The current poll up on Sherdog is a question regarding Randy vs. Fedor. It asks “Will Randy Couture ever fight Fedor Emelianenko.” With the answers being “Yes, No, or don’t matter, I’m no longer interested.”

When I wrote this there was 11,730 votes and of these votes 28% of the people who voted said no and another 28% said they don’t care they are no longer interested. That is way too many people that have no interest in this fight. Possibly one of the best heavyweight match ups ever!

How can this be? I was beyond shocked when I saw these numbers. I understand that there have been controversy after controversy about these two fighters, and the fight seems more distant than the Chuck and Wandy fight back in the day, but c’mon! This is Randy and Fedor! I understand that Randy seems to be doing more legal fighting than MMA fighting, and Fedor has been running around with the Olympic torch and sleeping his way through the Sambo tournament, but it is Randy vs. Fedor!

Do you remember that feeling you had right when the bell rang for Chuck and Wandy? If you are like me I said to myself, I can’t believe that these two are finally fighting! Here we go! Would it not be the same feeling if not more?

Speaking of here we go, we are almost in a similar lull that we had prior to that fight. As of right now it is unsure if these two legendary fighters will ever square off. It is like that time when your parents said there was no way you were getting that Nintendo, but in a way you knew you would still get it… I am hoping
that one day soon we will get that surprise package under the tree and inside will be a Randy vs. Fedor PPV!

I can understand why many of the fans have lost interest. I get that, I only hope that the minute that the fight is announced that those same fans will change their mind. If they don’t it is possible that they could miss one classic battle! At the same time, if these two never fight, every single fan of the sport will have been done wrong, and all in the name of money!

Originally posted at IronSportMMA.

For those who have the seen the video recently posted on mmaopinion, where I work and where the best news and analysis in the sport is.

Now lets forget Bill’s economic stupidity. Let’s forget that the 16-34 year old males are the second most potent viewer groups in the entire country (in, the minds of many producers of big advertisement buyers, like beer companies, the most important). Let’s forget that the sport has been approved by state athletic commissions, that it has fewer fatalities than boxing, hockey or football.

Let’s forget that when John McCain commented on the sport and called in “human cockfighting”, Ken Shamrock destroyed him in civil debate on Larry King’s live interview, one of the crowning moments for the sport, and one I would like to see Shamrock repeat. Personally, I’d be happy to debate O’Reilly myself, since he clearly knows nothing about the sport and about the way that it’s marketed.

As far as the “redeeming moral value” of MMA that the twit Jane Hall, there’s as much redeeming value in mixed martial arts as there is in football.

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If the debacle that we called “YAMMA Pit Fighting” did anything for the MMA community, it confirmed a few things about MMA fans as a whole. With an obscure announcing style, a heavyweight tournament, and a cage with an abnormal fighting surface, YAMMA took us back 15 years to the early days of modern Mixed Martial Arts fighting. Unfortunately, it seems that fans these days don’t want to go back or change the style of MMA right now. If you think about, the sport of MMA is perfect where it is and the growth proves it. The rules, the cage, the fighting styles have begun to make the sport mainstream enough to escape John McCain and the rest of legislature, but still tough enough to keep the hardcore fans excited. YAMMA proved that fans don’t want the potential changes that Bob Meyrowitz presented earlier this month in Atlantic City.

Fans don’t want a new fighting surface. Professional wrestling would have seen the benefit of a cage with banked edges to help set up crazy tag team combinations, but MMA fighters only saw it as an obstacle which discouraged takedowns and encouraged stalling. The “pit” was a novelty idea that we’ll hopefully never see again in a real MMA competition.

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Matt Riddle has a lot to say on this season of The Ultimate Fighter. The young fighter from New York is shown throughout the show talking to fellow fighters, his coaches, and the camera. He has been nicknamed “Smiley” and “Chipper” by the fighters and the coaches and you can see why. He’s certainly got a lot to say about himself and the sport, including this:

It doesn’t matter where you train - if you want it, you can get it.

While other fighters are training at Top Team, Serra’s BJJ Academy, and Team Quest, Riddle reminds us that he trains out of Palmerton, PA at Rat Pack Fighting Systems. And with his performance last night, you can clearly see that while a professional training team may help a fighter, it’s certainly not what makes a fighter.

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I know that there is plenty going on for the Ultimate Fighting Championship right now, but I think that it’s about time we look ahead (besides, there will be plenty of articles written on Serra vs. St. Pierre, and I’ll talk about the aftermath soon).

Still, I’m willing to look past the Serra vs. St. Pierre matchup because I want to aware that the best matchup the UFC has promised this year is coming, and while there’s been some talk, it’s not getting the credibility it deserves, and part of that is political, and all of it is crap.

If you’re still not aware of which fight I’m talking about, I’m talking about UFC 84’s main event: Sean Sherk vs. BJ Penn. It’s going to be a war, and everybody knows that this is going to a challenge for both fighters, because of how perfectly their skill sets match up.

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Got a few extra bucks to spend this weekend? Bodog and BetUS are both showing odds for UFC 83 that just might make you want to drop a few bucks on Matt Serra, Travis Lutter, or even Mark Bocek.

After watching Matt Serra dismantle Georges St. Pierre during UFC 69 last April along with St. Pierre’s domination of Matt Hughes, this fight could easily go either way. Bodog is showing lines of -500 for St. Pierre and +300 for Serra while BetUS has Serra up at +350. You could make $350 for every $100 if Serra pulls off another “upset.” It’s only an upset if Serra wins because it’s one of those fights where many are thinking St. Pierre will come away with the victory, but there’s some uncertainty. Remember the last time this happened? It was Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson and although a great fight ensued, the upset just wasn’t there. Things may change this time around if Serra doesn’t let the Montreal crowd get to him.

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This should be interesting. I had just finished an article about Monte Cox and Adrenaline MMA when the news of a summer showdown between technically undefeated Russian heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko and ex-UFC fighter Tim Sylvia. Will Emelianenko finally fight an ex-UFC heavyweight champion this summer? Better yet, will Emelianenko fully regain his undisputed #1 heavyweight status with a win over the much larger Tim Sylvia? Or will the nay sayers continue to beat on the Russian fighter for being inactive for too long even though he has clearly dominated most of his opponents?

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It seems that Ken Shamrock can never catch a break no matter where he turns. Be it in the cage or on the internet (mostly the latter) he always seems to be the butt of internet jokes and they do not appear to be slowing down anytime soon, especially with the release of the latest parody video that seems to be taking the MMA internet scene by storm. Here it is in all its infamy, the “Ken Shamrock Meth Video”, made by a crew calling themselves “TCM”.

Check the video after the jump…

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Quinton “Rampage” Jackson was a guest on the famous Opie and Anthony Show. This is not the first time he has been a guest on the show so as many fans know, Rampage is a fighter that is full of character and he loves to talk the talk.Early in the interview with Rampage, he is asked about his 2 losses to Wanderlei Silva “The Axe Murderer”. Wand is knows for that because of the way he used to dominate his opponents in the cage. Rampage simply said I don’t know how much I can say about that. However, he did continue to talk about the referees and some unfair bias. Rampage hinted that the organization has crooked and that the refs at times seemed like they were paid. Quinton backs up this point by saying there were times that the refs stood the fighters back to their feet several times when it shouldn’t have, to give Wand the advantage. Rampage also said that Wand was the Chuck Liddell of Pride, getting beneficial treatment. He continues to say that if the two were to fight in the UFC he believes that he would beat him. Rampage also speculated that the old Pride organization may have also had the benefit of inside organizations like the government or other very influential groups. Rampage also says that Wand is the type of guy that thinks everyone should bow to him, that he thinks he is better than everyone else. He says that I am not afraid of him, and that the two are not on speaking terms.

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If so, they deserve that television contract.

With three rounds of nearly non-stop action, Frank Shamrock and Cung Le helped to solidify EliteXC as worthy of prime time MMA viewing. Why, you ask? Well, there’s quite a few reasons.

1. Frank Shamrock is hilarious in the cage. Cung Le wasn’t too bad himself. Whenever there was a chance to showcase some personality, both fighters didn’t waste any time. With finger pointing, hit counts, and smiles between the fighters, there wasn’t a time during the fight that I wasn’t laughing at the antics between both fighters. The casual fan could enjoy the display of personality and hopefully it could help some people see that both men were more than just punching and kicking machines.

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Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin will be joined by TUF Alumni Cole Miller, American Top Team’s Gleison Tibau, and UFC newbie Steve Bruno. The American Top Team announced that all three of these fighters will be fighting on the card.

Cole Miller is another one of those “TUF” guys as he was a part of season 5 of the UFC reality show. Although he didn’t win, he had a successful tenure and the exposure from the show helped get him a UFC contract. Cole started training with the American Top Team in 2006. He is currently 13-3 in his MMA career.

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In a few weeks the UFC’s popular television series will premiere for its 7^th time. Rampage Jackson and Forrest Griffin will lead the 32 fighters on their journey throughout the show, and help them pursue their goal to be considered The Ultimate Fighter. This show has provided the UFC with another avenue to increase popularity and provide a stage for the leading MMA organization.

The Cast:

Paul Bradley

Steve Byrnes

Mike Dolce

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The new promotion DREAM has finally announced its final card and for all intents and purposes, this seems to be a fantastic card that should not be missed - if you like Lightweight bouts. Most importantly, this gives all of us MMA fans something that we lost last year, an alternative promotion that might substitute for that other promotion - what was my favorite promotion for a long time - PRIDE.

I have a DREAM … A dream that this promotion slowly but surely builds up talent once again.
I have a DREAM … that fights are judged more competently, based on rules suited for MMA.
I have a DREAM … that this promotion moves past what was PRIDEs shortcomings (lop-sided matches, non-title bouts)
I have a DREAM … that this gives a lot of fighters an alternative place to earn their living (No, EliteXC is not that place)
I have a DREAM … that japanese MMA finally comes back on to the international stage.

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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.

During the UFC 82 post-fight press conference, Dana White talked a bit about how the other organizations like HDNet Fights and the IFL don’t compare to the UFC in terms of love for the sport of MMA. The quotes from White on Five Ounces of Pain look something like this:

“The IFL was gonna take us out last year and they’re offering stock options and other stuff to all of the fighters,” White continued. “Some guys we had long-term relationships with left and went there. A year later it’s gone.

… Now the big scary guy was Mark Cuban. Mark Cuban is coming in. Mark Cuban doesn’t give a [expletive deleted] about mixed martial arts. Mark Cuban has dumped millions of dollars into HDNet and he wants subscribers. He’s a businessman. He’ll build up the subscribers and sell it to Comcast and get out. I think he’s passionate about basketball (but) I don’t think he’s interested in mixed martial arts and he’ll be onto the next business venture.

Now CBS is getting involved. CBS bought ProElite, which was going out of business and about to fail. And they bought them and now they’re going to give them a shot.”

While Dana White has every right to express his opinion, as Sam Caplan also mentioned in the article, “but does White have a plan to keep the talent pool going if these organizations fail?” asked a commenter. And it’s a great question to ask. Where will all of the fighters go to put food on the table? Will the UFC expand to hold 36 fights a year to do so? Will the WEC finally act like a minor league farm team to the UFC? Not likely. Maybe White should take a step back, look around, and realize all of the untapped talent that the UFC has yet to even consider if he cares so much about the sport and keeping alive past these eight years. Maybe it’s a good idea to work with your competitors for a little while to keep MMA going strong, Dana. After all, it’s how other similar organizations stayed alive.

John Philapavage had mentioned to me in the past that Vince McMahon knew how to do business in the pro wrestling world by keeping his competitors alive. Then he’d buy them and their fighters up to keep his organization strong. Now you can watch WWE weekly. It’s a great thing for pro wretsling, but what about MMA?

After all, if all of the organizations die out and the UFC is the only show left, do I really want to watch MMA just once a month? I don’t care that Dana White is getting rich by developing the sport, I’m worried he wants to get rich by killing it now. Perhaps those rumors that Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, is looking to sell to McMahon could be the one thing to save the sport? It’s going to be a interesting year for MMA in 2008.

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.

1. Anderson Silva’s two top dream contenders are out. Lindland has signed with a promotion to face nobody because UFC has no interest. He is a top contender they could do SOMETHING with, even if he isn’t a draw. The second is Paulo Filho, who will stay in WEC. He and Silva simply refuse to fight, as they train together and are countrymen. I don’t get this as I’d fight anyone for the right price even if I lived in the same house as them. If you’re a fighter, you fight, right? Guess not.

2. To me UFC should market GSP and Silva as unstoppable and try to get anyone and everyone like the Lindlands in to face him, get knocked out, and try to get rid of them (the Arloski booking pre-CBS deal). If that CBS deal takes off Frank Shamrock will use it to try to spotlight his last name and his mic skills. UFC should lay out a grandstand challenge to combat this.

3. Staunch MMA purist writers (like Josh Gross and TJ Desantis) are missing the boat by failing to gain perspective through constant trial and error by MMA promoting they themselves report on. This block of thinkers/fans/MMA ideologists will never REALLY be true MMA opinion setters because they’ll only appeal to those who want to feel like the intellectual snobs of the MMA fanbase. It’s not that they are dumb, they just don’t WANT to see it as business or promotion. They don’t care to believe people want to see Lesnar and Kimbo. They can’t understand why people wouldn’t care about pretend rankings from a website. They are so called “purists”, and sport and entertainment don’t traditionally mix well in their minds.

I’ve heard them talk about Frank Shamrock. They talked about his legacy and what it is and what it could be. They talk about Frank making crazy claims about being the greatest of all time now and forever. These writers and radio hosts take claims like Shamrocks’ not only at face value, but they take the idea he would say it very seriously. They talk about a fight with Anderson Silva and what it could mean to both.

The truth is that fight will not ever happen because Shamrock isn’t a mark. A mark is generally used as a derogatory term in Pro Wrestling, but it applies to MMA as well. A mark in MMA gets wrapped up in legacy, purist fantasies, and rankings. He takes less money to travel the globe and become some pretend website pound-for-pound unified champ to bask in the glory of blog writer opinions and photographer admirations.

Shamrock, on the other hand, knows he’s got a finite few years to make the most money possible putting together the most marketable fights and promoting them with his mouth. It’s irrelevant if it is the best match nup or settles anything concrete in terms of title or rank. It’s about selling compelling fighters and an intriguing match up to the most people whether they see MMA as a sport, Ultimate Fighting, or a human cock fight. He wants the most money for the least work, though he’ll work quite hard to do it. I applaud him. takes the millions and walk away with your health.

Josh Gross’ idea (I’ll unfairly single him out) of a legacy or his website’s pretend rankings only mean something to less than 100 thousand fickle people with no perspective. Those people aren’t purists. They’re fantasy puppet masters. Frank Shamrock is a businessman.