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WORLD VICTORY ROAD 7: LIFE AS JAPAN’S #2

Posted by Alan Conceicao on January 4th, 2009

Pro wrestling fans love comparisons to that pseudo sport, and Sengoku offers a great one. While sliding (but still solid) ratings continue to bury the WWE with each passing day, the one refrain they can constantly pronounce is that at least they aren’t TNA, a promotion who has generally operated like a retarded stepbrother. The same goes for Japan: DREAM is all ready to go in 2009 with a slate of shows, despite endless talk of that not going to be the case over here, and their “competition” in the market is a promotion that essentially does retarded versions of everything they’ve gone, right down to copying which weight classes they ran tournaments in. Last night, Sengoku fufilled the promises of this entire calendar year with another generally forgettable show with some bizarre highlights.

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Posted in Alan Conceicao, Sengoku | 1 Comment »

Our Last Mazzagatti Moment: Goodbye to 2008

Posted by Thomas Hackett on December 31st, 2008

Steve Mazzagatti

I always enjoy the end of the year threads of discussion around the net. Alan had a nice article yesterday describing 2008 and how it will (and will not) effect the year to come. Many sites feature contests where you select 2008’s best bouts, instructional material, etc. Nostlagia can lead to generosity, too. On the Underground Forum there’s a thread where your New Year’s Resolution might net you $150 in merchandise.

There’s a lot of that out there, so that’s not what I decided to write about today. What follows are my list of three moments from 2008 which I never need to see again.

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Posted in Tommy Hackett | 4 Comments »

2009: The Year the Business Changed Forever Again

Posted by Alan Conceicao on December 30th, 2008

People love big headlines, and as the year wraps up with the always lovable K-1 Dynamite, it is also time to look forward to the year that will be. This will, as all previous years preceeding, be a year where new promoters try to take their place among the big names in the business. And like the last 2, it is also very likely to be one where most analysts state that this will be the last year such competitors arise within the US.

 

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

Looking Back at UFC 92

Posted by Dave Walsh on December 29th, 2008

(C) UFCUFC 92 has come and gone, and we, the fans were treated to quite an event to cap off another productive year for the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Some good, some bad, some indifferent and some just baffling, this was UFC 92. Thoughts.


Cheick Kongo: Nobody is really talking about Kongo and they probably should. No, they shouldn’t be saying, “man what a beast” or even “wow is that guy great.” No, that shouldn’t be the first thing that comes to your mind. While they are pretty apt conclusions to come to after watching him, I think it really needs to be said; LOW BLOWS. Just like people tend to shy away from Chuck Liddell’s thumb to the eye, Cheick Kongo has shown when he gets frustrated or in a tight spot, his first instinct is to knee his opponent in the testicles. After dissecting Cro Cop after repeated low knee strikes, it was questionable. Now with his win over Mustapha al Turk by returning the favor after al Turk hit an unintentional low blow, Kongo came back with what was a blatant and brutal low blow. Al Turk had no chance after that, which he probably should have taken his full five minutes.
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Posted in Dave Walsh, UFC | 6 Comments »

UFC 92: A Complete PPV Card

Posted by Dave Walsh on December 26th, 2008

UFC 92 is a card that offers intrigue to as broad of an audience as the UFC can ever target, with fights that appeal to the newer viewer as well as the established MMA viewer. The Light heavyweight Championship Main Event between Rashad Evans and current defending Champion Forrest Griffin will be the first time that two “home grown” Zuffa stars have fought over a major title on PPV. One of the other main attractions pits Interim Heavyweight Champion Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira against former (pre-TUF-era) Heavyweight Champion Frank Mir after a stint as coaches on the most recent season of TUF, as Nog being the most successful submission fighter from Japan in the weight class, and Mir from America. Then Light heavyweight stand-outs Wanderlei Silva faces off with Quinton “Rampage” Jackson in what should be a war.
 
Each fight has their appeals, with Frank Mir vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira for the Interim Heavyweight Championship having weeks of build from this season of the Ultimate Fighter for fans who aren’t familiar with either man all too much. While the animosity between the two wasn’t as heated as some of the past seasons, it was enough build up between them to want fans to see submission artist vs. submission artist. Nogueira having submission victories in UFC over Heath Herring and former Heavyweight Champion Tim Sylvia to capture the Interim Heavyweight title, and Frank Mir having a submission victory over current Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, both men have proved their mettle at the ground game enough to interest fans in who is the better jiu-jitsu fighter. For older fans, we have two Heavyweight Champions of the same era from different companies facing off. What is interesting is that upon his return from injury, Mir did very little to prove his worth to fans and was, by all means, being fed to Lesnar before he held on for dear life to submit Lesnar, propelling him into insta-stardom in Zuffa’s UFC. Most fans who know both well see this fight as Nogueira’s to lose and Mir getting another chance at the limelight which most likely isn’t deserved.
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Posted in Dave Walsh, UFC | No Comments »

REVIEWED: Total MMA by Jonathan Snowden

Posted by Dave Walsh on December 21st, 2008

As the sport of Mixed Martial Arts grows, as does the public’s interest with the fighters, the personalities and the history of the sport. Of course, to meet that demand that means that publishers are going to start to demand books on the subject are available. With that being said, Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting by Jonathan Snowden sets itself away from the rest of the pack by doing what nobody else has done; present a thorough history of Mixed Martial Arts dating back to the inception of Judo and everything else leading up to modern Mixed Martial Arts. Not only is it the information that sets Total MMA apart, but the narrative style and passion the writer has for the sport of MMA.

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Posted in Book Reviews, Dave Walsh, Jonathan Snowden, Total MMA | 3 Comments »

Fighter: A Documentary

Posted by Thomas Hackett on December 20th, 2008

Fighter

This MMA documentary came out a few years back to a hint of fanfare, reportedly having a nice showing at some domestic film festivals. My hope watching it was to catch a bit of quality film making and maybe a bit of quality MMA action, or behind the scenes footage, along the way.

Sadly, I didn’t get much of either. Read the rest of this entry »

Posted in Randy Couture, Reviews, Tommy Hackett | No Comments »

JUDO Blog!

Posted by Dave Walsh on December 20th, 2008

As most of you who come here once in a while may know, we have some Judo enthusiasts in the ranks, from our favorite dude to send to Strikeforce events to stalk Dave Meltzer, Andrew Wallace to our gentile Canadian scholar Kendall Shields. Both have been valuable contributors to this site and the project as a whole and will continue to for as long as they feel like talking about people grappling and hitting each other. Well, both have decided to start up a blog about their Judo exploits, news in the world of Judo, links to Judo matches and so on. If you remember from our Olympic coverage over the summer, Judo love can be incredibly infectious and I found myself, a guy who has to work at 6am staying up until about 2 in the morning watching Judo on the internet, waking up to catch the finals, going to work and throughout the day in cubical land streaming all of the judo that I missed while I was sleeping.  So go ahead and bookmark their blog, add it to your news feeder and so on. Judo!

Posted in Andrew Wallace, Blogroll, Kendall Shields, judo | 1 Comment »

Bellator: Things Better Left Unsaid

Posted by Alan Conceicao on December 14th, 2008

Since the announcement of ESPN Desportes upcoming MMA programming and yet another in the endless number of startups in the MMA business, there’s been quite a few articles detailing the experience of the company in other ventures. There’s the article on Five Ounces of Pain/CBS, a four part series over at MMA Junkie, and tons of other opinion pieces. What you often come away with is the feeling that this might actually be a group of people with a real plan rather than just some far fetched idea in the vein of Iron Ring, YAMMA, the IFL, and many others. They do talk a good game. 

What’s oddly notable is that nothing is said about the experience of Bjorn Rebney with Sugar Ray Leonard’s promotional company and how it operated up until its death. Its quite an interesting tale and one that only the most hardcore of boxing fans might have even heard about, much less remember. And what better a topic to see other websites potentially link to than to pull out those old memories?

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

The Ultimate Fighter Finale — Team Mir vs. Team Nog LiveBlog

Posted by Dave Walsh on December 13th, 2008

So, after a day long marathon of some uneasy moments, some sub-KOTC-level bitch-slapfests and things that make Ivan Trembow feel uncomfortable about watching Mixed Martial Arts, it is time for the finals o this season of The Ultimate Fighter. Hopefully you’ve been following Kendall’s breakdowns of each and every episode, or if you are like me, you are in the process of digesting the entire show on a slow Saturday afternoon, either way, we’ll be providing you with live analysis of The Ultimate Fighter Finale.

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Posted in Dave Walsh, Liveblog, TUF, UFC | 5 Comments »