Aside from the most poorly thought out spinning backfist in MMA history, it’s UFC 148’s most indelible image. Anderson Silva, championship belt strapped around his waist, a glint adorning his eye, gleefully patting a battered Chael Sonnen on the back as Joe Rogan turns the mic to Ed Soares for a translation.
“If you’d like to have a barbecue at my house, I’d love to have you over for a barbecue.”
After what’d just taken place, it was the perfect topper for two years of public fervor. We all ate it up, and apparently Silva isn’t quite ready to let it go.
“The barbecue at the house happened, but unfortunately he did not come,” Silva joked in a recent interview with Tatame.
“(The win) was … a sense of accomplishment. Brazil was placed where it really should be. Other athletes who are supposedly thinking about speaking ill of Brazilians and our culture, our people, will think twice. I think Chael has learned his lesson.”
Obviously, Silva was speaking a little tongue-in-cheek here. Because if the lesson was for Sonnen to not badmouth and entire country and race of people in order to hype a cage fight, then sure, maybe he learned some kind of lesson. But if the lesson was about just generally keeping quiet, yeah, I think that one kind of went in one ear and out the other.
5 MUST-READ STORIES
Silva says Sonnen learned his lesson. After smashing Chael Sonnen at UFC 148, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva told Tatame his rival has “learned his lesson” in regards to insulting Brazilian culture.
Strikeforce fighters paid, Melendez talks injury. All 19 fighters who were left stranded in the wake of Saturday’s Strikeforce event cancellation will reportedly be paid “partial” compensation for their wasted training camps. Meanwhile, injured headliner Gilbert Melendez revealed he would likely be out for five-to-six weeks and called his withdrawal a “business” decision.
Arlovski signs with WSOF. Former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski inked a deal with World Series of Fighting and will debut on November 3 against Strikeforce veteran Devin Cole.
Carano joins ‘The Expendables.’ Former Strikeforce superstar Gina Carano has been cast in an all-female version of the blockbuster series “The Expendables,” according to a report from Variety.
TUF ratings plummet. Following the worst-rated series premiere in TUF history, ratings for the second episode of The Ultimate Fighter 16 dropped to just 872,000 viewers on FX.
MEDIA STEW
I’m a simple man, folks. I like mixed martial arts and I like It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. And now that Chael Sonnen has extended his mighty influence into the latter, my life is complete.
(HT: Reddit)
Allow me to explain what’s going on in this clip. The fighter in blue, let’s call him Frank, is caught in a triangle choke by the fighter in red, we’ll call him Charlie. Now, Frank slips into unconsciousness around the 11-second mark. Of course, you’ll notice that the fight doesn’t actually end until the 22-second mark, and Charlie is sitting there squeezing away while the crowd implores for a blatantly incompetent referee to step in and stop it. By my count, that’s 11 seconds of needless choking of an unconscious fighter. Disgusting officiating, if I’ve ever seen it.
If you missed UFC 152’s prelims, you also missed a Jon Jones interview with Joe Rogan where Jones, bushy beard and all, announced that his DUI actually ‘set him free.’ Now, I get what Jones meant here, but seriously man, choose your words a little more wisely.
I’ll go out on a limb and say this might be the most brutal three-second knockout you’ll see all day.
(HT: MiddleEasy)
Our old pal Zombie Prophet put together this time capsule playlist filled with some of MMA’s most notorious pranks, just in case you were feeling particularly lazy this morning. For more, do him a favor and subscribe to MMA Nation’s YouTube channel.
SOME GOOD NEWS
I have to take my hat off to @danawhite and the @ufc for paying fighters that were on the canceled @strikeforce card this weekend #RESPECT
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) September 26, 2012
Fighters receive pay following cancellation of ‘Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy‘ dlvr.it/2Cwb7s That’s amazing!! @strikeforce
— Nate Marquardt (@NathanMarquardt) September 26, 2012
GURGEL’S NOT TAKING THE CANCELLATION WELL
Aahh,I confess,2 1/2 ice cream pints,entire box of 12 donuts,2 footlong dark chocolate hershey bars w Almond milk.gotta go sweat! #sosick
— Jorge Gurgel (@JorgeGurgel) September 25, 2012
We anticipate it so much,it wasn’t worth it.I never slept feeling so sick.its the whole point of a cheat meal anyway but I’m done with junk.
— Jorge Gurgel (@JorgeGurgel) September 25, 2012
FUN FACT
Little known fact that @renzograciebjj coined the phrase “Brazilian Jiu-jitsu”.In Brazil it was simply Jiu-jitsu
— Cesar Gracie (@CesarGracieBJJ) September 26, 2012
CONFIDENCE
There will be a rematch and I will be winning! Actually fight next time RT @ufc_74: Is there a possibility of a re-match with Ronda Roussey?
— Sarah Kaufman (@mmasarah) September 25, 2012
BUT… WHY?
“Restomp the groin!!!!!!”
— Julie Kedzie (@julesk_fighter) September 26, 2012
FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS
Announced yesterday (Tuesday, September 25, 2012):
UFC on FX 6: Anthony Perosh (13-7) vs. Joey Beltran (14-8)
WSOF 1: Andrei Arlovski (17-9) vs. Devin Cole (20-9-1)
FANPOST OF THE DAY
Before we get to today’s Fanpost of the Day, let me take the time to thank all of you for your patience during this redesign, and also let you know that MMA Fighting now has it’s own Fanpost page! (It’s true. Click right here if you don’t believe me.) So if you have a 1200-word diatribe about the history of catch wrestling or even a 200-word quickie about how awesome Anderson Silva is, feel free to post it here and the next day you could be featured in this space right below us. With that said, let’s get to today’s FPOTD, which comes from King Eddie: Blessed: The Rise UFC Newcomer, Max Holloway
In the fighting world, there are a lot of stories. And it just so happens that a lot of those stories sound exactly the same. So the sob story will be spared on this occasion. Max Holloway was not troubled child. In fact, he managed to live in one of the most dangerous cities in Hawai’i, and stay out of trouble. There was never the desire to fight in the street, nor to make any other trouble. He just wanted to become a fighter.
Growing up, he was always a little bit smaller than the others. He was also a little more quiet. Starting with a little team called God’s Army, Max Holloway began to work on his fighting skills. He knew early on that he was not as athletically gifted as many people, and that he would have to put in the extra effort, so he did. Every single chance that he got, Holloway was engaging in intense training sessions with some of the most talented strikers that the island of O’ahu had to offer.
Though just a humble team who practiced in a garage, God’s Army began to make their name known in the Hawaii MMA world. Members like Colin Mackenzie, Jon Barnard, Ben Santiago, Johnavan Vistante, Kona Ke, and Max Holloway started to put in hard work through every fighting outlet they could. It was hard for any promoter to deny their work ethic, and their ability to bring the fight. Max was a member of a rag-tag team of fighters who really shook the idea of a traditional gym.
As Holloway sharpened his skills in the garage, his team began to gain steam. Members of God’s Army started to take titles. And it wouldn’t be long before Holloway would continue their tradition. Always the underdog, Holloway would be thrown tot the wolves on almost every single occasion. Little did anybody know, Holloway turned out a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Coming out on top on nearly every single occasion.
His striking ability was hard to deny. After all, he was in a lions den as far as his team went. But the most amazing attribute to Holloway’s fighting style, from the beginning of his career even until now, has always been his heart. No matter how many times the young buck from the west side was counted out, he always carried a confident smile into the cage with him. No matter how many hard shots he took, he always learned to dodge the next one.
Found something you’d like to see in the Morning Report? Just hit me on Twitter @shaunalshatti and we’ll include it in tomorrow’s column.