SB Nation User Blog: Warhand

Enough About Chuck....Let's talk about what matters; Undefeated Competitors Fighting for The Title: Evans VS. Machida

Warhand — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:45:59 -0000

This fight has the potential of being totally awesome or really boring. I am certain it will be better than the Silva vs. Leites fight. During the Machida vs. Ortiz fight Joe Rogan stated that he thought the type of fighter that would give Machida trouble would be a really good striker. Well, with Rashad we have a great wrestler with very accurate and powerful striking. But is this the the view to take. The betting odds favor Machida, however, Evans is the champ and he would be wise to force the "elusive" Machida to come to him much the way he did with Liddell.

Lyoto on the other hand needs to make Rashad really uncomfortable. He must continue to be his elusive self but also frustrate Rashad in the exchanges in the hope that Evans falls back on his wrestling. If Lyoto can get Rashad to take him down I think he stands a good chance of pulling off a submission. We haven't seen a ton of Lyoto's ground game but I am pretty sure he has some good BJJ.

This is how I feel about this fight at this moment though I am certain my opinion will change. I really just want to get the discussion going surrounding this fight. Please challenge my analysis of this match up because it is the only way I can get an objective view of it. Who do you favor and why? I am salivating over this one already and to quote Willy Wonka, "The suspense is killing me. I hope it lasts."

Silva Attempted 2 Foot Stomps

Warhand — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 17:00:29 -0000

I may be wrong but I remember Montreal demanding foot stomps be illegal in order for the UFC to put their event on in that city. I found it very interesting that Anderson Silva attempted two foot stomps in the first round. That was the only new rule and he tried just that. By now we have seen the gifs of Silva rubbing his arms and chest with the tiny amount of vaseline from his face. Surely he knew of all the vaseline controversy around the GSP vs. BJ fight. This is a mole hill that will never be a mountain but it seems that Silva either doesn't follow MMA news or he has very little respect for what he may believe to be arbitrary rules.

Dana White Pissed Women Off

Warhand — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:12:40 -0000

Women's media group to UFC boss: Apologize

A national women's sports media group is calling upon UFC President Dana White to apologize for disparaging comments he recently made about a female reporter, FOXSports.com has learned.

The Association for Women in Sports Media (AWSM) issued a press release Wednesday calling for the Ultimate Fighting Championship to "take action in regards to misogynistic comments" that White made in a video blog posted on the promotion's Web site. AWSM President Jenni Carlson said her group's request for an apology from UFC went unanswered.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/sports-boxing/20090409/Marvez.WomenSlamWhite/

What I find interesting is that it didn't seem that White was attacking Hunt for being a female reporter but rather for attacking him and the UFC with no proof of the allegations. What do you think? Does the AWSM have reason to demand an apology or are they just trying to gain some relevance?

Was Tom Vaughn right?

Warhand — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 15:25:49 -0000

With his trust for fighters diminished, Vaughn has become defensive of his gym and his methods. "Nobody has ever left my gym and done better somewhere else," he said. "If he does, he'll be the first guy."

Obviously Condit did not do better as he lost after an 8 fight win streak. I personally think that Condit did really well against a really high level of competition in Kampman. I also feel like he handled the pressure of his first fight in the UFC like a true professional. I think everyone agrees that the decision could have gone either way. It may be too early to tell but I was wondering what the BE community thought. Was Condit's move to ACS a good one?

Day After Thoughts On UFC FN 17

Warhand — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 17:30:30 -0000

I was entertained by the fights last night. There were a lot of commercials but that is to be expected from a free event on cable.

Anthony Johnson was disappointed with his performance but I thought he looked pretty solid. The fight definitely had that "only a matter of time" feel to it. Fiorvanti seemed as though he was just waiting to be knocked out. Johnson was telegraphing his kicks a bit. It was a good start to the night.

Josh Neer is a crazy fighter. He looked crazy and acted kinda crazy. Danzig's striking looked really good to me. I loved the way Mack set his feet underneath him and threw good combos from the pocket. Some of those combos were pretty standard and seemed to amuse Neer. My question is this; How does a guy as seasoned as Danzig get caught in a triangle the way he did? The big difference maker in this fight appeared to be top game. When Neer was on top Danzig was in danger. This was not the case when Danzig was on top.

Cain gets KO of the night? Is this a bonus that has to be given out? There was no KO last night IMO. Cain could not finish his fight in an entertaining fashion and fans don't like that. Why didn't Cain deliver knees to the body or just stand up? That fight was stopped on the basis of lameness. People talk about Cain's huge potential but I need to see more.

My favorite fight of the night was Veach vs Grice but that was not a fair stoppage. Veach was in worse shape on the ground early in the round and it wasn't stopped. Grice gets dropped and takes one clean shot and it is over? Laughable. Veach showed an old truth in fighting last night. A good chin and powerful hands are still a good combination of assets. Especially at 155lbs.

Joe Lauzon is awesome! I was never a fan of "Creepy Joe" until last night. Lauzon had complete and total control of that fight. He showed poise and skill. Stephens never had an answer. When I read Lauzon's pre fight comments I thought he sounded too cocky but the kid delivered. I love how he got it to the ground by attacking the leg over and over. His butterfly guard was almost artistic. The thing that comes to mind when I ponder this fight is "control, control, control". "Creepy Joe" is a great nickname but if Lauzon wants to be called J-Lau he has earned the respect to be called whatever he wants to be called. I am the newest J-Lau fan!

One Last thing: Rosholt needs to listen to his corner.

Why have Watch Kaleb Run?

Warhand — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 17:46:37 -0000

I don't want to sound like a dick but why do we have Watch Kaleb Run? Zak is awesome, no doubt, but I don't understand why we need two MMA blogs. The title bothers me because I don't like giving attention to an idiot and I have yet to see anything at WKR that I couldn't have missed. Does anyone have any thoughts on this that can help me to appreciate WKR?

Ref. for Maynard vs Clementi (Todd Fredrickson)

Warhand — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 19:23:10 -0000

Was anyone else really annoyed with the ref. of the Maynard vs. Clementi fight? These guys weren't on the ground for 10 seconds before the ref. started to tell then to "do something". Seriously, Maynard and Clementi were working really hard for positions and the ref. keeps saying "C'mon guys do something". He must have said it 15 or 20 times in less than 1 min. while Clementi tried to set up for a sub. and Maynard tried to get into a better position. Fighters should not need to be distracted by the ref. telling them to "do something" while they are working their asses off on the ground. The crowd in Chicago sucked and was probably booing fighters as early as Friday night but that shouldn't dictate the ref.'s actions. Lately I have noticed that ref.'s have started to encourage fighters to "do something" as fans start to boo. This is a bad trend that needs to be thwarted immediately. The UFC needs ref.'s that have worked a BJJ match or two before they step in and start distracting fighters during a ground battle.

Let Down By TUF

Warhand — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 16:19:00 -0000

I tuned into Spike last night excited to see Anderson Silva train with the fighters. I was looking forward to seeing an awesome fighter train and give instructionto some eager up and comers. Instead I watched a bunch of idiots sprinkle itching powder on beds and robes, freeze underwear and spread sardine juice on walls. I basically saw all the Silva footage in the preview last week. I know that I do not have to watch this show but what a waste of an opportunity this show is turning out to be. We have all of this controversy over promoters discouraging their fighters to engage in the ground game and it seems to stem from the casual fan not understanding the complexity nor the art of ground fighting. This show could be educating fans while still giving us the alcohol fueled drama it is saturated with now (I understand that the editing has been done and the episodes were in prior to said controversy). I am sure Anderson Silva was on the show because of some contract obligation but he seemed enthusiastic and I imagine he did more than we got to see. With all of this being said Eliot Marshall fought a perfect fight. He ended it quickly without suffering any injuries. However, so far this is the most disappointing season yet.