Floyd Mayweather Talks Smack About the Ice Man

In an article posted on TheSweetScience.com, Mayweather talked trash about his next opponent, Oscar De La Hoya. This should be somewhat expected, but then Mayweather went a little further and had a few things to say about UFC champion Chuck "Ice Man" Liddell. To quote Floyd, “UFC ain’t shit,” he said. “It ain’t but a fad. Anyone can put a tattoo on their head and get in a street fight.” He singled out UFC poster boy Chuck Liddell for an extra overhand right. “We should put Liddell against a good heavyweight, under Mayweather Promotions, and if Chuck wins, then I’ll give him a million dollars out of my own pocket.” PBF then shoe-shined all MMA fighters. “These are guys who couldn’t make it in boxing,” he said. “So they do (MMA). Boxing is the best sport in the world and it’s here to stay.” Wow, this guy has taken a few too many punches to the head. It's kind of sad to see, but the inevitiable is happening, boxing is beginning its downfall. Unless you're oblivious, you can avoid all of the coverage and hype that the UFC is now getting for its fight cards and expecially when they put together a main event with top fighters. All those sponsors who have backed boxing for so long (Budweiser) will eventually be sponsoring UFC events. But that is for another blog post somewhere down the road. To check the Mayweather article in its entirety you can here: http://www.thesweetscience.com/boxing-article/5017/floyd-mayweather-rips-oscar-liddell-mma/

UFC buys Pride – The good and the bad

Officially announced yesterday, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (Zuffa to be exact) has purchased the Pride Fighting Championship (DSE to be exact). The news is huge to the mixed martial arts community and will ultimately be the impetus that will officially make the UFC a household name. I know that most of the MMA world is celebrating this major acquisition but there are some drawbacks that come to mind. The good of UFC and Pride coming together is pretty obvious. The match making and the fights that will result should be amazing. Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell vs Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, Dan Henderson vs Anderson Silva, Gomi vs. GSP, and possibly Fedor vs. “The Natural” Couture. MMA wet dream right there. These stellar fights will only bring in more and more fans and the UFC will continue to grow. And maybe, just maybe we’ll see a UFC section on ESPN.com. I can’t believe those morons have a boxing category but still do not have a MMA section. For god sake, they have a section devoted to Bassmaster Tournaments (no lie, http://sports.espn.go.com/outdoors/tournaments/index). I’ll save this particular rant for another day. On the flip side, there are a few negatives that result from the UFC / Pride deal. MMA fans lose the Pride. The ring will forever be replaced by the cage. I liked having different fighting environments because it altered fight styles. Also, say goodbye to the beloved soccer kick and knees to the head. Some are not a fan of those rules but I for one liked that about Pride. That added element of attacked really upped the intensity of a fight. I also appreciated the fact that the refs in Pride fights tend to let the fight go on a little longer before they step in and end the fight. The UFC is overly cautious (yeah, yeah, they need to protect the fighter..i get that). Allowing a couple of extra strikes to ensure that there is a clear cut need to stop a fight is appropriate. You get stuck with UFC ref Herb Dean who may stop the fight because you call the other fighter a bad name. One of the other important things to consider is that one man, Dana White, will be king of the MMA game. If you are a hungry upcoming fighter, but get on his bad side, you’re fucked when it come to a career in MMA.

Fight Card - UFC Ultimate Fight Night 4/5/07

Lots of MMA action coming our way next week. Are you kidding me? UFC Ultimate Fight Night, the kick off of The Ultimate Fighter TV show on Spike, AND UFC 69! I wonder if people will actually get a little burnt out on all of the mixed martial arts or if it will only make demand stronger. Let's take them one at a time. Here is the official fight card for the UFC Ultimate Fight Night on April 5th. Joe "Daddy" Sevenson Vs. Melvin Guillard Justin McCully Vs. Antoni Hardonk Dokonjonosuke Mishima Vs. Kenny Florian Keita Nakamura Vs. Drew Fickett Kurt Pellegrino Vs. Sum Gi (TBD) Forrest Petz Vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka Seth Petruzelli Vs. Wilson Gouveia Roan Carneiro Vs. Rich Clementi Naoyuki Kotani Vs. Thiago Tavares The UFC fight poll currently has Joe Stevenson and Melvin Guillard at even odds. Who do you think will win in this highly competive match-up?

Joe Daddy Stevenson - Beer Drinking Champion

At UFC 67 in Las Vegas, I sat behind UFC Lightweight contender Joe "Daddy' Stevenson. He was with a couple other guys and had a pretty nice looking lady at his side. One of the guys in his group must have been 6' 2" and approximately 235lbs. Well, he and Joe Daddy decided to see who could drink an entire beer the fastest. No f-ing contest. Stevenson blew this guy out of the water. Not once, but twice. Joe continued to drink all night and was pretty hammered but was only slightly belligerant. For someone of his size, it was a pretty impressive site. However, I hope his beer-drinking prowes hasn't been part of his training routine over the last couple of weeks or he'l really have his hands full with Melvin Guillard at the UFC Ultimate Fight Night April 5th in Vegas. Cheers to you Joe Daddy Stevenson, Lightweight Beer Drinking Champion of the World.

How to be a Better Person by Matt Hughes

Former UFC Welterweight Champion and future Ultimate Fighting hall of famer, Matt Hughes has some encouraging words as to how to become a better person and how to fight of the temptations of evil:

"When I first got married, I prayed and prayed not to have desires for other women. At the same time I worked on keeping my mind "clean." After about a year and a half, that came true. I still pray for God to keep me strong, but as a guy that will always be a weakness. The thing about God is, He might move at a slower pace than what we'd like, but He always gets were He wants to go."

"...so if I want to be a better person by keeping impure thoughts out of my head I would need to: 1. Pray 2. Condition my body to do the right thing. Back when I wanted to stop cursing, after I said something I shouldn't, I would stop and say a prayer of forgiveness. It didn't take long for me to stop saying those bad words."

I'm not a God-fearing Christian, but hey, whatever works for you. More power to you Matt and may the Lord be with you.

MMA Fighter Dies

Gilbert Aldana died in a water-skiing accident at Lake Pleasant this passed Sunday. Aldana was a heavyweight MMA fighter who had two appearances in the UFC and several fights in Arizona's Rage in the Cage events. Gilbert was just 29 years old. Our sympathy to Aldana's friends and family.

Chuck Liddell is a Stoner

Chuck "Mr. Mumbles" Liddell. I'm not sure if the UFC champ the "Ice Man" was baked, drunk, or doped up on valium but in this recent interview he sounds like an ape with marbles in his mouth. I'm a big fan of Chuck's, but damn bro, he really shouldn't have said yes to the interview. Word is that Dana White and the Lorenzo Fertitta are pissed! I can understand why. Those guys have done a hell of a job bringing education and legitimacy to MMA.

Dana White speaks his mind, as usual

A MMA-building god, or a total prick, either way you have to give props to Dana White for making the UFC what it is today. Recently the Ultimate Fighting President had a lot to say in an interview with CBS Sportsline: It's a pretty long interview which you can read it in its entirety here. If you don't have the time, I've summarized some of the most interesting comments from the interview. According to Dana White:

• The biggest obstacle currently in the way of continued growth for MMA is that there are only 24 hours in a day. DW (Dana White) is only one guy and there will be three shows in a 17 day span (Ultimate Fight Night April 5th, UFC 69 on April 7th, and UFC 70 April 21st).
• If Mirko Cro Cop beats Gabriel Gonzaga, he’ll get a shot at the title vs. Couture.
• The UFC Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva will probably fight Nate Marquardt next.
• After the Georges St. Pierre vs. Matt Serra welterweight title fight at UFC 69, Matt Hughes is next in line for a shot at the title.
• Fabricio Werdum is the latest Pride FC fighter to defect to the UFC.
• UFC 70 will be shown on television for free!!!
• Dana is still planning on and training for a boxing match with Tito Ortiz.
• Future and rising younger stars of the UFC include Rashad Evans, Michael Bisping Diego Sanchez, and Josh Koscheck.
• It’s likely that Rampage fight Chuck for the Light Heavyweight title in May.
• Frank Shamrock is an idiot and “a very, very weird guy.”

Frank Mir out, Justin McCully in.

Announced today, former heavyweight champion Frank Mir will not be competing in the next Ultimate Fight night on Spike April 5th. Reports are that he is out due to injury. Although Mir is a big name fighter, I for one am glad he won't be competing and will be replaced by Justin McCully. Frank Mir has lost two of his last three fights while the relatively unknown is McCully has won his last three fights. I wonder if Mir will ever fight in octagon again. I've never been a huge fan of Mir's and I think it is time for the UFC to move on and try to bring the division back to life with newer, hungrier fighters. With the likes of Couture, CroCop, Brandon Vera, and Andre Arlovski in the Heavyweight division Frank Mir might serve best as a "gate keeper" for future up and comming fighters.

Holy shit, Couture wins!

Holy shit, Tim Sylvia gets dominated by Randy Couture. This was one of the best matches I've seen in a long long time. MMA at it's finest, exceeding my expectations for the night. Couture came in looking ripped as always but seemed to look healther at 222lbs. More comfortable and natural as a heavyweight than a light heavyweight. Going into the fight, I predicted that Silvia was going to knock the head off of "Captain America" which I don't think was too far fetched considering Randy got knocked out by Chuck Liddell twice. I've always been a fan of Couture by was honestly discouraged when he announced his retirement comeback. And then to take on the Ulitimate Fighting Championship's Heavyweight title holder Tim Syliva? Deathwish I thought. However, as the fight got closer, I did start to give Couture a bit more of a chance. Not sure why, maybe intuition. I'm just glad I wasn't in Las Vegas as I would have likely put some cash down on Silva.

UFC 68 Fight Results

Jamie Varner def. Jason Gilliam - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) round 1 Gleison Tibau def. Jason Dent - Decision (Unanimous) Jon Fitch def. Luigi Fioravanti - Submission (Rear Naked Choke) round 2 Matt Hamill def. Rex Holman - TKO (Strikes) round 1 Jason Lambert def. Renato Sobral- KO (Punch) round 2 Matt Hughes def. Chris Lytle - Decision (Unanimous) Rich Franklin def. Jason MacDonald - TKO (Corner Stoppage) round 2 Martin Kampmann def. Andrew McFedries - Submision (Arm-triangle choke) round 1 Randy Couture def. Tim Sylvia Decision (Unanimous)