Author: Ben Fowlkes

Paul Daley: ‘There Are No Anomalies to My Behavior’

Filed under: StrikeforceIn case you’re wondering, no, Paul Daley is not concerned with what you think about him. Even after earning himself a lifetime ban from the UFC for sucker punching Josh Koscheck after their fight at UFC 113 and, in the process,…

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In case you’re wondering, no, Paul Daley is not concerned with what you think about him. Even after earning himself a lifetime ban from the UFC for sucker punching Josh Koscheck after their fight at UFC 113 and, in the process, drawing the continued ire of many MMA fans, rehabilitating his image is still the last thing on Daley’s mind.

“As long as I do myself justice, I’m okay,” the British welterweight told MMA Fighting. “The people who love me, people who support me, the fans that I have, they know that I’ve always been myself. There’s never been two sides to me. Throughout my career you’ll always see some things happening again and again, and that shows I’ve always been myself. I’ve never been playing a character. There’s a pattern in my behavior, and it’s a steady pattern.”

Which means…what, exactly? That poor displays of sportsmanship aren’t so objectionable as long as they’re genuine? That hitting an opponent after the bell isn’t as bad as changing your personality to suit the situation? By all means, let’s let “Semtex” explain.

Greg Jackson, Dana White and the Power of Perception Over Reality

Filed under: UFCThere are a few things that most people think they’re very good at, regardless of whether they really are. Driving is one of those things. So is sex. Less titillating, but still important, is calculating probability.

Take the phenomen…

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There are a few things that most people think they’re very good at, regardless of whether they really are. Driving is one of those things. So is sex. Less titillating, but still important, is calculating probability.

Take the phenomenon known as confirmation bias, for instance. Simply put, it states that people are more likely to put undue weight on information that supports their existing beliefs than on information that refutes them. This seems especially relevant in light of the recent dust-up between MMA trainer Greg Jackson and UFC president Dana White, as well as the ensuing comment storm over it on the internet.

According to White, Jackson encourages a boring, overly conservative approach in his fighters, and this is a consistent pattern. According to Jackson, the fact that his fighters have taken home 12 bonus awards in 22 events in 2010 (and for the record, when Jackson said ‘half your bonuses went to my guys,’ we can assume that what he meant is they won a bonus half the time, not half of all bonuses handed out – he’s too smart to be that bad at math) proves that White’s assessment is completely unfounded.

So who’s right? As far as I can tell, your answer depends on what you think of the issue before you ever hear the evidence.

TUF 12 Finale: By the Odds

Filed under: UFCAnd then we came to the end of another season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” bringing us to yet another TUF Finale event. It’s that special night when the fighters who might have a future square off against the ones who probably don’t, and…

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And then we came to the end of another season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” bringing us to yet another TUF Finale event. It’s that special night when the fighters who might have a future square off against the ones who probably don’t, and when the cream that has risen to the top during the reality TV tournament undergoes one last sifting with a fine cut-glass trophy on the line.

Okay, so maybe that’s a little cynical. I’m a tad under the weather and still stressing over how I’m going to absorb two MMA events on Saturday night without my head exploding, so forgive me.

Rather than draw this out any more than we need to, why don’t we just look at the main card odds for the TUF 12 Finale and figure out where the best deals are so we can all bet big and retire early?

My First Fight: Matt Lindland

Filed under: StrikeforceOn Saturday night 40-year-old Matt Lindland takes on Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu in St. Louis. It’s a fight Lindland admits that he needs to win in order to keep his career moving in the right direction, …

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On Saturday night 40-year-old Matt Lindland takes on Robbie Lawler at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu in St. Louis. It’s a fight Lindland admits that he needs to win in order to keep his career moving in the right direction, and it’s also one that he intends to turn into, as he puts it, “a gritty, messy fight.” But before he finds out what his future holds, Lindland sits down with us to talk about his past, including his very first taste of MMA.

He has no problem admitting it now: back then, Matt Lindland had no idea how to even begin to prepare for an MMA fight. Then a 26-year-old wrestling coach at the University of Nebraska and an aspiring Olympic team member, all Lindland knew was that other Greco-Roman wrestlers had done it and it looked like a fun way to make a couple dollars.

One day he ran into Royce Alger, a well-known wrestler for the University of Iowa who was dabbling in MMA and was said to be headed to the UFC soon. Lindland told him he’d been thinking about taking the same path, and wanted to know how to get started.

Josh Barnett’s Licensing Hearing Delayed Again After Confusion at CSAC

Former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett told the California State Athletic Commission on Thursday that he was there not to appeal his positive steroid test from June of 2009, but rather to speak with the commission and apply for a new license.

Sound…

Former UFC heavyweight champ Josh Barnett told the California State Athletic Commission on Thursday that he was there not to appeal his positive steroid test from June of 2009, but rather to speak with the commission and apply for a new license.

Sounds simple enough in theory. In practice, however, it turned out to be anything but, with the end result being yet another continuance in Barnett’s lengthy licensing saga in the Golden State.

After allowing Barnett to launch into a nearly four-minute explanation of the chain of events that led to him to test positive for the anabolic steroid Drostanolone while applying for a license renewal in the summer of 2009, the commission began to realize that Barnett was still intent on maintaining his innocence on that charge – and here’s where things got tricky.

Cristiano Marcello Talks Upcoming Bout, Famous Backstage Brawl and More

Filed under: Fighting, NewsIf the name Cristiano Marcello rings a bell for MMA fans, it’s most likely because they know him as the former Chute Boxe coach who famously fought Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett in a surprisingly technical backstage brawl at …

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If the name Cristiano Marcello rings a bell for MMA fans, it’s most likely because they know him as the former Chute Boxe coach who famously fought Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett in a surprisingly technical backstage brawl at a Pride event in 2005.

But in addition to his work as a trainer at Chute Boxe and now at his own gym, CM System, Marcello has also revitalized his own fighting career in 2010, and on Saturday he takes on Guido Canetti at Bitetti Combat 8 in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

Below, Marcello talks with us via e-mail about his upcoming fight, the scrap that spawned his internet fame and his favorite memories from the Chute Boxe days.