And the MMA Hero of the Day Is…James McSweeney?!

Despite the way he was portrayed during his run on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, which is to say, typical British asshole, it turns out that James McSweeney is actually a pretty cool dude in reality. But seriously, if you were to categorize McSweeney scientifically based solely on TUF 10, his name would’ve been Bispingus Douchebaggus. However, I first caught a glimpse of how well-spoken and down to earth McSweeney truly is during a recent interview he had with MiddleEasy, which I’ve posted above. In the video, he and Kit Cope break down everything from Jon Jones’ DUI to Nick Diaz’s suspension for weed, and he comes off sounding like a relatively enlightened individual in the process.

The reason I mention this is not only to try and prove that there are British MMA fighters out there who aren’t complete dicks, but to provide a little backstory that will prevent this news from catching you completely off guard. Because in the long list of MMA fighters who moonlight as vigilante, Bronson-esque heroes, McSweeney has just added his name.

Yesterday night, McSweeney was giving his family, who was visiting from England, a friendly tour of Las Vegas. As things are destined to do in Vegas, the night would inevitably end in them witnessing at least one person trying to stab another.

Despite the way he was portrayed during his run on The Ultimate Fighter: Heavyweights, which is to say, typical British asshole, it turns out that James McSweeney is actually a pretty cool dude in reality. But seriously, if you were to categorize McSweeney scientifically based solely on TUF 10, his name would’ve been Bispingus Douchebaggus. However, I first caught a glimpse of how well-spoken and down to earth McSweeney truly is during a recent interview he had with MiddleEasy, which I’ve posted above. In the video, he and Kit Cope break down everything from Jon Jones’ DUI to Nick Diaz’s suspension for weed, and he comes off sounding like a relatively enlightened individual in the process.

The reason I mention this is not only to try and prove that there are British MMA fighters out there who aren’t complete dicks, but to provide a little backstory that will prevent this news from catching you completely off guard. Because in the long list of MMA fighters who moonlight as vigilante, Bronson-esque heroes, McSweeney has just added his name.

Yesterday night, McSweeney was giving his family, who was visiting from England, a friendly tour of Las Vegas. As things are destined to do in Vegas, the night would inevitably end in them witnessing at least one person trying to stab another.

McSweeney recounted the story to MMAWeekly:

My family’s in town right now in Las Vegas, and they wanted to go down to old town Las Vegas last night, down on Fremont street, just check out the big TV screens and stuff down there. So they wanted to get some souvenirs so they went into one of the stores there, and as they walked I saw these two guys that looked like they were drunk, but they wasn’t really, they were just arguing. So the cashier went over to stop them from arguing cause the store was packed full of women and children, people there shopping. 

As they started to break it up one of the guys made a dash for the cash, the box behind the counter, and grabbed a handful of cash out and then pulled a knife out on the lady in front of everybody.

I didn’t want anyone to get hurt, so I just went over and grabbed from the side by his shoulder and his lapel and took the knife from him and swept him to the floor and pinned him to the ground until security came and handcuffed him and took him off. No one got hurt, that was the main thing.

McSweeney credits the confidence that comes with knowing you can whoop most anyone’s ass for his act of bravery.

I knew I had the capabilities to stop it, so I tried to stop it. I mean if they pull a knife, you have to assume they have intentions to use it so that was my reaction, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt. 

We train everyday so we can stop these sort of things and I’m always happy to help if I can.

It just goes to show that even the nicest guy can look like an asshole when he’s edited the right way. And no, I can’t believe I just wrote “nicest guy” and “James McSweeney” in the same sentence.

I didn’t? Whatever, I’m tapped out on this slow ass news day. Here’s a clip of some classic Bronson street justice from Death Wish 3. Good day to yous.

J. Jones 

Good News, Jason Miller is Now Free to Wreak Havoc in a Town Near You


(Today, the Modern Methodist Church of Southern Viejo. Tommorow, THE WORLD.)

After spending a two-day stint in Orange County jail, complete with psychological evaluations and all, it appears that Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been released after posting the required $20,000 bail earlier today.

Living up to his nickname, Miller was responsible for what will likely become one of the most notorious arrests in MMA History when he was found naked inside a Mission Viejo church Tuesday, which he had both vandalized and sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Oddly enough, officers on the scene stated that Miller seemed to be completely coherent when he was discovered, and are currently awaiting a toxicology report to determine if he was under any mind altering substances at the time the crime was committed. Given the quick turnaround time, we’d guess that he was either on hippie crack or an epic dosage of whip-its.

Dana White, a.k.a the man who broke Mayhem’s heart and unknowingly caused all of this, has yet to comment on Miller’s arrest. Luckily, we’ve done it for him:

I tell you, this f*cking guy, with his f*cking f*ggy pink boas and boom boxes and dance moves and Japanese schoolgirls. He really needs a f*cking clue. It’s bad enough that he lost to f*cking Launchpad McQuack in his last performance, but now he goes out and pulls this sh*t. That’s all I gotta say, except f*ck you, f*ck Josh Gross, and f*ck Fedor. Dana out!

Word has it Mayhem is now accepting requests for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, art gallery openings, or whatever event you would be willing to shuttle him to through his Facebook page. We’re not sure what it is he will do once he gets there, but you can rest assured that it will not be boring.

J. Jones


(Today, the Modern Methodist Church of Southern Viejo. Tommorow, THE WORLD.)

After spending a two-day stint in Orange County jail, complete with psychological evaluations and all, it appears that Jason “Mayhem” Miller has been released after posting the required $20,000 bail earlier today.

Living up to his nickname, Miller was responsible for what will likely become one of the most notorious arrests in MMA History when he was found naked inside a Mission Viejo church Tuesday, which he had both vandalized and sprayed with a fire extinguisher. Oddly enough, officers on the scene stated that Miller seemed to be completely coherent when he was discovered, and are currently awaiting a toxicology report to determine if he was under any mind altering substances at the time the crime was committed. Given the quick turnaround time, we’d guess that he was either on hippie crack or an epic dosage of whip-its.

Dana White, a.k.a the man who broke Mayhem’s heart and unknowingly caused all of this, has yet to comment on Miller’s arrest. Luckily, we’ve done it for him:

I tell you, this f*cking guy, with his f*cking f*ggy pink boas and boom boxes and dance moves and Japanese schoolgirls. He really needs a f*cking clue. It’s bad enough that he lost to f*cking Launchpad McQuack in his last performance, but now he goes out and pulls this sh*t. That’s all I gotta say, except f*ck you, f*ck Josh Gross, and f*ck Fedor. Dana out!

Word has it Mayhem is now accepting requests for birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, art gallery openings, or whatever event you would be willing to shuttle him to through his Facebook page. We’re not sure what it is he will do once he gets there, but you can rest assured that it will not be boring.

J. Jones

[VIDEO] Ronda Rousey ‘All Access’ – Episode Two


(Beneath that skin-tight cat suit lies a quiet, innocent girl who just wants some alone time. And beneath her lies a limb-destroying human bear trap.)

Have you ever wondered what it must be like behind-the-scenes of a staredown for a fight promo? Surely the tension must be insurmountable, with members of each fighter’s crew present on set to separate the two between each take. Well, if the latest Showtime episode of All Access: Ronda Rousey is any indication, the fighters actually choose to discuss how bad they smell to one another, all the while trying to remain serious while the camera is rolling.

Challenger Sarah Kaufman is the first to break the ice, declaring that her “left armpit smells,” whereas Ronda admits that she probably smells “like leprosy” as a result of her catsuit-clad antics she participated in just moments before. We know, we know, you all just went from six to midnight.

Anyway, so begins the second episode of All Access, which delves further into the training strategies of both the champion and the challenger. Where Rousey is content to hit the pads with Richard Perez in between sessions at Team Cesar Gracie, Kaufman prefers to just bang on the drum kit a little and punch bitches in the face. An interesting, if not unorthodox strategy.

And things get really interesting around the six-minute mark, where Ronda receives the first copies of her ESPN “The Body” Issue. Even she seems impressed by her own hotness, as well as the fact that ESPN showed far more butt than she expected (Author’s note: Thanks guys, it’s good to know all those “incentives” we sent you were not in vain.) 

Full video after the jump. 


(Beneath that skin-tight cat suit lies a quiet, innocent girl who just wants some alone time. And beneath her lies a limb-destroying human bear trap.)

Have you ever wondered what it must be like behind-the-scenes of a staredown for a fight promo? Surely the tension must be insurmountable, with members of each fighter’s crew present on set to separate the two between each take. Well, if the latest Showtime episode of All Access: Ronda Rousey is any indication, the fighters actually choose to discuss how bad they smell to one another, all the while trying to remain serious while the camera is rolling.

Challenger Sarah Kaufman is the first to break the ice, declaring that her “left armpit smells,” whereas Ronda admits that she probably smells “like leprosy” as a result of her catsuit-clad antics she participated in just moments before. We know, we know, you all just went from six to midnight.

Anyway, so begins the second episode of All Access, which delves further into the training strategies of both the champion and the challenger. Where Rousey is content to hit the pads with Richard Perez in between sessions at Team Cesar Gracie, Kaufman prefers to just bang on the drum kit a little and punch bitches in the face. An interesting, if not unorthodox strategy.

And things get really interesting around the six-minute mark, where Ronda receives the first copies of her ESPN “The Body” Issue. Even she seems impressed by her own hotness, as well as the fact that ESPN showed far more butt than she expected (Author’s note: Thanks guys, it’s good to know all those “incentives” we sent you were not in vain.) 

Ronda immediately shows the magazine to her mother for approval, who in turn crushes the hopes and dreams of millions of Americans by asking “So this is the most naked you’re going to get, right?” Ronda agrees, but when watching the behind-the-scenes video of her shoot on Youtube, finds that if you pause it at just the right moment, you can totally see a boob in there. Her reaction is less than ecstatic. Seriously, she breaks into tears on multiple occasions, with only a text from Dana White being able to talk her off the ledge.

All Access also takes a look back at Kaufman’s brief, yet terrifying reign as the bantamweight champion, which was highlighted by a vicious third round KO via slam of Roxanne Modafferi, and much, much, more, so check out the episode below and let us know what you think.

Rousey vs. Kaufman goes down in just two days, people, so who you got?

J. Jones

Jon Jones Responds To Chael Sonnen’s “Punk Kid” Remarks Via Twitter Outburst [UPDATED]


(When all else fails, a hypogonadism burn is always a solid standby.) 

Apparently Jon Jones is unaware that Chael Sonnen is a fight promoter first, troll second, and actual fighter third. Be that as it may, “Bones” must have really took to heart the relatively light bit of trash-talking Sonnen aimed in the champ’s direction when announcing his return to the light-heavyweight division on UFC Tonight, as he has already responded, then deleted, several scathing remarks aimed at the former middleweight title challenger via Twitter, because of course he did.

If we’ve learned anything about what arguments over Twitter inevitably lead to, we’re probably going to need a bigger facepalm and a fresh pair of trousers for one of these gentlemen in the near future.

The rest of Jones’ comments are after the jump.


(When all else fails, a hypogonadism burn is always a solid standby.) 

Apparently Jon Jones is unaware that Chael Sonnen is a fight promoter first, troll second, and actual fighter third. Be that as it may, “Bones” must have really took to heart the relatively light bit of trash-talking Sonnen aimed in the champ’s direction when announcing his return to the light-heavyweight division on UFC Tonight, as he has already responded, then deleted, several scathing remarks aimed at the former middleweight title challenger via Twitter, because of course he did.

If we’ve learned anything about what arguments over Twitter inevitably lead to, we’re probably going to need a bigger facepalm and a fresh pair of trousers for one of these gentlemen in the near future.

The rest of Jones’ comments are below.

True, Jon, but doing the same thing back to Sonnen on Twitter kind of blends into that whole hypocritical aura you seem to exude. Just sayin’.

Forget what I just said, that was kind of awesome. Chael, the floor is yours.

But you know what I hate about this the most? The fact that Jones is playing right into Chael’s game (see below), which can only mean one thing: an expedited, undeserved title shot for Chael Sonnen if Jones is able to dispatch Dan Henderson at UFC 151. Sure, the next shot has been promised to Lyoto Machida, but we all know how much better Sonnen vs. Jones (or Sonnen vs. anyone, for that matter) would do as far as pay-per-view sales go. Rivalries trump legitimate contenders 9 times out of 10, and the fact that Machida has already faced Jones and lost certainly won’t help those numbers. Sonnen undoubtedly knows this, the clever cow, and is leading Bones into his Jigsaw-esque trap like the pro that he is.

Prediction: If Jones beats Hendo, he will suffer an injury significant enough that Machida will be forced to take another fight in his prolonged absence. Meanwhile, Jones and Sonnen will continue to hype their rivalry until Sonnen vs. Griffin is declared a #1 contenders match (hey, crazier things have happened). Sonnen will win, and Lyoto will be left in the dark, drinking homemade Mai Tai after Mai Tai as a means of consoling himself for not talking enough shit over Twitter to get a rematch with Bones.

I could be wrong, but I watched The Mentalist for eight straight hours yesterday, which leads me to believe that I am spot on.

[UPDATE – 4:30 p.m. EST]

Wait a minute…as I’m writing this, it seems Jones has used the Avatarian connection that all people with the same last name share to hack into my brain and respond to my worries before I could even publish them (same wording and everything), stating the following on Twitter:

For everyone who thinks I’m “falling into chaels game” I know exactly what I’m doing.. #AreYouNotEntertained

Touche, Jon. Now stay the fuck out of my head thank you very much.

[UPDATED – 4:45]

This article has officially become a liveblog, people. Here’s Chael’s pair of responses:

Advice to @jonnybones. Take some of that Nike money, hire new writers.

Boarding plane to Oregon now, home of your corporate wage masters. Next time you are in town, knock on my door. Don’t drive.

I don’t really understand hashtags, but I think a #BOOMHEADSHOT is appropriate here.

Tune in for more.

J. Jones

Alexander Shlemenko Accuses UFC Fighters of Faking Injury, Mainly Brian Stann


(Jared Hamman attempts to pull a fast one on us all at UFC on FOX 4. AS IF we couldn’t tell that his leg was clearly photoshopped.) 

Perhaps two-time Bellator middleweight tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko is just a little bitter that rival Hector Lombard vacated his former promotion (and a long-awaited rematch with Shlemenko) to compete in the UFC, or maybe “Storm” is just as tired of seeing all of the UFC cards he is ordering turn to shit as the rest of us. Whatever his end game may be, Shlemenko recently stated in an interview with ValeTudo.ru that he believed many of the injuries that have been plaguing the UFC as of late were more than likely faked by the fighters in order to get out of a fight that was not a good matchup for them. His primary example was Brian Stann:

I can tell you for sure, 100%, I know why there are so many injuries. I personally find UFC fights not as exciting because of all those injuries. There are a lot of background tactics around who’s fighting who; fighters are trying really hard to have a good record in the UFC. If you’ve been offered to fight someone who’s considered a bad match-up, then it’s pretty easy to say ‘hey, I’m injured’.

For example, they offered Brian Stann to fight Hector Lombard. He got injured, and then the next thing you know – he’s fighting Michael Bisping. I can see the logic – for Brian Stann it makes more sense to fight Bisping, he’s simply more popular in the UFC than Hector Lombard. That’s why beating Bisping means more than beating Lombard, who’s a risky opponent.

You can fake every injury. Just tell [UFC doctors] about the symptoms and that’s it.

God Damn it, Alex. Your love of centrifugal forces and general badassery made you one of our favorite fighters, but NO ONE accuses “All American” of ducking a fight. And considering the bullshit-laden excuse your boy Lombard gave us three weeks after putting on one of the worst performances of the year, we’d say it’s a little presumptuous to start calling out other organizations fighters for sparing us a fifteen minute wet fart in advance.

After the jump: Stann’s response, as well as a video of Shlemenko’s most recent fight, which ends with an injury that is physically impossible to fake.


(Jared Hamman attempts to pull a fast one on us all at UFC on FOX 4. AS IF we couldn’t tell that his leg was clearly photoshopped.) 

Perhaps two-time Bellator middleweight tournament winner Alexander Shlemenko is just a little bitter that rival Hector Lombard vacated his former promotion (and a long-awaited rematch with Shlemenko) to compete in the UFC, or maybe “Storm” is just as tired of seeing all of the UFC cards he is ordering turn to shit as the rest of us. Whatever his end game may be, Shlemenko recently stated in an interview with ValeTudo.ru that he believed many of the injuries that have been plaguing the UFC as of late were more than likely faked by the fighters in order to get out of a fight that was not a good matchup for them. His primary example was Brian Stann:

I can tell you for sure, 100%, I know why there are so many injuries. I personally find UFC fights not as exciting because of all those injuries. There are a lot of background tactics around who’s fighting who; fighters are trying really hard to have a good record in the UFC. If you’ve been offered to fight someone who’s considered a bad match-up, then it’s pretty easy to say ‘hey, I’m injured’.

For example, they offered Brian Stann to fight Hector Lombard. He got injured, and then the next thing you know – he’s fighting Michael Bisping. I can see the logic – for Brian Stann it makes more sense to fight Bisping, he’s simply more popular in the UFC than Hector Lombard. That’s why beating Bisping means more than beating Lombard, who’s a risky opponent.

You can fake every injury. Just tell [UFC doctors] about the symptoms and that’s it.

God Damn it, Alex. Your love of centrifugal forces and general badassery made you one of our favorite fighters, but NO ONE accuses “All American” of ducking a fight. And considering the bullshit-laden excuse your boy Lombard gave us three weeks after putting on one of the worst performances of the year, we’d say it’s a little presumptuous to start calling out other organizations fighters for sparing us a fifteen minute wet fart in advance.

Per usual, Stann took the high road when responding to such an audacious claim on Twitter:

Shouldn’t even dignify todays comment w/ a response, but I would never fake an injury. I agreed to fight Hector b4 he was even signed. 

My injury was a 6-8 week recovery & the UFC was not interested in delaying his debut to wait for me. Fighters dont fake injuries, we have to pay the bills guys! 

Not too long ago, Elias attempted to decipher the reasoning behind the recent string of injuries the UFC has been facing, and concluded that more of the injuries could likely be written off as a result of strength training rather than intense sparring. And although Stann actually did injure his shoulder during a sparring session with UFC heavyweight Shawn Jordan, there is little reason to believe that he, along with most UFC fighters, would be willing to miss out on a paycheck to avoid a bad matchup. Most fighters live and die by the money they are able to come away with in the three or so fights they are able to squeeze in a year (if they’re lucky). And besides that, had Stann performed impressively against Lombard, it would have launched him onto the short list of contenders at 185, whereas a win over Bisping, while significant, would more or less confirm that “The Count” is simply not upper-echelon material. The Lombard fight was his to win, while the Bisping fight is mainly his to lose. Some of you will likely disagree with that notion, in which case I will tell thee to snuff it.

Speaking of injuries, Shlemenko was responsible for a nasty one in his unanimous decision win over Anthony Ruiz this past Saturday. Although Shlemenko didn’t exactly look his greatest, it was his first fight since getting into a car crash back in April, so we are willing to forgive him. Plus, he managed to smash Ruiz’s nose up something fierce, which is always fun to gawk at. On the Ryan McGillivray scale of broken noses, we’d give it about an 8.5.


(A good view of the carnage comes at 13:06, but FYI, Sensei Seagal and Oleg Taktarov make an appearance moments before. You’ll probably be excited to see at least one of them.) 

J. Jones

Awesome Story of the Day: UFC Lightweight Reza Madadi Saves Infant AND Father From Drowning in Sweden


(Just off camera, The Grim Reaper stared on in shock as Madadi told him right where he could stick his scythe.) 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you know by now that, while most of us are content to booze or sleep away most of our lives, MMA fighters opt to spend their leisure time foiling robberies, saving women from knife-wielding psychopaths, and teaching Canadian hoodlums a lesson in male dominance…I mean respect.

For some reason, the rule goes double for MMA fighters from foreign countries. We all remember the tale of Goran Reljic saving two men from drowning by smashing through their submerged vehicle’s windshield and pulling them to safety WHILE suffering from a back injury. Or how Kid Yamamoto dove onto a subway track in Japan to help lift a man to safety. Seriously, it’s like the rest of the world operates under Article 223-7 of the Latham County Penal Code or something.

In either case, one name you can add to the list of heroic MMA fighters is UFC lightweight Reza Madadi, who recently saved an infant toddler when the child fell from a pier near Hornsberg in his home country of Sweden.

Full story after the jump.


(Just off camera, The Grim Reaper stared on in shock as Madadi told him right where he could stick his scythe.) 

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past few years, you know by now that, while most of us are content to booze or sleep away most of our lives, MMA fighters opt to spend their leisure time foiling robberies, saving women from knife-wielding psychopaths, and teaching Canadian hoodlums a lesson in male dominance…I mean respect.

For some reason, the rule goes double for MMA fighters from foreign countries. We all remember the tale of Goran Reljic saving two men from drowning by smashing through their submerged vehicle’s windshield and pulling them to safety WHILE suffering from a back injury. Or how Kid Yamamoto dove onto a subway track in Japan to help lift a man to safety. Seriously, it’s like the rest of the world operates under Article 223-7 of the Latham County Penal Code or something.

In either case, one name you can add to the list of heroic MMA fighters is UFC lightweight Reza Madadi, who recently saved an infant toddler when the child fell from a pier near Hornsberg in his home country of Sweden.

Full story after the jump.

As if that weren’t badass enough, apparently Madadi had to help the boy’s father, who dove in after his son, from drowning as well. From Kimura.se:

[Madadi] had been kayaking in the Stockholm Archipelago and was about to buy lunch at a restaurant in Hornsberg, when he witnessed a child of one and a half years old falling from a nearby pier into the sea. The child’s father quickly dove in to help save his son.

Madadi, a former aspiring fireman, immediately jumped into the water and saved both father and child from the turmoil of waves and rapid currents.

A bystander who was very impressed with the performance of the athlete could conclude “If Reza hadn’t been there that boy would have drowned. One person wanted to take pictures of Reza with the father and the son, but Reza humbly declined, with respect to the family’s emotional status. 

It looks like in the battle of cops vs. fireman, we can chalk up another victory for the fireman. Word has it Madadi pulled a train with three waitresses that night, whereas the first cop on the scene went home to find that his wife had left him.

Scheduled to face TUF 15 alum Christiano Marcello at UFC 153 in October, the 12-2 “Mad Dog” picked up his first UFC win in dramatic and dominant fashion by choking out Yoislandy Izquierdo in the second round of their UFC on FUEL 2 throwdown, and is currently riding a seven fight win streak that includes victories over Rich Clementi, Carlo Prater, and Junie Browning.

In other words, he has just earned the name power to fight in the co-main event of UFC 151.

J. Jones