There were some awful matches on the TUF finale, and one in particular that should have never been made.

No, I'm not talking about Chris "Don't Call Me Kit" Cope vs. Chuck O'Neil. Instead, I want to talk about the biggest mismatch of the night -- a fight that was only shown on Facebook. No one else has mentioned it, so maybe I'm the only guy who feels this way.

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I usually just lurk around here, but with everything going on here in Tuscaloosa, I've been trying to find a way to help -- and not just by volunteering. There are people out there who are just absolutely going to need cash. I was very fortunate -- my office was hit (we were in Wood Square), but we are already up and running again. My house wasn't touched; we just lost power for a few days.

So, I'm trying to do something to help. For the next 90 days, I'm donating all profits from my first novel, Prodigal, to tornado victims in Tuscaloosa and the surrounding areas like Holt. The accounts and donations will be verified by a local CPA. If you purchase a copy, I thank you. The e-book is here: http://tinyurl.com/3qgx7br ... there is also a trade paperback available. Again, ALL PROFITS for the next 90 days go to tornado relief efforts.

Whether you buy a copy or not, I hope you find a way to donate or volunteer. It's still bad out there, and we need all the help we can get in Tuscaloosa.

Thanks for reading.

--Bobby Mathews

I haven't been on the site much lately -- I've been lurking a bit, but a huge thing has been taking up so much of my time. I live in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and some of you may know that we were hit by major tornadoes on April 27. The damage is extensive. There are 41 confirmed dead, and more than 1,200 were injured. Parts of town are simply gone.

I know this is off-topic for this site, but I want to take a moment to just ask that you please think about giving to tornado relief in Alabama. There is such a huge need here. People are homeless and jobless -- my own workplace took a direct hit. Our office is no longer there. However, we were lucky -- we were back up and running in a new location within days, thanks to the donations of several individuals. And thankfully, my home was spared. Houses two blocks away are total wrecks.

It is worse than what you see on TV. A third of this city is just ... gone. It looks like something you would see in Sarajevo or the West Bank.

There are literally dozens of ways to donate. Probably the best way is through the Red Cross. However, if you're one of those people who want to get value for your money, I am offering my novel for sale, with ALL PROFITS over the next 90 days going to Tuscaloosa tornado relief. This is NOT a sales pitch: I am keeping none of the money generated. It will go through my account and be verified by a CPA here in Tuscaloosa.

Whatever you do, whether you donate or volunteer or buy my book, I would ask you to do something to help -- the need is great. You can see the e-book version of the novel here: http://tinyurl.com/2e9k996. There's also a trade paperback: http://tinyurl.com/2ag7njo.

Thanks for reading.

--Bobby Mathews

It'll be called "Wet Blanket MMA" or "How to win while simultaneously crippling a spectator sport" and churn out dozens of guys who don't know how to pass from side control to full mount, who wrestle to only maintain position or to attempt sloppy armlocks from half-guard. And it will bore the shit out of all of us.

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While Jonathan Snowden found little to be impressed about in his take on the UFC 116 main event, many in the Bloody Elbow community took offense to his reaction, and rightly so. Unlike the UFC 116 main event, Snowden's piece was technically proficient. Spelling was fine for the most part. Paragraph and sentence structure was also fine.

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One of the reasons I'm not buying the WEC pay-per-view is because Donald Cerrone is getting a third chance at the promotion's lightweight title. Sure, the guy puts on exciting fights, but it's time for Zuffa to find another challenger to promote as a contender and sign the Cerrone-Varner rematch.

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The biggest news coming out of WEC 42 was Brian Bowles crushing Miguel Angel Torres to take the 135-lb crown. But what stood out to me is Josh Rosenthal letting the fight go too long, leading to Torres taking unnecessary punishment.

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via www.mmaconvert.com

Brett Rogers's camp says he was approached about fighting Fedor as a late replacement for Josh Barnett after Barnett's failed drug test. Rogers' management agreed in principle, but the deal was never done, Team Bison owner/trainer Mike Reilly told FiveOuncesofPain:

"We never asked to fight Fedor. We are under contract with Strikeforce and happy to be [with] Strikeforce. We have not sought any bouts outside of Strikeforce. We were however approached to fight Fedor by Affliction. Of course we agreed to the fight immediately provided all the details could be worked out among the many parties involved."

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This Fan Post was promoted to the front page by Nick Thomas.

I think Frank trained wrong for the fight. When I got there, he was training with three, four different guys on stand-up. He was training for a stand-up fight instead of training with wrestlers that were bigger than Brock. If I was fighting a guy like Brock Lesnar, I wouldn't train stand-up at all because I know my stand-up is better, just on sheer experience. I would train to have a guy who was bigger than me lay on top of me and punch me. Anyone who watched the first fight knew that the second fight was going to go the same way.

-- WEC 135-lb. champ Miguel Torres talks to Yahoo! Sports' Maggie Hendricks how he knew Mir was going to be in trouble against Brock Lesnar. Other topics include being trained (and hugged) by Mark Delagrotte, as well as insight on his fight with Mizugaki and his upcoming title defense against Brian Bowles.

All in all, a great read and his explanation of Lesnar-Mir II is the best one I've seen.

HT: Cagewriter.com

Strikeforce and WEC 41 offered a ton of lessons for the MMA fan. Here are a few.

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hunglodojo.com is reporting that MMA fighters (actually, they specify UFC) will appear Friday to confront teens who are members of underground fight clubs.

Adela worries for her 17-year-old son, Alex’s, safety after discovering that he’s participating in an underground extreme sport — teen fight clubs.  Alex and his 16-year-old friend, Casanova, say that these amateur boxing matches train them to reach their goals of becoming Ultimate Fighting Champions (UFC).  How do the teens respond when they come face-to-face with real UFC fighters?

 

looking around the interwebz, it appears Dana White, Forrest Griffin and Kenny Florian are the UFC guys appearing on the show.

it airs May 15 (Friday), for those of you who need their MMA fix.

this may be the biggest sign yet that MMA is mainstream. whether you agree with him or not, Dr. Phil reaches a huge audience -- but even he is banking on the UFC to help pull a big number during May sweeps.

I don't know if anyone's had this idea before, or if it would even work, but I was thinking about P4P rankings and wondering who the best P4P MMA fighter really is when I came to the conclusion that what MMA needs is a pound-for-pound champion.

Wait, stop giggling. Hear me out. I know this is fantasy booking, but my mind's churning with the possibilities.

I know many promotions have had open-weight tournaments (including the UFC in its early days), but this wouldn't be an open-weight tournament. The UFC could contract 16 fighters to appear in a catch-weight tournament that would take place over the course of six to eight PPVs. Say the weight limit is 200 pounds. A ton of fighters could make that cut -- and it could solve several problems facing the company.

Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell, Anderson Silva, GSP, Rampage, Forrest Griffin, Rashad Evans, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, Michael Bisping, Frank Mir, Fedor (in my dreams, he's under a UFC contract), Big Nog, Lyoto Machida, Nate Marquardt, Jon Fitch ... there are my 16. You could pick any pair of fighters out of that group, and it's an intriguing matchup -- a match that could potentially headline PPVs.

Championship belts are not on the line in the tournament. At the end of the tourney, the winner is presented the P4P title, essentially a catch-weight championship. If the champion and challenger agree to fight at 190, fine. Or 180. Or 200. Whatever works. And the belt is defended from there.

This solves a few serious problems, IMO: what do you do with aging stars who are still draws? A tournament like this makes guys like Chuck and Randy still relevant in today's UFC. If someone like Machida wins, this could "make" them in the MMA world.

It also presents a serious challenge to a guy who looks bored in most of his fights, Anderson Silva. If Silva is indeed looking for new challenges, this would be right up his alley, IMO.

And it sets up future matchups with guys looking for redemption or trying to reclaim some of their glory -- or it could set up some grudge matches down the line. It could be a good way to set up matches for guys with no immediate title shot in their future.

Sorry this got long. Any thoughts?

Promoted to the front page from the FanPosts by Luke Thomas. I'm late to the party promoting this, but the discussion in the comments was too good to pass up.

Okay, I finally read Loretta Hunt's story over at Sherdog.com, and here's my two cents, from a guy who has worked his entire adult life as a reporter and/or editor for daily newspapers:

If Sherdog.com is "standing behind" Loretta's article, that's a huge sign that Sherdog.com shouldn't be considered a legitimate news outlet, whether they report for ESPN.com or not. Hunt's "story" wouldn't have lasted five minutes in an editorial meeting with anyone with a legitimate journalism background.

You want to report on a possible controversial tactic by a person, company or governmental agency? Then you'd better get someone on the record. You don't rely on anonymous sources. You get a source ON. THE. RECORD. You do it, or you don't have a story. That requires some skill as an interviewer and a reporter. It also means your source has to have a backbone. It's a difference (no insult intended) between a reporter and a blogger. It's a difference between a legitimate media outlet and "hey, look at us, we're important!" Sherdog.com.

I don't care for Dana's language in his now-famous Vlog about Hunt and her sources. But the words Dana used are sadly obscuring the fact that Loretta Hunt did a sloppy, drive-by hitjob on the UFC -- and she's not going to have to apologize for it.

I was thinking about this the other day, because I haven't seen one of my favorites fight in awhile, so I thought I'd pose the question here: is there an undercard fighter you always try to watch? Someone who, if you know they're on a card, either makes you more likely to buy a ticket or PPV?

For me, that fighter is Spencer Fisher. Now, I'm not saying Fisher is anything more than a journeyman fighter. He is what he is, but damn he's fun to watch. I know what I'm getting when Fisher is on a card ... a guy who's pretty freakin' relentless, has good hands, a rock for a chin ... but who's probably never going to be in title contention.

There aren't that many underneath guys i care enough about to say "Oh wow, I can't miss this guy!" on the women's side, Julie Kedzie is the same for me ... love to see her fight, hope she does well, but realistically I know she's a second-tier fighter right now.

anyway, that's two of mine ... what about yours?

You have two guys who are incredible on the ground -- Diego Sanchez and Joe Stevenson -- and the only groundwork they do is a 10-second scramble off a take down? This has been bugging me since Saturday night's show.

Sure, Diego's striking is better than it's ever been. That doesn't really mean that it's GOOD. He showed a lot of different strikes, but he didn't show much power, if any. Stevenson threw the same 1-2 combo for the entire fight.

I guess what's bugging me is this: We're seeing guys who are great on the ground prefer to stand and slap at each other for 15 minutes and let a fight go to a decision. I don't care for that at all. Got no problems with striking/wrestling/BJJ/GNP, whatever you want to use ... but the Sanchez-Stevenson fight was ugly, and it was ugly because the two participants chose to ignore the biggest and best parts of their respective games. Why?

Neither fighter was hurt ... neither had a mark on him. Had the fight gone to the ground, there might have been a chance for a finish or at least a more decisive victory. I thought the judge who had it 29-28 for Sanchez was closest to getting the scorecard right, though I personally scored it a draw because so little damage was done to either fighter.

MMA Weekly is reporting that Ken Shamrock and Tank Abbott will likely face off later this year, something I hadn't seen anywhere else. I'm not sure I even knew Tank Abbott was still alive.

Also, Shamrock is starting Ken Shamrock Productions, so apparently he's getting into the promoting end of the fight game -- which I fully support. Ken's really got no business in the ring anymore, and hasn't for a few years now.

Anyway, it just caught my eye.

Several thoughts from the last few weeks of fights:

1) Jens Pulver should retire, or at least take an extended sabbatical, like Randy Couture did before winning the UFC heavyweight title from Tim Sylvia. As much as I love to watch Little Evil fight, he really has become irrelevant in the last year or two. I think some serious downtime would help him heal and grow emotionally so that when he starts to train again, we could see him back in top form.

2) GSP didn't need Vaseline to beat BJ Penn. I'm willing to let it pass as an honest mistake -- provided his corner is watched very carefully from now on.

3) BJ Penn needs a long look in the mirror. He needs to get away from Hilo to train, because there's obviously something missing there. Fighters are passing him by in talent, training and (most obviously) conditioning. And most of all, BJ Penn needs to blame himself for his losses -- the guy needs to cash the reality check that was handed to him Saturday night.

4) Fedor is Fedor. Everyone knew that all it would take to win against Arlovski was one clean shot to the infamous glass jaw. If Tim Sylvia can knock you out, Fedor can probably hospitalize you.

5) Thank you, Lyoto Machida, for knocking out the overrated Thiago Silva.

6) Varner-Cerrone was a good (not great) fight until the ending. If Cerrone ever learns how to defend takedowns, he'll be dangerous. I don't know if Varner was faking or not, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt, and I think the rematch between the two will tell a lot about which fighter really wants to win.