Kodiak MMA

Drago Steps Up

2008-05-27T22:12:00.003-04:00

Serra-Longo middleweight and UFC veteran Pete "Drago" Sell recently spent time with a high-school wrestler battling cancer. Read more about it here.

Straight from the Shark's Mouth

2008-05-21T14:52:00.008-04:00

Sean Sherk has been obstreperous in denying the steroid allegations that have plagued him since this summer, but I'm not wholly convinced that he's innocent. In fact, I'm not at all convinced.

In an interview before his UFC 73 fight with Hermes Franca, Sherk spoke about overcoming a shoulder injury that kept him sidelined for nearly a year:

"There was a lot of pressure I put on myself to get back sooner. I don’t like sitting on the sidelines. I’m a fighter. I don’t want to be the guy sitting on the couch watching all these other guys fight on TV and I’m eating potato chips. I want to get in there. I want to fight and defend my belt. I want to make some money. I want to train. I’m not used to sitting on the sidelines watching my training partners’ train, which I had to do unfortunately for eight-nine weeks. So I put a lot of pressure on myself to get back in there, get back in the gym and I spent a lot of time rehabbing. I was actually back on the mat 10 weeks after the surgery, which blew my physical therapist away."

Is it me, or doesn't this seem to be more like an excuse for taking steroids, rather than a flat-out denial? Sherk needed money; he needed to get out on the mat. I understand that. What I don't understand is exactly how he dealt with that pressure, and how, coincidentally, he tested positive for steroids.

Hermes Franca, who admitted to using banned substances, made an eerily similar statement after testing positive.

Am I crazy, or just a blatant BJ Penn fan?

The Worst Farts in MMA?

2008-05-21T13:30:00.008-04:00

The following is an excerpt from the latest installment of a four-part series on IFL welterweight champ and Long Island native Jay Hieron:

"We had a lot of good times in the IFL, (Mike) Pyle and I. At one of the events we were at, the commission guys were watching us wrap our hands and everyone just started farting. Mike has the worst farts ever. Anyone who knows him knows that that is true. He should be in the Guiness Book of World Records for stinkiest farts. I’d bet my next purse that no one has worse farts. Bas had a towel over his face the whole time. It stank in that locker room. It got so bad at one point the commission guys had to leave the room. We were wrapping our hands with nobody watching. We could have put brass knuckles in our gloves. Of course we didn’t, we just wrapped our hands up right and went out and did our business."

That's amazing.

Arlovski and Patrycja Split; Game On

2008-05-21T13:03:00.010-04:00

According to my man Andrei Arlovski's MySpace page, he and the lovely Patrycja are no longer. Both list themselves as "Single," and both seem to have taken down pictures of one another.

Come to think of it, she is my type...

Happy Birthday, Andrei Arlovski!!!

2008-02-04T19:02:00.000-05:00

The big guy turns 29 today, and in tribute of one of my absolute favorites of all time, I'm wearing my Arlovski Team Pitbull t-shirt. No, I'm not kidding.

It's been an action-packed past twelve months for the former champ. He earned a decision win over the highly touted Fabricio Werdum, appeared on The Jerry Springer show, launched a series of signature LCD televisions, and left his fans (both of us) wondering where the hell he's been.

Speaking of which, it looks like Arlovski will return to the UFC cage next month at UFC 82 when he will face Jake O'Brien...as part of the undercard.

Happy Birthday, champ.

An Inside Look at Matt Hughes' "Made in America": Part III

2008-01-14T15:35:00.000-05:00

In the closing chapters, Hughes devotes a few lines (and nothing more) to his fights with Frank Trigg, BJ Penn, and Georges St-Pierre. If you’ve seen the fights, you can skip right over these pages. He also talks about doing The Ultimate Fighter, not wanting to fight his good buddy Rich Franklin, getting married, and beating up Royce Gracie. Again, if you’re up on your MMA, you’ve seen and heard it all before.

Hughes finds God and renews his faith as a Christian in the chapter appropriately named “The Sublime and the Ridiculous.” Hughes walks us through his listless spiritual quest and recreates for the reader the evolution of his faith. The conversations with Brian, a buddy from church, were not only self-serving, but also extremely predictable and at times laughable. It was as if he were writing a parable he’d later pass along.

Hughes talks about his admiration for Randy Couture, and how for a long time he wanted nothing to do with Randy after his divorce. Somehow, perhaps through the grace of God, Hughes mustered up the strength to not only say hello to Randy Couture, but to tell him that he’s ready to be Randy’s friend again. Hughes wrote: “I didn’t have to support divorce to support Randy Couture.” How very Christian of him.

As I sailed through the final pages of the book, I noticed that there’d been no mention of Hughes’ bad blood with Matt Serra. Hughes revisits the Serra-GSP fight, after which Hughes and Sean Sherk were captured on camera slapping each other on the back and laughing like schoolgirls. He describes that and nothing more. Serra’s well-articulated disdain for Hughes as a person has been almost contagious throughout the MMA world, and I expected Hughes to at least address his foul-mouthed, East-Coast antagonist, this time in print. Nope.

I’d also been hoping to read about Hughes’ departure from Miletich Fighting Systems. No such luck. In fairness, this book was probably finished by the time he left and took Robbie Lawler with him, so I’ll give him a pass. Then again, based on his cursory treatment of just about everything else in this book, I don’t see why he couldn’t have slipped in a little something.

Ultimately, Made in America falls short. The superficial recollections of boys being boys and the shallow account of Hughes’ championship journey left me unsatisfied. My biggest gripe is that there’s no real emotion in the book, especially when it comes to being a professional fighter. The stories involving Hughes and his wife, I thought, were told with such little regard that you wonder whether he had a smirk on his face when he wrote them.

I don’t know if I’ll ever really root for Matt Hughes in a fight. I don’t know that I want to. I don't think he's a bad guy; I think he's a brutal competitor who’s always looking to get dominant position on you. And it doesn’t really matter who you are.

An Inside Look at Matt Hughes' "Made in America": Part II

2008-01-13T09:08:00.000-05:00

In Part I of my look into Made in America, I talked about Chapters 1-4, which covered Hughes’ childhood and adolescence and culminated with Hughes wetting his beak in the world of MMA. For Part II, I’ll go through those chapters (5-10) in which Matt decides to train full-time with Miletich, and eventually becomes UFC welterweight champion.

After grounding-and-pounding his way through regional promotions, Matt Hughes caught the eye of Pat Miletich and Monte Cox, who subsequently became his manager. The rest, as they say, is history.

Hughes was invited to take on Akihiro Gono in Japan, and looking back on his visit to the Far East, Hughes writes: “I would have killed for just one country breakfast.” Gold.

While competing in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club, Hughes, who was mistakenly put in the 205-lb. weight class, was matched up against fellow Miletich product Jeremy Horn. There was a $1,500 prize for quickest submission and another $1,500 for best throw, so Hughes and Horn devised a plan that would leave them $3,000 richer: Hughes would land a big throw early on and would then quickly choke Horn out. Unfortunately, one of Renzo Gracie’s guys walked right into a choke from Renzo himself, so Horn and Hughes only ended up splitting the $1,500 for best throw. I hope the sheik isn’t reading this.

In the finals, Hughes lost in overtime on points to a certain yellow-headed light heavyweight known as Tito Ortiz. Hughes definitely dislikes Tito. In describing Frank Trigg later on in the book, Hughes writes: “He’s just an idiot. On a scale of one to ten, he’s a Tito.”

Tim Sylvia’s name pops up for the first time, as Hughes remembers being at Ultimate Fitness in Bettendorf, IA, and seeing “the biggest doofus in my life try to enter the fight room…I had seen puppies that were less needy and excitable.” And so it begins…

Hughes later insinuated that Dennis Hallman, who twice submitted Hughes, took steroids. I’d been waiting for some Matt Hughes mudslinging, and he pulled a Jose Canseco with this one.

If there’s one thing that everyone who reads this book can agree it on, it’s that Matt Hughes loved the ladies. The following excerpt is Matt’s recollection of first seeing Brandy, a Bettendorf hard-body he later knocked up:

“I gave her the elevator eyes – checking her out from top to bottom and then back up from bottom to top. From the stomach up, she was really put together well. The boobs were fake, but not in an obvious way, and she had long, straight brown hair down to the middle of her back. She had a great complexion - not tan, but not as pasty white as me. She did have a little bit of hips on her, but here she was doing something about it.”

Matt also became amorous with Audra, Matt’s future wife and the younger sister of a close childhood friend. Matt affectionately recalled Audra as a child plopping down next to him on her family’s couch, and the next thing you know, it’s 2001 and Matt and Audra are in an on-and-off-again engagement. Luckily, they reunited once and for all when Audra asked Matt to take care of her after she got breast implants. And I quote:

“As we moved together on my bed, her stitches ripped a little bit and her blood drizzled across my chest. I lived in a world where people were bound by blood, rolling in practice rooms and cages. It was the first time I’d had that kind of bond on bedsheets. We were together again and it felt wonderful.”

According to Matt, this was the first time he’d seen her naked. I shit you not.

Remember on TUF 5 when Hughes taunted Georges St-Pierre when all the guys went out to the restaurant? He pulled the same stunt with Hayato “Mach” Sakurai before UFC 36. “I was on him the entire week like white rice on sushi,” Hughes recalls. “The Michael Jordan of Japan was still just the Mach Sakurai of America…I really feel like he shouldn’t have been against me. It really wasn’t a challenge.” Wow.

Best of all was Hughes’ recollection of Pat Miletich recounting for him the now infamous Tito
Ortiz-Lee Murray street fight in London after UFC 38. Long story short, a brawl breaks out, Lee and Tito square off, Lee connects with a five-punch combo that knocks Tito OUT and then stomps down Tito’s head a few times with his boots. Anyone who's read Sherdog forum posts has surely heard this one before.

Overall, Hughes comes across as a smug bully in this part of the book, which just about any half-interested MMA biographer could have written. Hughes offers no special insight and reiterated a lot of what long-time MMA fans already know. After 185 (or so) pages, there’s been virtually no talk of God or religious devotion, but I'm sure it's coming.

Stay tuned for Part III…

An Inside Look at Matt Hughes' "Made in America": Part I

2008-01-11T14:41:00.000-05:00

I zipped through about 200 pages yesterday in Made in America, Matt Hughes' new autobiography. Overall, the book is easy to read and pretty entertaining. In this post, I'll discuss the chapters (1-4) leading up to Hughes' foray into the MMA world.

Chapter One is "This Is Farm Life." Not just a clever name. The book kicks off with (surprise, surprise) the birth of Matt and his twin brother Mark and a Rockwellian description of life in 1970's Hillsboro, IL: friendly, simple people who wear blue jeans, work hard, and sleep with their front doors unlocked. You've heard it all before.

Matt briefly explores the dichotomy of his childhood in rural Illinois; there was the endless fun he and Mark enjoyed on and around the family farm, but there was also the family's hardship after the Federal Land Bank Association set the price for farm land. As a result, the Hughes' farm went from 1,500 acres to about 700 acres, and Hughes' father felt the pressure to keep his family and his farm afloat during these tough times.

I enjoyed reading about Matt and Mark as little kids. Naturally, the fraternal twins were very close and very competitive, but from what I've gathered, it was Matt who took competitiveness to another level. The first chapter, for example, ends with the following: "I was so bad at athletics in junior high that my brother Mark beat me." Here comes the dickhead we've been waiting to read about...

In high school, Mark made the varsity wrestling squad and lettered as a freshman. "He can't be the number one wrestler in the family," Matt thought. Matt then challenged for a varsity spot, won, and the guy he beat then moved down in weight, beat Mark, and bumped him off the varsity squad. To Matt's credit, though, he looks back on this moment with regret. Or so he says...

Matt's relationship with Mark can be summed up aptly with the following line: "That's who I root for right before and right after I punch him in the face." Take that as you will.

Did you know that Matt Hughes drove an '84 Camaro in high school? That's more of a Matt Serra car than a Matt Hughes car, no? Hughes was given the car as a gift from his maternal grandfather whose paper route Matt and Mark took over as teenagers.

If you're one of those people who vehemently dislikes Matt Hughes, read what he writes about his dad. It explains a lot.

Oh, and by the way, Mark Hughes is the man! He's a physically stronger version of Matt and has a much worse temper. The stories of Mark Hughes beating some ass were particularly entertaining.

I also got a kick out of the chapter where the Hughes boys go to college. We meet Marc Fiore (the TUF 6 Team Serra coach), a wrestling teammate who reached college without knowing how to read or write. In one heartwarming account, Matt recalls the time he, Mark, and Fiore went to visit the Hughes' Uncle Jack to help with some work around the farm. Matt and Mark taught Fiore how to properly cut off a pig's balls, and then chased him down while throwing pig testicles and dead piglets at Fiore's face. Thank God I grew up in the suburbs.

We also first hear about Frank Trigg, who's not-so-affectionately described as "the kind of guy who's mysteriously tan at Christmastime," in the same chapter. Trigg beat Mark in a wrestling match and went on to become a National Champion, but Matt wrote: "It's just too bad he never really made anything of himself." I laughed.

In college, the Hughes brothers (and Fiore) were definitely meathead pranksters. My favorite story is when Matt and Mark go to a fraternity party and have no luck picking up the ladies. Confused and bored, they fall back on Plan B: fight. Mark rummages through the frat house for food and pisses off a fraternity brother. Matt is confronted, pretends he's drunk, and then promptly lifts the fraternity brother off the ground and slams him through the window. The lights are somehow turned off amidst the ruckus, so Matt and Mark run outside and then take turns blasting frat brothers in the face as soon as they step out the door.

After college, a wrestler whom Matt knew asked Matt to help him prepare for an MMA fight. Impressed with Matt's wrestling prowess and raw athleticism, the friend got Matt booked in a couple of small shows in Chicago. After one early fight, the referee told Hughes, "I can make a champion out of you." That referee was Pat Miletich.

Stay tuned for An Inside Look at Matt Hughes' Made in America: Part II.

BJ Penn Isn't Playing Games

2008-01-11T14:25:00.000-05:00

For fans of BJ "the Prodigy" Penn, this is exactly what we want to hear:

"I'm training a lot harder. Back in the day I used to pride myself on how little I could do and get away with it; now I try to pride myself on how much I do. I try to work real hard, train as much as I can, eat healthy food, and I want to see how far I can take it.

"I guess the wakeup call was December 13, 2006, when I turned 28. I said 'what am I doing, why am I messing around? This is the biggest sport in the world, it’s gonna overtake everything, I’m at the forefront. Why am I playing games?'"

"Something just awoke inside of me where I said 'what are you doing? You can beat every one of these people. You’ve been doing it half-assed all this time and it’s time to finally step up and let’s see it.' If you can’t, you can’t, but at least you know you tried. Words can’t explain how pumped I am about fighting right now. It’s what I am, it’s who I am, and it’s what I want to be."

Wow.

Melvin Guillard Is Out of His Mind

2008-01-10T10:58:00.000-05:00

In a recent interview with The Baltimore Sun, lightweight cokemonkey Melvin Guillard cemented his status as my least favorite MMA fighter today. He discussed leaving the UFC to pick up some wins in smaller promotions, his indefatigable hatred of Rich "No Love" Clementi, and donations to the Melvin Negro Fund. (No, I’m not making this up.) You should definitely check this out.

In the meantime, here are some highlights from the interview:

I took his (Rich Clementi) heart before he got in the ring. He was scared to fight me before he got in the ring. And, it’s like I tell everybody – and I’m going to keep saying it – when I see him again, I’m going to fight him again. Clementi not only submitted Guillard at UFC 79 in the very first round, but he also knocked him out in a kickboxing match a few years ago. Melvin, you might want to reconsider going after Clementi. Bad things happen in threes.

Of course, everybody saw that he was the victorious one [at UFC 79] but he sits up there and says, "I’ll stand toe-to-toe with Melvin," but everybody with their own eyes saw he wasn’t ready to stand up with me. Look, kids, it’s an idiot! After all, it’s not as if Clementi was connecting with hard leg and body kicks before the fight went to the ground or anything...

But, as I’m getting up, it’s like he kicked me in the back of the neck, and it pushed me back down a little bit. So, I’m like, “What the [expletive deleted]?” And, I jump up like, “No, he did not just put his nuts on my neck.” Yes, he did just put his nuts on your neck! And then he gestured to the aforementioned nuts, waved as you were taken from the cage, and then trashed you some more. You should come over and watch it on my DVR. It was pretty funny.

The only people I have to respect and obey are my fans and my friends and family. As far as fighters go, I don’t have to respect or be friends with any of them. As far as I’m concerned, I might stand in front of them and face them one day. You don't have to respect other fighters? That bulls-eye you just put on yourself brings out the red in your eyes.

I got booed before the fight, I got booed after the fight, but I’m still one of the crowd favorites. Melvin, define favorites for us.

Yeah, I like to talk [expletive deleted] but I also back it up. I haven’t gotten my ass beat. I haven’t been in a fight yet where somebody has outclassed me or just beat me down. Every fight I’ve been in, the ones I’ve lost have been from submission or a close judges’ decision. When you really look at my record and all the losses that I have, I’ve lost to jiu-jitsu guys. Nobody is ever going to stand in front of me and beat my ass. My mom did that all my life so those days are over with. Guillard doesn’t seem to understand that 1) he does not back up his talk, 2) he has gotten his ass beat, and 3) swinging wildly at an opponent, missing, and then being overpowered and choked out less than 30 seconds (see Guillard’s fight with Joe Daddy) is a clear example of being outclassed. Someone needs to tell Melvin that this is mixed martial arts and that there’s more to it than just trading punches.

Well, I wanted to fight Roger Huerta, but they said he’s on vacation right now. So, that fight’s up in the air. Other than that, man, I don’t care. As long as they put me back in. I’d prefer to fight a few strikers for a while until I can get my jiu-jitsu game up. Because, my last two fights, they gave me mat rats -- they just wanted to hug me. I get enough hugs at home. I want to fight some people that are ready to stand up and trade punches and kind of put me to the test. Wait, wait, wait…you just bad-mouthed Clementi, a strong jiu-jitsu guy, for not standing with you, but now that you’re hoping to work your jiu-jitsu, you want a striker? And you want to fight Roger Huerta! Fucking brilliant.

Burn Baby Burn

2008-01-10T08:35:00.000-05:00

In a recent interview, UFC middleweight Kendall Grove offered the following statement when asked about MMA's crackdown on marijuana:

"See, marijuana is a touchy subject. I’m a rock star — I’ve been smoking weed since I was in the 6th grade, I can openly say that. But I’m also clean when I fight. I cut that shit out — I’m a professional. Don’t get me wrong, my first six fights, I fought high, I fought stoned. But when you get to this level, you have to take responsibility. It’s your job. I stop doing that stuff three months out. I just think they blew it way out of proportion. What did they say with Nick Diaz? 'Oh, him smoking weed made his pain threshold higher—'

"It’s stupid. Steroids actually make you run faster, make you stronger — it’s a performance enhancer. And weed just makes you gain weight and be lazy. "

To be honest, this does not surprise or bother me at all. Until recently, there'd been a picture of Kendall on his MySpace page of what looked a lot like him lying on a bed with a blunt in his hand. Marijuana smoke is certainly not Grove's biggest problem; not utilizing his tremendous size advantage is.

Another Reason To Love Anderson Silva

2008-01-07T16:05:00.000-05:00

UFC middleweight champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva is the man because...

1) He made me look like a genius after I predicted his first-round thrashing of the overrated Rich "Ace Ventura" Franklin at UFC 64.

2) He gets away with wearing white fur indoors.

3) He's as good a dancer as you'll find in MMA.

4) He recently donated more than $10,000 to the Ronald McDonald House. The gloves he wore when he (once again) whooped Franklin at UFC 77 were auctioned off for $7,150, and his shorts from that fight went for $3,500. The earnings of the auction will benefit children and families in need.

WEC 2008 Championship Forecast

2008-01-06T11:34:00.000-05:00

Loyal Kodiak MMA readers (I think we’re up to three now) know that I love me some WEC. Here are some title fights I'd love to watch (and that I think are likely to happen) in '08:

Paulo Filho vs. Bryan Baker: Filho didn’t look like one of the world’s best middleweights when he met Chael Sonnen at WEC 31 last month, but that didn't stop him from catching Sonnen in a fight-ending armbar. Many people believe that Filho edges out Anderson Silva as the best middleweight in the game, and with good reason. He's as good a jiu-jitsu player as there is in MMA, and he's got heavy hands. Against Filho, even the smallest mistake will cost you; just ask Sonnen.

At 6'3" Bryan "The Beast" Baker is a big middleweight who brings solid wrestling and excellent judo to the cage. And he loves to strike. He's picked up two wins in as many fights with the WEC and is poised to make a run in the WEC's wide open middleweight class. Against Jesse Forbes at WEC 30, Baker shook off some big shots, slammed Forbes, avoided damage on the ground, and ground-and-pounded his way to a TKO win. Great fight. One more win should put Baker in a position to challenge Filho for the belt.

Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver: Pulver has found a new home in the WEC's exciting featherweight class, and it seems that 145 is where the former UFC lightweight champ belongs. Lil’ Evil is 8-0 at (or below) 145 lbs., with 6 KO and 2 submission wins. At WEC 31, Pulver took on the younger, red hot Cub Swanson, and after a veritable war of words, it was Pulver who emerged victorious via Rd. 1 choke. Featherweights now have to worry about Jens’ knockout power as well as his submission skills.

Urijah Faber is one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters and is coming off an absolutely dominant 2007 campaign. His athleticism, skill, and aggression are overwhelming, and he only seems to be getting better. He’s an active, dominant champion who knows that Pulver is waiting for his shot. I’d be shocked if this match doesn’t happen within the next few months.

Brian Stann vs. Doug Marshall: The undefeated Brian Stann, a U.S. Marine Infantry Officer, is clearly the top contender at 205 lbs. He fought three times last year, picking up three brutal first-round TKOs. He has tremendous power and has been honing his MMA skills with the Xtreme Couture camp. WEC fans can expect big things from him this year.

Doug “Rhino” Marshall might not have the size or brute strength of the younger Stann, but he’s as ferocious and aggressive as any WEC 205-pounder. Known as a brutal, free-swinging power puncher, Rhino returned in May after being sidelined for nine months and recorded a stunning first-round KO over Justin McElfresh. At last month’s WEC 31, Rhino took on the previously undefeated Ariel Gandulla and showed that he's more than just a big puncher. Rhino stopped the American Top Team fighter in the first round, this time with a slick arm bar. A title defense against the popular Stann seems inevitable.

Rob McCullough vs. Ed Ratcliff: “Razor” Rob has been on a tear. He’s been undefeated since ’04, and most recently, he smoked Rich Crunkilton in the first round with devastating kicks and punches at WEC 30. Before that, he punched Kit Cope into submission (smashed up Cope’s ribs), knocked out Ryan Healy and Randy Hauer, and nearly sent Olaf Alfonso’s jaw into the men’s room. Razor Rob strikes with an efficiency and a power that is unmatched by any other lightweight.

Ed “8mm” Ratcliff is a dangerous young lightweight who picked up two impressive TKO victories last year over the heavy-handed Alex Karalexis and the previously undefeated Johnny Sampaio. Ratcliff is a decorated martial artist who cut his teeth in MMA as part of Ken Shamrock's Lion's Den. The explosive young Ratcliff is undefeated (6-0) and has shown that he loves to strike. Ratcliff vs. Razor Rob would be striker vs. striker. No complaints here.

Chase Beebe vs. Miguel Torres/Charlie Valencia: Beebe, the reigning bantamweight champion, is a tough, nasty little bastard with great wrestling and grappling skills. In March, he dominated Eddie Wineland en route to the 135-lb. title. Six months later, Beebe took on challenger Rani Yahya (who dropped down from 145 lbs.) in what turned out to be an exciting grappling match. Yahya worked furiously in the first round to submit the resilient Beebe, who weathered the storm, outworked Yahya, and punished him for the remainder of the fight to retain his championship.

I know that Torres (18-1) only has one win in the WEC, but damn did he look good. The 26-year-old Chicago native had a huge fan base at WEC 30, where he choked out Jeff Bedard midway through the first round. He made a seamless transition from an armbar attempt to a triangle choke that finished Bedard. Very slick. Torres seems to be the total package and is expected by many to make a run at the belt in '08.

Charlie Valencia is a great wrestler with a crushing right hand. Remember, it was that right hand that caught a very game Antonio Banuelos and dropped him, and it was also the right hand that rocked Ian McCall at WEC 31. Valencia lost to Brian Bowles in June but rebounded with the dominant win over McCall. Valencia pulled out all the stops against McCall: precision and power punching, punishing slams, and a lightning fast guillotine choke. Valencia has the skills, athleticism, and experience, and one more quality win should make him a top bantamweight contender.

Carlos Condit vs. Brock Larson: Again? Yup. Condit is far and away the best welterweight in the WEC and can beat you on his feet or on the ground. I'm impressed with his skills every time I see him fight. Guys like Blas Avena and John Alessio have fought well recently, but I still think that Larson is better than them. Nonetheless, the 23-year-old Condit has the striking, wrestling, and submission skills that should keep him at the top of the WEC's 170-lb. division for a long time.

Urijah Faber: Kodiak MMA 2007 Fighter of the Year

2008-01-05T16:44:00.000-05:00

I had been leaning towards Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as Fighter of the Year, and I now see that I wouldn’t have been alone in choosing the 205-lb. king for this distinction. He beat down Marvin Eastman (as expected) before knocking out Chuck Liddell in the first round of their May 26 light heavyweight championship fight. A few months later, Rampage outfought Pride 185 and 205-lb. champion Dan Henderson and picked up the decision win in his first title defense. Not a bad looking 3-0.

Of all the UFC’s big-name acquisitions in ‘07, it was Rampage – not Cro Cop, Shogun, or Nogueira – who wound up wearing championship gold. Furthermore, he climbed his way to the top of the sport's deepest, most talented division and is without question the UFC’s most entertaining, magnetic champion.

But Fighter of the Year? Let's look at a few things...

WEC Is Ready for Its Close-up

2007 was the year that many fans finally realized that there is, in fact, some great MMA outside the UFC. The IFL team championships and inaugural Grand Prix Finals delivered some great fights, and EliteXC has proven to be no joke. Trumping them both, however, was the rejuvenated WEC.

In 2007, WEC put together 7 shows, all of which featured at least one championship fight. What I loved most about WEC over the past year was how it consistently delivered exciting championship action, thanks in large part to its belt holders: the tough-as-nails bantamweight Chase Beebe, lightweight knockout artist “Razor” Rob McCullough, the exceptionally well-rounded welterweight Carlos Condit, world-renowned middleweight Paulo Filho, and the heavy-handed light heavyweight Doug “Rhino” Marshall.

But the WEC's crowned jewel is their fair-haired poster boy and a star of the MSNBC Warrior Nation series, featherweight champion Urijah Faber.

Innovation and Domination

Without a heavyweight class, the WEC has managed to make a real name for itself in ’07 with its bantamweight and featherweight divisions, and Faber is without a doubt the “little guy” who’s been drawing the big attention.

Faber, who’s actually small for a featherweight, defended his belt four times last year and submitted all four opponents; three of his four wins didn’t didn't take him past the first round. Most impressive (for me, at least) was how Faber managed to completely overwhelm and outclass the opposition with skill, athleticism, and aggression. He outwrestled the wrestlers, outstruck the strikers, and seemed at times to have barely broken a sweat.

In January, Faber faced Miletich Fighting Systems product Joe Pearson and battered him into submission. Two months later, Faber crushed the previously undefeated power puncher Dominick Cruz with a vicious guillotine from the mount. It was business as usual for the "California Kid."

In June, Faber took on the also previously undefeated Chance Farrar, an NAIA National Wrestling Champion and a fighter whom many thought had the striking and wrestling tools to dethrone the seemingly invincible Faber. Wrong. Early on, Faber landed a big right, worked his way out of a subsequent Farrar takedown, slammed Farrar, took his back, and sunk in the rear naked choke. Their match was a treat for fans of technical grappling, but in the end, Urijah was just too much.

Last month at WEC 31, Faber took on his toughest WEC opponent to date: Jeff “The Big Frog” Curran. Curran worked furiously for an early submission, but to no avail. Instead, Faber passed Curran’s guard with ease and punished him with devastating elbows. In the second round, Faber landed a jumping knee (the likes of which I’ve never seen) to a bloodied and battered Curran and choked out the Gracie blackbelt. Curran, a UFC and Pride veteran, never really had a chance.

To recap Faber’s 2007: four title fights, four dominant submission wins. He attacked with knees and slams from positions and angles never before seen, and he obeyed the number one rule of showmanship: he left us wanting more.

Au Naturale

The dark cloud over MMA in 2007 was the issue of banned substances. In reality, it's been a problem for years, but 2007 was a banner year for positive drug tests. Sean Sherk, Hermes Franca, Phil Baroni, and the legendary Royce Gracie are some of the high-profile stars who submitted soiled samples. It was ugly. I remember reading a Sherdog forum thread after Gracie's steroid disaster in which fight fans were weighing in on how to know if any fighters were actually clean.

Well I know of one guy who's definitely clean: Urijah Faber. Like just about all fighters, Faber follows a healthy diet and is devoted to keeping his body in peak physical condition. What sets him apart, however, is that he embraces holistic living and natural cures. That means no immunization shots, no conventional medicines, and no work-out supplements of any form. Faber told Fight! magazine that instead of protein pills or dietary supplements, he prefers "wheat grass, juice, bee pollen, (and) raw apple cider with vinegar."

In 2007, Urijah Faber's work in side the cage upheld everything good about MMA, and his efforts outside of the cage defied the sport's ugliest reality.

The Total Package

Yeah, guys like Rampage and Anderson Silva may have beaten tougher (or at least better-known) competition than Faber did in '07, but neither single-handedly thrust his division into the spotlight, and neither was as valuable to the UFC as Faber has been to the WEC.

Plus, the Fighter of the Year honor (which is slowly becoming MMA's MVP Award) takes into consideration more than just what goes down in the cage. After all, what else could possibly explain Chuck Liddell being named Fighter of the Year in 2006 over Cro Cop?

Looking back on 2007, no champion had been as active and as dominant as Faber, and no fighter consistently brought to the cage the combination of skill, conditioning, and furious aggression that Urijah Faber did. The pressure was on Faber to deliver as the face of WEC, and he delivered every time. It was due in large part to Faber's mesmerising fighting style and immediate likability that the WEC has become one of MMA's most promising, electrifying promotions.

Luke Cummo: Peace in the World; War in the Octagon

2008-01-04T22:33:00.000-05:00

"Now I just had my first child three months ago. I feel like every time I step into the Octagon I am fighting for his future. Not only that, but the future of this planet that is in danger. Human beings are digging the grave of themselves and the Earth with their teeth. The rainforests are being chopped down to plant soy crops. That's like removing portions of someone's lungs.

"Anyone who stands across the cage from me is in direct opposition to my cause. He's fighting for some supplement company or some clothing company, while I’m fighting for you, the reader, and everyone else out there. Most importantly, I'm fighting for our children, and their children, that they may live in abundance in this wonderful place."

- an excerpt from Luke Cummo's MMAWeekly article

UFC's Top 10 Fighters for 2007

2008-01-04T16:45:00.001-05:00

The good folks over at UFC.com have been counting backwards from 10 quite a bit these days, and their latest endeavor is the top ten fighters of 2007. In reality, they list the ten fighters who've had the best year, but thay can call it what they want.

10) Kenny Florian/Marcus Davis (tie)

9) Matt Serra

8) Roger Huerta

7) Jon Fitch

6) Forrest Griffin

5) Georges St-Pierre

4) Frankie Edgar

3) Randy Couture

2) Anderson Silva

1) Quinton Jackson

Uhh...where's BJ Penn. I don't care what list we're making, BJ needs to be on it. That's the rule.

And I'm very glad to see my boy Frankie Edgar high on the list, especially ahead of Huerta.

I'm also glad to see Kenny Florian crack the top 10. He fought 3 times in five months and has become one of the lightweight division's most dangerous. Then again, if we're talking improvement, Luke Cummo is also much improved, but not necessarily worthy of being on this list. Check out his TKO wins in '07 over Josh Haynes and Crocota. Nasty.

Where's Joe Daddy? He choked the shit out of Melvin Guillard in about 30 seconds and dominated Kurt Pellegrino in earning himself a shot againt BJ Penn for the interim 155-lb. belt. He's probably #11.

I’m Definitely Buying Matt Hughes’ Autobiography

2008-01-04T14:06:00.000-05:00

Ben Fowlkes, a fellow FiveOuncesofPain.com contributor, has penned a new piece about coming to terms with the fact that despite Matt Hughes’ ostensible douchebaggery, he will be buying himself a copy of Matt Hughes’ new autobiography, Made in America.

“You see, I want to read Hughes’ book, but I don’t want to give him any money for it. It’s not because I’m cheap, either. It’s more because I don’t want Hughes to have any more of my money, especially not for a book I’d mostly be reading in order to revel in my dislike for him,” Ben writes. Fair enough.

But I don’t care. Matt Hughes doesn't need to be Atticus Finch for me to buy his book.

I don’t care that Hughes is an asshole. I can be an asshole. My neighbor is an asshole. Some of my best friends are assholes. If Matt Hughes truly is the self-righteous prig that we see, hear, and read about, then so what? He’s a regular guy, straight off the farm, who might be a bit…bristly. I’ve seen and heard fighters do and say far worse than Matt Hughes, but it seems that the cool thing to do these days is to hate on Matt Hughes.

I don't care that Hughes was rude to Tim Sylvia and made him cry (or whatever the story is). And since when did MMA fans come to the aid of big Timmy? The way I see it, Tim asked, Hughes answered. It made me laugh.

I don’t care that Matt Hughes cites Scripture or that he’s borderline imperialistic in spreading his faith. I, for one, am not a person of great (or even decent) religious devotion, but I’ve seen how living a life of faith brings peace and inspires acts of kindness. Is Hughes a hypocrite for not practicing what he preaches? Probably. Then again, is anyone really looking to Matt Hughes for spiritual or moral guidance? Didn't think so.

I also don’t care about whether Hughes is a crappy coach. Only two of his eight guys won preliminary fights this season on TUF…the same two who outlasted all of Serra’s guys and reached the finals. If Hughes is a crappy coach, then Pretty Boy Floyd is a pathetic ballroom dancer, and Todd Bridges is a poor excuse for a figure skater. Reality TV is a beautiful thing.

What I do care about is that Matt Hughes has given MMA some of its most dramatic and most historic moments inside the cage. Under the sport's brightest lights, Hughes has dismantled the likes of BJ Penn, Georges St-Pierre, Royce Gracie, Sean Sherk, Frank Trigg, Carlos Newton, and “Mach” Sakurai. That’s what I care about, and that's what I hope to read more about.

Hughes spent years trading punches and laughs with one of the sport's most legendary fight camps. And then he left! What was the aftermath? How did Pat Miletich take it when Hughes told him? What did the rest of the Miletich guys think of Hughes leaving and taking Robbie Lawler with him? That’s the type of stuff I’m dying to hear about. There's much more I want to see in his book, but I think you get my point.

What I liked most about Jens Pulver’s autobiography was how Jens walked the reader through his life and career, tracing over the good and the bad. I get a better sense of who Jens is as a fighter and as a person, and I'm looking forward to taking a similar journey with Matt Hughes. Maybe I'll like him more, maybe less. That's not really important.

Say what you will about Matt Hughes and the way he comes across in his book. The odds are that you’re probably right on the money, and that this book may very well serve to reinforce the negativity surrounding his character. But so what? No matter what we say about Hughes, he's a country boy, and country boys can survive.

Mike Goldberg is Still the Greatest

2008-01-03T20:38:00.000-05:00

Faithful readers of this blog (both of you) know that the only thing I enjoy more than the action in the cage is the artful discourse offered up by Mike Goldberg. The shallow knowledge base, the limited command of his own native language, the irregular cadence of his speech...there's just one Goldie, kids.

Here are some gems from Saturday's UFC 79. Keep in mind that the following were said with complete seriousness and great conviction:

"Harley DAVID-son...the only motorcycles worthy of being in the octagon!" -- Never have I seen a motorcycle in the octagon. Ever.

"Catches a quick jab..."

(Rogan): "That was a straight left."

"Yeah, it was. Pardon me." -- I almost made pudding in my pants when I heard this one.

"For their entire lives, they've been as dangerous as any fighter alive!" -- Beautiful hyperbole.

"He (Wanderlei Silva) defines...cagefighter!" -- Even though he built his legacy in a ring...

"I spoke to John Hackelman last night, Joe, and he said that Chuck IS...ready!" -- You never spoke to Hackelman.

"David Spade...amongst the MEGA-celebrities who've come out for the UFC." -- David Spade is a little lesbian who is by no means a mega-celebrity.

Babalu Headlines Jan. 12 WCO Card

2008-01-03T20:00:00.000-05:00

Valor Fighting and Primal MMA will be co-promoting the fledgling World Cagefighting Organization’s January 12 card at the San Diego Sports Arena, and to their credit, they’ve put together card could deliver some great fights.

Fighting in the main event will be light heavyweights Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Vernon “Tiger” White. Since his ugly UFC 74 submission win over David Heath, Sobral has picked up a submission victory over Rodney Faverus at the inaugural Platinum Fighting Promotions event last month in the Philippines. White, on the other hand, is coming off of consecutive TKO losses to Mike Whitehead and Marcelo Tigre.

Also on the main card, former UFC heavyweight champ Ricco Rodriguez will take on Mike Kyle, who will make his return after being suspended for illegally kneeing (and then continuing an assault on) Brian Olsen at WEC 20. Ricco, who also won in December at the PFP’s Philippines event, might have his hands full with the powerful, knockout-loving Kyle.

Mark Kerr looks to pick up his second win in as many fights under the WCO banner against Rick Roufus, a legendary kickboxer who will be making his MMA debut. If you haven’t seen Roufus fight Michael McDonald, you’re missing out on two great matches.

Tickets are still available for those in - or traveling to - the San Diego and run from $23.50 to $153.50. According to MMAJunkie, WCO executives have stated that a portion of the event’s ticket sales will benefit those families devastated by the recent wildfires in the area.

Here’s the rest of the January 12th WCO “The Return” card:

Renato “Babalu” Sobral vs. Vernon White
Ricco Rodriguez vs. Mike Kyle
Mark Kerr vs. Rick Roufus
Jimmy Ambriz vs. Wesley “Cabbage” Correira
Joe Riggs vs. Gustavo Machado
David Loiseau vs. Leopoldo Serao
Tiki Ghosn vs. J.J. Ambrose
Virgil Zwicker vs. David Mejia
Fabio Costa vs. Carlos Fuentes
Georgi Karakahyan vs. Armando Sanchez
Tony Sylvester vs. Cain Velasquez

The Kodiak is back for '08...

GSP Replaces Serra for UFC 79

2007-11-25T15:03:00.000-05:00

That's right. Apparently, Georges St-Pierre vs. Matt Hughes III will be for an interim welterweight title. The UFC sure does love them some interim titles. Why they don't just say that GSP and Hughes, or BJ Penn and Joe Stevenson, will be fighting for top contender status I'll never know. Read more from UFC.com.

As you can see, UFC 79 is looking real good these days:

GSP-Matt Hughes

Chuck Liddell-Wanderlei Silva

Lyoto Machida - Thierry Sokoudjou

Razor Rob vs. Jamie Varner in February

2007-11-23T11:26:00.000-05:00

In early September, WEC lightweight champ “Razor” Rob McCullough announced on the TAGG Radio show that he’d be making his next title defense against hard-hitting Massachusetts native Alex Karalexis, but it seems that the WEC has other plans for its 155-lb. king.

Instead, McCullough will be taking on former UFC lightweight Jamie “The Worm” Varner (13-2), who’s defeated Sharron Legget and Jason Gilliam in 2007.

McCullough told MMAWeekly, "I think he's a younger version of Rich (Crunkilton). I don't think his submission game is anywhere near Rich's, but he's definitely got a quick shot, and he changes levels fast. I think his gas tank is going to be questionable."

Early thoughts: Crunkilton is much more complete, dangerous fighter than Varner, so I expect another TKO win for “Razor” Rob.

Injured Matt Serra Scratched from UFC 79

2007-11-23T11:03:00.000-05:00

UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra suffered a herniated disc while training on Monday and is no longer scheduled to defend his belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on December 29. Serra was quoted with the following:

"This is the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do. I’ve never had a back injury before; I could hardly get off of the MRI table. There is no way I can train through this, and I’m devastated, especially because this was such an important fight. I was looking forward to fighting Matt Hughes. All my training was going phenomenally until Monday – all I can do now is to get better and to fight again as soon as possible.”

Read more from UFC.com.

BJ Penn's Not Going Anywhere

2007-11-20T17:30:00.000-05:00

"I don’t want to do the five fights a year thing for three years and then I’m done, like all these fighters have done. I want to do one to two fights a year for the next 10 years. I want to keep my name out there for the next 10 years."

It's cool to hear that BJ is committed to a fight or two for another 10 years, but he's not exactly one of those guys who's always climbing into the cage. In fact, he's never fought more than three times a year in his professional career, and he hasn't fought more than twice a year since beating Hughes for the welterweight belt back in 2004.

But as the old show business adage professes, "Always keep them wanting more." BJ is capable of putting on as good a show as anyone in the sport, and when you consider the potential match-ups that could be made for BJ at lightweight or welterweight, we'll always be wanting more from The Prodigy.

Read UFC.com's latest interview with BJ Penn.

Fedor Confirmed for New Year’s Eve in Japan

2007-11-20T13:33:00.000-05:00

M-1 Global’s president and CEO Monte Cox confirmed yesterday that Fedor Emelianenko will fight Hong Man Choi on New Year’s Eve.

On the Russian Mix-Fight Championship website, Fedor wrote to Japanese fans the following: “I contacted M-1 Global management and received their complete support in my desire to continue the tradition of fighting in Japan on New Year's Eve."

In other words, Fedor is being rented out to fight the 7'2" Korean, who will be absolutely destroyed by the world's best fighter.

Fedor may have found a new home in M-1 Global, but the same old problems persist for the Russian heavyweight: there aren't too many people who are willing and available to fight him.

Fedor and Choi will apparently be fighting as part of a show run by the promoters of the Japanese professional wrestling organization Hustle, which has several employees who were involved in operating the once thriving, now defunct Pride Fighting Championships.

Silva vs. Hendo at UFC 82

2007-11-18T18:15:00.000-05:00

Dan Henderson has apparently worked out contract issues with the UFC and will in fact make the cut down to 185 lbs. to challenge middleweight king Anderson Silva in March at UFC 82. This is good news. Early thoughts: Henderson could a nightmare on the ground for Silva, who has a definitive striking advantage. I'm excited for this fight.