littlejoe Blog

Drunk on MMA!!! Kimbo gets sliced, cheap shots, and loser gets title shot.

littlejoe — Mon, 10 May 2010 14:43:00 GMT

Kimbo's run with the UFC is done. After suffering a one sided defeat to Matt Mitrione at UFC 113 Dana White says at the post fight conference that was his last fight. The Kimbo fans (on MMA message boards) are kind of upset about this, they feel he should get at least one more chance, but I think Dana White's actions are warrented. Dana White gave Kimbo three chances and he never delievered. His first chance was the fact that Kimbo was allowed to walk onto TUF show without having to fight his way into the house. His second chance came when he was given another fight against Houston Alexander even after being easily defeated by Roy Nelson on his first fight on the show. Then his third chance came by getting a PPV fight despite a lackluster performance against Alexander. Now if Kimbo was robbed of a win against Mitrione due to bad judging or if the fight was a back and forth war that could have gone either way and lost via split desicion then I could see Kimbo getting another chance, but with a rematch. But none of that happened. In the first couple of minutes of the first round he came out trying to muscle his way through the fight which caused him to completly gas out. And in the second round Mitrione chopped him down with leg kicks until he mounted him and finished him off with old fashioned ground and pound. Though I feel like we havn't seen the last of him, maybe he'll fight in Japan, but his employment with the UFC is finally over.

I don't know if any of you watched Strikeforce on CBS when Jake Sheilds defeated Dan Henderson and the "brawl" that followed (check out the short one minute video here). Sheilds was only moments from coming off of the biggest win of his career when MTV's Bully Beatdown host Jason Miller came into the cage and tried to steal his moment. What followed was on of the worst things that could have happend to a young MMA organization on national television in front of a young audience. The fact that nothing is going to happen to the fighters who participated in that brawl is kind of confusing to me. I think both Diaz and Melendez should be stripped of their titles and that one guy who kicked Miller three times should be banned from all US MMA events. But as it seems the only thing, so far, that has come of this is that Miller and Diaz were suspended and not allowed to fight in the upcoming Strikeforce event. At the very least they should give us a grudge match between Diaz and Miller.

So Alistair Overeem wins the Stikeforce heavyweight title in 2007 and hasn't defended it since. Brett Rogers get's KO'd in the second round by Fedor. Now, Brett Rogers gets a title shot agaisnt Overeem and Fedor fights the winner. Huh? If that dosn't make sense to you don't worry because your not alone, but that is exactly what is happening over in the Strikeforce heavyweight division. It will be just over three years since Overeem won the belt and defends it for the first time. Since then he has been fighting in Japan and Amsterdam in both K-1 and Dream. But there is a lot of controversy as to why. The guy bulked up over 30 pounds of muscle in those 3 years! The guy is obvioulsy using steroids. Just look at this timeline:

If this guy isn't using steriods he should sell his work out to the rest of the world and make millions. But the fact that Fedor is getting passed up for a title shot is unacceptable. Fedor is schedualed to fight Fabricio Werdum in June. I personally think Fedor should give Strikefoce the middle finger and Werdum fight the winner of Silva and Arlovski then leave. Go to the UFC and finish out his career. This "title" fight is tonight on Showtime.

My Latest Debate.

littlejoe — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:55:00 GMT

How's everyone doing? I've been away from the site all weekend doing life stuff like painting my bathroom, working, taking my dog to training class, watching the NFL championship games, and debating on another site on a religious topic. As I said before in this blog I love a good debate in forums. In that other forum I frequent about religion not only do the gloves come off but everyone dips their hands in glue and glass before entering a debate, it gets ugly. So I wanted to spark some calmer debates here. My Debate blog was kind of like a precursor to upcoming debates.

So I thought about some topics and came up with one about EA's and THQ's MMA games. But unfortunately no one responded. For probably two reasons; first, maybe it was received as a "Verses" thread, something that isn't allowed here. Or second, and probably the most likely reason, nobody cared. Which is fine. So I sat and tried to think of a topic that would not only catch peoples attention but also everyone would have some opinion about. So I thought of this one.

I made that thread knowing full well that I would be outnumbered. I knew no one would agree with the topic. And I knew that I would be "attacked". So why did I do it? Well, I got the idea from GameInformer magazine itself actually. Do any of you remember in the old magazine when the editors would have a topic to discuss, one for and one against? (As I can't find any of my old issues I can't remember what the section was called. I think it was called "Connection Opinion"?) One would be assigned to agrue FOR the topic and the other would have to argue AGAINST it, even if it went against their true opinion. In fact, that's how you learn to improve your debating abilities, argue FOR the side your actually against, and vise versa. It also helps you learn more about your own opinion.

Well, that's exactly what I did in that thread. I thought of a topic I knew everyone would have an opinion about and decided to play "devil's advocate". Do I truly feel that ALL online games should be rated Mature? Of course not. Do I truly feel that XBLive Cards should have Mature ratings on them? No. That's silly in fact. (My original topic was going to be "Video's games should be regulated by the government". But I thought that that would be a little too extreme and scaled it back a bit.)

But WHY did id do it?? I wanted to show that it's OK to disagree here. I wanted to show that it's OK to explore reasons as to why we disagree. I wanted to show that heated topics can still be discussed without resorting to childish remarks. I think it gets boring when threads are made where everyone is agreeing with each other. Though my topic created some heated comments I still felt is was pretty tame. One poster started to get a little heated and emotional with me but caught himself and pulled back, but still was able to post intelligent comments. Bravo! All but one poster's comments I didn't really care for. I could've handled his emotional comments but what I couldn't get past was his poor use of grammar. But in the end I was really impressed! These guys were not only posting respectfully and, most importantly, intelligently but they started to back up their comments with research!

So my hat's off to the members who took the time to debate this. dbull620, Demon Ragnarok, David, Jc17580, Quasidodo, akbirdman, and most of all jpow11. You guys rock and we need more members like you here! Keep it up!

I think IF I ever play "devil's advocate" again I'll say so in the beginning.

Debating on the GI site.

littlejoe — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:59:00 GMT

One of my favorite things to do in forums is debate. I love to debate. I frequent another site to debate religion which can be really fun and gets quite heated. I've been coming to the GI forums for 5 years now. That's right, 5 years (I think I'm the "oldest" member and it pains me that my rank and everything from the old site is gone). I have fond memories of some of the debates I took part in in the old site with some of the original members. And that's one of the things that doesn't happen here too much. There is not too many debates going on. There are a few but not too much. I think it's because there are a lot of younger kids here who don't know how to do it respectfully, which leads to a lot of witty and smart @ss comments that lead nowhere resulting in a thread getting locked like this one. Here is one of my threads that is a good example of a healthy debate. Comments were backed up with facts and evidence, and no one was trying to "be right".

So, I am here to say "Let the debating begin!" If I "challenge" any of you please don't take it as an attack or an attempt at flaming, I'm just here to learn. I will never disrespect anyone as I ask all of you not to disrespect anyone else who wants to enter a debate. We all need to debate here more, as well as critique (which leads me to the next thing I'd like to bring up).

I think us members should be left free to fully critique each others blog's, sentence by sentence if we so choose. Nobody has really done it yet because they might think it's trolling, but really it isn't. I think if we were allowed to critique each other's blog's that it would discourage users from creating pointless blogs like "My Christmas Gifts". In fact, when clicking on "Post to Your Blog" I think a warning or disclaimer should come up saying something like "By publishing this blog you are giving users full right to critique your work." It could make people think twice before hitting "Publish". Not only do I think it would cut down on pointless threads I think it would make visiting the blogs more fun, as long as it's done respectfully and intelligently. Those are the two key words! (Just remember, critiquing dosn't just mean checking for run-on sentences and punctuation, though you can, it also means to challenge ideas and comments with facts and evidence.)

So go for it. Go ahead and critique this blog. Tear it to pieces. You have my permission. I also look forward to debating in the forums!

Drunk on MMA!!! (December)

littlejoe — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:57:00 GMT

Fedor Emelianenko. He is the world's #1 ranked heavyweight according to various organizations (Sherdog, WAMMA, MMA Weekly, FIGHT! magazine, etc.), and probably tied with Anderson Silva for the best pound for pound fighter ever. His record is 31 wins, 1 loss, zero ties, and 1 no contest. His one and only loss came by an accidental elbow from Tsuyoshi Kosaka in the opening seconds of the fight causing a doctor stoppage. Many argue that it should have been ruled a NC, but in their rematch Fedor destroyed him. He has a legion of fans and a legion of haters. His fans respect the fact that he has beaten every opponent that has been put in front of him (he may have lostto Tsuyoshi Kosaka but he certainly wasn't beaten). His haters hate him simply because he is not fighting in the UFC.

The fall of the Affliction fight organization left Fedor a "free" agent. Dana White went after him and offered him an amazing contract. If I'm remembering correctly the contract was for 3 years, 6 million dollars, and 6 fights with the first being a title shot against Brock Lesnar. He would have even been allowed to continue to compete in his sambo tournaments and display the M-1 Global banner in his corner. Any other fighter would've signed in a heart beat. Fedor, however, did not. That pretty much upset the entire MMA community. Many say he is afraid of Brock Lesnar. Some are saying he is afraid of the cage. Others are saying he's just trying to protect his record. However, none of that is true. He was never really a "free" agent, in fact even after the fall of Affliction he was still contracted for 3 more fights with M-1 Global, a company he is co-owner of. The contract stated that wherever he fought that company must co-promote with M-1 Global, and Dana White would have none of that. Who could blame Dana, it's an outrageous demand. Bad management and bad contract? Maybe. Strikeforce, however, agreed and signed Fedor for those 3 fights.

Now here's what I think should happen: First of all Alistair Overeem needs to be stripped of the Strikeforce HW title. He hasn't defended it since he won the title 3 years ago. He's been fighting in Japan, where they don't drug test, with Dream and K-1 the entire time. He wouldn't be able to pass a drug test anyways cause he's so obviously so roided up it's ridiculous. Fedor and Fabricio Werdum should fight for the would-be vacant HW title, a fight I really believe Fedor would win. And as the Strikeforce HW champion he would have one fight left which he would defend against the #1 contender, which I hope is Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. And By 2011 he will be a FREE agent and he'd better go the the UFC. It's in the UFC I think we will see Fedor actually get beat, he is bound to get beaten someday. But it doesn't matter. He is already a legend of the sport and always will be. The funny thing is is that he doesn't consider himself to be the world's best or a legend, he just considers himself a sportsman. That's it.

(Please visit the site to view this media)

Upcoming MMA events:

Dec. 5 UFC: The Ultimate Fighter 10 Finale: In the finals we have Roy Nelson vs. Brendon Schaub. I'm really going to pull for Schaub on this one. I think he can out strike him and out grapple him, I think he's a better fighter overall. However, I really believe Roy Nelson is going to find a way to win. In another fight which is no big suprise is Kimbo vs. Houston Alexander at a catch weight of 215. I'm giving this one to Houston Alexander by a first round TKO. I'll be really surprised if this fight went to the second round.

Dec 12 UFC 107: Penn vs. Sanchez: This is going to be a great card! Kongo vs. Mir. Fitch vs. Pierce. Guida vs. Florian. And the lightweight championship fight between Penn and Sanchez. I'm going to call the upset and go with Diego Sanchez as the winner. Both fighters are explosive with great stand up and grappling, but I think Sanchez is going to catch him a straight cross win with a KO in the 3rd. I know BJ is favored to win, but like I said, I'm calling an upset.

Dec. 19 Strikeforce: Evolution: This card features the return of middleweight fighter Cung Le against Scott Smith. Le ended up giving up his middleweight title due to the fact that he was making movies. But now he's back and ready to make run for the title again. Hopefully he was able to stay in shape and maintain his training because I'm calling him to win via decision.

Other MMA events this month are Dec. 19 WEC: Cerrone vs. Ratcliff and DREAM 2009: Dynamite!!

Peace!

Drunk on MMA! november edition

littlejoe — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:16:00 GMT

In this edition of "Drunk on MMA" I want to talk about the ratings magnet that is Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson. Before his arrival on the UFC's Ultimate Fighter show he was fighting with the EliteXC where he was portrayed as the Tiger Woods and Michael Jordan of MMA. Well, needless to say, we already know what happened to him there, as well as the organization itself. However, while he was fighting with the EliteXC Dana White was publicly trash talking Kimbo saying things like he may be the toughest guy at the BBQ but he is no mixed martial artist. Now Dana White is giving Kimbo the chance at making it to the UFC through the show.

First of all I would like to say that I'm glad to see Kimbo fighting professional fighters rather than on Youtube. And I think it would be a sad day in the MMA world if they no longer accepted straight up street fighters. I think Kimbo belongs in MMA. That being said, I think it's quite clear that he doesn't belong in the UFC, but that won't stop him from getting a contract. His appearance on the Ultimate Fighter has given the show records ratings, and he is clearly the star of the show. This is the reason he is going to get a contract. Not because of his fighting skills, because they are clearly not at the level of the UFC fighters, but because he brings ratings.

Let's face it, in the show, he was beaten easily by a grappler who was performing at half speed. Just imagine if he was up against heavy weight grapplers like Mir, Lesnar, Carwin, Velasquez, Nogueira, Couture, or Gonzaga performing at full speed! It would be both ugly and boring. Even with this fact Dana White still gave Kimbo another fight on the Ultimate Fighter Finale possibly against heavy striker Houston Alexander. And it won't surprise me to see Kimbo on the next UFC pay per view regardless of the outcome. Which I find to be a shame. Kimbo had his chance and lost. Even with a contract he will never be champion contender. Anyways, it's not his fault. There is an opportunity for him to make money, who wouldn't take it? Instead of giving him a contract I think they should make him a permanent host of the Ultimate Figher tv show.

Now let's see what MMA has in store for us duing the month of November.

Nov. 7 Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers: I still predict Fedor to win via submission, but an upset isn't that far from an impossibility. Rogers needs to, and will, come out throwing a hurricane of punches. And with his power he has the ability to KO Fedor. But he needs to do that right away, otherwise Fedor will have his way with him. Like I said, I see Fedor weathering the storm and Rogers gassing out, with Fedor winning by submission in the second round. This is a great card overall. Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva makes his Strikeforce debut against Fabricio Werdum. Light heavy weight champ Gegard Mousasi fights Ramaeu Sokodjou in a non-title fight. And Jake Shields faces the host of MTV's "Bulley Beatdown" Jason "Mayhem" Miller for the vacant middle weight title. I see that as a back and forth grappling contest with Jason Miller as the winner via decision. The best part is that this event is live for free this weekend CBS!!

Nov. 21 UFC: Ortiz vs. Griffin 2: I want to talk about this event because I think it's an exciting fight for both men. First of all it's the return of Tito Ortiz. He's been away from the UFC for three years now recovering from a back surgery. Now he says that this is the first time he is coming into a fight at 100% since his first fight with Ken Shamrock and he is hungry to make another run for the light heavyweight title. Forrest Griffin, on the other hand, is coming off a devastating loss to Anderson Silva. And one thing we've all learned from Forrest Griffin is that he trains harder than ever and comes back a stronger fighter after a loss. So we got two hungry fighters who both need wins ready to square off. I see a back and forth fight with heavy shots being landed standing and on the ground, but I see Tito Ortiz as the winner via decision.

There are other great MMA events this month like Nov 7. Sengoku 11th Battle, Nov. 14 UFC 105: Couture vs. Vera, and Nov 18 WEC: Brown vs. Aldo. Another great month of MMA action for us fans! Don't forget that the sport of MMA expands farther than the UFC!

Peace!

Drunk on MMA! October edition.

littlejoe — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 15:07:08 GMT

I remember watching the very first UFC on pay per view and becoming instantly hooked. Between then and now I've been watching different MMA fights from many different organizations. Back than the term MMA, or mixed martial arts, had a different meaning. The term mixed martial arts competition meant style v.s style. For example, karate vs. kung fu, savat vs. sumo, mauy thai vs. judo, wrestling vs. boxing, ju jistu vs. kickboxing. Now the term MMA took on a slightly different meaning. Now it means that a fighter trains if different styles and mixes them all together to create a hybrid fighting system. The result gave us some of the best athletes on the planet. It's easy to see why MMA has become the fastest growing sport ever.

Now let's check out some great upcoming MMA events!

Oct. 24 UFC: Machida vs. Rua. Loyoto Machida brings a breath of fresh air to the UFC and MMA in general. In a sport where all you see is muay thai, ju jitsu, wrestling, boxing, and kickboxing, Machida brings back good old fashion karate. His karate and elusiveness makes him a very difficult opponent to train for. Some, however, are really quick to write of Shogun Rua as a quick win for him. This is far from the truth. Not only is Shogun proficient in ju jistu he is also a product of the Chute Box Academy, and they are known for producing some of the most dynamic fighters in the world. He is sure to give Machida a fight. In order for Shogun to win he needs to get Machida on his back and keep him there and out class him with his ju jistu. In order for Machida to win he needs to circle the octogon and make Shogun chase him until he either gives Machida an opening or just plain runs out of gas. I predict a 3rd round KO; winner Machida.

Nov. 7 Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rodgers. I'm really excited that this event is going to be televised on CBS. This will definietly give both Strikeforce and Fedor the public exposure they need. Fedor. Yup, that's right, Fedor. I know there are plenty of people (myself included) who were disapointed that Fedor and the UFC were unable to reach a contract, but what are you gonna do? He has three fights left on his M-1 contract and he is going to finish it off with Strikeforce. Afterwards, I think he'll be in the UFC. Fedor, the worlds BEST heavyweight MMA fighter in the world, has 30 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no contest, and is on an 8 year win streak with no signs of slowing down. And he is facing an extremly dangerous fighter in Brett Rodgers. Rodgers is bringing his perfect 10 wins with no losses record with him along withhis nightmare knock out power. In his 10 wins only one has made it to the second round, the 9 others were won within the first 2 minutes of the first round. He is a young up and coming fighter with nothing to lose and everything to gain. In order for Rodgers to win he has to go straight at Fedor 100% as soon as the bell rings, brawl style. He needs to try and overwhelm him with a barrage of punches and try and get the knockout as soon as possible. In order for Fedor to win he has two options, 1) get him on the ground and exploit his lack of ground skills or 2) weather the inevitable storm of punches and force him to fight a long fight. I predict a 1st round submission; winner Fedor.

Oct. 25 Dream 12: The White Cage. This event is only a few weeks away and the card is still not finalized. What's important about this event is that it is going to be the first MMA event in Japan that will use North American 3 five minute rounds and will take place inside a six sided white cage. Dream, formerly known as Pride, normally uses a two round format, round one being 10 minutes and round two being 5 minutes and would take place in a ring. The White Cage will only be used once a year for special events. Fighters confirmed for the card are Alister Overeem, Eddie Alvarez, Malvin Manhoef, Chase Beebe, Murilo "Ninja" Rua, and my favorite Marius Zaromskies, and others.

These are just three great upcoming MMA events. Don't forget to check out Oct. 10th WEC and Nov 7th Sengoku 11th Battle. But most importantly, always know that the world of MMA expands much further that that of the UFC.

Peace!