Bill O’Rielly is at it again. He has returned to bash the sport we love with an uneducated bias that could hurt Mixed Martial Arts. A while ago, Dana White and Rich Franklin joined Bill O’Reilly on The O’Reilly Factor. That video can be seen here. Throughout the great video, Dana and Rich tell Bill about the safe side of the sport and argue about its safety. Bill keeps to his stance and doesn’t waver at all. Dana states several times that there has never been a death or serious injury in the sport in 12 years (the video was taped a prior to the recent death of Sam Vasquez).

In his new video, Bill again states that this sport is brutal, and that CBS is lowering their standards to put it on television. He says that the move is strictly a move for money. I will let you watch the video and make your own decision. There are many people around the world that have the same views as this man. These are the ones that make it hard to sanction the sport in other states. If there is a black cloud following the sport, it is caused by people with this opinion.

For those of you who remember the poll that I put on the site a couple weeks back, this post might not be a big surprise. I had asked readers if they thought the State Athletic Commissions should allow fighters to use marijuana if the drug was legalized in the state they were fighting. Out of 24 responses, 17 of you said that fighters should be allowed to be under the influence of THC, the common chemical compound found in the drug. Only seven readers though that marijuana should still be banned even if it is legal in the state where the event is being held.

I’m sure you may already know this - the facts of drug use in MMA are still alarming. You may not know, however, that the California State Athletic Commission has suspended fighters for marijuana use almost 200% more than performance enhancing drugs like anabolic steroids. Even with all of the associated health risks with bringing smoke into human lungs, why are so many fighters smoking marijuana?

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In a surprise move by the federal government today, MMA is moving closer to being banned in all 50 states today. The legislation, part of the Non-armed Combative Regulation Act, has called out Mixed Martial Arts as a “barbaric sport” filled with “bar fighters” who are only competing to hurt others. If signed by President Bush, the sport will cease to exist as of June 1, 2008.

You can read more about the story and the Anti-MMA bill here. I’m sure FightLinker will have a petition to keep MMA alive!

It is the staple of the grappling game and without it, a fighter on the bottom would be unable to defend himself. The game is constantly evolving, and the guard has done just as much to keep up as any other. This is part one of a four part segment I’ll be posting on the new innovations in the guard that make it difficult to stay on top.

The first is the most visible, and really the most rudimentary, but when it is used effectively, it works. We’ve seen its effectiveness in the games of the Nogueira brothers and many other top fighters in the upper weight classes. We see it primarily in the upper weight classes because it’s not a finesse game, it’s a strong man’s game.

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“If you have a body, you are an athlete.” Those were the words of Nike’s co-founder Bill Bowerman. This business man helped create one of the largest sports mega corporations in the world and nearly everywhere you go, you will see the famous Nike symbol. At one time it was so popular people were getting Nike tattoos. Nike is all things sports and they currently have a stronghold in every major sport. They sponsor college sports teams, sell millions of dollars worth of clothing a year, and have sold more shoes with the initials “MJ” than most other companies sell all shoes combined. They sponsor other major athletes as well; Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, and Derek Jeter. In sports, Nike has realized that there are endless ways to reach fans and one new way they are reaching out to fans is by marketing one of the most charismatic fighters in the UFC. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson is filming a commercial with Nike titled “Human Chain.” Jackson isn’t the first MMA star to be apart of a Nike commercial as Randy Couture and his famous cauliflower ear was the first to be part of a Nike ad campaign.

“Human Chain” will be an advertisement that will focus on a true athlete’s ability to pick themselves up after defeat, but Rampage will not be in this commercial alone. He will be joined by the king himself, Lebron James, as well as other sports superstars. One of the things Rampage is known for is his huge chain that he wears as he enters and leaves the octagon. Is it a coincidence that he wears a chain and the name of the commercial is “Human Chain”? We will all have to see when the advertisement finally airs.

This is not the first time that a MMA athlete has been the recipient of a big time showcase. In October of 2007 rising star Roger Huerta was the first UFC fighter to grace the cover of the famous Sports Illustrated. The popular sports magazine showcased Huerta and did a great article about him. Not only did this give Huerta and his undefeated run in the UFC, it opened the door for other opportunities such as interviews with ESPN.

The sport of MMA is on fire of late and it is great. The sport is on the “sports leader” - ESPN, in magazines, and mainstream websites are starting to MMA sections. The UFC and other organizations could be one major sponsor away from supremacy in the MMA game. Bud Light recently announced that they are the beer of the UFC. If the UFC could land another premier advertiser such as Nike it could make them almost unreachable from the other organizations. Imagine watching the upcoming NCAA tournament and see a commercial with Chuck Liddell and his painted nails having a conversation with Michael Jordan. Think about the great exposure of seeing B.J. Penn showing Derek Jeter how to do a triangle. In the future these concept commercials could be reality. A year ago we could have imagined seeing Rampage Jackson in a commercial with Lebron James. That is suddenly a reality, as well as the huge popularity of the fastest growing sport in America!

Previous generations of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu players have experienced much easier days. With more and more stand up artists learning the basics of grappling, the balance of power has certainly been tipped in their favor. Take Chuck Liddell as an example. During his tenure as champion, he tore through every grappler he faced, compiling a seven fight win streak. Wrestlers have also been taking the submission game very seriously, taking time to learn the basics of BJJ and now themselves the ability to dodge all submissions with their usually superior strength and also giving them the chance to unleash far more brutal ground and pound.

Brazilian Jiu Jitsu artists must evolve with the sport or be left behind, so now do we have to wait for someone to invent a crazy new style of BJJ before we can have hope for our favorite ground players?

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The steroid problem is everywhere and in every sport. This past week a professional billiard player got caught doping. Roids are the most important topic in all of baseball. They have also added a black eye to Sean Sherk’s legacy. Many steroid users have talked about a false sense of security that comes with the steroids. You can run faster and jump higher and feel like you can not be stopped. It made Steve Lattimer get his seat at the table in the best College football movie minus Rudy. He also slammed his head into a car window and tried to rape a girl due to the effects of the drug.

This security blanket is something according to brother Frank, Ken Shamrock has. In a hilarious move in sibling rivalry, Frank says that “my brother did them his whole life.” “Why do you think that his mind is so fried? Why do you think he crumbles before the big fights? He’s got no psyche. He let steroids give him a false sense of security and the moment that stuff is gone he’s no longer superman. He’s just a regular man. But without all the hard work and without all the belief in himself that a regular man would have if he got up to that point. He’s the only guy that I’ll tell on, because he’s always in trouble anyway.”

Ken and Frank are not biological brothers, but they are still brothers. Ken was adopted at a young age and was always part of the family. Ken Shamrock is a legend in the sport. He is nicknamed “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” and as one of the sport’s forefathers, he is s a part of the reason the sport is where it is today. Frank is not that bad of a MMA fighter either. He is StrikeForce’s middleweight champion and has a record of 24-8-1. He has beaten the likes of Phil Baroni, Cesar Gracie, Tito Ortiz, Jeremy Horn, and Bas Rutten. The two could be the second family of MMA behind the Gracie Family.

The biggest thing that can be taken away from the interview isn’t the fact that Ken Shamrock is a user, and may have been his whole career. It is the fact that Frank hints that others are currently using. This tells me that there is a problem with steroids in that organization. It is also no secret that the old Pride organization didn’t test for steroids. It is funny how the guys from Pride have either flourished, or fell flat on their faces in the cage. Part of this could be the cage, and part of this could be steroids. Rumblings around the UFC has all but pointed fingers to the former Japan fighters, and said that is why they have struggled.

The last well known UFC fighter to test positive for steroids was the 155 champion Sean Sherk. Sherk was a physical specimen and had amazing workouts. He has never assumed the guilt and always denied all allegations. Other notable fighters that have popped are Hermes Franca and Stephen Bonner.

Dana White told Sherdog “Our policy on fighters using steroids, illegal drugs or any banned substance remains the same,” declared White, “you cannot use them.” Neither Ken nor Frank is in the UFC, but if steroids are being used in other organizations they are being used in the UFC. The world of steroids is a continuous cycle of big brains and muscle heads. The big brains will constantly be in search of a better untraceable steroid, and the athletes that use will be on the look out for such a thing.

It has been suggested that Anderson Silva should fight Roy Jones Jr., perhaps the greatest 185 pound boxer in the world. It’s not surprising that people have started to think this, after Silva destroyed a man that many considered the #2 ranked middleweight in the world, but the thought of reverting to Roy Jones Jr. seems bizarre, and the reasoning is relatively simple.Even in the longstanding debate between who is the better striker, the conditions of Silva’s match with Jones would be subject to negative scrutiny, however they turned out. Here’s what I mean:

If Silva and Jones met in a boxing match and Jones wins (which I imagine he probably would) then it won’t prove anything. It won’t show MMA fans that boxers are superior strikers because they are used to using heavier gloves. All it will show is that Jones is, as I suspect, a better boxer than the undisputed UFC middleweight champion.

If Silva and Jones meet in the Octagon and Silva destroys Jones, whether using his kicks, his thai clinch or his submission skills (all of which are possible, but the first two I find most probably, given that Silva feels they will look the best against Jones), all he will have proved is that it isn’t possible for Jones to adapt to the MMA system in whatever short period of time he is give. It won’t prove anything about the quality of Anderson’s skills and the authority of his dominance.

Let me simplify it even more:

If Silva fights Jones in MMA, all he’s going to prove is that Jones isn’t a very good MMA fighter. (or at least not any better than the other guys that he has systematically demolished)

If Silva fights Jones in boxing, all he’s going to prove is that his striking doesn’t translate well, or (on the slight off-chance that he should win) he’ll prove that he is (as we already know) a phenomenal striker.

That said, I don’t even think that Jones is a deserving opponent for Silva, given his current situation. Jones is 3-2 in his last 5 fights, and I, personally, don’t find that stat to be particularly impressive. If Jones were on the kind of roll that Mayweather is on, it might be more understandable (that said, if he also had Mayweather’s mouth, my reaction would be as it has always been to Mayweather, and that is to politely suggest that he shut his cakehole).

I think that it goes without saying, given how I feel about boxers coming into MMA (they shouldn’t), that I don’t think we should be talking about this, and that we should be looking at the prospect of a match between Silva and a legitimate top middleweight, pushing the UFC into signing Matt Lindland or Kazuo Misaki or Dennis Kang or Yoshihiro Akiyama (or a dozen other guys who are much more qualified fighters than the boxer Roy Jones), or, as has been suggested many times, that Zuffa work to convince WEC champ Paulo Filho that his best chance for a great fight (both to prove his own mettle and to entertain the fans) is in the prospect of a fight with Silva), despite the uncertainty of both men about fighting a fellow Brazilian.

My point is simple: we, as MMA fans, have been led on for over a year now (arguably longer than that, but other instances have been more sparatic, so I’ll just stay on the safe side) and I’m wondering why professional writers are still talking about it. I don’t want to sound superior, because here I am, talking about it (even if it’s as a suggestion not to), but it’s like my dad always used to tell me:

Fool me once, shame on you.

Fool me twice, shame on me for being suck a damn fool.

Anderson Silva has destroyed all competition in the cage who has challenged him. He is the best fighter in his weight and wants more. Silva’s manager has gone on record via MMAMania.com stating that Silva wants to fight Roy Jones Jr with boxing rules to prove that MMA fighters are just as technical as boxers. Silva and Jones are considered to be two of the pound for pound best fighters in the world and both have dominated in their respective sport.

As a boxer, Roy Jones Jr. was named fighter of the decade for the 90’s by the Boxing Writers Association of America. His name echoes around the world of boxing as one of the best ever and his accolades tell the story themselves. The Pensacola native has been the IBF middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavy weight champion. He fought one fight at heavyweight and it was for the WBA title (he won). Not impressed yet? He also held the WBC, WBA, IBF, IBO, NBA, WBF, and IBA light heavyweight belt all at the same time! This silver medalist and 8 time world champion was no doubt the top light heavyweight boxer in the world. This past January in his last fight, Jones defeated Felix Trinidad at the famous Madison Square Garden by unanimous decision.

In the MMA realm, Anderson Silva has many things in his favor. If he was allowed to fight in other organizations he could/would have multiple titles. He beat Dan Henderson who was the Pride Middleweight Champ. Silva in my opinion would beat 99% of the other fighters at his weight right now and I say 99% because of the upset factor. Face it, it happens. Silva is on a roll in the cage. He is dominating opponents in the octagon, and isn’t having any problems doing it. He is very marketable and is considered a great champion. Dana White has said that he is the best fighter in the world.

This could be an advertisers dream! Imagine the UFC promoting a boxing match in the cage to determine the true pound for pound best fighter in the world. It is something that Don King and Dana White probably think about on a daily basis. This sounds great, but it will never happen. Unless Roy or another boxer decides to take a major pay cut and put the pride of boxing on his shoulders then it won’t ever happen. In Roy’s fight against Trinidad they had over half a million pay-per-views buys. For the boxing community this was proof that they are still here, and aren’t going to just fade away in the sunset. The highest paid boxer makes at least twice what the highest paid MMA fighter makes. Why would Mayweather or Jones fight for a quarter of the money they usually make? The answer is simple… They won’t. Unless Dana decides to make something like this happen, it won’t happen. Keep in mind, this is the same guy that wouldn’t sign Fedor and allow him to fight Russian Sambo.

This goes back to the argument of MMA vs. Boxing. Let’s try something else, let’s compare golf and putt-putt (that is just an example, not saying either is like putt-putt). You can’t compare the two. They are somewhat comparable sports. You use a golf club and a ball, but there is a night and day difference between the two. The same is with boxing and MMA. Reminds me of the saying, “they are exactly the same… but different”. You can’t even compare the two, but thousands of people try to do it daily on the forums.

Anderson Silva and Roy Jones would make a lot of money. It would be a big draw for MMA fans and Boxing fans alike. They would enjoy seeing the chance for a real MMA fighter to finally put up or shut up, and face a true boxer. It is no secret that the sporting event would more than likely decide the overall outcome of the fight. If the two fought by boxing rules, Jones would pick Silva apart. Jones’ hands are far better than Silva’s no matter what the average MMA fan thinks. If they were fighting by MMA rules, Silva would simply take Jones down, and submit him on the ground. It is that simple. As much as I would love to this battle of true athletes, I don’t feel this will ever happen. It could be good or bad for either sport. It is not a true measurement of which sport if superior, and would do nothing but add fuel to a never ending feud.

I consider myself one of the bigger, if not biggest, Ken Shamrock fans in the galaxy. Ken got me into MMA (at age 10) when me and my father watched “The Brawl in Buffalo.” Soon after watching that PPV, my father and I sat down and watched UFC’s 1, 3, and 5 after we had rented the tapes. I was intrigued by his demeanor and the aura that surrounded him when he entered the octagon (we still had never heard of Pancrase unfortunately). My father became interested in the sport, mainly for its violence, which allowed me to watch the early SEG days of the UFC. Along with growing up watching baseball, basketball, and football, I was lucky enough to grow up with MMA, and grow up a huge Ken Shamrock fan.

When Ken left the sport for the garbage they call pro wrestling, I didn’t follow MMA as much as I had been. Those were dark days for me, MMA without Ken Shamrock.

Since he came back, however, I had a new passion of the sport of MMA. Ken was back and, seemingly, better than ever. His Otsuka fight was unreal for me. Ken displayed a wide range of skills coming back from such a long layoff, albeit against a lower-level opponent. Even though he ‘lost’ to Fujita (I give him a pass with the stress-related issues of a divorce and child custody battle), lost to Frye (one hell of a fight where he broke both of Frye’s ankles for pete’s sake), lost to Tito (got dominated, albeit with a torn ACL), lost to Franklin, and Saku (absolute rigged bullshit), I still had a tremendous amount of excitement for him. When he defeated a much larger Kimo I thought it would be a turning point in the last stage of his career. His last two fights with Tito made me believe that his career was starting to catch up with him, but I still had high hopes of him returning to his winning ways.

When he left the UFC and signed to fight Berry, I was ecstatic because Ken would FINALLY fight a b-level fighter. We all know how that fight ended, however (I saw a bad omen when none of the famed Lion’s Den members accompanied him into the ring like so many times before). I’m a huge Alabama fan, and after that fight, I felt like ‘Bama had just lost to La. Monroe again. I was absolutely sick.

I think its BS to say that someone “should” retire. Do any of us know Ken personally? No. His drive to continue to compete, whether it’s a good decision or not, still says something about the heart he has and the competitor he always has been. No matter who you are, Ken-hater or not, you have to have admiration for someone who still has that hunger and same tenacity in his eyes every time he enters the ring. He loves the sport and if he doesn’t want to let go, who are we to tell him. What have we done for MMA? I’m not 44, but I know a few 40-50 year old men who don’t have the ability to take a Sunday walk. (I laugh at the ignorance of those who say he’s doing it just for money. Someone with multiple gyms, a promotional company, and a hall-of-fame career don’t need the coin). No doubt, Ken is truly one of the greatest warriors the sport has ever seen, and he truly was “The World’s Most Dangerous Man” in the mid-90s as the TV documentary put it.

Now whether you WANT someone to retire (to protect himself, protect a legacy, etc.) is a completely justified position to hold. I had never said it before, but on March 8th at around 10:37 pm CST, I turned to my friends and said those heart-wrenching words: “I wish Ken would retire.”

Don’t mistake me: If/when Ken decides to continue, I will be there to watch The World’s Most Dangerous compete, just like I did when I was 10, with the same passion I always have had. There is still a large portion of me that wants to see him fight Frank. If you do continue Ken, GIVE ‘EM HELL.

I have had a couple of sleepless nights about that loss, thinking about my realization on the ladder-stage of his career. With a tearful eye I thank you Ken Shamrock for introducing me and the thousands upon thousands of other fans to the great sport of MMA. I also thank you for your heart, tenacity, and love of the sport you helped build from the ground up.

But now I wish you’d ride off into the sunset and join the likes of Telligman, Mezger, White, and Bohlander, in returning the Lion’s Den to glory.

MMAWeekly has a story on an apparently bored Anderson Silva talking about boxing Roy Jones Jr. Well, Anderson himself didn’t speak. His manager Ed Soares made the actual statement to MMAWeekly.

Adam Morgan over at Fiveouncesofpain.com picked up the story and asked how Dana would react to such a statement from one of his champion’s camps.

I think Dana would like that grandstand challenge just fine. He knows it won’t happen, but he’s a promoter, and this is a good talking point for a promoter. It brings him attention and allows him to hype the UFC in a few mainstream press clippings or ESPN website blurbs.

What would be interesting is if the over-the-hill Jones Jr. was savvy enough to agree (and he should be), a great promotional endeavor would be a one-and-one series. White should suggest a boxing match followed by an MMA bout, or more than likely if it’s White talking, he’d (smartly) want the MMA fight first and foremost.

If Dana White really wanted to reach “across the aisle” and bridge the (media manufactured) gap he’d get in bed with Jones Jr’s promotional team specifically. Roy Jones Jr. is an entertainer who knows how to play a heel. At the end of the scenario Jones knows how to play the game and be like Tito Ortiz. Jones will carry the talk, say the words that sell the fight to both sides of the argument, and captivate the media. When the fight is over, Jones will be the one to walk over, hug Silva, and put him and MMA over as being for real. Boxing and MMA side-by-side. No need for competition for anything but PPV dollars.

Of course, that’s where the fantasy ends. It’s great to put these hype quotes and blog writer narratives out there to keep people talking and interested. The problem is at the beginning of the pretend narrative I laid out. Dana White and Jones Jr.’s people would never leave the table shaking hands. Remember how Mark Cuban and Mayweather were talking (JUST talking) about doing some MMA business together? Where was the expected payoff money for Mayweather coming from? Even with the intrigue, the pie isn’t big enough for Mayweather’s $20 million price tag. Let’s pretend for a minute Dana really could realize his dream and become Vince McMahon. Would he really cut in Mayweather for that chunk of change when PPV carriers are getting half of the overall take? That live gate would have to be $40 million for him to even consider the idea.

Dana White is controversial for saying a lot of crazy things, but If he did a lot of crazy things the UFC wouldn’t have the market share it owns in MMA.

Your arguments as to why Mixed Martial Arts are better than Boxing aren’t helping. In fairness to you, a Boxing fan’s slights against your sport don’t do them any favors either. I personally don’t get into NASCAR much, but mocking it to anyone that will listen won’t diminish the sports/brands accomplishments or popularity. More to the point, I’m not accomplishing anything by telling people my interest is better. It’s good that people like diverse entertainment forms. It gets dull focusing on one thing. Not to mention some people find inspiration, redemption, or happiness in things other than all our own collective narrow in scope interests. MMA and Boxing have little to do with one another, and both will exist on TV, the internet, and sports pages in some form for the duration of all our lives. The same goes for NASCAR too.

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This is a response to Brandt DeLorenzo’s article about Melvin Costa.

Why is it important to have a stance on this man. Why is it so important that we all run not only to comment, but in paying it mind we HAVE to say “what an idiot” or “he shouldn’t fight for Elite XC/ Rage in the Cage/ whatever company we’ve heard?

Sorry to be the white guy to say this (I know this makes me the target for White Sup. Defender heat), but he has the right to have his tattoo. He has the right to say what he wants as I do anytime I post something here. I don’t have to agree with him, but it’s really heavy handed to always qualify everything with “idiot” and so forth because everyone in our increasingly politically correct culture is so afraid to be labeled a racist or the center of a media fit over someone’s thoughts.

I also don’t think it’s a valid reason to deny the guy work. As long as he’s not using Elite XC or CBS sponsored media to get his feelings across, it’s his personal life.

Look, I very much dislike organized religion. I think people who follow it are rubes. That’s not popular to say, but it’s how I feel. I’m being truthful. I also can’t and never would try to stop those people from what they do. I grew up in Catholic school, and it was my right to debate it.

I understand the business counter argument: “we” - which really is MMA hardcores fans, and seems less at this point to be Elite XC management - can’t have this guy running around messing up the perception of “our” young sport. Okay, that’s valid. It’s also valid that there are racists and/or religious zealots in every aspect of life. Do you think I want to see Matt Hughes talk about his version of God on my TV? Why isn’t that “offensive”? The truth is it’s not, but our culture selectively labels things. In one breath your told life isn’t fair, and in another you’ll hear cries for accountability or fairness to a person or persons who don’t have to be accountable or fair. It’s one of the reasons I find the word offensive so obnoxious. Because you don’t have a legal right to NOT be offended. I myself am injured at times by people’s ideologies and words. But it’s ridiculous for me to attempt to MAKE them stop.

Unless this guy commits a hate crime or suggests others should in an interview, this shouldn’t be shaped as the fake P.C. story it is. None of you, nor me, is that “good” a person. The NFL, NBA, and MLB have criminals too. If MMA isn’t strong enough to combat media critism, than it simply won’t be national. Hardcores will still know how to watch their sport, and life will go on. That in itself has it’s ironies. If some op-ed writer for a major newspaper says for the 300th time that MMA is a brutal anything goes cockfight I can be offended. It would be weak of me to try and get the man fired. I’d find it beneath me to take food from the man’s mouth. Instead, my lobby would be for education and debate. I think the same of the fighter discussed for his tattoo. We are talking about a sport where the object is to strike or submit an opponent using violent tactics, after all. It’s up to you to see the art involved.

It’s pretty simple; ignore the physical appearance and listen to the message. It’s no surprise that fighters like King of the Cage fighter Melvin Costa have inked themselves with white power tattoos in an attempt to gain attention from both supporters and protesters of his cliche white power argument. Costa, like most (if not all) white power individuals are looking for someone to influence, someone to infuriate. David Holthouse from the Southern Povery Law Center wrote an article titled “The Last Word” in which he gives Costa more exposure from his interview with Sam Caplan last year. FightOpinion’s Zach Arnold posted up the article on his blog earlier today.

Amongst many topics in the interview, Costa goes on to explain that the swastika tattoo on his chest does have some meaning.

“A swastika, as far as I hold it true to my own, it stands for the purity of my people’s blood … I do believe in the purity, security, and the survival of the white race.”

That’s quite the compelling argument that we’ve all heard a thousand times before. Tell us something new and intellectual, Mr. Costa. Perhaps you should explain a bit deeper into the fact that the origin of Costa is actually Portuguese and Brazilian. Brazilians are Caucasian? According to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, 49.9% of Brazilians consider themselves white due to some white ancestry.

But Costa doesn’t come off as the typical ignorant fool. He answers each of Caplan’s questions thoughtfully without making any attempt to demean other races or beliefs - believe it or not. If one were to read his interview without seeing Costa, they might picture a skinny pale student who is just a little lost in life. But Costa, only 26 years old, has spent almost half of his life, 11 years, in jail serving his time for an assortment of charges from burglary to assault.

But then again, do I care about his life in particular? Not really.

Do I ever want to see him fight? Probably not.

Costa is just another fighter who wants to leverage his physical appearance in order to gain attention from fans in MMA. Unless he does have some talent, this whole debacle won’t last long and we’ll be back to regular business as usual. But maybe you are one of those fans who want to see him go down against fighter just for the satisfaction. As for myself, I’d rather just not worry about someone just looking for attention when there’s so much more to look towards in the sport right now.

It’s easy to look at M-1 Global and World Victory Road and call this a rise for the Japanese market. After all, the ability to keep many of the Japanese fanbase’s favorite fighters (Fedor, Barnett, Yoshida, Gomi, and so on) in Japan is a huge win for the Japanese market, because though we’re all aware that K-1 will continue to be the best kickboxing organization on the planet, their MMA events are a long way from challenging the Goliath of the sport.

Still, M-1 and Victory Road present a serious problem for the Japanese market, because they seem to be splitting fighters. Fedor, Monson and a handful of other great guys have signed with M-1, while Barnett, Yoshida and the up-and-coming phenom Roger Gracie are signed to WVR. It greatly decreases the chances of a great superfight card that many have been speculating about since the Pride buyout. We figured the end of the crazy freakshow that Pride fights sometimes turned into (like Zuluzihno vs. Butterbean) could only be a good thing. That said, we were a bit too quick to look on the bright side.

It seems that Zuffa shot down the mother bear, and now we’re going to have to see the offspring fight to the death to establish themselves as dominant.

There is some hope, as Japanese organizations have been known to cooperate from time to time and pool contracts to give the fans what they want, (damn, I wish that the UFC would take a page out of that book some days) and the buyout has only increased the frequency of these kinds of deals, but has seriously damaged the quality.

I’d personally like to see one of these two blooming powerhouses buy out the other, so that we could see all of the world class contracts get pooled together in one organization, but I don’t think that’s likely, given that the financial situations of both organizations are in their beginning stages.

The promise of Josh Barnett vs. Fedor Emelianenko may be gone, and so we’re all keeping our fingers crossed for Randy Couture to sign with M-1. It wasn’t too long ago, before Zuffa sent the Pride boys a big fat check, when Barnett vs. Emelianenko was imminent, and shortly after that (when the buyout came), Couture vs. Fedor was on our doorstep. Or at least that’s what we thought.

Oh well, I guess it’s true what the Rolling Stones say; “you can’t always get what you want.”

Roy Nelson, Matt Horwich, and Kim Couture. Not the biggest names in the sport, but they have kicked off a busy weekend of MMA action. The premeiere of the new IFL fight team format was aired late last night on HDNet Fights, followed by the Kim Couture smoker fight. Tonight, we witness a potential fight of the year when Dan Henderson looks to take the belt away from UFC middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. I’m going to take a few minutes to talk about each event.

IFL Premiere: I’ve always tried to be positive about the IFL organization even with the old team format. Although the new team format has improved the overall production, the IFL hasn’t changed too much overall. Luckily, HDNet Fights has decent commentator to help the IFL provide a professional production. Although Bas Rutten is nowhere near as bad as Bill Goldberg, he can be a little over the top at times. Overall, the fights were interesting with the Horwich championship fight against Ryan McGivern going to full five rounds and other fights ending in less than 20 seconds. The problem with the IFL is their drawing power. Many of their fights are great in their own regard, but they don’t have any big draws to bring in the fans. If the IFL went up against almost any other televised MMA production this year, I would probably watch everything but the IFL. There’s not much there above and beyond your smaller local organizations that you can watch semi-regularly on HDNet Fights these days. Overall, I give it a 6/10.

Kim Couture Smoker: I’ll be honest and say right off the bat that I didn’t pay any attention to this until it began immediately following the IFL. I was trying to determine exactly why they were televising a smoker event in the first place. Then I found this excuse.

“This event will give fans insight into where it all starts for fighters,” said Simon. “Earlier in the evening, we will broadcast the live IFL event taking place in front of 6,000 fans and then we’ll show the contrast by going to the Smoker at Xtreme Couture in front of 300 fans.”

While I agree that it’s important to learn where fighters start, I know it’s not the reason why they aired this. If this was Sam Caplan’s wife (who also fights), we wouldn’t see anything like this. The drawing power of the Couture last name is what made this production to HDNet Fights and as long as you knew that before watching, you couldn’t be too disappointed. Good fight between Kim Couture and her opponent, Allison Clarkson, overall. If you have an hour of free time, go watch the smokers!

UFC 82: The UFC couldn’t have set up a better event to lead into UFC 83. While 83 has been considered one of the most stacked UFC cards in a while, UFC 82 shouldn’t dissapoint many. With big names like Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva, Evan Tanner, Chris Leben, Cheick Kongo, Heath Herring, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Andre Arlovski, there should be no shortage of true MMA action tonight. Aside from the main event, there’s a few other important matches to really watch as well. Can Arlovski bring back the excitement after his boring UFC 70 fight. Can Heath Herring get back to wining like he did in Pride? Will Chris Leben show everyone his heavy hands again? I’m excited to see what happens tonight as it will dictate a lot of what the future will hold for the middleweight and heavyweight divisions later this year.

I won’t say that I hate boxing, because that would be a lie. I grew up watching Bruce Lee (who I personally think of as the first mixed martial artist), but I was enamored with great professional boxers. Namely classic footage of Muhammad Ali and growing up during the rise and fall of “Iron” Mike Tyson.

I denote my birthday two ways; it’s the date Tupac was fatally shot after a Mike Tyson fight (1996, my sixth birthday) and it’s the date that “Gentleman” James Corbett was crowned the first heavyweight champion under the Marquee of Queensbury rules, winning a 21 round fight.

That said, it needs to be remembered that boxing is not fighting, and has not been for many, many years. There was a time when there were many boxers who were, in fact, fighters. My greatest memory of those is Mike Tyson, which isn’t to say that he was the greatest (I’ll still give Ali that title), but because he’s the one I watched live growing up, and who’s career I eventually watched fall apart.

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This is my first post on the site, and I’m glad to be here. Looks like a great group of guys and a solid think-tank. Given my background in the sport, and some of the results from the recent UFC cards, I thought this would be a good way to start this off.

There was a time when many a sherdog columnist wrote that Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu was done, and that the new fighter was a hybrid of wrestling and muay thai, with a little jiu-jitsu and some submission defense. There was a time when there was not a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter could be found in the UFC.

That time wasn’t too long ago, but you’d never guess it by looking at the current status of the UFC, and objective assessment will show that those predictions, that BJJ would become an obsolete style when people figured out how to defend the armbar and utilize the groundnpound form guard, are clearly wrong.

Four of the UFC’s five champions are Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelts. Anderson Silva, Matt Serra, BJ Penn and recently crowned heavyweight king Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (who gave Silva his blackbelt) all hold the honor, but they’re not the only one, and it’s clear that the knowledge of the ground game is something that can’t just be learned from wrestling and transitioning to grappling, as we’ve seen time and time again.

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