Best
Andrei Arlovski showing his power against Ben Rothwell throughout three rounds of fighting. Even though Arlovski unloaded on Rothwell on multiple occasions, Big Ben didn’t give up until he collapsed.

Cain Valesquez didn’t let Jake O’Brien do anything in their short and one-sided UFC fight. Valesquez was quick to put on a crucifix and wail away at O’Brien until the fight was stopped in the first round. Valesquez is being hailed as the next big thing in the UFC heavyweight division and this fight only helped.

Josh Barnett dropped Pedro Rizzo lifeless with a shot that rocked the canvas and a lot of televisions. Barnett went on to land a hammerfist for good measure immediately following Rizzo’s fall as Herb Dean darted to halt the action. Barnett got the crowd going and said a few things to hype himself up. You can tell he wants to be on the next Affliction PPV and I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s fighting someone bigger and better.

Props to C.B. Dollaway and his first round Peruvian necktie submission over Jesse Taylor! Also, who could forget Fedor Emelianenko’s lightening fast annihilation of Tim Sylvia. I expect to see video or since the fight was only 36 seconds long, an animated GIF of the entire fight.

Worst
Brandon Vera. Another boring fight and at light heavyweight against Reese Andy? The guy has potential, but he can’t seem to finish any fights…or provide much action inside the cage.

Two insanely fast main events. Not that we can blame Anderson Silva and Fedor Emelianenko for demolishing the competition at a furious pace, but I’m sure many fans wanted to see a little more of James Irvin and Tim Sylvia. The combined time for both main events? One minute and 37 seconds.

But overall, who can complain about more than a dozen MMA fights in one night? Sure, it’s tedious to swtich back and forth even with a DVR/TiVo, but as long as the UFC has competition, they’ll step up to provide more fights. And more fights mean more chances for the sport to hit the headlines on ESPN, Sports Illustrated, and many other big publications.

Now we wait for next weekend to see if CBS can step up to provide another exciting night of MMA fighting.

Holli Griggs, 38, was driving her 2007 Cadillac Escalade in the left lane on the southbound 55 freeway just south of Bay Street when Jackson’s gray-and-green monster truck sideswiped her as it continued down the freeway at 45 mph, California Highway Patrol officer Jennifer Hink said. The freeway turns into Newport Boulevard just south of there and is typically clogged with traffic at about the time of the accident, 1:30 p.m.

Jackson could face felony charges of a hit and run because Griggs was taken to the hospital for minor injuries, Hink said. In an e-mail sent to the Daily Pilot, Griggs said she and her unborn baby, 16 and a half weeks along, were injured but was not sure to what extent.

This is another big blow to Jackson, as per California law if there’s an injured person as a result of a hit and run it is categorized as a felony. On the other hand, if nobody had been hurt during the incident the resulting charge would only be a misdemeanor. While currently the only charges filed against Jackson are just for felony evasion, and if injuries have occurred, Rampage could be facing another serious charge of felony hit and run in addition to allegations he’s already facing.

Jail time on the felony evasion charge carries a sentence of 6 months to a year. And another felony in addition to that would obvious extend a jail sentence if convicted. But fortunately and unfortunately for Quinton is that he looks to have a good shot at a plee agreement considering the question of his current emotional health and his recent hospitalization to address that condition. We’ll look to update the story if any additional charges are filed within the next few days.

Obviously, there are times when a journalist should ask questions that they already know the answer too. I call it fishing, but the first question baffles me. I’ll ignore the wording, because I don’t like getting into grammar technicalities, and it really only scratches the surface of the ridiculous.

What does the WAMMA belt mean to Fedor Emelianenko?

It’s a replacement for his Pride belt, and everybody knows it. Everybody knows that Fedor is looking for a new title after the buyout, and to simply act as though this belt is something new, the way that Hunt does, is ridiculous. The belt is proof that he has beaten a top ten heavyweight recently, and it’s a reminder that he’s still who he says he is: the best in the world.

Maybe she wants to air this question for less knowledgable fans. I don’t know. But it seems like someone who runs the top internet site for the sport should be aware that this fight is not about a title, because the Affliction division is not really a division. The fight is about Fedor beating a top tier fighter and reasserting his dominance.

Long term deals with Affliction?

Everybody knows that there’s been no long term deal with Affliction. Maybe it’s just that I spend so much time reading stuff on the forums, but it seems like she should be looking beyond just her own paranoias, since there haven’t even been rumors about a long term deal.

Fights later this year?

Fedor’s questionable fight schedule is always worth bringing up, but he’s said that he wants to fight twice more repeatedly. Again, maybe it’s just that I’ve read all of this stuff before, and that I check news updates constantly, but wouldn’t it be more worthwhile to inquire into potential opponents.

I can think of dozens of questions I’d like to ask Fedor, like what his gameplan is going into a fight against Sylvia, or how he feels about Nogueira being crowned the UFC champion. Maybe how he’s reacting to his #1 ranking being called into question or his place in a sport that is fast becoming mainstream.

Maybe it’s just me, but if you’re going to ask questions to the man who is one of the most illusive and controversial figures in the sport today, there are a hundred more things you could ask about than the things that we already know.

Rampage has been staying at a friend’s house lately. I was supposed to have a meeting with this person today (yesterday but im up late). I happen to click on MMA Weekly, then TMZ and immediately call this person. The person rushes down to be with Rampage and see what is going on.. I talk to this person a couple of more times as I head north on the 55 and turn my head over to change lanes and there is a cop car right next to mine. I look over and guess who’s in the back of the cruiser?.. RAMPAGE looking right up at me, our doors lined up perfectly… Rampage looks right up into my eyes (Ive met him a couple times but he wouldn’t remember me)! It was just too crazy a coincidence as we were on our way out of town and assumed he was already in jail. (I guess they were transferring him to a different facility) the whole thing was surreal.

An a much more somber note I received follow up details and and rampage is in bad shape guys, and I don’t mean the criminal stuff. Real bad. Please pray for him. I hope he gets well soon..

“ST. LOUIS (AP) — Anheuser-Busch reportedly has agreed to be acquired by Belgian brewer InBev for about $52 billion. The deal being reported by The Wall Street Journal would create the world’s largest brewer and put the iconic American beer maker in the hands of the Belgian-based company behind Stella Artois and Beck’s beers. The newspaper cited anonymous sources who said Anheuser-Busch-InBev would be the new company’s name and Anheuser would have two seats on the company board. Anheuser-Busch (BUD, Fortune 500) did not return a message seeking comment Sunday evening.The newspaper said the deal was for $70 a share. That’s an increase over InBev’s original offer that was rejected in June.”

The greatest concern for the UFC, as stated by many financial experts is how exactly InBev will be able to cover the $70 a share stock price, which is a huge increase from the $52 a share that Budweiser had been stuck at for a year. The general understanding is that massive cuts will have to be made by Inbev to cover the high cost. Budweiser’s massive arsenal of sports sponsorships would almost certainly be one of the first expendable areas to be on the chopping block, which would be a huge blow to the UFC.

Forrest Griffin believes he can go into a clinch and beat Rampage the same way that Shogun did. He believes that he’s going to use his lanky build and his muay thai to beat Rampage the way that he believes that Rampage can be beaten. Forrest thinks that he can out-finesse Rampage and bob and weave and work from the clinch.

Forrest Griffin is delusional.

About halfway through the Countdown to UFC 86, Juanito Ibarra reminded me of something that had been eating at me: Rampage is not the same fighter that lost to Wanderlei and Shogun. Rampage has had no trouble translating his game to the cage.

If this fight ends up in the clinch, you will see Rampage kill Forrest. Forrest pointed out that Rampage’s legs aren’t long, but Rampage isn’t going to hit Forrest with a knee. It’s going to be an uppercut.

Rampage is going to make this fight a brawl, and Forrest’s game is going to degrade into brawling. The technique is going to fade, eventually, and it’s going to turn into a bangers ball eventually. There might be slams, there might not. There will be bombs.

The only way Forrest wins this fight is the other way that Rampage can be beaten, the way that Sakuraba beat him, because it’s the weakness that Rampage knows (and has said openly) that he hasn’t shored up. Rampage can be choked out, and Forrest can choke dudes out.

If the fight ends up on the ground, Rampage can give up his back, and he can lose there. That, unfortunately, is Forrest’s one way out.

I say “unfortunately” because Rampage controls whether or not that fight goes to the ground and as long as he doesn’t get stupid, he won’t. If Rampage doesn’t get slam happy, he’ll win this fight with bombs.

Back in 2003, the MMA scene wasn’t filled with The Ultimate Fighter, Affliction shirts, and prime time television coverage. Instead, you had small name fighters across the country who were looking to make their mark in a sport that was finally reaching a level of maturity. Under Pressure: Diary of a Cage Fighter’s Wife is the story about one man who decided to drop everything to become a MMA fighter in the years leading up to the explosion of mixed martial arts.

This one man, Todd Sturgis, reveals what it’s like to take an amateur wrestling background to the next level before the country was filled with upstart MMA gyms and overwhelming sponsor support. The film starts with the story of Todd and his wife Tamera as they decide to temporarily halt their lives as long-haul truckers to begin the MMA training process at Cal Worsham’s Team X gym with fighters like James Franshier and Jaime Jarra. It’s not as quick and easy as it sounds though.

Throughout the film, Tamera does a good job of explaining her fears as her husband explains his cuts and bruises from his nights of training. Not only is she there to provide commentary on the day to day routine of training MMA, but other family members are interviewed throughout the film to share their thoughts on a fighting family member. Todd’s parents are not against the idea of him fighting, but like many parents, they really don’t want to see their child get hurt. Jaime Jarra is shown in two of his fights against a once unknown Scott Smith, and it’s evident that his family is busy taking care of him between his fights.

The families, are supportive like you would expect, but they wear their worry before and during the fight. A win to them means more than just another number on their favorite fighter’s record. A win means that their husband, father, or son has walked out of the cage and escaped seriously injury once again.

Under Pressure: Diary of a Cage Fighter’s Wife is an interesting film that showcases the highlights and the lows of supporting a cage fighter from a point-of-view perspective. There’s no fancy camera work, no big name music acts on the soundtracks, and you won’t see Joe Rogan or Mike Goldberg at any of the events. You will, however, see and hear emotions coming straight from the hearts of the wifes and families.

The ending gives you something to remember as the story of Todd’s training comes to a climax when he finally gets his chance to showcase all of his hard work and dedication. I won’t give any more details; you’ll just have to check out Under Pressure: Diary of a Cage Fighter’s Wife yourself.

The DVD can be purchased for $15 from MyCageFighter.com or for $20 from Amazon.

It’s not that simple.

I’m not hoping that the UFC card flops.

I’m not hoping that Dana White and the UFC are driven out of business, that Zuffa is beaten within an inch of its fiscal life.

I’m hoping that the UFC will stop exploiting the fact that, since the Pride buyout, it has claimed an unarguable monopoly on the sport.

It’s not at all like wanting to watch the Patriots lose, it’s wanting them to play an awesome game that goes into overtime, that keeps me on the edge of my seat and makes me excited to watch.

Monopolies put out a lower quality product. That’s a fact.

I don’t want to deal with a lower quality product of MMA just because the UFC can, and I have nowhere else to turn. Competition is, by its very nature, good for the consumer, and whether the UFC wins or loses that battle, if they put out a high quality product to do it, that’s what I care about.

So, to hell with winners and losers. I wanna watch the best fight they can show me, and until the UFC does that, I’m gonna let Dana know that I a better product.

Well, no. But some of the rumors were correct in assuming that White was going to announce the arrival of MMA in New York state. Unfortunately, the bill to allow MMA to be sanctioned in New York wasn’t passed today as expected.

What a letdown. Not only did the lawmakers let down all of the MMA fans in New York who were looking to finally see a live event at Madison Square Garden, Dana White let down all of the UFC fans as well. And in more ways than one.

When White went on ESPN and said that he had plans to change MMA for the next five years, heads nearly exploded. The forums went wild. Blog sites churned out article after article about the announcement. “Could this be the start of a MMA explosion?” people said to themselves. We just couldn’t wait to find out. Well, we didn’t have to wait until Thursday to find out.

Sam Caplan of Five Ounces of Pain revealed the news today, a day early. It was the news that Dana White did plan to release the details of an approved NY bill to sanction MMA in the state, but the bill was not approved. Apparently there was support to approve MMA in the state of New York, but once someone changed their mind as the voting began to take place, a domino effect was in full swing. Caplan says that the assemblyman who originally introduced the bill, Steve Englebright, ended up voting against it. Strange. Now that White has rescheduled his announcement to Tuesday, there’s word that the committee of Tourism, Arts, and Sports Development will be voting on the bill again early next week. Already?

While it looks like this second vote will probably allow MMA in the state, mostly thanks to the lobbying of the UFC, it’s still a letdown that the biggest news from the largest MMA organization is about the state of New York being sanctioned. Will this carry MMA for the next five years? No. Can the UFC thrive in Vegas, California, New Jersey, Ohio, and Montreal amongst many other major U.S. cities? Certainly. It’s great to hear that a state so geographically close to me is allowing the sport that I enjoy, but it’s not “an indicator of where the sport is going in the next five years”. It’s an indicator that lobbying still works. Throw enough money around in the states where MMA has yet to be sanctioned and you’ll be surprised how quickly bills can be passed.

So to wrap things up, Even though it’s not an indication of where the sport will be in five years, it is a great move to allow the UFC and the sport of MMA into new areas for more reasons than one. But if the vote to sanction MMA in New York fails again next week, everyone in New York City can make the short drive to Newark to watch the next UFC in New Jersey again. Either way, the people in the area can still expect to see live MMA action from the fighters they have watched for years.

For everyone outside of the area, it’s the same old.

And Dana, just wait and surprise people next time.

Update: White is denying that the big secret had to do with New York. Perhaps he was hoping to set up a big show in New York at MSG with a television network and he was assuming that the state was going to sanction the sport today.

I’ll give some detail on the main card and some other interesting fights (though there aren’t very many).

Matt Hughes vs. Thiago Alves

The fight is going to the ground. Matt Hughes is too good a wrestler, and Alves’ recent failure to make weight has led me to question his conditioning. If people think that size is going to be an issue, Alves isn’t the first guy to come in over weight, hoping to bang with Matt Hughes. Those who remember, remember the fight with Joe Riggs, and those who remember, remember how it ended. I expect this to end similarly.

Matt Hughes by submission, round one

Michael Bisping vs. Jason Day

Bisping is supposed to win this fight, and I think he will. He’s being brought in as a way to get the British fans excited, and I think he’ll do that. He’ll probably beat Day in his bread and butter: the stand-up. There has been a lot of interesting talk about Bisping challenging Silva, and if he wins in the first round, I think that he’ll have a delusion of power and authority, fighting that high up on a card in a country where he’s treated like the greatest. If he does get his way, he’ll lose to Silva, but I think he wins at UFC 85.

Bisping by knockout/TKO, late round one or early round two

Marcus Davis vs. Mike Swick

Hard to say if Swick has the boxing chops to stand with Davis, who’s an accomplished boxer. I think he does, and I think he’ll come out aggressive. I thought about the possibility of a war between the two, but I think that that’s unlikely. I expect Swick to remind us that he’s a bigger, stronger fighter, because he feels he needs to make a showing now. Expect fireworks and there’s a good chance Davis could catch him, so be on guard. This is the one fight I’m not sure about calling, but I’m giving it to Swick.

Swick by TKO, round two

Nate Marquardt vs. Thales Leites

I don’t think that highly of Thales Leites. It’s not that I think he’s a bad fighter, it’s just that I don’t see him improving as much as I think he should. I’m taking Marquardt in this fight by Unanimous Decision. It might be exciting, but I don’t really think it will be.

Marquardt by Unanimous Decision

Brandon Vera vs. Fabricio Werdum

I think that Werdum is a very experienced fighter and has some good technical skills in the standup, but he’s not as good as Vera standing up. That said, I think he knows that, and I think that Vera knows that he’s not as good as Werdum on the ground. I’m going with Fabricio by submission in this fight because I think he can clinch up and take this fight to the ground and finish on the ground. If he can’t get Vera down, I think Vera will knock him out, but Werdum is physically a lot bigger and much smarter in terms of translating his jiu-jitsu to MMA than Fabiano Scherner is.

Werdum by submission, round two

Martin Kampmann vs. Jorge Rivera

Kampmann by asswhup. Need I say more?

Kampmann by TKO, round one

Matt Wiman vs. Thiago Tavares

Tavares is a great grappler. Wiman is not. I think that this fight will end up on the ground and Tavares will take it from there.

Tavares by submission, round two

Roan Carniero vs. Kevin Burns

This has the potential to be an interesting fight. Burns is a well rounded guy and Carniero’s a great fighter. I think that Roan will win this one, but I hope that Burns makes a good showing, because I think he has some good potential and the welterweight division is lacking versatile fighters.

Roan Carneiro by submission, late in the fight

Luiz Cane vs. Jason Lambert

I think that Lambert’s one of the more underrated guys at 205. He was beating Gouveia when he go caught, and besides that his only UFC loss is to Rashad Evans, another stocky fighter like Lambert. I think that Lambert is one of those fireplugs who presents problems for people who think that they can just dance around, and unfortunately I expect Cane to try and use that gameplan.

Lambert by groundnpound TKO or submission, round two

Paul Taylor vs. Jess Liaudin

I’m going to have to say that I think Paul Taylor can keep this fight standing, and that I think he can beat Liaudin on the feet, and I think he’s supposed to do that, and it will make the British fans happy.

Taylor by knockout, round one

Antoni Hardonk vs. Eddie Sanchez

This is probably the easiest pick of the night for me. Hardonk will decimate Sanchez standing up. He’ll wreck the Manic Hispanic with leg kicks and combinations and finish early and devastatingly. I actually hope we get to see it, because it will be a fun KO.

Hardonk by knockout, hella quick