“Awww hell. Ya’ll are going to say something about my nickname, aren’t you?” (Pic: Sherdog.com)
We’re not going to go overboard and accuse Anthony Morrison of being immature or cowardly, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be dusting off the ol’ Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard following his abysmal attempt to make weight last night. Morrison was set to square off against Bryan Goldsby on tonight’s Bellator card, but after weighing in at 146.5lbs—some 11.5lbs and two weight classes over the 135lb Bantamweight cap—the fight was called off. Morrison has gone winless in his last three bouts, dropping fights to Mike Brown and Chad Mendes in the WEC before having his knock out over Nick Gonzalez at Matrix Fights 2 ruled a ‘no contest’. Losing an opportunity to fight on cable tv, even if it is just MTV2, is a costly mistake for a any fighter, but particularly for one on a skid. Losing a payday? Yeah, that’s not a smooth move either.
“Awww hell. Ya’ll are going to say something about my nickname, aren’t you?” (Pic: Sherdog.com)
We’re not going to go overboard and accuse Anthony Morrison of being immature or cowardly, but it’s safe to say that we’ll be dusting off the ol’ Weigh-In Failure Leaderboard following his abysmal attempt to make weight last night. Morrison was set to square off against Bryan Goldsby on tonight’s Bellator card, but after weighing in at 146.5lbs—some 11.5lbs and two weight classes over the 135lb Bantamweight cap—the fight was called off. Morrison has gone winless in his last three bouts, dropping fights to Mike Brown and Chad Mendes in the WEC before having his knock out over Nick Gonzalez at Matrix Fights 2 ruled a ‘no contest’. Losing an opportunity to fight on cable tv, even if it is just MTV2, is a costly mistake for a any fighter, but particularly for one on a skid. Losing a payday? Yeah, that’s not a smooth move either.
Props to Jon Fitch for saying no to peer pressure. While all the cool kids are canceling fights to have surgery, then canceling the surgery itself, Fitch decided to actually go under the knife to repair the shoulder that pulled him from his rematch with BJ Penn. In the latest of his high-quality vlogs, he takes us back through his preparation for surgery.
What we learn: Fitch’s girlfriend is pretty attractive by societal standards; packing is easy when you’ve got clothing companies up your ass; if you’re a top-dog in your division, the UFC won’t wait until June 1st to hook you up.
Props to Jon Fitch for saying no to peer pressure. While all the cool kids are canceling fights to have surgery, then canceling the surgery itself, Fitch decided to actually go under the knife to repair the shoulder that pulled him from his rematch with BJ Penn. In addition to doing yard work, Fitch has been spending some time in the editing room. Through the magic of television, he takes us back in time to his preparation for surgery.
What we learn: Fitch’s girlfriend is pretty attractive by societal standards; packing is easy when you’ve got clothing companies up your ass; if you’re a top-dog in your division, the UFC won’t wait until June 1st to hook you up.
“Good morning, parents. My name is Chris, and I’ll be watching over your children.”
In between putting out fires and collecting bonus checks, fan-favorite Chris Lytle has been working with the Indianapolis Police Department to establish an MMA Training program for at-risk youth and veterans suffering from PTSD. Their “Police Athletic League” is seeking a $50,000 grant from Pepsi’s Refresh Everything project.
Programs like this give children self-esteem and support through positive mentoring and can have a huge impact on a child’s life, but more importantly they make it less likely that we’d have to suffer through piss poor YouTube scraps in the near future. Give “Lights Out” some support- you can vote for his program online or by texting 106352 to “Pepsi” (73774) daily now through the end of the month. Lytle’s PAL program is falling behind many others, including an initiative to buy a youth photography club more cameras—BORING!–so do your part and vote.
“Good morning, parents. My name is Chris, and I’ll be watching over your children.”
In between putting out fires and collecting bonus checks, fan-favorite Chris Lytle has been working with the Indianapolis Police Department to establish an MMA Training program for at-risk youth and veterans suffering from PTSD. Their “Police Athletic League” is seeking a $50,000 grant from Pepsi’s Refresh Everything project.
Programs like this give children self-esteem and support through positive mentoring and can have a huge impact on a child’s life, but more importantly they make it less likely that we’d have to suffer through piss poor YouTube scraps in the near future. Give “Lights Out” some support- you can vote for his program online or by texting 106352 to “Pepsi” (73774) daily now through the end of the month. Lytle’s PAL program is falling behind many others, including an initiative to buy a youth photography club more cameras—BORING!–so do your part and vote.
Please tell us where this song ranks in the all-time “MMA Rap” list in the comments section.
According to our pals over at UFC.com, Antoni Hardonk has retired from the sport of MMA. Given that his last fight took place over a year-and-a-half ago, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, nor will it impact the heavyweight rankings, but it’s always slightly unpleasant to officially scratch any name off of the organization’s shallowest division.
Please tell us where this song ranks in the all-time “MMA Rap” list in the comments section.
According to our pals over at UFC.com, Antoni Hardonk has retired from the sport of MMA. Given that his last fight took place over a year-and-a-half ago, it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, nor will it impact the heavyweight rankings, but it’s always slightly unpleasant to officially scratch any name off of the organization’s shallowest division.
Hardonk brought his K1-experience to the UFC in late 2006, knocking out Sherman Pendergarst out in the first round of their fight at UFC 65. From there he found mixed results, going 4-4 under the Zuffa banner. His final two fights were losses to fellow stand-up standouts Cheick Kongo and Pat Barry, the latter battle earning him the “Fight of the Night” bonus.
Hardonk was best known for his brutal leg kicks and for thwarting robberies before thwarting robberies was cool, but just because he won’t be climbing in the cage again doesn’t mean he’s stepping away from the sport. It’s his new found love of coaching that has pulled him away from competing himself:
“At the end of 2009, I wasn’t happy with the way things were going, but I didn’t want to give up on fighting. I love fighting and I love competing. I love to go out there and test myself against the best in the world, and it’s a great lifestyle. You only have to worry about yourself, you can be pretty selfish at times (Laughs), and I’m very passionate about the sport. So at first, it wasn’t on my mind to quit fighting. But I also always loved teaching and I think I have a natural ability for it and I’m always trying to help people. And if there’s something I’m good at, like fighting, I love to share and help people accomplish their goals. I think it’s something I always had in me, but I put it away because I put myself first and I wanted to enjoy this lifestyle and fight and compete and test myself. But taking that year off and focusing more on that other side and that teaching and coaching aspect of myself, I found that I get as much satisfaction from that as from fighting itself.”
Not one to sit idly by while nursing an injury, UFC Welterweight Jon Fitch is working other aspects of his game while his shoulder heals up. Perhaps his love affair with fruits and vegetables is rockier than we’d been led to believe?
Not one to sit idly by while nursing an injury, UFC Welterweight Jon Fitch is working other aspects of his game while his shoulder heals up. Perhaps his love affair with fruits and vegetables is rockier than we’d been led to believe?
(Celementi’s post fight interview with Sweden’s answer to Ariel Helwani)
I can think of a few good reasons that last weekend’s Superior Challenge 7 card may have slipped of our radar. With the juggernaut that was UFC 129 dominating the MMA landscape at the time, former UFC fighters vying for mostly-irrelevant titles in a far away land just didn’t seem to matter too much. Fast forward one week and things get slightly more interesting.
As this event marked the first time that the Unified Rules would govern MMA bouts in Sweden, one might have expected a smooth night fights set to the harmonic backdrop of “The Sign”. However, following decision losses in their respective title bouts, Jeremy Horn and Rich Clementi have officially filed protests with the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation to have the results of those matches overturned.
(Celementi’s post fight interview with Sweden’s answer to Ariel Helwani)
I can think of a few good reasons that last weekend’s Superior Challenge 7 card may have slipped of our radar. With the juggernaut that was UFC 129 dominating the MMA landscape at the time, former UFC fighters vying for mostly-irrelevant titles in a far away land just didn’t seem to matter too much. Fast forward one week and things get slightly more interesting.
As this event marked the first time that the Unified Rules would govern MMA bouts in Sweden, one might have expected a smooth night fights set to the harmonic backdrop of “The Sign”. However, following decision losses in their respective title bouts, Jeremy Horn and Rich Clementi have officially filed protests with the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation to have the results of those matches overturned.
One of MMA’s most seasoned veterans, Horn squared off against fellow former UFC title challenger Thales Leites for the vacant Superior Challenge Middleweight Championship. With neither man able to put away his opponent, the fight was turned over to the judges who awarded the victory to Leites. While this bout has been described as very close, neither reports on Sherdog.com nor Swedish MMA site Fighter Magazine (Google Translate, bitches) list possible grounds for Horn’s appeal. If Horn merely has a difference of opinion as to who won the fight, he won’t really have a compelling case to bring before the Federation. Now Clementi, on the other hand, just might.
The battle between UFC veteran Rich Clementi and Swedish fighter Reza Madadi to become Superior Challenge’s first Lightweight Champion was even closer, so much so that ringside judges declared the fight a draw. What’s odd is that this fight—unlike Horn vs. Leites–was not one of the three fights to be contested under Unified Rules. This meant that the Swedish athletic commission still enforced their “no draws allowed” policy for championship fights. So after rendering their draw verdict, the three ringside judges—including Madadi training partner Bobby Rehman—were forced to give one fighter the nod in a fight they felt was even. Anyone care to hazard a guess as to whom Rehman voted for?
In Madadi’s defense, and in Rehman’s, it was a fight too close to call and all three judges ruled him the victor. That being said, this situation should never have been allowed due to the obvious bias created when teammates and friends judge one another. George Sallfeldt, the new chairman of the Swedish Mixed Martial Arts Federation, has promised to take a closer look at the relationships between judges and fighters and to conduct an investigation into the matter. The commission will rule on the protests on May 16th. If only someone had warned of this scenario, the whole ordeal could have been avoided.
