posted on by Beau Dure

You CANNOT make friends with the rock stars. That’s what’s important. If you’re a rock journalist – first, you will never get paid much. But you will get free records from the record company. And they’ll buy you drinks, you’ll meet girls, they’ll try to fly you places for free, offer you drugs… I know. It sounds great. But they are not your friends. These are people who want you to write sanctimonious stories about the genius of the rock stars, and they will ruin rock and roll and strangle everything we love about it.

That’s the semi-fictionalized Lester Bangs (Philip Seymour Hoffman) in the classic Almost Famous, the semi-autobiographical Cameron Crowe film about a young journalist getting advice from Bangs and going out on the road with a typical ’70s band.

Though I grew up wanting to write for Rolling Stone, I’m now glad MMA journalism is about as close as I’ll ever get. Sex, drugs and rock and roll? Well, there’s a bit of rock and roll. Aside from the occasional performance-enhancing drug scandal or marijuana aficionado, we don’t have any drugs.

Sex? That’s a little trickier. And being friends? Even trickier. The Karyn Bryant-Rampage Jackson interview raised a few questions along those lines.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 13, Episode 10: The finalists are …

Posted on by Beau Dure

After a slow start to the season, everything has perked up in the last couple of weeks. We’ve seen some decent fights, some brazen efforts to grab reality-show infamy, some heartwarming kindness and some drunken idiocy. Tonight, we have a pair of semifinals, each compelling in its own right. And I get to find out who’ll need to put up with my stupid interview questions this weekend.

Credits roll — hey, does anyone remember seeing Mick Bowman or Justin Edwards say anything over the course of the season? Justin was unlucky to miss out on a wild-card spot due to injury, but he has been awfully quiet since then. Nordin Asrih was silent for several weeks until he gave Chris Cope some mildly enthusiastic advice on fighting Shamar Bailey.

We start by seeing much more of the house than we have in the rest of the season. Tony, who alienated the rest of the house with his inebriated comments about Charlie’s custody battle, asks where Charlie is. Chuck doesn’t seem to answer.

But we cut quickly to the weigh-in between two of the funnier guys of the season, Chris Cope and “Stripper” Ramsey Nijem. They exchange “Whoo!”s and laugh.

Back quickly to the house, where Tony tries to apologize. Chuck isn’t buying it. He tells him he crossed the line by bringing Charlie’s kid into things, and Charlie showed a lot of character by not punching him in the face when the rest of the team wanted to pound him. Tony tries again. Blank stares.

Awkward cut back to the gym for the first semifinal. Chris is the big surprise, upsetting Javier Torres and Shamar Bailey to get here. Ramsey is an awesome wrestler and Team Dos Santos’ last hope.

Round 1: Chris is on the same path he trod to beat Shamar — defend the takedown and land short punches while his opponent leans on him. But Ramsey is showing more adaptability than Shamar, and he lands a lot of solid punches and a couple of good knees. Chris gets a mark or two on his face. 10-9 Ramsey.

Round 2: Finally, an actual takedown, but Ramsey can’t hold it. He does give Chris a good body kick as he slips away. I swear I actualy saw blood fly from Chris’ face on one punch, just before they smile at each other for the 100th time. Then Ramsey finds another way to get Chris down — he overwhelms him with punches. Chris staggers against, the cage, then falls. Ramsey keeps throwing punches, but Steve Mazzagatti quickly and correctly stops it. Team Dos Santos will have a fighter in the final.

FINALIST: Ramsey Nijem by second-round TKO

Not even an ad break before the next weigh-in. Just judging by the clock, we may be looking at a three-rounder in the second semifinal. After the events of last week, it’s hard to imagine anyone other than Tony Ferguson’s immediate family rooting for him, but he has been one of the most impressive fighters on the show.

Herb Dean starts our second fight at 9:32 p.m., leaving us plenty of time for three rounds and a wrapup.

Round 1: Chuck lands the first punches in a tepid opening. But Tony looks better boxing — his chin is tucked and his head is moving, while Chuck’s chin is just sitting there. Chuck catches Tony low, and despite the events in the house, they do the sportsmanlike thing and tap gloves. Tony feints a takedown, waits a few seconds, then snaps Chuck’s head back with a straight punch. Chuck’s nose is getting redder, and Tony’s getting more comfortable. Near the one-minute mark, Tony catches a Chuck kick and sends Chuck to the mat, but he backs away to keep the fight standing. Tony finishes the round with a good right cross and a left hook. 10-9 Tony

Round 2: Again, Chuck strikes first, Tony strikes more cleanly and crisper. Tony starts doing an Ali shuffle for some reason. Chuck needs to find someplace to be other than directly in front of Tony, who again snaps Chuck’s head with a clean punch. Tony spends the rest of the round turning Chuck’s face into a bloody Forrest Griffin-esque mess. 10-9 Tony

Round 3: Tony lands several good shots to the head. Then the body. Then the leg. This is really worse than a 1-minute knockout or submission. With 1:50 left, Chuck tumbles, and Herb Dean has seen enough.

FINALIST: Tony Ferguson by third-round TKO

Quick postscript: We see Dana getting the call from Brock Lesnar. The diverticulitis is back with a vengeance, and Brock can’t fight Junior. Enter Shane Carwin.

Any other cast members on the TUF13 finale card? They don’t announce anything. Press release likely coming in 5, 4, 3, 2 …

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 13, Episode 9: Shocking end

Posted on by Beau Dure

We start fast, with Zach telling us he may keep things standing against Chuck since he took him down last time. In other words, he wants to do the opposite of what he did when he beat him.

Chuck says he’s giving half of his win bonus to Charlie because Charlie has been going through a rough child support situation. Charlie says he can’t take it.

Quick look at training: Brock tells Chuck to use his head to pin Zach’s head against the cage.

Then we’re already at the walkout for the fight, though Zach puts a couple of holes in the perennially flimsy UFC Training Center doors on his way to the cage.

Returning from the ad break, we get a few more reminders that Chuck’s nickname is “Cold Steel.” He also has more experience than Zach.

Round 1: Zach immediately lands a sharp jab and fares pretty well in the stand-up. Chuck lands a good leg kick. Zach takes him to the cage to land some solid knees, and Chuck is showing little capacity to get out. Ref Steve Mazzagatti gets bored nearly halfway through the round and returns them to the center, where we see a cut under Zach’s left eye. They trade again, and Chuck lands a good variety of strikes. One punch staggers Zach, who comes back with a takedown attempt and again puts Chuck against the cage. His position isn’t as good this time, and Chuck lands a lot of hammerfists. They break, and Chuck lands a powerful combo that sends Zach reeling. And another. The last 20 seconds is a barrage from Chuck. The only bad news for Brock’s fighter is that he seems tired when he gets back to the corner. 10-9 Chuck

Between rounds, Brock tells Chuck that Zach’s tired. Junior, perhaps for the first time all season, sounds mad at someone other than Lew Polley and the judges, telling Zach he HAS to take Chuck down.

Round 2: Well, Zach gets down, but it’s the result of a leg kick that his him awkwardly. Chuck gets on top for a few seconds but lets him up. Chuck again staggers Zach, but Junior’s fighter responds with a near-takedown. Chuck manages to pick his way out, and we repeat — Chuck 1-2, Zach takedown attempt, Zach pressing Chuck to the cage. Chuck reverses momentarily but can’t keep Zach against the cage. That’s all Zach can manage, though — he’s the living picture of a tired fighter leaning on his opponent. They slow-dance a bit more, and Mazzagatti has again seen enough. They go back to the center, where Zach will need a miracle in the last 90 seconds. He lands one nice punch up the middle, but Chuck bides his time and then responds. Then another Chuck combo with 20 seconds left. Zach shoots, and Chuck immediately scrambles away. Horn sounds, and Zach immediately hangs his head.

They don’t even go to the pretense of pretending we might have a third round. They go straight to the fight recap, and it’s all Chuck.

And yes, it’s 20-18 across the board for Chuck O’Neil, who put on a performance that will earn him a couple of UFC paydays. The former alternate and wild card is now a semifinalist.

Doctor checks out Chuck. “Headache?” “No.  A little horny, though.”

“Cold Steel,” yes, but the wit is still there.

Immediately to the second fight, and Brock is a little concerned that Tony gets too fancy when he has a dominant position.

But after the break, we get a quick look in the house with a lot of Miller Lite placement. Chuck pays tribute to Zach’s toughness.

Then the bad news — Zach tore BOTH retinas. He had immediate surgery, and the doctors say he can’t fight any more. Chuck hears the news and gives Zach a sympathetic hug.

Two words for Zach: Second opinion.

Junior and Ryan posit him as the underdog. That’s a little strange for Junior’s second pick and the guy who took out Brock’s top pick, Len Bentley.

Ryan also tears up talking about his daughter, to whom he has been writing letters in the hopes that she’ll read them later and know how much he was thinking of her during this six-week experience.

Round 1 … oh, it’s over. Tony lands an uppercut that staggers Ryan and finishes up.

Junior consoles Ryan and tells him never to give up. Then he asks everyone to put all their positive energy toward Ramsey.

Yes, Ramsey is the only Dos Santos fighter remaining in the competition. Call it the curse of Lew Polley. Anyone who thought Brock was embarrassing himself should be thinking again.

Dana says the coaches think Ramsey and Tony are the best fighters here. Dana doesn’t necessarily disagree, but he’s impressed with Chuck and says Chris just keeps beating the odds.

Matchups: Ramsey vs. Chris Cope, Tony vs. Chuck.

So that’s a wrap, and … oh, wait. We haven’t had the drunken brawl we were promised in the previews.

Ramsey strips on the pool table and is doused with various beverages. Everyone’s having fun.

Until … Charlie pours a drink in Tony’s hair. Tony charges him, falling over a sofa and into a coffee table that luckily doesn’t shatter. We hear people yelling to restrain Tony as we go to commercial. Are we going to see a Jesse Taylor-style removal from the house? We’ll find out after Schick razors take a page from the Axe “use this product and have sex” advertising book.

Charlie tries to calm Tony down. Tony isn’t responding. Then the talk starts. Tony brings up Charlie’s kid, possibly the worst below-the-belt argument since Bobby Southworth yelled “fatherless bastard” at Chris Leben in Season 1. Tony keeps yelling, “Hit me and see your kid!”

The rest of the house is shocked. Shamar says he lost a lot of respect for Tony.

Tony comes back in the house and keeps talking about Charlie’s son. Charlie has to be held back, but Clay looks ready to take on Tony himself.

Chuck was initially reluctant to fight his teammate. Not any more. Chuck says he’s ready to “take away Tony’s dreams.” And the rest of the house is surely pulling for him.

You wanted drama this season? You’ve got it. And Tony has some explaining to do.

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mma

The Ultimate Fighter: Season 13, Episode 8: Not how you shut someone up

Posted on by Beau Dure

Missing TUF in its regular time slot is one thing. Forgetting to record it is another. The site doesn’t upload the full episode for a few days, and then you’re stuck watching that Miller Lite ad with the drill sergeant training female lifeguards to save men from making poor beer-drinking decisions. No time to ponder the many ironies of all that — we’ve got two fights this week, and though I know the results, I’m looking forward to seeing them.

Shamar Bailey hurt his back in training. He’s whispering because Chris Cope, who has already been accused of spying on the whole house, is lurking as always.

Team Dos Santos practice finds Ramsey Nijem piling on the weight-cutting gear while he works out with Junior, who reiterates praise of Ramsey’s wrestling prowess.

We get a little bit of Ramsey’s backstory. “Being Palestianian helps me be the fighter I am.”

Brian Stann stops by to chat at the request of the U.S. Marine Corps. He gives what seems like a recruiting speech, either for the Marines or the UFC. Brock Lesnar jokes that Stann should’ve brough a few applications to get some of these guys to join the USMC.

Clay Harvison, who knows Brian out in the real world, has to prepare for Ramsey. Brock, opening up quite a bit as a coach, gives Ramsey a tip based on something Shane Carwin used against him.

Miller Lite ad. Yes, I’m so afraid of making an “unmanly” choice. I’m 41 with two kids. That’s my first priority. (To be fair, it’s not their fault I’m out of the demographic.)

The Ramsey-Clay weigh-in is spiced up by Ramsey’s thong. Dana reminds us that Clay’s finger was grotesquely dislocated.
Ramsey gets a little nauseous before the fight. That could be an advantage. Would you hesitate a little if you knew someone might vomit on you?

Tale of the tape: Clay is 30. Ramsey is 22. Steve Mazzagatti is the ref.

Round 1: Ramsey throws awkwardly. Clay throws wildly, giving Ramsey the easy opening for a takedown. He hops on Clay’s back, sinks in hooks, hits him a couple of times, locks in the rear naked choke and gets the tap before the one-minute mark. Not sure Ramsey’s even sweating.

“That’s how you fight when you get sick?!” Junior asks.

Dana reassures Clay that he’s impressed with the guy’s toughness. Brock also accentuates the positive. Clay is ticked at himself for falling into something so quickly.

Different Miller Lite ad makes fun of those of us who like emo bands.

On to the second fight and the rather contrived conflict between Shamar and Chris. Brock smiles as he tells Chris just to weather the first 30 seconds. It’s another wrestler vs. striker matchup — or, as Brock puts it, “wrestler vs. … Chris.”

Brock works with Chris and points to the logo at the center of the cage. “Own Burger King,” Brock says. Shamar was Dos Santos’ first pick. Chris was picked a little later. Shamar is ripped. Chris is … Chris. Shamar glares. Chris smiles.

Dana points out the upset potential — Shamar looked one-dimensional in his first fight. That’s especially true if “boring” is a dimension.
Chris picks the brain of Nordin, who lost that borefest and gets some rare screen time. They end up arguing about Chris’ approach.
The main Miller Lite ad returns, after the Hugh Hefner Stoli ad. Am I supposed to be wasted by this point?

Round 1: As expected, Shamar spends about 90 seconds working on a takedown against the cage, but Chris defends well. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. And Chris lands punches in quantity, if not quality, each time he’s tied up. 10-9 for Chris.

Another Stoli ad, this one with Julia Stiles. Pretty cool, actually.

Round 2: Chris concedes the Burger King logo too easily, which surely annoys Brock. But he outpunches Shamar to keep him at bay for about 80 seconds. Then we’re back to the cage, where Chris defends the takedown again. Back to the center, where Chris is again outboxing Shamar, and Shamar finally charges to push him to the cage. Still can’t get the takedown. That’s 0-for-7, approaching the success rate of apocalyptic prophets. Shamar lands a couple of punches but doesn’t even follow up with a takedown attempt. More boxing and another Shamar charge, with Chris reverses and presses Shamar to the cage. Shamar reverses, but Chris again fights his way out. 30 seconds left, and Shamar goes for takedown attempt #9, taking a whole bunch of punches to his ear. Chris reverses and gets back to the center as the round ends.

Dos Santos tells Shamar “your fight, your fight.” Not sure what he was watching.

Dana sums it up well: Shamar couldn’t do anything. But Chris wouldn’t let his hands go. Brock says Chris was in defensive mode but landing defensive punches.

All three judges score it 20-18 for Chris. “What?!” yells Dos Santos. “I don’t know about that,” says Shamar.

Shamar says he wanted to come out and put on a show for Dana, not just wrestle. He tells Dana he wants to show he could bang rather than trying to take the easy way out and taking him down. Dana: “Looks like you TRIED to take him down a bunch of times.” Shamar then plays the injured-back card.

Great fight? No. Just an amusing look at how to beat a one-dimensional fighter and some reassurance that you can’t win a fight by simply pressing someone against a cage.

Next week, Tony Ferguson apparently goes ballistic in the house, but they tell us he will indeed fight Ryan McGillivray in what should be one of the best fights of the season. We’ll get both quarterfinals, then the semifinal announcements. Yes, this season is going fast.

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