It all started on a warm May afternoon; a seemingly innocuous post chronicling Rhonda Rousey and Sarah Kaufman's internet feud (aka 'Tweef') appeared on the Bloody Elbow front page. AND THEN ALL HELL BROKE LOOSE.

First, resident STD laden, outdated music genre exponent DiscoAndHerpes seemed pretty cocksure that Rousey would armbar Kaufman in the 1'st round of their upcoming 135 lb title fight...

I'm going to go out on a limb here

But Rousey by first round armbar.

by discoandherpes on May 9, 2012 2:03 PM PDT reply actions 6 recs

until he was told to put up or shut up, in which case he turned tail and ran for the woods.

Put your money where your mouth is brah!

I officially sig + AV bet you that Kaufman does NOT lose by 1’st round armbar.

by ElliotMatheny on May 9, 2012 3:02 PM PDT up reply actions

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I should, but I won't

I reserve the right to be wrong in such an unpredictable sport, even if I’m 99% sure she is going to lose.

I'm totally chickening out like a little baby

by discoandherpes on May 9, 2012 3:03 PM PDT up reply actions

Then the ever popular, ever delusional Memitim decided to man up and step in on this bet.

I’m your huckleberry.

by memitim on May 9, 2012 3:08 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

_______________________________________________________

Ahhh yeah!

Just so you fully understand- you have to change your Sig & AV to my choosing if there is any other outcome in that fight than Rousey via 1’st round Armbar.

Do you accept?

by ElliotMatheny on May 9, 2012 3:16 PM PDT up reply actions

_______________________________________________________

I will bet the sig...

by memitim on May 9, 2012 3:08 PM PDT via mobile up reply actions

So, you would think this settled matters. Memitim would be sporting a hilarious, witty, and embarrassing signature for a set period of time after Kaufman DOESN'T get armbarred by Rousey in the 1'st round. But then D&H had a change of heart, and wanted back in... others in the thread also expressed interest in getting in on this sig bet.

And so now, I propose that the extremely advanced and forward thinking hive mind that is the BE community should break down barriers, and institute the first and only ever mass signature bet ever in the history of mankind (at least that I'm aware of without doing a cursory google search).

All those of ye looking to get in on this hot action, post in the comments in bold letters whether you are going for Option A) Rousey via 1'st round armbar, or Option B) NOT Rousey by 1'st round armbar.

Choose wisely, and may the odds ever be in your favor, and as always-

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So, I noticed that Matt Hamill's biopic is now on Netflix instant, and decided to give it a watch. We all know how inspirational Hamill's story is, and so it had the potential to be either a heart rending, emotional powerhouse of a movie, or terribly cliche.

'The Hammer' falls into the latter category. I mean, seriously, holy shit this movie sucks. The movie starts out with Hamill's gruff grandfather responding to the news that his grandson is deaf with the line, and I quote, "You're not tryin' to tell me my boy is deaf and dumb!". Yeah, it gets worse. The title role is played by Russell Harvard, who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag, giving the nuance and depth of a 6'th grade drama club understudy... and the rest of the ensemble isn't much better.

It has a few genuine moments, but by and large, this is a movie littered with hackneyed themes, cheesy/ shallow dialogue, and flat acting performances. The wrestling is terribly stiff and choreographed, which I guess is to be expected considering that only the characters who don't have to do any acting are probably real wrestlers.

The best part of the movie might just be the subtle irony that Rich Franklin kicked the fuck out of Hamill's liver in real life, and then in Hamill's biopic, plays the role of the Purdue wrestling coach that kicks Hamill the fuck out of school.

If you're a real sucker for shitty, sappy sports movies, or are just a big Matt Hamill fan, then I say go ahead and watch it. Otherwise, don't say I didn't warn you.

I'll admit it- I suck at using Twitter. I only have somewhere around 10 tweets since I joined almost a year ago. I recognize that many of our favorite fighters, executives, and analysts in the MMA biz use Twitter, but I just haven't been able to get that into it; I find the conversations difficult to track, the layout confuses me, and all those #'s and @'s and underscores fluster me like crazy.

But with the advent of Joe Benavidez being on the shelf because of a colossal fuck up on the part of the Australian "Athletic Commission," I thought it would be fun to tweet Joe B. Wan the following:

Elliot Matheny ‏ @EcMath

@JoeJitsu looking for something to keep busy, Joe? You should enter the Mundials, registration due by March 23'rd http://www.ibjjf.org/pan2012home.htm

Since Benavidez will have some free time in between now and September (the projected date for the Flyweight tourney finals), I think it would be time well spent to keep sharp and compete in some grappling tournaments. Aside from the Mundials (taking place in late April through Early June), this Summer also features the NAGA World Championships (April 14'th in New Jersey, registration still open) and the Grappler's Quest Nationals (July 21'st in NJ).

(Who WOULDN'T love to see a guy who routinely chokes out Gracie black belts rolling in the Mundials!?)

If you guys would like to see JB keep busy, then you should retweet this. More fighter suggestions after the jump.

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We are now at a point in the history of our beloved fight sport that we have major action going on all the time. Between the UFC, Forza, Bellator, and the other promotions around the block, we're basically guaranteed a fight card every week. MMA's position has never been stronger from a business standpoint, with the UFC having the marketing muscle and viewership of the FOX machine behind them; Bellator looks poised to be Viacom's flagship MMA org, and Strikeforce seems to be in a position where it will keep functioning for the foreseeable future.

So now, more than ever, is a good time to work out all the kinks in the sport. Here are a few systemic problems that I think need to be addressed and amended ASAP; issues that have practical (if laborious) solutions, but are necessary.

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Something dawned on me at 1 a.m. PST as I was watching Paul Daley vs. Kazuo Misaki on my DVR. Almost all of my decisions regarding which fighters I like most, who I root for in a matchup, etc all come down to aesthetics. I prefer watching more aesthetically appealing fighters. It's why I rarely watch lower level MMA events (have never been to an amateur or regional show outside of the ones where I support my friends and teammates), it's why I don't cheer for grinders like Jon Fitch, Mike Pierce, Chad Mendes, Dominick Cruz, Keith Jardine, Jake Shields, etc.

Although Misaki was clearly winning the fight and landing the cleaner/ harder shots, I had trouble bringing myself to believe that Daley was losing. I gave Misaki the 1'st round, because I'm not THAT crazy. But in the 2'nd and 3'rd rounds, despite my ironclad philosophical belief that takedowns and top position don't mean anywhere near as much as the harm you do with them, I convinced myself that Daley had edged him out. "He was landing with more volume" I said, despite a rough first round, I think Paul edged out the 2'nd and 3'rd rounds. I wasn't surprised by Misaki winning the decision, but I was positively shocked when the compustrike stats popped up on the screen, notifying me that not only did Kazuo land more strikes overall, he had landed over 4x as many power shots. And I realized that the reason I wanted Daley to win so badly is because he is more aesthetically pleasing than Misaki. He moves very smoothly, his strikes are tight and explosive, his stance is very cool, I prefer his physique; Misaki, while obviously a good fighter, just isn't as graceful as Semtex. He swings wild at times, has janky movement patterns, gets into sloppy exchanges... but he gets the job done, and I can't discredit his ability.

I thought this merited further exploration, so I thought of fighters that I always root for because they appeal to my aesthetic tastes:

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I'm not going to bore you with flowery prose and witty cracks right now, I'm just going to tell you point- by- point why Rousey is outclassed and won't be able to submit Miesha in the 1st round.

* Obvious experience deficiency. Ronda has hardly been training and fighting in MMA for 2 years at this point; Tate has 6+ years of training and fighting under her belt.

* Tate's background in freestyle wrestling has been proven as a more effective system of takedowns and takedown defense in MMA than Judo has. Miesha is a fantastic grappler in her own right, never losing by submission, placing 2'nd in the FILA grappling world championships, and submitting top fighters like Marloes Coenen and Zoila Gurgel.

* Rousey has fought nothing but scrubs in MMA. Tate has fought against, and defeated, some of the best women 135'ers in the world... not just beat, but SUBMITTED them too.

* Finally, and most importantly, Miesha Tate will win (or at least won't get subbed in the 1'st round) because I think the BE community at large prefers my current avatar over Mark Kerr's moist butthole,

and because we can all agree that Bobby Lashley's beautiful mug would look great as Grappo's AV.

I FAILED

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Jack the America of your dreams is gone
Gone the brownstone tenements of the night
Gone the empty coffee houses of lonely evenings and silence
Gone the boxcars and hoboes and prayers to St Teresa
Gone the warmth of a blazing fire on a winter night.
Jack the America you loved has become
the America of senseless noise
the America of arrogant impositions
the America of threat and aggression
the America of brutality
the America of broken hearts and broken promises.
An insect feeding on the world
suckling greedily demanding more
deaf to the voice of reason and temperance.
Jack come back
bring back with you the America even outsiders loved
the America of open highways
the America of boundless forests
the America of sunsets by the river-pier
an America generous of spirit.
The planet needs this America.
Jack bring back your magic
and banish our nightmares.
Bring back your gentleness
and teach America how to be free.

Before I proceed, I just want to say that this article is mainly to spark a dialogue; It's not my intention to offend anyone.  I was thinking earlier- why separate men and women in MMA (and by extension, really ALL sports)?  I'm well aware of the fact that men are superior athletes to women, mainly because of testosterone; it makes us more muscular, it keeps us leaner. But objectively, why should that matter? And for the sake of argument, let's exclude talk of societal antipathy towards seeing women getting hit- let's try to discuss this topic solely using our reason and intellect.

MMA is supposed to be the most basic 1 on 1 athletic contest- the sport of fighting.  And we watch fights to see who is the best, right?  Then shouldn't it be open to everyone?  I understand the need for weight divisions, and I think that they should be in place.  If men and women alike fought under the same rules, then we wouldn't have to debate the merits of Women's MMA, and discuss how woefully underpaid and under appreciated such talented fighters they are. 

We live in an age where women supposedly want equality- they want to be paid equally, to own property, to vote... I mean, the list goes on.  But then they also still expect men to hold doors open for them and buy them drinks, and they feel entitled to their own separate sports, their own separate bathrooms, their own separate clothing stores.  I say that it has to stop.

Sports are a rough business, especially fight sport.  If female fighters expect to be paid the same kind of money as men, want to fight in the UFC like men, and think they deserve the same kind of respect that male fighters do, then I say they should fight the men.  The women that are skilled enough to hang with the elite of their division (men and women alike) should be welcome to fight in the UFC.

Because really, why should I take WMMA seriously if they aren't fighting the best competition?  If they aren't truly capable FIGHTERS?  Why should they be paid equally, given equal respect, and given equal attention in the sport's leading promotion?

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We should take a second to thank Yushin Okami.  Yeah, you read that right- the guy who froze up like a deer in headlights when personally invited to throw bombs at the champion's chin.  Sure, he was completely unable to implement the kind of takedown & top control heavy gameplan that he would've needed to win.  But one thing Okami didn't do is run away.  He didn't flop onto his back every time his half- hearted takedown attempts failed.  He did try to force his game on "The Spider" for a little while; unfortunately, pressing Anderson to the fence and throwing some ineffectual rabbit punches was about the best offense Okami could muster.  After realizing that he was having no success there, did he take the easy way out by prolonging the bro- hug, running away/ endlessly backpedalling, or taking a dive?  No.  Thunder Okami- outgunned and outmanned, went into the center of the Octagon and got kicked right in the fucking skull, luckily being saved by the bell as Ando swarmed him.  The next round he came out once again, and in a playback of Silva's dazzling performance against Forrest Griffin, Yushin was knocked down with a sharp lead straight counter from the champion's hip.  Okami stared up in awe, Anderson loomed o'er him, a menacing storm cloud; Yushin got right back up, pressed forward, swung his infinitely too slow punches... only to eat yet another sizzling counterpunch.  This time, our Arachnoid friend wasted no time in going for the kill.

*  Yushin is a guy who's made a career of always being consistently solid, if unspectacular. 

*  He's well put together, but not any kind of extraordinary athlete;

*  he's well rounded, but nothing in his skillset is better than a B. 

*  Okami's never lost back to back fights, but he's never put together an outstanding win streak either.

*  None of Thunder's wins really stick out (not withstanding the infamous DQ win over Anderson, a lackluster decision win over Marquardt is the best).  His only finishes come over men who clearly can't cut it at the upper rungs of the sport, and his better wins on paper tend to be uneventful decisions. 

*  His losses (with the exception of the Shields decision, which honestly could've/ should've gone Yushin's way) are all to more talented, dynamic men- plain and simple.

  But one thing you can say about the man is that he doesn't rack a disciprine.  Every loss has been a catalyst for his continued growth and development as a fighter- getting overpowered by Ace Franklin led to a new S&P program; getting outclassed by Chael led to his American exodus.  Okami may not be the most natural fighter, the fastest learner, or the most dynamic talent, but his status as perennially elite is constant- he's one of the rocks of 185.

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I know i'm a bit of a Johnny-come-lately, but since I just recently entered the 21'st century and upgraded to a "smart" phone (blackberry), I figured it would be nice to be up to date with all the latest MMA news on the go.  Aside from my favorite fighters and the BE staff, what people should I follow (IE who breaks news, who posts interesting pictures and other content, etc)?

I appreciate any and all help/ advice/ suggestions you can give me.  And feel free to pimp your own twitters here.

@EcMath

Yes, I know this is a little bit late.  But in the Forrest underdog to Shogun thread, I came to a realization- Shogun Rua, chillingly brutal as he is at his best, has a fatal weakness to grinding, takedown + top control fighters.  Maybe some of you have figured this out, maybe not; at any rate, I have never seen this articulated, and think it bears repeating- Shogun always loses to grinders ALL of Rua's losses are to grinders (specifically- well rounded grinders). 

Gifs, breakdowns, etc after the jump.

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(quick note- yes, I know that this isn't particularly relevant right now, just some random musings of mine)

MMA is a brutal mistress.  An unforgiving and often heartless bitch; one day you're the darling of the fight world, the next... a subject of ridicule.  Such is the capricious nature of our beloved sport.  However, the fighters understand the risks involved, and it's entirely up to them to manage their careers tactfully.  This is where things went wrong for Todd Duffee- and it only took 3 events to unravel what seemed like the makings of a legendary heavyweight career.

 We all know the story.  Duffee, the undefeated heavyweight with a chiseled, Herculean physique, and several impressive KO wins over traveled veterans of the sport, on the cover of bodybuilding magazines and the talk of the proverbial town.

1)  Then, Duffee ran into the (squishy) brick wall that is Mike "Fat Cop" Russow.  After whipping the tar out of Mr. Russow for 12+ minutes, throwing the same exact combination punches, the grizzled veteran finally got off with a perfectly timed right hand counter, following up with another hard right hand, and a left hammerfist remniscent of Mr. Gueermo from Southpark.

.

Now, Duffee said that he didn't utilize his full skillset, due to a knee injury going into the fight:

 I had a knee injury going into the Russow fight. I'm not making any excuses because I lost that fight, and all props to Mike, but I definitely feel like it affected my gameplan and my mentality going into the fight.

 And that, right there folks, makes up poor career choice #1.  Going into a fight against a veteran (who has a penchant for winning) with a knee injury.  In some circles, this is referred to as "underestimating the opponent", and as we all know- if you don't take your opponent seriously, you make him into a serious opponent.

 2)  After pocketing a measley 8 grand (and likely losing some sponsorship deals) for the discouraging knockout loss, things weren't looking too good for our musclebound protagonist.  Then, tragedy struck; within the course of the next month, Duffee's father and best friend both died.  Needless to say, Todd likely wasn't in the best mental state, and instead of stepping back and taking care of his personal problems in privacy, he took to the internet to vent his frustrations.  A few months after the Russow loss, Duffee tweeted this:

 looking for weekend job in denver tired of being completely broke ne suggestions?

 Yeah... not exactly the smartest thing to do, patronizing your employer on such a public forum.  This obviously drew the ire of the Zuffa brass.  When he was tentatively pencilled in to face Jon Madsen, he ended up asking for more time to fully rehabilitate an injured knee, so that he could fight to his full potential.  Unfortunately, he was made an example of, and cut from the UFC.

Now, as bad as all these things were, Duffee's career was still in a decent place.  Even in his loss to Russow, he'd shown considerable upside, and you could say that with all the unfortunate things that happened to him, and all the effusive praise and high expectations heaped on him, maybe his head had gotten a tad big.  That's fine; with a nice rebound win or 2 in televised minor league shows, Duffman would easily be right back in the UFC.

However, opportunity came knocking at the door, and as the old adage goes- "Fortune favors the bold."   Well, as it turns out, there's a fine line between bold and suicidal.  It appears the man who draws that line is a certain Dutchman by the name of Alistair Overeem.

3)  Instead of writing a typical BElitist diatribe about how deftly The Reem annihilated Duffee, lets just say that taking a fight on short notice against a man with an equally imposing physical makeup, and worlds of technical fighting superiority over him... not the best idea.

But even after all of this, Todd Duffee can go on to have a good fighting career.  Hopefully he has learned his lesson- be smart or die.  Fight sport is too finnicky to be handicapping yourself in any small way, and to reach the potential we all saw in him, Duffman will need to shut his mouth and get his ass into the gym.

And as they say-  once you've hit rock bottom, there's nowhere to go but up.  And keep that chin tucked Duffee, you're too physically gifted to go the way of the Andrei Arlovski's of the world.

- E.C.M 

F*** you for what you did to my family

Always interesting to hear about a fighter's background.  Johnson opens up about his upbringing in this interview, but be forewarned- it's not for the faint of heart:

Can you look back at your life/childhood and pick out something the would create and shape you as a person you are today? Ever thought to write about it? I had this happen to me as i sat on my best friends couch watching "Shameless" at my best friends house. This is the story of one brick in the mountainous foundation of me. Growing up the oldest boy of my three person, single mother home. Its Nappy (my little sister) Moms and myself. An occasional boyfriend of moms would make a cameo appearance but under the guise of the strong, independent woman my mom lived the boyfriends were never mainstays in what i considered my family structure. Moms was a career member of the active duty Utah National Guard. Now with the military being moms path of choice days started early, right around the 6 o'clock for me, which was never really a problem for me being an early morning kid to this day.

My eyes open, and i roll off the couch rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, attempting to turn on our old TV in the dark. The TV illuminates the room enabling me to find the kitchen, so i may fumble my way through a comical jigsaw puzzle of the last bit of milk, cereal, bowl, leaving me to hunt a spoon down to complete the balance breakfast of a 10 year old. Heavy foot steps thump across my moms bedroom floor above the kitchen of shoddy duplex we call home. I must have woke up early cause Underdog, Rocky n Bullwinkle, and Mr Magoo reruns on . Pay dirt, found a suspect spoon in the bottom of sink, running hot water over it to melt any type of germ that may reside. As the water runs i notice that the water pressure is a little weak; moms must be in the shower. Yep, woke up real early, must be closer to 5 than 6. If moms is in the shower, then that would make the extra foot steps Mikes. Mike was moms man. I never really took the men that infiltrated our family circle all that well considering the passing of my pops a few years prior. Mike was no different. Just a guy that hangs out with mom.
The foot steps have quickened, resembling the wrestling matches that would occur between Nappy and I prompting moms to threaten our very lives. The hysterical uncontrollable  laughing that occurs only when something truly funny is going on can be herd, while fighting the early morning haze in my brain, munching on cereal and watching Underdog. Nappy must have done something truly hilarious, and playing with Mike cause the wrestling and noise going was at strangely high level considering it was the morning. Curiosity  had gotten the best of me enticing me to abandon my cereal and Underdog and go up stairs to see what Nappy and Mike were doing that was so fun.
 
I make my way up the stairs curiously preparing to be involved in some kind of epic tickle fight and wrestling match. As i crept up the stairs, and got closer and closer to my moms room Nappy pops her head out of her room. "Bubba?"  Shocked and confused i was asked her "What are you doing?" clearly she was not the one wrestling or being tickled at all. Judging by the height of uncombed ethnic hair she just got out of bed. Volkswagen sized butterflies begin to circle at nascar speeds in my little stomach. "Go back to your room, i will see what it is." As her 5 year old afro bops her way back into her room, I realize the screams that first appeared uncontrolled laughter may be something else. I  unsteadily creep my way to the bathroom door something feels wrong. "Mom?"  in the unsure, but curious voice. I can still hear what appears to be wrestling, Then i hear it. Setting off internal alarms inside of every fiber of my body. What i thought was the screams of laughter where in fact the polar opposite "STOP!" "NO DONT" "PLEASE STOP"Instinct set in i opened the door to bathroom.
 
The shower curtain and rod had been ripped off the wall, a pungent oder spills out causing my nose to burn and eyes to water. In my rush to open the door in our small bathroom i startled both mike and my mother. Moms was naked crouched down in the corner of the tub, face bloodied and eyes swollen. My body brain swelled with fear unable to process what was happening leaving the enormous amount of adrenalin coursing through my 10 year old frame, i hurled myself into the back of Mike and then i ran. I bolted my way to the phone to call 911. In my feeble attempt to save my mom i had attracted the attention of the beast, who then followed me to the my moms bedroom where i had reached the phone but was flung on to her bed landing between the wall and mattress loosing the phone. While Mike had followed me to prevent me from getting the phone, my mom had ran out the house naked, bloody, and swollen hysterically crying. The keys to car where taken along with all the phones in the house. Leaving Nappy and I crying on my moms bed. While we sat on her bed crying not not knowing. Not knowing where my mom was, if she was ok. Not knowing if Mike was going to come back, and if he did come back what was going to happen. Eventually the Police showed up, followed by my aunt Kay, who took Nappy, and for some reason insisted i go to school. i numbly walked to school. Farnsworth Elementary school, Mr Taylor 5th grade. I remember the quiet. I remember the quiet as i made my trek to school that day. I arrived to school early and put my head on the desk and still surrounded by quiet. As i mistakenly dozed off but was awakened by a picture of the what i witnessed in the bathroom, and the smell was in my skin. The visual shot me out of my seat and i began to sob uncontrollably. I was escorted home by the police and handed off to some family friends. As it turns out Mike had attempted to make my mom drink some industrial cleaner that  burnt away a couple layers of her skin on her face, swollen both of her eyes which the chemicals also burned, and we were not allowed to see her. We moved out that house and changed schools, and life went on eventually. He ended being caught and serving time, but was released.   Like some God like paradox, of a cheerful parable he is telling. i have to thank him. I learned the kind mettle that lives in me. In real way i hate this man with every fiber of my body to the point it keeps me up at night lately, and in the same twisted breath have to thank him. So thank you for showing me the spirit, love and person inside of me at the tender age of 10, and because of this day i know. I know that i can weather the storm of unfortunate events that, still maintain smile. Its a gift that God instilled in me and you galvanized.
 
On behalf of the woman you killed and her family who is still alive. Fuck you, if you did do it. Fuck youOffender Number: 2889
Offender Name: MICHAEL WADDELL JOHNSON
DOB: Mon, 11 Jun 1945
Height: 5 Feet 8 Inches
Weight: 205
Sex: M

if you didnt commit that crime, Fuck you for what you did to my family
You dont deserve a place in mental space amidst my dreams and aspirations. So consider this a purging of spirit and repressed emotion.

Emphasis mine.

Picture of the sonuvabitch:

Serious personal demons here.  DaMarques is an exciting fighter and I wish him well in the future.

(Originally posted on HKL)

Following Anderson Silva's return to matrix- esque striking form against Vitor Belfort in the main event of UFC 126, the blogosphere is ablaze with discussion over what to call the rare kick Anderson knocked Vitor down with:

Silva has credited the strike to 7'th degree Aikido Shihan, Steven Seagal ( link )

 "Steven Seagal helped me perfect that kick. That was a kick we were working on before I stepped in..." Silva said through a translator at the post-fight press conference. "This was a kick that I trained a lot."

 However, from the cursory research i've done on Aikido (which is primarily a grappling art) it claims ownership to no specific strikes.  Even the styles that do employ strikes only do so as a means of distraction, to facilitate the grappling techniques.

Seagal discussed the strike, and how he taught it to Anderson: ( link 2 )

"I've learned sort of a variation of that [Front Kick] in Japan, probably 30, 40 years ago, and I've been perfecting it all these years. It's not exactly cut out there, it's just something that I created that's a little bit different. I thought Anderson could learn well because he's sort-of a natural born athlete, has very quick hands and feet, and his kicks are good to begin with. So I started teaching him kicks that I thought he could really hurt people with.

"In practice, he was knocking other people out with body shots, and at that point I knew he was going to start making these kicks work.

"...Nobody knows the kick. I'm teaching it to Machida, Anderson, and a few other Brazilians, but we haven't really used it much yet. I haven't shown it to many people yet."

"Right before he walked out, I said, 'Stay away from him for the first two or three minutes. Just kind of get him frustrated and then fake low and come high and do that kick that I've been teaching you and kick him in the head or the face.' He did exactly what I said and exactly what I wanted to happen, happened, and I was very proud of him."

 Now, the truth value of this is up for debate, but Anderson did say that Seagal taught him the kick. Fair enough- who, what, or where did he learn this strike from?

Anderson used a similar kick against Dan Henderson, but that seemed more akin to the traditional "pushing" motion of the Muay Thai teep

Another fighter, Cory Tait (a TKD practitioner since childhood), used the same technique (an upward, chambered front kick, that strikes with the ball of the foot) to devastating effect against Dino Gambatesa last October at Ultimate Challenge: Unbelievable in Britain:

Considering that Anderson himself is a Tae Kwon Do black belt, this doesn't seem unreasonable. Anderson also has a yellow rope in Capoeira, and the strike may or may not exist in that system.

Since the origins of this strike is debatable, and there haven't been any definitive answers confirming the name of this strike, we as Martial Arts/ Combat Sports fans have the distinct privelege of naming this strike. K-1 fans in the 1990's deemed Francisco Filho's "question mark kick" as the "Brazilian kick"; Peter Graham had his own special cartwheel kick, fondly termed "Rolling Thunder"; Muhammed Ali coined the term "Anchor Punch" to describe his lead overhand.

I know this might draw some ire from you guys, but the idea for this article came from a back and forth I had on the Sherdog Forums, under the alias of "Connoisseur" starting on page 2.  ( How would YOU judge a fight in real life?  )  Now, before you get out your pitchforks, hot tar and feathers, let me say that generally I just go on the dog for it's subforums, especially the grappling & standup technique forums, which have some intelligent discourse, and occasional fighter input (John Wayne Parr & Phil Baroni post every so often on the standup forum).

But I digress.  The real issue I want to bring up here is- what should be valued more in a fight?  Damage, or control (or perhaps a combination of the 2)?   I take the stance that damage is the most important goal in a fight, as it is the most readily quantifiable, and the most cut & dry criteria.  Some highlights from the thread:

 Damage > all else. If damage was equivalent (rare), then control is an acceptable tie breaker.

I thought Andre Winner beat Nik Lentz, 29-28. I thought Diaz beat DHK 29-28. I thought Vera beat randy 29-28 (round 1 10-9 randy, round 2 10-8 Vera based on the knockdown, tie round 3). 

The way it is right now, fights are (supposed to be) scored based on 2 criteria- damage & dominance. Who does more damage and controls more of the action, where the fight is taking place?

It's judging incompetence that fucks things up.
...

MMA is the sport of fighting, and the purpose of fighting is to inflict maximum harm on your opponent, while receiving a minimum.

Takedowns, and grappling positions shouldn't count for anything, unless they are damaging. A high elevation throw or slam is damaging, certainly. As is a position like knee on belly, a strong crossface from on top, and the body lock from back control; near submissions where a joint is being cranked, or a neck is being choked also counts. But low impact takedowns and passing guard are only a means to an end. Whoever generates the more meaningful offense should win the round.

Inordinate stalling while standing up, clinched against the fence, or on the ground should be discouraged and punished.
...

I hate the half point system. In reality, you could just give out more 10-10, 10-8, and 10-7 rounds.

10-10 for when there's no clear winner in the damage or control departments. Say, no significant strikes are landed standing, and a fighter pulls guard or takes his opponent down and lands in his guard, where neither man is able to generate any significant offense. Or, no significant strikes are landed, and the 2 combatants are just clinched against the fence.

10-9 for when one of the combatants exerts more damage or control, but breaks even in the other department. Say, one guy lands more strikes, and holds his own grappling. Or both guys land the same amount of strikes, but one guy is dominating the grappling.

10-8 for a round where a competitor clearly does more damage and controls the action better. Hits/ stuffs takedowns, keeps/ closes distance at will, passes guard or relentlessly smothers the top man with his guard, and lands more strikes standing/ on the ground/ in the clinch.

10-7 for a round with the same description as 10-8, except the fighter nearly finishes the other, hurts them badly, repeatedly almost finishes them. I consider the 1'st rounds of Carwin/ Lesnar and Maynard/ Edgar 10-7 rounds, as Gray & Shane seriously hurt their opponents and nearly put them away on multiple occasions, stuffed all their takedowns, and didn't take any damage.
...

Being someone who trains in both striking and grappling arts, I would argue that Damage absolutely > Control.

Being controlled doesn't really hurt. Receiving damage does. And no matter how you want to sugarcoat it, MMA is the sport of violence, the sport of fighting, and the ultimate goal is to inflict as much harm on your opponent as is possible, while receiving a minimum.

If I want to watch superior control techniques, I will watch amateur wrestling. If I want to see superior control, mixed with devastating submission holds, i'll watch submission grappling. If I want to see devastating damage inflicted, i'll watch a striking sport such as Muay Thai, K-1, Savate, or boxing (depending on what style I fancy). But if I want to see a sport that encompasses all those combat arts, in a comprehensive contest between 2 elite, consenting athletes, i'll watch MMA. The sport of fighting.
 ...

To defeat someone, you must damage them. Merely controlling them does not inflict pain, and will not break them, or "impose your will" as you love saying. To beat a man, you must BEAT a man.

 ...

(my response to the argument against 'cosmetic' damage)

Not all damage has to be visible on the face, IMO. If you see a strike connect solid, that's damage. If a guy gets slammed onto the canvas, damage. If a fighter gets a joint cranked on/ muscles compressed, or gets his trachea crushed by a near- guillotine, that's damage.

Sure, cuts/ lumps/ bruises/ welts/ fat lips all look good, and indicate that a strike landed with good power, but they aren't the only way of observing damage.

 ...

(my take on how to score damage)

It's quite simple, really.

First off, give judges monitors. Standing cageside, they have to look up at an awkward angle, have fence, fenceposts, cameramen, and the ref in the way. Just not a good angle in general. Hell, the audience at home gets a much clearer picture of what's going on than the judges.

Aside from that, it's all about quantity and quality. How many strikes were landed, and how powerful were they? Did the strike snap back the recipient's head, did it ripple their skin on impact, did it crash into their leg and spin them around? Really not that hard to tell.

As for slams and throws, those are extremely easy to recognize and judge. You can tell the difference in impact between someone running the pipe, and a full blown powerbomb.

Same with grappling positions. If you've got a knee stuck in someone's sternum, a crossface buried into their jaw, a figure four leglock around their midsection, etc- it's quite easy to tell who's in the power position, and who's uncomfortable.

Submissions as well. You can tell the difference between a triangle that isn't locked in, and one that's a microsecond away from forcing the tap. If you know grappling, you can tell when a front headlock choke is tight, and crushing the trachea or constricting the carotids. If a guy is cranking a joint lock (like an armbar, heel hook, kimura, etc) or a compression lock (bicep crusher, calf slicer), it's pretty easy to tell when it's hyperextending and hurting the joint, and when the person in the submission is doing just fine.

I ran into a few arguments along the way.  One claimed that I was an idiot, because my system favored striking, and gave an unfair advantage to the striking arts.  While this may actually have some truth, the fact of the matter is that the ultimate purpose of any martial art is to provide a system of effectively inflicting as much harm on an opponent, while receiving a minimum.  If striking is better to that end, then so be it.

Another claimed that the real measure of who won a fight is to decide who "imposed their will".   While this is true in some ways, I feel that this is far too ambiguous, and that ultimately, in a fight (especially under MMA rules), imposing your will is inflicting maximum damage and receiving a minimum.

We then ran through a set of hypotheticals, and went into some really intense debating that you can read if you like.

But the real question here is- what constitutes the 2 d's (damage and dominance)?  If I am inflicting damage on you, is that not dominating?  And can you truly even dominate without doing any damage?  One of the posters (CuePee) brought up a good point.

To all you suggesting 'control' be valued higher, how do you view this scenerio.

A striker with great tdd fights a wrestler with great striking defense.

The wrestler shoots in several times but gets stuffed every single time by the striker. BUt the striker is unable to land anything while standing due to the wrestlers great moving and defense.

The fight spends the entire standing with neither landing anything significant. 

Does the striker win because he controlled wear the fight takes place? Is it a dominant victory, a UD or close?
...

(my response)

Yes, I would say that the striker wins narrowly by virtue of better control. Also, assuming that the striker was actively trying to land blows, then also probably him by virtue of being the aggressor and at least trying to inflict damage.

As I said, stall tactics should be discouraged/ punished, and are against the Unified Rules of MMA.
...

(his reply)

See I couldn't disagree more.

Control is a meaningless term if can do nothing with it. WHo is really controlling whom? If you can hold me down but dare not do anything lest i escape and get up and punch your face in then you may be controlling me but I am also controlling you. If you fear my punches but can hold my wrists so tight I cannot escape or punch then you may be controlling my arms but I am also controlling yours. We are both stalemated. Stuck. Tied. A draw.

You want to award the person who initiates a stalemate as if that is what really matters and it does not. Not in any conventional sense of fighting and what a fight is meant to be anyway.
...

Survival or initiating a stalemate is a draw not a win.

You may take pride in that and it may even be your goal but it is a draw and not a win. And while a draw in a street fight is often desirable as is a stalemate, it is not a win.

...

I am not a 'damage' guy.

My point is that 'control' is neutral. You are neither winning nor losing if you can simply establish control. Damage is not neutral. It is a definative step towards winning. Continued cumulative damage will win the fight. Continued 'control' with no other advancement would only lead to a stalemate and eventual draw.

So, BE members- where do you stand in all of this?

Hello all, just finished up with my finals here at school, and so naturally the 1'st thing i'll be doing is writing... MORE.

At any rate, let's just jump right to the meat of this article- coming to a general consensus about the terminology we use when discussing the technical intricacies of our great and complex sport of mixed martial arts.  As a proud and intelligent community as we have here at BE, I think it's important in any kind of discussion to have a common agreement insofar as vocabulary/ jargon/ vernacular is concerned.

From the rudimentary amount of training that i've done, as well as the excessive amounts of combat sports information I assimilate, analyze, and digest on a regular basis, I find that certain terms are used that cause a decent amount of confusion, or are unclear, and I think we should take it upon ourselves to clarify these misnomers.  Especially when talking about an individual's particular skills in an MMA context is when things become convoluted and discombobulating.

It's common knowledge that there are 3 phases in MMA- striking range, clinch range, and ground work.  So here's my attempt at defining what terms are accurate and appropriate to use in context:

STRIKING RANGE

1) Abandoning terms like "boxing", "kickboxing," "Muay Thai", "Karate," etc to describe a fighter's striking skills.  Now, don't get me wrong- i'm aware that many fighters have backgrounds in a variety of different striking arts, and it's completely acceptable to mention the striking style that influences a fighter's striking.  However, terms like "MMA boxing", "MMA Muay Thai", "MMA Karate" etc are confusing and don't adequately enumerate what we as fans are trying to say.

-Instead of "Fighter X has great MMA boxing", I find it much simpler to say that they have good hands/ are good punchers, have good head movement, good footwork, good defense, etc.

-Instead of "Fighter Y has great MMA Muay Thai/ kickboxing/ karate," it's better to say that they're very proficient with 8 points, has good kicks/ knees/ elbows, has strong clinch strikes, etc.

 Now, this may seem nitpicky, but it's my contention that once grappling becomes involved, you can't accurately call it Muay Thai or kickboxing; once knees/ kicks/ elbows/ foot stomps become allowed, it can't be called boxing, etc.

The reason for this is that in MMA, since it's really an amalgamation of  such a myriad of different techniques, with different scoring criteria and rules than the more specific striking arts, that it's no longer pertinent to defer to those arts, but rather to talk about MMA as it's own entity, with it's own techniques.  Of course, there will always be vernacular debates like Rogan & Tomas Rios' "Brazilian kick/ Question mark kick" exchange, but I find it far more accurate to refer to specific techniques and details than it is to just defer to ambiguous umbrella terms like "MMA boxing/ muay thai/ karate/ SAFTA".

Clinch

 (something tells me this isn't a traditional Greco- Roman clinch situation)

Using terms like "Thai Plum" is fine, as it specifically evokes images of a double collar tie used to throw knee strikes from.  However, saying something like "the Greco clinch" is inaccurate, because tying isn't specific to Greco- Roman wrestling, and especially since leg attacks are completely allowed in MMA, a tie- up against the cage most certainly won't look like a greco- roman match in the Olympics.

 "Judo Throw" is in the grey area, because most judo throws without a gi have been adapted to and used by freestyle wrestlers, submission grapplers, and MMAists for a while; however, naming the specific throw, like Makikomi, Harai Goshi, Tai Otoshi, Kouchi Gari, Sumi Gaeshi, etc are all perfectly fine to use, as are layman's terms like Lateral Drop, hip throw, arm throw, etc.  As are all the specific names of takedowns in wrestling such as the double leg, single leg, high crotch/ fireman's carry, suplay, and all the vaious trips.

Ground

I'd personally like to do away with "Fighter Z's BJJ/ Catch Wrestling/ Sambo is so great", and supplant it with terms such as "matwork", "ground work/ game" (which, although generic and somewhat ambiguous terms, at least aren't misnomers).  Because not only have those styles all influenced and exchanged with each other, but the use of ground strikes impacts these in a way that they no longer closely resemble the individual arts as we know them, much like how grappling indelibly changes the striking game.

 Referring to the entirety of someone's skills, both on their back and on top, is more accurately described by the term "ground game", because it encompasses not just the grappling, but also the striking that takes place from on top and on one's back.

Now, as much flack as Rogan receives for using 10'th planet terminology, the techniques and positions that 10th planet jiu jitsu emphasizes and uses are unique and do accurately describe different transitions that haven't really been explored by traditional BJJ.  Thus, terms like 'Mission Control', "twister side control/ the truck", and "lockdown" have as much validity as terms such as half guard, mount, butterfly guard, etc.

So, in summation, maybe i'm just blowing smoke here, but I think that what i've outlined here is a more clear, concise way of describing the events & action of our great sport.  Any feedback, technical corrections/ suggestions, or any other kind of commentary is greatly appreciated!

Here's an article of mine here on BE, circa April of this year: The Case for GSP/ Silva at a catchweight

Cliff notes:

- Catchweight superfights are commonplace in MMA.  Franklin, Diaz, and several other name fighters have had marquee catchweight bouts in major orgs like the UFC & StrikeForce.

- Both St. Pierre & Silva are at the apex of their divisions & the height of their careers, a fight between the 2 would not only have enormous relevance in the fight game, but would be huge business for all parties involved, and is what the fans (aka the buying customers) want.

- Both men & their management have expressed interest in not only fighting eachother, but GSP has stated that he'd like to move up in weight, and Anderson has said that he'd be willing to move down to fight St. Pierre, even going so far as to say that he'd cut to 170.

- Meeting in the middle (177.5, to be anal & exact) would mitigate the problems posed by their discrepancy in weight class; Anderson has weighed in as low as 182 (against Maia) and 4.5 more pounds wouldn't be out of the question, but he wouldn't pack the hellacious punching power he seems to have at the higher weights.  GSP has said that he is normally around 195ish, and actively trying to put on muscle, so he would be comfortable and lean at that weight.

- 5 round fights are allowed in non- title bouts.  NSAC to allow limited non-title 5 round bouts  And naturally, a fight of that magnitude would likely be in Vegas anyway.

New Developments:

- GSP defended his title once more against Koscheck, and in more exciting/ damaging fashion than against Hardy.  Congruently, Anderson retained his title again as well (against Sonnen), and in a fight that was much more exciting, competitive, and dramatic for the fans; Anderson's display of heart and his epic comeback endeared him to the fans, and put him back into the good graces of the MMA community.

- Since both men are now in better standing with the fans, it seems like this fight has some momentum.  GSP just recently stated that he wants to hold belts in 2 divisions- GSP: I Would Consider Holding Two Titles At Once, but really,  I don't think 185 is his optimal weight class.  He looks (and obviously performs) great at 170.

- In the meantime, their respective divisions can come up with a real legit challenger.  At Welterweight, Jon Fitch & Jake Shields have equally legitimate, but also equally unexciting cases for a title shot against the Kingpin French- Canadian virtuoso.  At Middleweight, Vitor Belfort is an intriguing style matchup for Anderson, but hasn't really done much to deserve the title shot, whereas the oft chided Yushin Okami has made a solid case for deserving a title shot.  The solution?  Fitch vs. Shields, and Okami vs. Belfort (which was actually supposed to happen at UFC 122) to clearly define a worthy challenger in either division, and voila- you can put together Rush/ Spider.

"But Elliot," you say,  "Dana has openly stated that he's against 5 round non- title fights."  To which I respond, "Yes, that's true, but Dana's argument was extremely weak,"   Dana on 5 round non- title fights

I was saying [last week] I wish this was a five-round fight, Nogueira and Couture, and there's been other fights, too, that I've wished were five rounds," White said prior to UFC 102. "But I'm a purist, man. Title fights are five rounds. When you fight for the title, it's five rounds."

"You know how many times I've been ringside and said, 'God, I wish this was a five-round fight,'" White said after UFC 102. "I did it [on Sunday]. (UFC heavuweight champion) Brock (Lesnar) and I were watching the fight together, and we both said we wish that fight with Nogueira and Couture was five rounds.

"But, I think that's what's so special about fighting for the title. You fight for the title, and it's a five-round fight; you don't, it's a three-round fight.

 and more than anything, Dana listens to $.  An argument this half- hearted and weak could easily be trumped by the incredible amount of money in this fight.

Then, finally- the issue of "P4P," "GOAT," "Baddest man on the planet"- we finally have a definitive way of deciding it.  These men are similar in size, and could comfortably/ reasonably meet in the middle.  Hell, if Dana wants the polish of it being a title fight, make up a freaking title, but it would have to be something epic:

In the end, this fight just has to happen.  This is the Mayweather/ Pacquiao of MMA, and i'd like to think that both fighters being under the same banner will help us avoid the travails of boxing.

(again, cross posted from HKL)

With the advent of Crocop filling in for the Nogueira against Frank Mir in the main event of UFC 119, we're suddenly faced with another situation where Mirko has a chance to campaign for HW gold. A surprisingly brilliant matchup, made by happenstance, both men are faced with an opportunity to break back into the top of the division, and potentially vaulting themselves into a #1 contender fight, perhaps against Carwin or the loser of Brock/ Cain.

 So- here's the million dollar question- can Crocop do it? Following his legendary career peak at the 2006 Open Weight Gran Prix win, Mirko's career has been wildly up and down; He's still shown that he can impressively finish lower- echelon HW's, by stopping guys like Eddie Sanchez, Tatsuya Mizuno, Hong Man Choi, Al- Turk, & Anthony Perosh. He also had a dramatic, inspirational victory over Pat Barry, in which he was dropped hard twice in the 1'st round, but was able to outlast him, take control of the striking, and finally finish with a vintage flurry of unbelievably precise punches, and grab an almost comical looking rear choke victory. That victory gives Mirko quite a bit of momentum going into this matchup, and it shows that Crocop still has some fight in him.

However, for those victories, he has suffered lopsided losses to better competition, including the headkick KO loss of the century to the mercurial Gabe Gonzaga, a decision loss to French Savate stylist Cheick Kongo (whether the groin shots was the deciding factor is a debate for another time), and a mugging at the hands of surging dynamo Junior Dos Santos. Also noteworthy is a NC against hulking Dutchman Alistair Overeem, in which 'The Demolition Man' beat Mirko up standing, in the clinch, & on the ground, but rendered the contest void by repeatedly kneeing Mirko's groin.

 Frank Mir has had an equally turbulent last few years. Following his infamous motorcycle accident and devastating TKO losses to 'Pe de Pano' and Brandon Vera, Frank put together an impressive string of victories, including submissions over Antoni Hardonk & Brock Lesnar, as well as his unexpected blowout of Nogueira for the Interim title, where he showed up in great shape. After being mercilessly smashed by Lesnar in their rematch, Mir decided it necessary to bulk up and add muscle to be more physically competitive with the more powerful men of the division. It seemed to be a great idea, as Frank dropped Kongo with a punch (something noone expected to happen) and used his understated transitional abilities to lock up a guillotine that slept the ripped French striker; it turned out that the increase in muscle mass still wasn't enough for Mir to be able to physically compete with a lifelong wrestler & genetic freak like Carwin, who easily pressed him against the fence, and gradually turned up the pressure until he dusted Frank with a series of clinch uppercuts & ground strikes

Now, for the matchup. Historically, Mir's achilles heel has been strong grapplers who can control & beat him up on the ground, where his dynamic/ open guard leaves him open to strikes; he has a good track record (with the exception of Vera, where he still looked horrible following the motorcycle accident) against strikers such as Kongo, Hardonk, & Sylvia, whom he all submitted in the 1'st round. On the other hand, Crocop has done very well against submission specialists w/ decent striking, dominating guys like Sakuraba & Barnett; however, Mirko has looked quite hittable lately, getting outstruck by Gonzaga, Kongo, Overeem, Dos Santos, & Barry before his body imploded.

So the question is: Who wins the striking here? Mir has outstruck guys he wasn't expected to several times in the past, and Crocop has been outstruck by guys he was expected to best standing. Barry dropped Mirko twice by lunging in with power punches, and Mir was able to leap in and tag Kongo hard- so can he do that again? And if Mirko does take charge of the standup, can/ will Frank take it to the mat? I doubt he'll be able to straight take Crocop down, so he'll have to catch a kick, get him down in transition, or pull guard; and if he does pull guard, will he be able to snag a sub, or will Mirko play the role of Conan the Destroyer from half guard that Mir has succumbed to so many times?

Really excellent fight, and an impressive win should vault either man back into the title picture, considering how popular they both are.

(Cross- posted from Headkick Legend)

Hello BE brethren, I thought i'd discuss something which I don't think received nearly enough play after UFC 112- and that's the thrilling, neck and neck tactical (primarily) striking battle between BJ Penn & Frank Edgar. Unfortunately, between the controversial decision in their fight, and Anderson Silva's antics, the actual brilliance of this fight went largely unnoticed. I sincerely hope that the discussion in this thread be focused more on this than the topic of who should've won (a dialogue which has been thoroughly explored & analyzed).

Especially with the upcoming rematch between these two, I thought it prudent to analyze their 1'st fight. The stylistic discrepancies were obvious from the outstart- Penn, with his stalking, crisp hand- focused game, with his laser beam jab & explosive power shots; Frankie, with his tireless circling, varied striking attack, and relentless pace. Both men had specific games in mind that they sought to implement, and both men experienced mixed results; BJ would chase after Frank in frustration from time to time, and that's when Frankie would be able to use feints and score on Penn. Conversely, whenever Edgar would get too cute or too predictable with his head movement or attacks, Penn would counter mercilessly, repeatedly busting his chaps with deft jabs and check hooks. BJ would hold the center of the Octagon with his feet firmly planted by the time of an exchange, using his great timing & control of distance to counter Edgar, and Frank would respond by circling to either side, employing fakes, and working an in- and- out kind of attack. Well, at least until the 4'th round

Through the 3'rd round, it's the general consensus that although Frank was doing much better than expected, Penn was landing the more significant strikes. Interestingly, Fightmetric & Compustrike have significant discrepancies in their scoring- FM has Penn outlanding Edgar 72-63 (71-61 power strikes), whereas CS has Edgar outlanding BJ 90-81 (BJ still has the edge in power strikes in their estimation, 74-72). However, it becomes more interesting round- by- round. Both sources agree that Penn landed more significant strikes in rounds 1-3, although round 3 was (nearly) even in total strikes, and perhaps the judges valued Frank's takedown attempts. Rounds 4 & 5 aren't in dispute, with Edgar winning both rounds quite clearly against a visibly worn Penn; nothing to merit a 10-8 round, but Frank won those last 2 rounds just as clear as BJ won the first 2.

Now- the real meat of this story: how will the rematch go down? Heading into the 2'nd, it's clear that both men have things they can improve on- Frank needs to land more damaging strikes, and if he does get takedowns again, he needs to do something with them. BJ needs to make it much more obvious that he's landing the better shots (if he is), and would do well if he could take Edgar to the mat. Now, BJ looked a little doughier than he has in his other recent fights, and that can be possibly attributed to A) Not training with Marv Marinovich in prep for the fight, B) The knee brace he was wearing during the fight could signify that he had some injuries heading into the match, and C) Perhaps a classic BJ Penn lack of motivation, which (if that was the case) might be rectified by what seems to be a very motivated, and perturbed, BJ (a frightening prospect, indeed).

 Personally, i'm leaning a bit towards BJ, because he just didn't look as dynamic & focused as he was in his fights with Sanchez, Florian, Sherk, etc, and because Frankie basically had the fight of his life on that night. Perhaps he will execute it even more effectively, and definitively beat 'The Prodigy'- but who knows? Cheers to what could be another highly technical and brilliant striking match between the worlds 2 very best Lightweight fighters!

Hey guys, so I was sitting at home vegging out as usual, and I decided to give a personal testimony of MMA/ BJJ gyms that i've been to, and would encourage you all to take a second to give an account of gyms that you have trained at/ are currently training.

LAS VEGAS, NV:

Legion BJJ- Ran by Cameron Diffley (Forrest Griffin's BJJ coach for TUF 7), Legion is a solid club, with clean mats, good grappling instruction, and also wrestling, MMA & Kickboxing classes.  They offer both Gi & No- Gi (which are equally important for building a good grappler, IMO), & Cameron is very good at explaining & demonstrating concepts.  Reasonably priced, it's a tad on the casual side, butyou'll definitely improve if you go there.  This was the 1'st BJJ gym I ever trained at, and over the course of just 1 summer, I was able to get a solid grasp on the basics of BJJ.  I did get cellulitis (a form of staph) from there, but I attribute that more to not having skin used to constant mat friction; you also run that risk training anywhere, and to be fair I haven't trained there for over 2 years.  (here's a link to a pic that gives you an idea of the general layout of the place: Legion JJ facility picture)

Xtreme Couture-  What can you really say about XC that hasn't already been said?  I got much better at all aspects of MMA (especially with my top game, the top game Neil teaches is just gnarly), got into some of the best shape i've been in, & built good relations with alot of the teachers at XC. You just don't get the opportunity to talk to & be around world class fighters/ trainers like Kampmann, Maynard, Hieron, Griffin, Dunham, Duffee, Vitor, Randy, & Neil Melansen, Ron Frazier, Gil Martinez, etc etc.  Unfortunately, all the world class training does come at a hefty price, $130 a month for 2 days a week, to be exact.  The Amateur team members will often take the same classes that are for the public, and so there's never a lack of quality guys to spar/ drill with.  Also, the facilities are impeccably clean, and they even have a janitorial staff that frequently cleans the place.  If you can afford it, and are serious about your passion for MMA, then understand that you get what you pay for, and you get what you put in, so going to a world- class gym like XC should be seriously considered if you have the access to a comparable facility.

Spokane, WA:    I go to Spokane for school (up at Gonzaga U), and so i've had a chance to sample & train at a few gyms over the past 2 years.  The one i'm training at currently-

Hit Pit MMA-  Located in downtown Spokane, the Hit Pit is actually the basement of Spokane Boxing.  A 10'th Planet JJ affiliate, all classes are no- gi, and is run by a team of EB blue shirts.  Spearheaded by RW, class is held from 5:30 to 7+, and it generally consists of a warm up/ stretch period, drilling techniques that we'll do for 1-2 weeks at a time, and then an open mat/ rolling period.  It's fitted w/ mats & a cage, as well as the heavy bags & ring upstairs in the boxing gym.  On Wed & Fri, one of the Pro boxers (Sweeney) comes down and helps us with hands, which has seriously improved my boxing technique.  My cross & lead hook have come along a ton, and learning great hand technique is something that's hard to do if you just train Muay Thai for striking.  I know that EB & the 10'th planet system have come under alot of scrutiny, but at least at the Hit Pit, we mainly train basic No- Gi jits type stuff, and the most radical grappling move i've learned to do is an EB sweep to take the back from 3/4 mount, or maybe the electric chair sweep from half guard (which I hit all the time and is a fantastic HG sweep).  Again, smaller club and a bit casual, but it's definitely a great workout, and everyone there has a very good attitude.  One of my favorite all- time quotes came from one of the instructors, and it's along the lines of "You shouldn't roll to rack up gym wins, you should roll to work & improve your game."

Spokane Jiu Jitsu-  Now, granted, I only took one class here.  But for anyone who lives in the Spokane/ Coeur D'alene area, I figured i'd include this.  Bart Smith, the only black belt in the area, is a fantastic teacher, does Gi & No- Gi classes, and also has occasional kickboxing classes.  It seemed very good though, starts w/ a warmup, drilling & rolling (like most every gym), and looked to be clean.

Sikjitsu-  I actually just went to SJ today, while taking a brisk bike ride I passed by, had seen it before, and decided to jump in for a class.  Unfortunately, their instructor wasn't there, so I just ended up rolling with some of the guys there.  They look to have a strong amateur team, and most of the guys in there seemed like they had strong wrestling backgrounds.  Lyle Beerbohm is based out of SJ, and even though it seems like a hole in the wall, the guys there seem pretty cool.

So- anyone else wanna share their gym experiences?  Anyone else in the Spokane Area that posts on BE?  I'd love your input

Now, before I proceed to dissect the most gaping chink in Sonnen's armor, I think it's important to give him props for doing alot better than many thought he would.  I doubt anyone expected Chael to hurt Anderson with standing strikes, and he was doing very well until... well, you know.

.

 So here's the real question- we all know that Chael's tragic downfall throughout his career has been his submission defense; but is that really from a lack of awareness & knowledge of submissions/ lack of natural aptitude or savvy for submission grappling?  Or is it something mental?  Here's an anecdotal story of mine that you'll have to take at face value (explained here in a comment I posted in another thread a while back), which makes me lean towards the latter of the two:

 I once sat on a plane several years back next to a pro MMA fighter who split his time between Xtreme Couture in Vegas and Team Quest in portland. 6’2, 255 of solid muscle, the dude was a brick shithouse.  The fighter was Josh Bennett,  one of Chael’s main training partners up at TQ.

We started talking about the Sonnen/ Filho fight (their 1’st fight in the WEC); obviously Chael was laying quite the beating on him- outstriking him from range, beating him up on the ground, and fighting off armbar/ triangle attempts. Now, Chael’s achilles heel has always been his submission defense- Prangley, Forrest, Horn (2x), Babalu, and Maia all submitted him. Marquardt almost slept him with a guillotine. Against Filho, Chael got armbarred from within his guard.

Bennett said that in a fight, in the subconscious of every man is the "fight or flight" instinct coming into play; the exhausting, unbearable pain that MMAists endure during a fight is constantly pushing on the natural "flight" instinct, and so some guys will instinctively look for ways out. He said that not only have he and Chael’s trainer’s noticed this, but that Sonnen himself has mentioned it, but he said that many times Chael will give up submissions easier than he should, as a way out. At that level, everyone’s technique and ability are so elite, if you don’t have 100% resolve at all times, you will get caught with your pants down.

Chael has seemingly showed improvement in this area, surviving sub attempts by Okami, Dan Miller, and Marquardt, but Anderson has such a steel resolve, and such dramatic finishing abilities, I tend to think that at some point during that grueling 25 minutes, Chael will give an inch. Anderson will take a mile.

That’s just my $.02

 Not to say I told you so or anything, especially since my post 3 weeks prior to the bout (Silva vs. Sonnen: an in depth analysis) outlined the same narrative that most analysts honed in on regarding the fight, that Andy's offensive dynamism would be the deciding factor in the fight, and that Silva would (at some point in the 25 minutes of action) catch Sonnen with devastating strikes or a submission.  While the expected outcome did happen, Anderson was dominated up until then much more thoroughly, and the fight lasted longer than most had expected.

Now, i'm not trying to fighter bash or anything here; I have a ton of respect for Chael and his abilities.  But I just think that with as much experience he has, and with how many times he's been submitted (by triangles, especially), I think it's more than just a problem with his ground skills.  The way he stubbornly wades in competent grapplers guards, and sometimes becomes reckless with his ground and pound is his way out; he rids himself of the strains of intense focus & concentration on technique/ strategy.  The submission is a respite from the grueling toll a fight takes on your body, and that seems to be more a part of Chael's psyche & character than a lack of mat savvy.

I don't know if Sonnen should seek a sports psychologist (although it surely couldn't hurt, and has seemed to help guys like GSP), but I do know that there is something keeping him from the top, and that something will determine whether he can reach the pinnacle of the sport.  Because he showed that he has the physical tools & skillset to beat Anderson Silva, but not the will.

Just now, I came across a sad bit of info- Antonio "Mandingo" McKee could be retiring soon.  Per Steve Cofield: McKee's 'Loser Leaves Town' match forced by racism?:

Never heard the name Antonio McKee? Most casual fans of mixed martial arts haven't. The 40-year-old with a 24-3-2 record has never reached the bigs or gotten the exposure he feels he deserves. Part of the problem may be that the takedown artist, who hasn't lost since 2003, has turned in decision victories in 12-of-14 fights. So McKee is pulling out all the stops to get eyes on his next fight saying if he doesn't finish Luciano Azevedo on Sept. 10, he'll retire. McKee told Fanhouse's Ben Fowlkes:  

"This is what I said. I said, if this fight goes to a decision and it's a boring decision, I retire. If this fight is not the fight of the night, I retire. Basically, if I don't go out there and put on a show, just destroy and annihilate this guy, then I'm done. If it's one of those matches where I take him down, ground and pound, holding him there, I retire. I'm done. [...]

"I don't have to stand up and get hit in the face. No one can stop me from taking them down and no one can hit me when we're standing. What the fans want to see are the knockouts, the blood, the gory stuff. They want to see that, and I'm not about that."

Without a loss for seven years, why hasn't he been signed by the UFC? Pointing to the popularity of ground and pound fighters like Matt Hughes, Georges St. Pierre and Sean Sherk, McKee says those guys have one thing going for them. McKee, again from Fanhouse:

"I think a lot of it is racist. And I'm not saying racist against all black people necessarily, but racist towards me. You have these white guys who do the same exact thing, why doesn't anyone say this stuff about them?"

McKee says no one gives the UFC welterweight champ guff for his deliberate style.

"Georges St. Pierre, he doesn't even get hit anymore. And afterwards, he says, 'I'm not a brawler; I'm a mixed martial artist.' And then you have people talking about how great he is. I do exactly what you saw him do, but better!"

He said just look at fellow African-American Yves Edwards.

"The guy that had stood with them the longest there was Yves Edwards. He lost one fight, got triangled, then had a stoppage due to a cut against Joe Stevenson and they cut him. What? You got white guys who have been knocked out three or four times and keep coming back. Chuck [Liddell] has been knocked out so many times they need to make a stone with his name on it."

Maybe this stunt will work. Who knows? Is McKee right? Did he play it smart? By taking no chances over the years, he got wins but he got no one's attention. Congrats on a good career.

Mixed emotions here- first off, I am a little offput by him accusing MMA fans of being racist, but he does bring up some valid points; especially with the recent topic of Anderson Silva's (lack of) drawing power, and people saying that his race plays a part in that, I think there's at least a little truth value to that statement.

There are some obvious fallacies of logic in his argument, right off the bat- he's claiming that noone's criticized GSP for being safe and not taking risks lately, but that's the opposite of the truth; I feel like that's all I hear about St. Pierre these days.  Also, comparing Yves Edwards to Chuck doesn't hold water; Chuck's on the tail end of his career, he ruled the division with highlight reel KO's for years, and he was one of the UFC's biggest stars, whereas only the hardcore fans even know who Yves is

.

We all know his well documented lack of finishes, but he has made an effort lately- he finished an unknown opponent back in march (as I documented a while back: On March 20'th, 2010, something amazing happened).  His next fight is against submission specialist Luciano Azevedo though, who holds wins over Rodrigo Damm, Din Thomas, Jean Silva, & a RNC win over Jose Aldo; by all accounts, Mandingo is no TKO machine, and he's unlikely to sub Azevedo, so if he wins it will most likely be via decision.  Hopefully he's just blowing smoke.

Because honestly, McKees a very good fighter, and IMO he has enough gas in the tank to possibly make a good showing in Strikeforce, Bellator, Dream/ WVR, or maybe even the UFC; his powerhouse wrestling skills & suffocating top game are enough to give any fighter absolute fits.  I just think it'd be a shame for someone with the obvious physical gifts he has to be a never was as opposed to a (potential) relevant fighter of his time.