It’s the perfect combination to lure in the casual MMA fan, but will it work?

Just by looking at the Sherdog.com Forums, the Mecca for any fighting fan with a semi-coherent thought about nearly anything punching-related, it looks like Yahoo! may have set themselves up educate some casual fans on some not-so-casual names in the cage. It’s also doesn’t hurt that many people in these forums are interested in women as displayed by the “not work safe” avatars floating around. It looks like it may be a fun Saturday night for those near a computer.

These days, if you mention a “Melendez” in Mixed Martial Arts, most of your fans will be thinking of ex-TUF 5 lightweight, Brandon. Hopefully after a couple hours of action in the cage supplemented by some scantily clad ring bunnies, more casual fans will begin looking up past fights of undefeated Strikeforce lightweight Champion Gilbert Melendez on YouTube.

It’s certainly not going to put Yahoo! out of business if this little idea doesn’t pan out and the positive effects will certainly outweigh a few dollars out the window. Nobody likes an uneducated observer and while the majority crowd at the Playboy mansion is certainly that, the online community of casual MMA fans can only benefit from a free non-UFC production.

You can watch Strikeforce at the Playboy Mansion on Saturday September 29th, 2007 at 12AM EST/9PM PST on Yahoo!

As an East Coast MMA enthusiast, the idea of the biggest fight production coming to a neighboring, albeit scary, venue in the near future has me dreaming of the great matchups that could benefit both the casual fan and the devotee. These benefits will certainly carry over to the UFC as well.

With the rumored lineup of UFC 78, it seems that the casual fans are winning so far. With matchups like Ortiz vs. Rashad 2 and a bunch of small name fighters, aside from Karo Parisyan and if you go back far enough, Spencer Fisher; putting most die-hards to sleep, the casual fan will certainly enjoy the cage-grabbing takedowns and one-dimensional primeval ground ’n pound that will erupt during the main fight. This, of course, is aside from the drunkeness and booing that is sure to envelope the mixed crowd in Newark, NJ.

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Does Kenny hire his friends and family to corner for him during UFC fights?

I do realize that Ultimate Fight Night 11 isn’t breaking news anymore, but did anyone catch these guys running around the cage? If you go back to Florian’s victory during UFC 73, you may have noticed that the Florian corner turned into a house party after his TKO victory. I certainly can’t complain as it’s refreshing to see some nerds like me who are affiliated with a talented UFC fighter on national television and it certainly gives us something fun to talk about aside from steroids, respectable Pride fighters losing in the Octagon, and the terrible new “strike counting” system that may be put into effect.

Now if only Kenny could change his nickname to something better than “KenFlo” and continue to finish fights like he promises, he’ll be a household name like Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz! War Casual Fans!

Who needs Fedor when you have Giant Silva? This highlight reel came out before UFC 2, but it never gets old.

Dean of Mean : Wins by shocking UFC posterboy Chuck Liddell.

Forrest Griffin: shocks superstar and highly regarded Brazilian star, “Shogun” Rua.

Diego Sanchez: Sheds staph infection and Greg Jackson’s entire camp, but ultimately
loses to arch-nemesis’ training partner, Jon Fitch.

To review -

TUF Fighters: 2-1

MMA online media: Miserable unappreciative children, as always.

One group finished with a winning record. The other stayed consistent. I loved UFC
76. That is all.

E-mail John Philapavage at johnnyp@mmaopinion.com

How much worse can it get for Chuck? We have strip club photos on the internet, the loss of the light-heavyweight belt, and now there is talk of retirement.

Not only did the “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine publically announce that he would force Chuck Liddell to reconsider his career as a fighter, he beat him via a unanimous decision during UFC 76 and ruined Wanderlei Silva’s chances of making millions. Mr. Jardine, you are a very very bad man. Will Dana White punish Jardine and make him fight Rampage, Dan Henderson or former Pride champion Wanderlei Silva? I sure hope so. Although I am not a huge Liddell fan, I feel for the guy and was really hoping he could bring his career back to life with a knockout win on Saturday night. Dana needs to make a decision on the future on these fights and let’s hope it is a good one.

I guess there is only one thing to say regarding Liddell’s decision to stay with MMA (although I think it was said enough during UFC 75); good luck Chuck!

Tonight is UFC 71’s loser versus loser.

Liddell-Jardine just doesn’t seem like a fantasy matchup to headline an Ultimate Fighting Championship card. With the two fighters coming off first round losses during UFC 71, expect both to seek redemption during “Knockout”, the UFC production set for tonight, September 22nd in Anaheim, California. Expect the winning fighter to ask for a shot at the Light Heavyweight title while the losing fighter temporarily contemplates retirement. No matter what happens, I can’t see either fighting being satisfied unless something drastic happens.

You know that the UFC organization wants Chuck to win and we can all see why. If Liddell wins tonight, he will soon face former Pride light-heavyweight champion Wanderlei Silva. Every MMA fan and their brother wants this match to happen. Maybe Dana will influence the judges to pull off another Bisping-type decision or simply use Cecil Peoples again to ensure a Liddell victory. You know we can all count on Cecil to do something ridiculous and hand a win to the fighter he wants to win. At least the UFC is taking place in a state that allows for sanctioned MMA fights, that’s always a plus.

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I don’t know if it was the uncomfortable stare down, the after-fight bug eyes, or the fact that Chris Leben didn’t resemble Butterbean during a UFC fight, but something finally clicked in his artificially-red head as he looked like his old self and came away with a long-sought victory. I was banking heavily on Terry Martin to take Leben down early in the first round, but The Crippler fought hard to keep himself alive after taking some hard shots to come away with the TKO win.

Even after he was caught grabbing the cage to avoid a takedown, Leben still took advantage of some of the legal octagon maneuvers by using both his hands and feet to position himself while holding Terry Martin in his gaurd. I really wasn’t expecting to see this kind of intelligent fighting from the tattooed Oregonian. I was honestly expecting another Leben-Silva ending.

We may finally see the old Leben again during future fights if he continues to train hard and drop his heavy drinking habits. He certainly has grown a chin to keep himself temporarily alive in the UFC Middleweight division.

Only days after the controversial bout in which Murilo Rua was pummeled to near unconsciousness by Robbie Lawler, MMA referee Mario Yamasaki watched another downed fighter take an unnecessary undefended shot to the face during the opening bout of the televised UFC Fight Night 11.

Nate Quarry was getting beat around the ring during the first two rounds of his fight with Pete Sell only to throw some nice leather to take Sell down and out. As Sell laid there dazed and confused, Yamasaki stood over Sell for a few seconds while Quarry watched and waited. Yamasaki said “f it!” and then proceeded to let the fight continue for one more punch. There’s only one thing to say…wow. If I ever decide to fight anymore, please do not let Mario Yamasaki be the referee because I want to live to see my kids graduate high school.