MMA Tidbits For July 6th, 2009

I hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. I was going to write something yesterday but I really just wanted to enjoy the time off with my wife and kids, they were behaving for a change!!!

This is a huge week and one that will be loaded with MMA content as we prepare for UFC 100. I am not only looking forward to a great night of fights but all that leads up to Saturday night as well. The UFC 100, the countdown and all the interesting articles and predictions that will pop-up over the next week.

First and foremost let me say that when a famous person dies and it was someone who you followed closely it almost feels like a member of your family is gone. For some people the death of Michael Jackson has really hit home, Farrah Fawcett’s passing was tough because I watched her special and felt like I really got to know her. I was so impressed with the strength and courage she showed while battling cancer. The death of Steve McNair hits me because I looked at him as a football player who combined his God given abilities with fierce determination and played no matter what was ailing him. A father of four cut down in the prime of his life just sucks, it is senseless. To all of those who have passed, rest in peace.

On to MMA, SpikeTV in conjunction with the UFC and their millions of fans began its presentation of the top 100 UFC fights of all time. I recorded it because I wasn’t sure if I would be able to watch it from start to finish without interruption. So far so good, I mean we are all going to have issues with the fights we were offered and whether or not some fighters were blackballed from consideration but there is more than enough material to go around. The first 25 bouts featured a who’s who of mixed marital artists and the only one I really had an issue with was #77 the James Irvin-Anderson Silva bout. There was nothing special about that other than the jump to 205 for the Spider. I liked how they showed the early fights of BJ Penn and Rich Franklin. I also liked the War Machine-Jarred Rollins fight being listed as that truly was a great battle.

Chuck Liddell is in the news, this time it is because of something he said and not something from Dana or John Hackleman. Liddell has been rather quiet since losing to Shogun back in April. I am glad he has taken the time to think things over and didn’t rush into making any decisions based upon anything other than following his own heart. While I would rather see him retire, he has earned the right to go out on his own terms. According to a statement he made to Sports Illustrated, the Iceman has said he won’t even think about fighting anyone until April 2010. Good for him, take your time Chuck your fans will still be here when you have made a decision.

Michael Bisping is now upset that Dan Henderson called him a “douchebag”. Get over it you whiny little bitch. It was ok when he acted like an immature moron during the Ultimate Fighter and talked about everyone on the American team. Now he doesn’t like it when someone says something bad about him. If you can’t take the heat then get out of the kitchen. He even went as far as to say he is going to knock Henderson out, he must be crazy. I am not counting “The Count” out of this match-up but if he wins it will be by a decision, Henderson has a jaw made from granite and Bisping isn’t exactly known for his raw power. I really hope Henderson makes an example out of him and salvages the face of American MMA, I don’t think I will be able to take it if Bisping wins and we have to deal with his sarcastic attitude.

Well I will leave it at that for now, I will be interviewing Frankie Edgar today and I have been looking forward to this for a long time now. I was originally scheduled to interview him before he got injured preparing for his bout at the Fight for the Troops card in December. Well the day has come and with him coming off a huge win over Sean Sherk in May it should be very interesting.