(Reposted in full from CagesideSeats)

Another Strikeforce event, another great night of fights. It seems to be a pattern with Strikeforce recently, one that doesn't seem to be letting up with the upcoming Heavyweight tournament (as well as another tournament at a different weightclass possibly on the horizon). Not only were the fights exciting, but the all-around production for the event was done well (I will discuss further later on). 

First, the in-ring product. There wasn't really a "lack of action" during these matches that you seemingly get all the time during UFC ones. There were a couple slow spots in Jacare/Lawler, but other than that, the workrate was nice. You saw variety in all four matches. They all had exchanges on the feet as well as control/submission on the ground with very little stalling which serves to keep the crowd (live or at-home) in it. Roger Gracie looked good against a tough Trevor Prangley, showing good fundamentals in his standup, Clearly Gracie is not a worldbeater and with just three fights, who would expect him to be. What can I say about Herschel Walker? The man is 48 years old taking on one of the toughest sports in the world. While he didn't look picture perfect, he showed marked improvement since his last victory and dominated his opponent. People keep saying "Oh, if he was 20 years younger...", nah, it's more like if he was 5 years younger. 

Souza had to make somewhat of a comeback after being rocked by Lawler in the first round. Luckily for him, Robbie pulled a Fedor and jumped in his guard rather than await the stand up. Like I said earlier, there were a couple dry spots, but the submission was all but expected. Nick Diaz continues to be one of the  pound-for-pound most exciting fighters in MMA. There's rarely a dull moment (I can't even remember one) and any lull in action is quickly filled by some DIaz trash talk. Santos is a savage brawler, but Diaz wasn't afraid to stand and keep the fight exciting. When Santos started to land some big shots in the 2nd round, Diaz's chin held up under pressure until he was able to submit his opponent following a Santos takedown. 

Continue reading this post »

Another Strikeforce event, another great night of fights. It seems to be a pattern with Strikeforce recently, one that doesn't seem to be letting up with the upcoming Heavyweight tournament (as well as another tournament at a different weightclass possibly on the horizon). Not only were the fights exciting, but the all-around production for the event was done well (I will discuss further later on). 

First, the in-ring product. There wasn't really a "lack of action" during these matches that you seemingly get all the time during UFC ones. There were a couple slow spots in Jacare/Lawler, but other than that, the workrate was nice. You saw variety in all four matches. They all had exchanges on the feet as well as control/submission on the ground with very little stalling which serves to keep the crowd (live or at-home) in it. Roger Gracie looked good against a tough Trevor Prangley, showing good fundamentals in his standup, Clearly Gracie is not a worldbeater and with just three fights, who would expect him to be. What can I say about Herschel Walker? The man is 48 years old taking on one of the toughest sports in the world. While he didn't look picture perfect, he showed marked improvement since his last victory and dominated his opponent. People keep saying "Oh, if he was 20 years younger...", nah, it's more like if he was 5 years younger. 

Souza had to make somewhat of a comeback after being rocked by Lawler in the first round. Luckily for him, Robbie pulled a Fedor and jumped in his guard rather than await the stand up. Like I said earlier, there were a couple dry spots, but the submission was all but expected. Nick Diaz continues to be one of the  pound-for-pound most exciting fighters in MMA. There's rarely a dull moment (I can't even remember one) and any lull in action is quickly filled by some DIaz trash talk. Santos is a savage brawler, but Diaz wasn't afraid to stand and keep the fight exciting. When Santos started to land some big shots in the 2nd round, Diaz's chin held up under pressure until he was able to submit his opponent following a Santos takedown. 

Continue reading this post »

(reposted from CagePotato)

MONTREAL – UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre recently terminated his manager Shari Spencer after giving her the "it’s not you, it’s me" speech. Many speculated as to whom he would choose to represent him. Names like Drew Rosenhaus, Aaron Goodman, Mark Steinberg and other super-agents were thrown about. Since GSP is one of the biggest faces in the fast-rising sport of MMA, it would be a major coup. But who would GSP choose?

"I was sitting in my living room," recalled St. Pierre. "I was watching my television and I saw this documentary about this amazing guy. He was an agent in Hollywood. He was a little guy, but he was a big shot. He could make things happen."

The "documentary" St. Pierre is referring to is the HBO show "Entourage" which stars Jeremy Piven as super-agent Ari Gold. Gold is a brash, often crude man whose hard work and inability to accept no for an answer made him one of the biggest agents on the fictitious show.

"Look at the guy," continued GSP. "He spends all his time with the client. We barely see him at home. He’s always working hard for the client making sure the client is satisfied. That’s the kind of dedication I want. I said to myself, 'I am going to hire that guy.'"

Patrick Cote, a St. Pierre training partner, doesn’t have the heart to tell St. Pierre that it is a television show.

"I mean [GSP] is so happy. I haven’t seen him that excited since…well actually, he’s always that excited," stated Cote. "He’s a happy guy. But still, I can’t tell him it’s fake."

St. Pierre recently described a trip to Los Angeles where he went to meet with Ari Gold face-to-face.

"So I went to L.A. to find Ari Gold. I look everywhere for ‘Miller-Gold Agency’", but it was not there," said GSP. "I call the operator; I look in the yellow pages, but no ‘Miller-Gold’."

St. Pierre got discouraged and was about to head home until a chance encounter at a Starbucks.

"So I went to get some coffee and guess who I ran into?" asked GSP. "Ari Gold. I said ‘Hey Ari, can we talk business?’ He looked at me like I was crazy; I think he was hiding from paparazzi. So he came over to me and said ‘Hey, you’re GSP, you’re one of my favorite fighters, can I get your autograph?’ I was like ‘Sure sure’. Then I ask him if he would like meet up so we can discuss business. He agreed, so I’ll be coming out to L.A. next week. He says I can come by the set. I guess one of his big clients is shooting a movie."

St. Pierre flew back to Montreal excited at the prospects of what Ari Gold could bring to him, still unaware that the show is a comedy.

I contacted Jeremy Piven by phone call and asked him for comment. The veteran actor reiterated how much he loves MMA, pointing to fighters like GSP and Chuck Liddell as being his favorites, and said that he’d love to have St. Pierre make a  guest appearance on Entourage.

"That GSP is a nice guy -- a real nice guy," said Piven. "Though I don’t understand why the autograph was made out, 'To Ari Gold.'"

These are two Russian masters of Judo Ivan Morozov and Alexander Perepelyuk in a demonstration of sambo. It's obviously choreographed (and set to some b*tchin' music), but it shows to beauty of the Russian National Sport. What was unseen next was the American heel Captain Confederacy, coming from behind and hitting Morozov with a steel chair. 

Brock Lesnar lost to Cain Velasquez at UFC 121. Some say he gassed. Some say Cain was that much better. Some say Brock's gameplan was quite crappy. Some say Lesnar sucked from the get go. Reports of an injury surfaced, some looked at that. Who knows? 

Then it hit me. I knew why Brock lost. 

The sign. The f*cking sign. It's like Lesnar's version of Sampson's hair. Without the sign, Lesnar didn't have his recuperative powers like he had at UFC 116 against Shane Carwin. Any foe of Lesnar cowered in its path. Don't believe me?

There you see Carwin looking a lil flabby at the weigh-ins, clearly affected by the power of the sign. How could he miss it?

Here is our stalwart champion Brock Lesnar peering at a sea of fans, his eyes locking in unison with the sign. Lesnar looks looks strong and proud. 

A closeup of a Lesnar hater, her chubby face bearing a scowl of disapproval. 

And we all know what happened in the fight.

Then the UFC went to Anaheim and Brock needed the sign more than ever as he was facing Mexicain. But a known diabolical hater was given free tickets and REFUSED the sign. He refused. This is like Arthur refusing to pull Excalibur. What happened in the fight? Brock was defeated. There is one person to blame.

So when Brock takes on Junior Dos Santos in Vancouver, there is one question that must be asked and only one man can ask it....Brock Lesnar himself.

This is some great great pro wrestling by Ricardo Rodriguez, the personal guest ring announcer for Alberto Del Rios. Del Rios was formerly known as Dos Caras Jr. and took on Mirko CroCop in PRIDE while wearing a mask.  P.S. Does anyone think that Conor O'Brien looks like a the love child of a rat and Shane Carwin? Is it just me?

HT: Rovert

With the WEC/UFC merger that everyone was so giddy about coming to pass, there were some consequences as well. The UFC, who for the most part already has trouble getting its current roster 3 fights a year, would struggle to properly book its current bloated roster. As you've seen, the UFC has been in Edward Scissorhands mode, cutting fights left and right to alleviate the size. Well from Dave Meltzer's latest Wrestling Observer, he states the following:

Another thing that is likely to happen is that some UFC prelim fighters will be given the opportunity to take fights outside the organization and remain under contract simply so they can get three fights in. Also, if you aren't a big name, the leverage in turning down fights is a lot smaller because the roster spots are so competitive. They've added a 12th fight on a lot of the shows so they can keep talent busy but even with an addition of one fight per show this year, so that helps some as it's the equivalent of adding 16 usable roster spots.

Allowing fighters to fight outside the UFC is a big step especially when you consider how small the number of fighters are who actually get 3 fights in a year. And now with two more weight classes coming in and only a couple added shows, that number will definitely get larger. 

This has been crossposted from CagesideSeats, the new home for the writers you loved (and me) from WatchKalibRun. Now, it does have some wrasslin' stories on there, but they are easily skippable if you're of that mindset. Oh, also if you wouldn't mind giving this article at Cagepotato a look. Something I wrote as well. 

"Now we're not the type of people to say 'We told you so' but we TOLD YOU SO."

-- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, following Ric Flair's Royal Rumble win in 1992

When Bellator signed a deal with MTV2 to air their weekly programming, many were rejoiced at the idea that the company would be featured in over 80 million homes as a sort of sign that Bellator was going to turn the corner despite murmurs that they were close to going under. Fans were reassured by Rebney and others that this deal was the beginning of a new day for Bellator in spite of the disappointment fans felt as a result of not signing with FX network as had previously been rumored. Well, there was at least one person who saw the slow train coming.

"Sorry, this deal is a terrible deal. It's basically signing a death warrant."

-- Anonymous

Now, the above statement was made weeks ago right when the news was made. The 80 million homes number was debunked easily when it was pointed out that being available in 80 million homes doesn't mean that 80 million people watch it. You see while MTV2 may be in more homes than FSN, that doesn't mean that more people are likely to watch it than FSN. Especially for MMA. Especially for non-UFC MMA. I'd wager that a UFC event on MTV2 would pull less than 300K viewers. Why? Because no one knows where MTV2 is. 

While FSN maybe be available in less homes, it has a prime deal with the cable companies to appear in the double-digit channels. It's usually nestled somewhere near ESPN or other channels like SPIKE or Versus. So if you're a channel-flipping, you're much more likely to come across FSN than say MTV2 which is located in the Boondocks. MTV2 is usually in the 200s or 300s near MMA demographic friendly channels like Logo and Hallmark for Women. What's the first rule they teach you in business class? "Greed is good" OK, the second rule? LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Why did Marlo and Avon beef? It wasn't because Marlo killed Avon's boy Rock-Rock on Pinsey and Gold. It wasn't because Avon slept with Marlo's girl. It was those prime avenue corners. First question Avon asked when getting out of jail is "What corners we got?" So while MTV3 may be in more homes, they are in a piss-poor location.

Our anonymous soothsayer was rebutted with the idea that Bellator's events would no longer be pre-empted by high school chess tournaments and shown at 3am like they had been on FSN. Once people were able to consistently watch Bellator's product at a set time and date, the company would grow. Right? Well, what's worse that pre-emption? How about directly competing with the UFC and Strikeforce? You see, the dupes at MTV2 thought the best night for a weekly tournament of MMA is the same night of the week the biggest two promotions hold their events. Bellator will be running concurrently (or at least semi-concurrently) as other bigger MMA programming. What better way to make your MTV2 debut than against Strikeforce's March 5th Showtime event featuring Dan Henderson vs Feijao for the 205 title. Oh it gets better. Let's follow that up by going head to head with UFC 128 featuring Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua. The UFC event will almost assuredly come with prelims which extends the comingling of the two products. 

Now faced with the UFC (or even Strikeforce) and Bellator, which product do you think the casual audience (the one most needed for Bellator to grow) will choose. Hell, which do you think the hardcores will choose. Unless of course, they decide to not run Bellator in prime time which would be a stupid decision in and of itself. 

"Now we're not the type of people to say 'We told you so' but we TOLD YOU SO."

-- Bobby "The Brain" Heenan and "Mr. Perfect" Curt Hennig, following Ric Flair's Royal Rumble win in 1992

When Bellator signed a deal with MTV2 to air their weekly programming, many were rejoiced at the idea that the company would be featured in over 80 million homes as a sort of sign that Bellator was going to turn the corner despite murmurs that they were close to going under. Fans were reassured by Rebney and others that this deal was the beginning of a new day for Bellator in spite of the disappointment fans felt as a result of not signing with FX network as had previously been rumored. Well, there was at least one person who saw the slow train coming.

"Sorry, this deal is a terrible deal. It's basically signing a death warrant."

-- Anonymous

Now, the above statement was made weeks ago right when the news was made. The 80 million homes number was debunked easily when it was pointed out that being available in 80 million homes doesn't mean that 80 million people watch it. You see while MTV2 may be in more homes than FSN, that doesn't mean that more people are likely to watch it than FSN. Especially for MMA. Especially for non-UFC MMA. I'd wager that a UFC event on MTV2 would pull less than 300K viewers. Why? Because no one knows where MTV2 is. 

While FSN maybe be available in less homes, it has a prime deal with the cable companies to appear in the double-digit channels. It's usually nestled somewhere near ESPN or other channels like SPIKE or Versus. So if you're a channel-flipping, you're much more likely to come across FSN than say MTV2 which is located in the Boondocks. MTV2 is usually in the 200s or 300s near MMA demographic friendly channels like Logo and Hallmark for Women. What's the first rule they teach you in business class? "Greed is good" OK, the second rule? LOCATION LOCATION LOCATION. Why did Marlo and Avon beef? It wasn't because Marlo killed Avon's boy Rock-Rock on Pinsey and Gold. It wasn't because Avon slept with Marlo's girl. It was those prime avenue corners. First question Avon asked when getting out of jail is "What corners we got?" So while MTV3 may be in more homes, they are in a piss-poor location.

Our anonymous soothsayer was rebutted with the idea that Bellator's events would no longer be pre-empted by high school chess tournaments and shown at 3am like they had been on FSN. Once people were able to consistently watch Bellator's product at a set time and date, the company would grow. Right? Well, what's worse that pre-emption? How about directly competing with the UFC and Strikeforce? You see, the dupes at MTV2 thought the best night for a weekly tournament of MMA is the same night of the week the biggest two promotions hold their events. Bellator will be running concurrently (or at least semi-concurrently) as other bigger MMA programming. What better way to make your MTV2 debut than against Strikeforce's March 5th Showtime event featuring Dan Henderson vs Feijao for the 205 title. Oh it gets better. Let's follow that up by going head to head with UFC 128 featuring Rashad Evans and Shogun Rua. The UFC event will almost assuredly come with prelims which extends the comingling of the two products. 

Now faced with the UFC (or even Strikeforce) and Bellator, which product do you think the casual audience (the one most needed for Bellator to grow) will choose. Hell, which do you think the hardcores will choose. Unless of course, they decide to not run Bellator in prime time which would be a stupid decision in and of itself. 

New York State is one of the few states that still bars Mixed Martial Arts competition left in the United States. Over the past few years it has become a battleground between Zuffa (the UFC) and State Assemblymen Bob Reilly and Sheldon Silver. Both men are opposed to MMA (for a variety of reasons) and have worked to keep it prohibited in the state. Zuffa, on the other hand, has tried one basic strategy -- throw money at the situation. Bill King of the Sports Business Journal describes some of the aspects of their fiduciary fisticuffs

.So begins the latest installment in a push that began late in 2007, when UFC parent company Zuffa paid a well-connected upstate New York firm a $10,000 retainer to lobby on its behalf. Since then it has spent more than $1.5 million on lobbying and public relations campaigns in the state. It also has contributed $165,000 to election campaigns.

The tab for lobbying in New York last year eclipsed $500,000, based on public filings and interviews with UFC executives. Zuffa also contributed $130,000 to political campaigns, including $36,800 to incoming Gov. Andrew Cuomo, $34,000 to Democratic campaign committees, $10,000 to Republican campaign committees and $1,000 to $3,800 to a dozen different influential state senators and assembly members. Zuffa spent $530,000 lobbying in New York in 2009 and $595,000 there in 2008.

 Zuffa has been lining the pockets of various politicians as well as paying a lobbying firm to assist them. That isn't the only financial incentive they have been using. Part of their argument stems their belief that the legalization of MMA will bring extra dollars into the New York economy. It has been shown that when Zuffa comes to town, there is an increased in revenue for that city.

Continue reading this post »

An interesting little quarrel over the weekend between former UFC Welterweight Champion and current Strikeforce commentator Pat Miletich and writer Michael David Smith sparked up over the weekend. Smith wrote an article following Friday's Strikeforce Challengers card entitled "Pat Miletich Should Tone Down the Shilling on Showtime" in which he criticized Miletich for some of the comments he made during the broadcast.

Not to get into specifics of his complaints (you can read it at your own leisure), but the gist of them were that Miletich embellished and played up opinions of fighters. Mind you, the card was full of Strikeforce's prospects like Daniel Cormier, Ovince Saint Preux and Tyron Woodley who are, by and large, unknown to the general public. He also criticized Miletich for "resorting to cliches" during his call of the fight. 

Now, I am not an etymologist, but I know that Strikeforce is a promotion. The base word of that is "promote". This means Strikeforce is in the business of promoting. With that business comes exaggeration and hyperbole, even in commentating. Showtime is in a business relationship with Strikeforce to PROMOTE their brand of MMA. You can't compare MMA to other sports and I'll tell you why. Two reasons. The first is that MMA is not an established sport and has various companies trying to grab a piece of the market place. Commentators don't need to spice up the skills of the NFL players because it's understood that they are the best in the world. Strikeforce (and other MMA orgs in general) are competing to establish their brand in the greater mainstream of the US.

Continue reading this post »

As reported yesterday, Chael Sonnen pleaded guilty money laundering charges. This news broke late last night around 8ish pm EST. Once that broke, a funny thing started occurring. Threads started to be created on various MMA message boards such as the once-great (but now overrun by tenors and tro11s) Underground and the never-great Sherdog accusing Anderson Silva of several different types of cheating. 

One such thread alleged that Anderson Silva could be on Steroids or HGH because of pencaps syringes shown while Silva was giving a reporter a tour of his house. 

They state that when blown up, the boxes with the red arrows pointing to them are these:

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Welcome to a new feature I'm trying out called Loser Leaves Town where we look at fighters who's jobs are basically on the line at UFC 125. With Dana White and Zuffa being chop-happy and the mandate that entertainment precedes all, this should provide for some interesting things. 

Brandon Vera - Brandon Vera has lost two in a row, one to Randy Couture and a demolition by Jon Jones. On the strength of losing three in a row, he could be cut. He will also have lost 4 out of his last 6 fights. This fight is booked as if the intent was to provide Thiago Silva with a "gimme" but someone who still has name value. Brandon Vera, who was once a bright prospect in two division, has primarily turned out to be a product of mainly hype (with a couple key wins). Uncle Dana never forgets and Brandon Vera and the UFC had a bad contract dispute back when. Ultimately, the UFC isn't afraid of losing Vera as his name isn't a draw and he wouldn't be much value to Strikeforce as a name (he would have value in filling out the weak LHW division). Vera is also 33 and is, at best, a mid-level LHW in the most stacked division the UFC has.

Jeremy Stephens - Maybe this is wishful thinking, I don't know. I do know this would be two in a row and 4 out of his last 6. He committed a cardinal sin against Melvin Guillard, he talked a bunch of shit and lost. Not only did he lose, but it was a "boring fight". Dana White HATES that. Lil' Heathen fights that style Dana White loves which is STANDANDBANGRRRR, but the UFC 155 division just doubled with the acquisition of the WEC. A lot of 155ers are fighting for their jobs. If he gets finished or goes down in boring decision, he could get the ax. He's young, go out there and pick up some wins and he'll be right back in the mix. 

Marcus Davis - That makes this fight a S.C. Michaelson Official "Loser Leaves Town" match. Marcus Davis with a loss with be 4 out of his last 5. He just left the WW division and is now in the most overcrowded division in the UFC. He can't go down to 145. His value as a name for expanding into Europe is all but gone as the UFC has developed a stronghold in the UK and feels comfortable in giving them consistently shitty cards. The lone fight he won was against Jonathan Goulet who is out of the UFC. I definitely see the loser of this fight getting cut. 

Phil Baroni - I like Philbert Baloney. I loved he and Mark Coleman and Coleman's dad taking on all of Juiced Boxe when they got jumped in the ring by Wand and the rest of the goons. That showed heart. Hell, Baroni's shown heart a lot in his career. I think that might be his biggest talent is his heart. Unfortunately, he's a career .500 fighter with cardio problems. I just don't think the UFC is going to have room for him if he loses this fight. 

Of course, any fighter who puts on a "boring" fight is subject to getting at the whims of the upper management of the UFC. Hopefully, everyone keeps their job, but in today's world, that don't seem possible. 

Twitter

I wanted to write this for a while and it was bolstered after reading Afro Samurai's ppst on Chael Sonnen and some of the reactions I've seen here and other places in regards to his cultural insensitivity. My resolve was strengthened after the recent Nazi imagery in clothing debacle posted by  and another piece written by Jonathan Snowden. I dunno, I think those things are tangibly-related to this. This isn't a formal written article, moreso a collection of thoughts based on things I've read/observed for a while. 

There's a theory thats been bandied about in the past basically stating that the UFC's popularity/rise in popularity is related to the idea that Whites became big fans of MMA as it was a combat sport in which White athletes were dominant. In the fight sport of boxing, Blacks and more recently Latinos have dominated the divisions from top to bottom. There hasn't really been an American White boxer of substance in some time. The theory states that not only did White fighters excel, but when faced against Black fighters (who normally were seen as dominant in combat sports), they routinely defeated the Black fighters. It was, in essence, a sport fit for White superiority.

Now, this is not to say that all MMA fans are inherently racist. Not at all. In fact, at its core, there's nothing racist with wanting to see people like you succeed. I root for Black fighters. Now that isn't necessarily just because they are Black, but also because there's so few of them and I know successful Black fighters will get more diverse eyes on the sport as well as serve as inspiration for young kids to get in the sport. So I'm not saying this theory is painting MMA fans as racist. I think there is an undercurrent of "White supremacy" (read: not White Supremacy) in the popularity of MMA in America. To say that if instead of Chuck Liddell KOing people, you had Jamal Liddell doing it, the UFC wouldn't be where it is today. 

Now, I believe there is a minority of fans of MMA that are very prejudicial (if not full out racist) in their support of it. How big a percentage that is, I don't know. I don't think it is a minuscule number. Sub0 said it best in a comment, the Whiter the audience, the more likely you will encounter racism. And the UFC's audience is very Whiter.  I've been to bars to watch a couple fights and heard a few suspect comments. I've been to a few events (one of which I will talk about later) and heard many more. 

If you've ever been to a UFC live event, you'll note that there's more diversity at a Coldplay (are they still "in"?) concert with very noted exceptions. The atmosphere at the Phillips Arena when Rashad KO'd Chuck was...well there was tension in the air. The crowd, in a city like Atlanta with a high Black population,.was surprisingly undiverse. By the time Rashad Evans was introduced, he was horribly booed (not necessarily a odd occurrence seeing as he was going up against fan favorite Chuck). However, when Rashad struck that mighty blow, there was no cheering or excitement, it was a sort of anger. When he was announced as the winner, there was a round of boos. It's hard to describe, but it wasn't just regular "boo, I dislike you", it had a feel of a racial element. 

If you look at the UFC's top draws, they are all White (with the exception of BJ Penn who as an Asian in the vein of combat sports is race neutral) while many of the top fighters are not. The best fighter is a Black Brazilian who has been unable to draw interest from paying fans unless he was put on cards with other draws. Could it be that fans didn't want to see him beat up on White fighters? Is it his race? Is it that he doesn't speak English? Who knows. His case is far to complex to be used as evidence.

LHWs Rashad and Rampage are examples people would give as top draws, but IMO, their UFC 114 fight was an aberration. That was probably one of the better promoted events the UFC has ever had. it was a year in the making, it had the highest rated TUF season ever building to it and it was a couple weeks before Rampage's big movie was to come out. The talking between the two put MMA fans into a tizzy, anticipating this fight and so they tuned in. I don't believe the UFC will be able to capture that lightning in a bottle again with the fading Rampage. And Rashad has shown that in the absence of a big opponent, he cannot draw. Again, not saying that is because of race or anything, I'm just talking now. 

But that Rashad/Rampage buildup brought up a very interesting point that I've been saying for a couple years in regards to the differences between Rashad and Rampage and why the majority of MMA fans tend to embrace and love Rampage while rejecting and hating Rashad. I know there's some posters that feel me on that, but I'm not going to go into that here. But it all ties into somehow. 

So you have these clothing companies, and they have all this apparel designed with the "idea of looking tough" with the snakes and the lightning and what not. The subliminal Nazi imagery and iconography. It's all seemingly there to prey on the insecurities (subconscious and others) of MMA fans and give an appearance of "Tough Guy" (which is why to most normal fans/people, they all end up looking like douches). While MMA apparel companies will claim that such usage of imagery is totally accidental, some say that these companies recognize the undercurrent in MMA fandom and are catering to them. While th4re may be temporary blowback for a company to put out a shirt with taboo imagery (and then later repeal it), those that sympathize or feel a certain way about things might be inclined to support that company. 

And to tie this into AfroSamurai's post the other day, you have a guy like Chael Sonnen who makes borderline culturally insensitive and xenophobic remarks and instead of being chastised, he has a cult following and is lauded by the MMA media. A former politician, his act might not fly in the real world, but in the realm of pro wrestling MMA, it seems to be working thus far. Those that criticize his comments "don't get it" and are "just marks falling for it" when in fact people have legitimate gripes. Chael's fanbase is decidedly YSWSCM (Young Straight White Single Christian Men), the same people that permeate the comments section on Youtube or random newspaper articles where you see racially and culturally insensitive remarks. To many of them, Chael is the guy who gets away with it. He gets to talk the shit they can only do on the internet for fear of (rightful) reprisal in the real world. These are the same YSWSCM that defend the use of slurs by various parties and can't understand (or willingly ignore) why people would/could get offended by them. 

And that leads us to where we are today. Many feel that the popularity of MMA (which doesn't have a large base to fall back on) will began to wane as minority fighters (and I don't mean Brazilians unless you're talking Anderson Silva Black Brazilian) began to take the top spots. Many of the fans who became big MMA followers will lose interest as it becomes just like boxing, just like the NBA and majority of the NFL and MLB and loses it's "specialness". Again, I don't know if I agree or disagree with that. 

I don't know, thoughts? I know it's a few things jumbled up in there. Maybe I'm off-base, but I've definitely heard it in more than a few circles from Whites, Blacks and others in regards to the MMA being popularized because of the success of White fighters. I think Bob Arum alluded to something like that, but was just more crass. Sorry this isn't that organized. Maybe I'll do something formal.

And the Nominees are:

Brock Lesnar's DeathClutch Arm Triangle on Shane Carwin at UFC 116

Fabricio Werdum's Triangle Armbar on Fedor Emelianenko at Strikeforce: Fedor vs Werdum

Anderson Silva's Triangle Armbar on Chael Sonnen at UFC 117

And the Winner Is: Not so fast.

This was a difficult category to choose. You have three great submissions. At first glance, the weaker of the three appears to be the Lesnar submission as Carwin was pretty gassed out. Then again, if you take that into account, you have to think about how often Chael Sonnen suffers from poor submission defense. Then you think about how reckless Fedor was in Werdum's guard as that was the ONLY way anyone had Werdum winning. I can come up for reasons why each sub deserves to win. I wanted to remove the Fedor sub as I had no sentimental ties to it (besides ultimately proving a point that when you consistent face good fighters, you lose), but it was the most significant submission out of the three. Some would say the Lesnar submission only delayed the inevitable and the Silva submission just affirmed what we already knew. And there's a chance they're correct. But since these are my awards, I'm going to go with the sentiments. 

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And the nominees are:Jose Aldo, WEC, Cain Velasquez, UFC, Frankie Edgar, UFC, 

Winner is: Cain Velasquez

Cain Velasquez began 2010 as the highly-touted prospect out of the American Kickboxing Academy camp in San Jose with great wrestling and a rep for "pillow fists". Before the year began, Velasquez had impressive, but unremarkable wins over Chieck Kongo and Ben Rothwell, but none of those had propelled them him into superstardom. While many saw UFC gold in Cain's future, it was unknown how quickly it would come. 

Cain's first matchup was against former PRIDE legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira at UFC 110. Minotauro was coming off an impressive win over Randy Couture while Cain was coming off his stoppage of Ben Rothwell. Going into the match, most analysts believed Nogueira had the boxing skills to stand with Velasquez and the world-class BJJ to neutralize Cain's wrestling on the ground. What actually happened was Cain knocked out Nogueira 2 minutes into the first round. With this victory, Cain had earned a title shot against the UFC Heavyweight champion. 

That title shot would come at UFC 121 in Anaheim, California against Brock Lesnar. Velasquez would have the homecourt advantage against the larger foe and would definitely use it. Many people had this fight as a pick 'em as Brock Lesnar was being looked at through a brand new lens after the beating Shane Carwin put on him for 3 minutes at UFC 116. Many felt that a seasoned striker like Cain would be able to hurt Brock on the feet and that his wrestling skills would be able to keep the fight standing. And they were correct. Lesnar came out a blaze of glory and Cain weathered the early storm. Lesnar soon lost steam and secured a takedown and Velasquez popped back up. Cain eventually stopped Brock Lesnar in the first round to win the UFC Heavyweight Championship. 

The future for Velasquez is endless. He has a fight upcoming with Junior Dos Santos, as well as a potential rematch with Brock Lesnar or a showdown with Shane Carwin. His star is just beginning to grow and with the right marketing, he could become a superstar.

Photo via Esther Lin

I know, gotta get that money, yadda yadda, but gotdamn. These ads. They are like some super ad or some shit. Normally when something is clickable, your mouse turns into the click icon. No, not these. So three or four times I've been whisked away to the UFC website to have Bruce Buffer yell at me. AdBlock won't block 'em. Worst type of ads. I don't even mind ads really. Essential part of doing business. But these things. Man. Am I the only one who's been teleported? Like those Mario whistles from Super Mario 3. The worst part is, I lose all the unread messages. 

Just a rant. Oh, and while I'm ranting. Green comment quality a little down. Lil' bit. Oh and here's one of the great scenes from Television.

From WKR

After this weekend's head to head between the UFC and Strikeforce, it was clear to anyone with an objective mind that Strikeforce clearly had the better show. It was more exciting and, compared to the UFC Finale, was fluff-less. So when perusing the internet, I found it funny that there seemed to be a lot of MMA "fans" that were upset that Strikeforce had the better show. 

First, people pointed to the "fact" that it was only a "lowly TUF FInale" for the UFC and a "super big show" for Strikeforce. That's simply a silly point to make. A show is a show is a show. Whether or not a show is "major" or "minor" makes no difference as to the potential (and later actual) quality of the show in my opinion. Your goal as a promoter is to put on the best show possible. Of course, you can't predict finishes, but the ideal goal is to put fights that have the potential to be exciting. Star power only matters in ratings. Lyoto Machida is a bigger star than Nick Diaz, but I'd rather see Nick fight. WEC shows were "minor" shows, but they killed most major shows in terms of excitement. A point that many people love to point out. So why is it that when Strikeforce is better than the UFC does major and minor become a factor. 

Then people tried to point to the "fact" that the Strikeforce matchups were lopsided and guaranteed finishes. This assertion fails on two points. One, a finish doesn't make a fight exciting. Frank Mir vs Mirko Filipovic was a boring fight which finished with a brutal KO. That knee did not erase the boring 13 minutes we spent watching. Two, the odds for the fights don't bare this out. Now, I know what some of you are saying "Odds don't mean anything". Well they don't...and yet, they do. While odds aren't a 100% indicator of how close matchups are, they can be used to get an overall picture of opinions on the fight. The biggest "mismatch" on the cards was on the TUF finale in the Damien Maia/Kendall Grove "Kendall gets cut" match. Now, there was one "mismatch" on the Strikeforce card due to a late replacement, however the "underdog" ended up with a great showing against someone who outweighed him by 60 lbs of muscle. 

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(reposted from WatchKalibRun)

Here we are a mere 5 or so hours after the California State Athletic Commission hearing for Chael Sonnen's appeal for a failed drug test. While watching the hearing and observing Chael's testimony and the testimony of his doctor, Sonnen claimed that his use of testosterone was for a valid medical reason called Testosterone Replacement Therapy caused by hypogonadism. It is my belief that TRT should not be allowed in the sport of MMA. It is not allowed in the NFL, MLB, and the NBA. It's not even allowed in pro wrestling. This is going to require your thinking caps. 

Testosterone replacement therapy is a valid medical treatment for men who have reduced testosterone due to old age, medical illness or past hormonal drug abuse (we'll get back to that in a second). TRT is fine for your average male who isn't in a competitive environment, however inside of a competitive environment, the chance of abuse increases exponentially.

Let's take a trip to the world of professional wrestling shall we. A few years ago, it was common for many wrestlers (such as Chris Benoit) to use TRT as a valid reason to obtain prescriptions. Essentially, all you had to do was show a low testosterone level and a doctor would put you on TRT.  So how did you do that? It usually occured one of two ways, either your body's natural testosterone production was permanently damaged due to years of steroid abuse or your temporarily damaged your body's testosterone production by coming off a steroid cycle and getting tested right when your body was still dependent on the exogenous testosterone. You walk into a doctor (usually hand-chosen), he draws your blood, surprise, your levels are low. He prescribes you testosterone and now you have a valid reason to have a high T:E ratio. Of course, in the effort to clean up their company after Chris Benoit's double murder/suicide, they began to crack down, and ultimately ban, prescriptions for testosterone, TRT or not. Yes, you read that right. The WWE, once seen as the Valhalla of steroid usage in the 80's and 90's has outright banned TRT due to its abusive potential. 

Back in real fighting, you have a fighter who wants to get a prescription for testosterone. He simply has to undertake those same steps as the pro wrestler. Obtain that artificially low testosterone level, get a doctor to sign off on it and you're good to go. You've got a prescription. Now you've got a cover in case you ever get popped for a bad urine test. I say urine test because no commission tests for blood. What's the difference? Well, with a urine test, all you're going to be able to test is the ratio of testosterone to epitestosterone, whether the testosterone is endo- or exogenous, and the presence of steroid metabolites (to determine what type of steroid it is).  

How is that significant? Essentially, you can get popped for a ratio of 20:1 which clearly indicates drug usage, but you can claim that you still test within the normal testosterone ranges. You see, there's a difference between T/E ratio and total testosterone. The urine test can't test for total testosterone (which is why we need blood testing).  

So basically you can have three fighters.

• Fighter A (legit need for TRT) - T/E ratio =15:1 (at time of test), total testosterone (at time of test, but not tested for) 800 ng/dL
• Fighter B (guy who wants to cheat) - T/E ratio = 15.1 (at time of test), total testosterone (at time of test, but not tested fr) 5500ng/dL
• Fighter C (guy also wanting to cheat) – T/E ratio of 3.5:1 (at time of test), total testosterone (at time of test, but not tested for) 3500ng/dl*

Now to the commission, it looks like the first two fighters are the same because of the same ratio, but that is not true. Without knowing the total testosterone, you have no idea that Fighter B produces the normal amount of testosterone as indicated by his normal amount of epitestosterone contained and his high testosterone level. Since no blood was actually taken at the time of the test and since drug tests come weeks after the fact, he can claim that he does have a high T:E ratio but that's only because his natural testosterone production is so low and that his total testosterone levels are normal, supplementing it with tests taken by his own doctor. Of course, he knew when those tests were being taken and thus, could alter his testosterone level. 

In addition, you also have Fighter C who is taking testosterone as a PED and only does enough to raise his T/E ratio to within the "normal" ratio, but he still has a total testosterone way outside the range of normal which benefits him and places him at an advantage to other fighters.

TRT is subject to abuse by your average male who is not in competition who loves the side effects it provides. Many males on TRT see a resurgence in strength, youth and vigor. They are more aggressive and get back some of that sexual fire they've been missing. A percentage of these men begin to increase their dosages in order to see added benefits. Adding athletics to this equation produces a greater risk for abuse. He's in competition and the desire to win and succeed takes over. Athletes that spend hours a day training, weeks and months preparing, watching their diet, exercising and feeling the effects of the prescribed testosterone, it's like a wonder drug. And that's for athlete without nefarious purpose. The athlete who purposefully sought out a doctor to prescribe testosterone will undoubtedly abuse it. 

With the lack of blood testing and and the lack of cooperation between the separate Athletic Commissions, TRT should not be allowed. If the commission is unable to to determine the total testosterone levels through bloodwork, they have no ability to determine whether or not the athlete is abusing. Also, each state seems to have their own standards for approval. Some rely on the fighter's chosen doctor which opens it up to more abuse as you can get your doctor to, within reason, ultimately prescribe anything, ask those in California smoking the finest weed for "legit medical reasons". If all the major sports have banned it and even pro wrestling has, why is it allowed in MMA? When will MMA start taking drug testing seriously?

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*This addition to the original post on WKR was provided by WKR reader AmericanRonin, a poster with a great deal of knowledge about this subject. 

Want to be like your favorite writers? 

Why not get your start now? 

1. Chose your MMA media narrative:

• Sonnen took a shot of testosterone the day before his drug test for whatever reason which caused him to fail his PED test. Regardless of the cause, he knowingly took a steroid and did so just hours before fighting. Let's focus on that. (Let's pretend this one is strikethrough'd, it seems to not be working)
• Sonnen admitted testosterone use before fighting, why did they let him fight?
• Testosterone Replacement Therapy is valid and this was just a paperwork issue.
• Maybe steroids aren't that bad
• The CSAC is inept
• "Don't be naive. 80% of MMA fighters are on steroids"
• TRT is a legit issue, what's the difference between that and Laser eye surgery?
• Oh man, Chael was awesome at the hearing...what was the issue?
•  

2. Write about it

Reposted in full from WatchKalibRun - Your leader in A/E Ratio

August 7th, 2010. After months of hype, Chael Sonnen stepped into the cage and stood toe to toe with the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world Anderson Silva. Unlike most of his other UFC foes, Sonnen not only survived, but thrived against SIlva for the better part of four rounds, taking him down over and over. But in that fifth and final round, Chael succumbed to a triangle choke and lost the fight and his chance at the title. Though he was unsuccessful in his goal, many thought a new star was born and a rival for Anderson was born. So much so that Dana White decided to bypass other contenders and award Sonnen an instant rematch. However, bad news would soon fall as it was released that Sonnen had failed his post-UFC 117 drug test.

Immediately, members of the MMA "media" moved to provide alternatives to Sonnen's failed test. Some chose to focus of CSAC history as a distraction to the actual issue, some provided alternatives that could pop failed tests. However, as more and more details seeped out from CSAC Executive Director George Dodd, it seemed clear that Sonnen had failed the test. Rumors began to swirl that Sonnen was actually under Testosterone Replacement Therapy and was approved by the Commission, making this a "paperwork issue" and putting to onus back on the Athletic Commission. It was suggested by some that he was "approved" for his fight at UFC 104 against Okami (which was in California) and didn't think he needed to inform the physicians every time he fought. Several people (like myself, Bix at Cageside Seats, and Jon Luther at MMAFA) spoke to Keith Kizer (who is on the NSAC) since Chael's California fights sandwiched his fight against Nate Marquardt at UFC 109 in Nevada. Kizer stated that Chael Sonnen was not approved for any testosterone and in fact had declared nothing but carisprodol (muscle relaxer Soma) and doxycyline (an anti-acne medicine) creating several holes. 

The CSAC recently released pertinent documents to the Chael Sonnen case. Many of them are scientific records of the laboratory's findings during the test, but I have picked out the pertinent documents which will be posted after the break.

Continue reading this post »

The recent UFC/WEC merger has led to a buzz among hardcore fans excited about the possibility of more exciting fights on PPVs. The UFC has expanded from 5 divisions to 7 divisions taking in the featherweight and bantamweight divisions. The WEC had the reputation among MMA fans as not having boring cards and a vast majority of the fights being "good fights". Many hope that this influx will lead to the larger weights "stepping up their game" in order to keep up. Now, while the 145 lb and 135 lb divisions will probably have those more exciting fights, we know that in the UFC you can't get over on great fights alone. Otherwise, Anderson Silva would've been a star a long time ago. 

It's been a long-stated mantra in boxing, when the Heavyweight division is relevant, it is king in America. You can look throughout boxing history and see that smaller fighters were often overlooked and underappreciated while being overshadowed by the Heavyweights. The Heavyweight division was the top dog until Ali's decline which led to fighters like Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran becoming the face of boxing. The Heavyweight division toiled in mediocrity until a young boxer by the name of Mike Tyson emerged and because one of the biggest draws. He was sent to prison, but the division kept going under Evander Holyfield pretty much consistently until Tyson's release from prison until Tyson met up with British boxer Lennox Lewis. With the foreign Lewis and Klitscho brothers leading the way, America stopped caring about the division, which allowed for small fighters like De la Hoya (and now Manny Pacquaio and Floyd Mayweather) to become big draws. 

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This is something that I wanted to write for a while ever since I heard about the Nik Lentz vs Tyson Griffin match being made at UFC 123, but the recent cut of Gerald Harris by the UFC has kind of forced my hand. One of the great things about other sports (such as the NFL) is that the team owners (and even the league commissioner) have the ability to run the team without making decisions based on personal feelings. Now there are times that this is not true (See Bud Adams and Vince Young or the Vikings and Brett Favre) and when it does happen, you can see the negative consequences it has. Thus is not the case in the UFC.  Personnel moves are based primarily on the thoughts and whims of Dana White and the Fertitta Brothers. 

You can look at some recent cuts made by the UFC to highlight exactly what I am speaking of. Todd Duffee, an exciting Heavyweight prospect, was recently cut basically for what has been said is a "bad attitude". Now, Terrell Owens has been cut for a bad attitude before and Randy Moss has been traded 3 times for such, but those guys were a distraction to the team, Todd Duffee complaining that the UFC was joking about him working at Dairy Queen did not. Bringing back Karo Parisyan was clearly a decision marred by personal feelings. Karo was clearly not ready to be in the UFC, he was out of shape and seemingly not there mentally. I am not against giving guys 2nd (or in his case 4th) chances, but the guy flaked out on your twice already, the latest time less than a year ago. Allowing Chuck Liddell to fight again after the Shogun fight was another personal personnel decision. After stating emphatically that Chuck would never fight again, he was allowed to and was again brutally knocked out. I don't know if it was to squeeze another buyrate out of him, but I believe it was primarily because Dana White and Chuck have been friends for so long that he couldn't say no. 

Continue reading this post »

Reposted from WatchKalibRun

We hear it often. Too often. Judging. We gotta change judging. Must change judging. This doesn't work. Bad decision. ROBBERY. And occasionally, they are correct. Judging is broken. Why is it broken? Because it's HUMANS doing the judging. Three different people with three different mindsets viewing and judging a fight that doesn't have an objective score will see three different things. Don't like it? Get robots to judge. On occasion judges are wrong, but more often than not, they are right. Can there be tweaks? Sure. Last night's Rampage vs Machida fight saw Rampage use octagon control and aggressiveness in the first two rounds to win them marginally. What few strikes Machida did land weren't effective enough to offset his backpedaling style. The third round saw Machida definitively win. 

The 10-point must system works. It does work for MMA should I say. It just needs to be used right. Judges need to get off the boxing mindset of "Winner gets 10, loser gets 9". That works in boxing because there are 10, 12, or even 15 rounds to overcome that. in MMA, you have three rounds. In boxing, if you pile up 7 or 8 10-9 rounds, you're the clear winner of the fight. In MMA, you get 2 rounds of 10-9, unless you're getting your butt kicked in the 3rd, you're going to win the fight. Should it be that way? I say not. 

Your average MMA fight approximately half as long as your average boxing match (15 minutes to 30 minutes), therefore the scoring should be twice as strong. A 10-9 round in MMA now has too wide a berth. It can mean anything from the first round of the Rampage/Machida fight to the first round of the Lesnar/Carwin fight. There needs to be a compromise. A round like Rampage/Machida 1 where one fighter barely eeks out the round should continue to be a 10-9. However, when there is a definitive winner of a round, like the forementioned Lesnar/Carwin round, should be considered a 10-8 round. With this distinction, a fight where one fighter barely wins two rounds and then gets soundly beat in another isn't rewarded for "point fighting" which seems to have the MMA world in a fervor. A round that was once labeled a 10-8 round when one fighter almost finished another should now be labeled a 10-7. If you are soundly defeating your opponent in a round, he should not be able to eek out a draw. 

Simple. But until that happens, let's stop crying about judging. Unless you're going to petition the commissions, let's stop crying about judging. Machida lost, let's stop crying about judging. 

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According to Shane's Twitter, he has been blocked by the @ufc account.

wow @UFC "Could not follow user: You have been blocked from following this account at the request of the user." Is this your fired?

I thought this was funny enough in and of itself, but quite ironic in that Shane Carwin is quick to block people who dares disagree with his Twitter ranting even in a polite way. Or even if you write an article critiquing him. Now, I doubt he's fired (and I wouldn't want him to be and I hope he fights Lesnar next), but I did LOL when I read this. 

Source

One of the most interesting developments out of this weekend was UFC President Dana White basically saying that Roy Nelson's UFC career is on hold until his contract issues are resolved. As you know, Fighters Only broke the story back in August of 2010 of a lawsuit between Roy Jones Jr's company Square Ring and Roy Nelson and Zuffa (parent company of the UFC). They state that they had a contract with Roy that predates his UFC contract. Nelson went ahead and fought Junior Dos Santos that weekend, but now it looks like he won't be fighting anytime soon until this situation resolves itself. 

I wondered why the UFC would all of a sudden change up their position (allowing Roy to fight at UFC 117 and now saying he's "out"). It was pretty clear that Square Ring didn't prevent him from fighting JDS with some sort of injunction (which is normal in cases like this) and there has been no news of any injunction since. Justin Klein at the Fight Lawyer Blog (of similar thought) speculates that there might be a settlement on the horizon between Zuffa and Square Ring.

If there is a settlement in the works, I would have no way of knowing whether it is between Zuffa and SRI only or if it includes Nelson. It is possible that Zuffa has agreed to have no further dealings with Nelson until any alleged contract issues between him and SRI are resolved and in exchange SRI would dismiss Zuffa from the action.

As part of this settlement (and to resolve the case), perhaps Nelson agreed to some period of time to abstain from fighting for any other promotion (6 months, a year, can't really be sure).

Alternatively, Nelson may not be part of the hypothetical settlement and may simply have to ride this litigation out until the trial -- according to the docket, the trial is set for January 3, 2012.

As a reminder, this is purely speculation based on a hypothesis. Let's say that Zuffa is settling with Square Ring. Square Ring accepts an unspecified amount to remove Zuffa from the suit. That leaves this issue between Roy Nelson and Square Ring. Now Zuffa has to settle up with Roy Nelson.

Continue reading this post »

I knew this was going to happen sooner or later. It happened in wrestling with Lionel Tate, the teenager who brutally beat to death a 6 year-old girl. A zealous defense lawyer tried to say that the boy was imitating moves he saw "The Rock" use in the WWF. It caused an outcry against the "sport" from some parents who felt that the violent images of pro wrestling were influencing their children. Now that same finger-pointed has targeted the UFC.

A MARCOOLA father has warned other parents about the dangers of homicidal video games and blood sports after learning his 13-year-old son choked a classmate unconscious.

The father said he had no idea his son was engaged in a dangerous Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)-inspired "game" called tap-out until the incident at Coolum State High last week.

Wishing to stay anonymous but determined to get his message across, the father said he had now banned his son from watching bloodthirsty video games and movies, as well as the popular UFC.

"They're developing young adults and this (violent behaviour) is not a character trait you want them to grow into

and carry forward into adulthood."

It was only a matter of time before some child got hurt "Imitating" in an incident that could be tangentially related to MMA and have it backlash on the sport. I hate to break it to this parent but we were choking each other out back before we knew who Royce Gracie was. Kids play these games. We've been doing so forever. Remember "Kill the man with the ball"? The game where whoever has the football gets tackled as hard as possible. With no pads. I'm not trivializing the young boy's experience at all, my point is, these games, this game in particular, predates the UFC. It's disingenuous to try and correlate the two. 

What you SHOULD do is since your son has a fascination with choking and being choked is sign him up for a BJJ class or two. Let him learn technique and discipline. Do this before he goes out like David Carradine, dead in a hotel after hanging himself trying to enhance his orgasms. 

Source

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"Don't give up, don't ever give up"

- Jimmy Valvano

Well. well, well. Just a day after publicly proclaiming that the Lesnar/Mir rubber match "made sense", Dana White is seemingly recanting that statement (or at the very least reconsidering). 

Brock Lesnar (5-2 MMA, 4-2 UFC) and Frank Mir (14-5 MMA, 12-5 UFC) may not be completing their trilogy just yet.

Just one day after suggesting Lesnar vs. Mir III is a fight that "kind of makes sense" in the heavyweight division, UFC president Dana White now admits feedback received on his Twitter account is leading him away from arranging the matchup.

"People have been saying on my Twitter that they're not happy with that fight," White told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). "It's something I need to re-think."

 

...fans have taken to the Internet to express their displeasure in the potential fight. While the UFC president believes it's unwise to pay too much attention to Internet message boards, White says those that took the time to address him on his official Twitter account have made their feelings known loud and clear.

"I usually don't gauge things by the Internet; the internet is [expletive] stupid," White said. "My Twitter I do. 

"On my Twitter, there's 1.2 million people that care about this thing and everything else, and you don't get the goofy [expletive] that you get in the Internet."

That's right, the  #NoLesnarMir3 GrassRoots Movement is working. Let's get it straight. I know that Lesnar/Mir 3 is a money fight and will sell a lot of buys. That isn't necessarily because of the matchup, it's the draw of Lesnar. Most will contend that a Nelson/Brock fight will sell just as many, if not more buys. Nelson won the most watched TUF of all-time. Nelson has an engaging personality and is a real man of the people. He also has a look that while seemingly inappropriate for MMA, endears him to a lot of casual fans. 

So what does this mean? It means we go harder. Keep hitting @danawhite with that  #NoLesnarMir3 tag and let him know how you feel. 

Short and sweet. The UFC seems intent on shoving Lesnar/Mir III down our throats again. Who really wants this fight? Frank Mir. Zuffa's bank accounts. That's it. Brock Lesnar has fought 6 times in the UFC, he's already fought Mir twice. He dominated all but 15 seconds of both fights. I can't think of a compelling reason for a trilogy. Besides money. Frankly, we don't give a damn. Dana White likes to use Twitter to hear what the fans say, I say tell him what we don't want. I saw someone on Twitter come up with a good tag to express how many fans feel, so tweet Dana (@danawhite) with a message and the tag #NoLesnarMir3.