SB Nation User Blog: Tonley

Dream Middleweight Grand Prix Semifinals Set

Tonley — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:02:58 -0000

Fronted by Luke Thomas.

The middleweight grand prix semifinals, set for Sept. 23 at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, will pit Brazilian jiu-jitsu all-star turned hot MMA prospect Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza against Croatian Zelg Galesic (Pictures), while Dutch-based Armenian Gegard Mousasi (Pictures) meets fellow Netherlander Melvin Manhoef (Pictures), with the two victors set to square off in the finale later that evening.

In June, Souza punched his ticket to the semifinals by taking a unanimous verdict over colorful cult hero Jason "Mayhem" Miller, while Galesic saw only 65 seconds of action before his rematch with Taiei Kin (Pictures) ended due to a dislocated elbow. Their first bout last October ended in only 36 seconds due to a cut. On the same bill, Mousasi successfully knocked off South Korean judo star Yoon Dong Sik with a unanimous nod, while Manhoef smashed MMA icon Kazushi Sakuraba (Pictures) in a brief but brutal 90 seconds.

While no reserve bout was announced for the middleweight finale, a source close to the promotion has told Sherdog.com that FEG are interested in a pairing of quarterfinalists Miller and Sik. However, the proposed bout is still in its most embryonic stages.

Poll

Who will win the DREAM Middleweight GP?

Kim Couture Debates Cofield and Cokin on Women's MMA -Should WMMA bouts go 5 rounds? -Did...

Tonley — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:08:03 -0000

Kim Couture Debates Cofield and Cokin on Women's MMA

-Should WMMA bouts go 5 rounds?
-Did Kim's fight deserve to be stopped earlier?
-What would've been the fallout had this fight been on CBS?
-Did Kim really go out to touch gloves?

Nick Diaz Sounds Off...

Tonley — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 08:19:39 -0000

On his attitude towards the sport and his opponents:

Before we get started, I want to say that I know there are a lot of people and everybody is trying to protect the sport. And everybody wants to be sportsmen and that type of thing where everybody shakes hands and everybody is great friends and whatever. And that’s great. But you know what, this sport is (expletive) established. That’s obvious. There are people out there doing a great job making it look like a non-violent sport. That’s not my job. My job is warfare. I’m over here to (expletive) kill. We’re mortal enemies until we fight and then we can shake hands and be cool. But until then, if I’m signed to fight you I don’t (expletive) like you and I hate you’re (expletive) guts and we’re fighting until we’re cool. We’re not cool until I win or I lose and we can settle this. So that’s how I am about this sort of thing.

On why he was in the cage and his feelings towards KJ Noons:

T.J. Thompson from Icon Sport. He brought me in there. He told me, ‘It’s time to go to work. Let’s go in there and talk about this rematch.’ So he brought me in there.

...

They came in there with me and the next thing you know his dad starts talking (expletive) to my brother (Nate) or whatever. And, you know, my brother is hardcore. So he comes in there and someone says (expletive) you or whatever and his boy (Noons) is acting all bad like he wants to fight me. I’m like, ‘Why you trying to act bad now?’ They walked past us in the halls and they all looked at the floor. They walked past us like they are scared or something, you know what I mean. It’s like that we’re going to fight, but if they are going to talk (expletive), we’re going to talk (expletive). I ain’t going nowhere and they ain’t going nowhere.

...
That’s (expletive) … my bottom line is he is a poser. He’s over here trying to rush me in front of the cameras and look like hardcore in front of the cameras. He shows up in a (expletive) suit. He’s a rich kid. I can’t afford a suit. I got no money to spend on a suit. I can’t retire right now if I want to. he fights every however many months.

More quotes after the jump.

On the first fight with Noons:

That’s what I’m saying. That’s what I was getting ready to say. I’m not no chump. I ain’t no (expletive) punk. That’s not really his belt. That doctor stopped that fight on that cut. My brother had a bigger cut in his last fight and he still won. I’ve had (expletive) cuts bigger than that. This (expletive) doctor just stepped in on my whole situation.

...

“He needs to finish me off if that’s his belt. He needs to go ahead and finish me off and get this all over said and done with. Either I’m going to whup his (butt) or he is going to whup my (butt) and we can be cool. You understand what I’m saying? It’s unfinished business.

And on why he dislikes the cage:

There should be a ring here in the U.S., a huge show, there should be a ring. It’s not done in Japan. A cage is not even done in Japan. It’s unheard of. It’s ridiculous. It’s so stupid that we are entertained by a cage and that they have to use a cage to get our attention to be entertained by this fighting and not understand the technical aspects of mixed martial arts. You need a cage to get your attention first, so it looks like something crazy. I know when I started the scariest (expletive) sounds they made was, ‘Oh, you are a cagefighter, Ooh.’

"And nobody can (expletive) see anything because of the damn cage. It’s an insult to all you people out there. It’s an insult that people fight in a cage. You can’t see through it. If you want to see, you can’t see the technical things that are happening or anything that’s going on in there. The fighters aren’t using the ring to cut the guy off and boxing. The whole boxing part, the kickboxing part, is out the window or half it is anyways with the ring situation. You can’t put your foot back under the rope.

"The (expletive) cage is … They say a cage doesn’t require a re-start. You’re talking about a areal sport and they want to say it’s non-violent, put it in the cage. These people are not animals. They can (expletive) pause for a second and move it back to the center of the ring. It’s a sportsman type of situation. That’s why it’s funny that people are always trying to say it’s too violent, it’s in a cage. Well. get rid of the cage and, maybe, it’s not so violent.

HT: Orange County Register's MMA and Boxing blog

MMA Live - Episode 3

Tonley — Fri, 30 May 2008 04:23:22 -0000

MMA Live - Episode 3

MMA Live Episode 2

Tonley — Thu, 22 May 2008 22:39:16 -0000

MMA Live Episode 2

Affliction's Banned Website is up...

Tonley — Thu, 15 May 2008 17:47:12 -0000

Found this reading the Sherdog forums today.

Check it out

My thoughts:

-In the coming weeks, will the TBA besides Ben Rothwell turn into Andrei Arlovski? Ben Rothwell has confirmed it on the Sherdog forums but nothing official has been announced yet.

-Will there ever be an Affliction 2? Like others have already pointed out, even though Fedor may be the best fighter on the planet, none of his performances have turned into big PPV buys in the US. Add that in with the huge payout the fighters on this card are promised, this could simply be another one-and-done MMA promotion.

HT: Sherdog's Contenders Forum

Looks Like HDNet Got The DREAM Deal

Tonley — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 13:40:22 -0000

This diary entry was promoted to the front page by Luke Thomas.

Today I received a message on Facebook from HDNet Fights saying to watch out for a huge announcement about a partnership with an org. At first, I thought it was simply confirmation of the Sylvia/Fedor fight with Affliction. I mean, there's no way it could be DREAM. How could a company that just lost it's prime time spot in its own country get a deal with HDNet? Wishful thinking but no way it could happen. Too good to be true. Probably something to do with Affliction or the IFL. No need to get my hopes up.

Well...

Mark Cuban and his HD network are quickly making a mark on the mma scene. Now if only HDNet were available in more areas.