Author: J. Jones

Quote(s) of the Day: Dana White’s ‘State of the Union’ on MMA Judging and the UFC Coming to Hawaii

(If Dana were to give an actual State of the Union, we imagine it would sound a little something like this.)

Now, I know I am going to take a lot of flack for writing this, but it’s good to see that UFC President Dana White is at least addressing our concerns when it comes to the clusterfuck that is MMA judging and refereeing. No matter what, or should I say, whose, side you took in the whole Diaz/Condit debacle, you probably agree that there need to be some serious changes made when it comes to choosing the winner of a given fight. And don’t even get us started on the Koscheck/Pierce decision.

The simple fact is that although the sport has evolved in leaps and bounds over the years, the matter by which it is judged has refused to change its mindset, like a stubborn old man who still believes that a mythical beast hustled him out of three dollars and fifty cents.

And while reffing will always contain a certain degree of human subjectivity (as with any other sport), MMA judges should be able to adhere to stricter, more definable rules than “aggression” and “octagon control,” which leave a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to deciding a close round. We’ve already put forth several options, and per usual, no one has returned our calls.

Anyway, join us after the jump for a transcription of DW’s inaugural “Presidential Address,” as well a snippet about his plans to bring the UFC to Hawaii.


(If Dana were to give an actual State of the Union, we imagine it would sound a little something like this.)

Now, I know I am going to take a lot of flack for writing this, but it’s good to see that UFC President Dana White is at least addressing our concerns when it comes to the clusterfuck that is MMA judging and refereeing. No matter what, or should I say, whose, side you took in the whole Diaz/Condit debacle, you probably agree that there need to be some serious changes made when it comes to choosing the winner of a given fight. And don’t even get us started on the Koscheck/Pierce decision.

The simple fact is that although the sport has evolved in leaps and bounds over the years, the matter by which it is judged has refused to change its mindset, like a stubborn old man who still believes that a mythical beast hustled him out of three dollars and fifty cents.

And while reffing will always contain a certain degree of human subjectivity (as with any other sport), MMA judges should be able to adhere to stricter, more definable rules than “aggression” and “octagon control,” which leave a lot of room for interpretation when it comes to deciding a close round. We’ve already put forth several options, and per usual, no one has returned our calls.

DW’s Presidential Address

I’ve said it many times. In the evolution of this sport right now, one of the big problems we’re having right now is judging and reffing. It’s one of the things that drives me crazy and attention needs to be paid to scoring and reffing. First of all, it affects guys careers as far as legacies go. Jon Jones? Jon Jones should be undefeated right now but he’s not, he’s got a loss on his record and there’s tons of guys in the UFC that have those. There’s guys who’ve absolutely, clearly won fights and lost on the judges’ scorecards. Nobody’s perfect. There’s always gonna be problems. But the judging and the reffing is so bad in mixed martial arts, it drives me crazy. The fans hate it too and it hurts the sport. These athletic commissions really need to tighten up and start working on educating their refs and judges.

While Dana undoubtedly makes some good points here, the real question is that, aside from further educating judges on certain rules and techniques, what can we do to spruce up, if you will, the current judging system of mixed martial arts? Discuss, Potato Nation. But please, don’t waste our time arguing for a “fight to the finish” rule set. We both know that shit simply ain’t going to happen in this day and age, so spending time arguing for it is as pointless as voting for Ralph Nader.

In a bit of more positive news, White recently spoke with MMA Weekly about the UFC’s future plans for global dominance to put on a show in Hawaii, and guess who he wants to headline it:

We’re still working on that, but we want to do it. I was kind of hoping to go to Hawaii again and do a B.J. (Penn) fight at the Aloha Bowl, but B.J. wants to take some time off. He’s going to relax for a while. We’re coming regardless, but that was the fight I really wanted to do there.

Awwww snap. It looks like we may be seeing the return of “The Prodigy” before we know it. Who would you guys like to see Penn square off against, and at what weight class? Personally, I’d like to throw my vote in for a rematch between Penn and Lyoto Machida held at light heavyweight, but I’m just a dreamer.

-J. Jones. 

Here’s the Video of That Prank Akira Corassani Pulled on Frankie Edgar

Remember when we posted that photo of Frankie Edgar getting his BMW M5 “towed” away by repo men? Well, it turns out that the mastermind behind the prank, TUF 14’s Akira Corassani, even went as far as to hire actors hooked up with some Mission Impossible-esque camera glasses to capture the whole thing on video. The man is like the Swedish Ashton Kutcher. But although he’s come a long way from shaving castmates hair in their sleep, he will never match the whip-it gag Kelso managed to pull on Demi Moore a couple weeks ago. That was like the Thomas Crown Affair of modern day pranks.

Remember when we posted that photo of Frankie Edgar getting his BMW M5 “towed” away by repo men? Well, it turns out that the mastermind behind the prank, TUF 14′s Akira Corassani, even went as far as to hire actors hooked up with some Mission Impossible-esque camera glasses to capture the whole thing on video. The man is like the Swedish Ashton Kutcher. But although he’s come a long way from shaving castmates hair in their sleep, he will never match the whip-it gag Kelso managed to pull on Demi Moore a couple weeks ago. That was like the Thomas Crown Affair of modern day pranks.

Does anyone else find the funniest part of this video to be that Corassani calls himself a UFC fighter? He IS set to square off against British striker Jason Young at UFC on FUEL 2 in what will surely be a slobber knocker, but calling yourself a “UFC fighter” before actually having fought inside the real octagon seems a little preemptive to me. Then again, it’s been a good four years since I’ve even trained MMA (the gym went under in ’09), and a good two since I’ve gotten in a fight, so what the fuck do I know?

-J. Jones

Booking Roundup: Donald Cerrone vs. Yves Edwards, Thiago Silva to Face Igor Pokrajac at UFC on FX 3

Donald Cerrone Charles Oliveira UFC on Versus 5
(Are you there God? It’s me, Cowboy…)

A lot of fight booking action today, Potato Nation.

Before dropping a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz at UFC 141, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone had arguably the best 2011 of any fighter out there, scoring victories over Paul Kelly, Vagner Rocha, Charles Oliveira, and Dennis Siver, three of which came by way of stoppage. And although he ended the year on a loss, Cerrone will be looking to start off 2012 with a big win when he takes on 60 fight veteran Yves Edwards at UFC on FX 3, which goes down at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15th.

After suffering one of the most brutal knockout losses of 2011 at the hands of Sam Stout, Edwards has gone 1-1 in the UFC, picking up a second round TKO over Rafaello Oliveira at UFC Live 6 before being outpointed by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at the TUF 14 Finale in December. Edwards will likely be a considerable underdog going into this one, so Yves, for the sake of the Thugjitsu nation, lay off the KC Masterpiece.

And in other UFC on FX news…

Donald Cerrone Charles Oliveira UFC on Versus 5
(Are you there God? It’s me, Cowboy…)

A lot of fight booking action today, Potato Nation.

Before dropping a unanimous decision to Nate Diaz at UFC 141, Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone had arguably the best 2011 of any fighter out there, scoring victories over Paul Kelly, Vagner Rocha, Charles Oliveira, and Dennis Siver, three of which came by way of stoppage. And although he ended the year on a loss, Cerrone will be looking to start off 2012 with a big win when he takes on 60 fight veteran Yves Edwards at UFC on FX 3, which goes down at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia on May 15th.

After suffering one of the most brutal knockout losses of 2011 at the hands of Sam Stout, Edwards has gone 1-1 in the UFC, picking up a second round TKO over Rafaello Oliveira at UFC Live 6 before being outpointed by TUF 13 winner Tony Ferguson at the TUF 14 Finale in December. Edwards will likely be a considerable underdog going into this one, so Yves, for the sake of the Thugjitsu nation, lay off the KC Masterpiece.

And in other UFC on FX news…

It appears that Thiago Silva will be squaring off against Igor Pokrajac now that Brandon Vera has pulled out of their rematch due to injury. Silva has not fought since getting busted for steroids in the aftermath of his bizarre and humiliating win over Vera in January of 2011. Pokrajac, on the other hand, has won two straight for the first time in his UFC career, defeating Todd Brown by TKO due to retirement at UFC Live 3 before KO’ing Krzysztof Soszynski into retirement at UFC 140.

Then again, it’s really hard to judge what an MMA fighter means by “retirement” these days.

Let’s switch gears from the UFC on FX, to the UFC on Fox, shall we?

Coming off a brilliant second round TKO of his own over Mitch Clark in his UFC debut back at UFC 140, Jersey native John Cholish has agreed to face Danny Castillo in a lightweight clash of rising contenders. “Last Call” has racked up two in a row over Shamar Bailey and Anthony Njokuani since being out wrestled by the Carlos Mencia of comedy, Jacob Volkmann, at UFC Live 5. Yes, the Carlos Mencia of comedy. 

UFC on Fox 3 is set to transpire on May 5th in East Rutherford, NJ, and is headlined by a lightweight battle between Jim Miller and Nate Diaz.

-J. Jones

209ers Rejoice: It Looks Like a Condit/Diaz Rematch WILL Be Happening


(I got you now you son of a…wait, where’d you go?) 

A great man once said that if you tweet it, they will come. Yes it seems that after days of tireless bitching reasonable pleas, we will in fact be treated to a Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz rematch in the near future. DW broke the news yesterday via his Twitter (go figure):


(I got you now you son of a…wait, where’d you go?) 

A great man once said that if you tweet it, they will come. Yes it seems that after days of tireless bitching reasonable pleas, we will in fact be treated to a Carlos Condit/Nick Diaz rematch in the near future. DW broke the news yesterday via his Twitter (go figure):


Perhaps the strangest aspect of this story is that it was Condit, not Diaz, who approached White to request the rematch. After being subjected to heated public outcry in the wake of his unanimous decision win at UFC 143, Condit went against the advice of both his camp and his manager to ensure that the fight was booked. So you can say what you want about Condit’s recent performance, but you have to respect a guy who’s willing to possibly lose yet another chance at facing GSP, all for the sake of the fans. That’s three thus far, Shooter.

As of this write up, Diaz has yet to accept the fight, and according to Cesar Gracie, is unsure if he even wants it anymore. Here’s what Gracie had to say on the subject, via his Twitter:

@ufc@danawhite Condit vs Diaz or Gsp will not happen this year. Being interviewed by Ariel Helwanie in 5 minutes. He will break the story.

Less than an hour after tweeting this, Gracie appeared to change his mind, stating that “things are being considered.” Considered? THERE’S NO ROOM FOR THAT KIND OF TALK IN THE 209.

What will be interesting to see is how the UFC markets this rematch, granted Diaz accepts it. Yes, the decision was controversial to many (not to me), and yes, a polarizing figure like Diaz can hype a fight in his sleep, but their first meeting clearly failed to live up to the hype, and are we to believe that Condit will try all that different a strategy the second time around considering his success the first time?

We’ll have more on this story as it develops.

-J. Jones

MMA Quoteathon: Stephan Bonnar’s Near Ejection From TUF 1 and Other Poorly Connected Musings

Stephan Bonnar UFC photos pose
(How can you say no to that face?) 

Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:

The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show. 

Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened. 

No Dana, we would not like to imagine a world in which Griffin/Bonnar never existed. We’d rather imagine one in which Motley Crue serenades our lovemaking sessions with Adriana Lima, thank you very much.

Stephan Bonnar UFC photos pose
(How can you say no to that face?) 

Aside from its placement atop nearly every MMA fan’s “Favorite Fights” list, Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin‘s war at the first TUF Finale is widely considered to be the fight responsible for popularizing MMA into the near mainstream sport it is today. Well, believe it or not, that fight almost didn’t happen on account of Bonnar’s uncontrollable desire for bottom shelf alcohol, specifically, Mad Dog. Although Bonnar has told this story with a slightly different spin before, Dana White recently discussed the craziness that was the first season of The Ultimate Fighter, and how Bonnar almost got himself kicked off the show:

The first season of the ‘Ultimate Fighter’ was the longest season we’ve ever done. It was something like 8 weeks and those guys were losing their (expletive) minds. I almost kicked (Stephan) Bonnar off the show. 

Bonnar turned the shower on, climbed out the window and went to find a liquor store. Remember we took all the liquor out after that big fight? These idiots…we had been driving these guys around for six or seven weeks and the house is in the middle of nowhere. There was no liquor store near there. The guy was walking around for an hour and thirty minutes. So much crazy (expletive) happened that first season. Imagine if I had kicked off him off the show for going to a liquor store? Forrest (Griffin) and Stephan would have never happened. 

No Dana, we would not like to imagine a world in which Griffin/Bonnar never existed. We’d rather imagine one in which Motley Crue serenades our lovemaking sessions with Adriana Lima, thank you very much.

Speaking of the Crue, does anyone get the feeling that Greg Jackson is Afraid to corner Jon Jones for his upcoming title defense against Team Jackson’s Bastard child, Rashad Evans? Because he sure seemed on the fence about it when questioned on the issue during an appearance on The Savage Dog Show:

I’m going back and forth now because I have to think about what it means to be on a team. Are we just a collection of friends that train together? For me, it’s much more than that. It means something to be on this team and it means something to have teammates. Rashad kind of left that. I don’t know, I’m leaning toward cornering Jon right now. Just because, am I selfish, am I going to make this about me? Or am I gonna make this about the team? I can’t be self-centered. Even though it’s something that I don’t want to do, it might end up that way.

I still consider him a friend. Right now he’s really angry, and he’s saying a lot of negative things. I don’t want much to do with that, so I’m just kind of keeping my distance, so that’s where we’re at. 

So what you’re saying is that you didn’t want Evans to Go Away Mad, (but) Just Go Away? And speaking of non sequiturs…

…Eddie Alvarez recently spoke with MMAWeekly and explained why he chose a rematch with Shinya Aoki over the chance to recapture his Bellator lightweight strap by entering the season 6 tournament:

It makes no sense for me to rejoin a tournament and fight three guys that people don’t really care to see me fight rather than fight someone a Shinya Aoki, who is ranked in my weight class. I haven’t fought anyone ranked in my weight class in God knows how long. I’d be stupid not to take this fight. He’s ranked top five in my weight class, I believe, and it’ll get me back into the rankings. I’ll be able to forward positively.

Though it’s hard to blame Alvarez for this revelation, I, for one, would rather he fight for the chance of a possible rematch with Michael Chandler, considering how epic their first encounter was. Then again, watching Aoki butt scoot around Bellator’s rather gigantic cage for 15 minutes could prove to be entertaining in its own right.

An while we’re on the subject of rematches, it seems that one many people out there are already clamoring for is that of Condit/Diaz. And although we’ve said basically all that needs to be said about the fight itself, none other than UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie recently took to Twitter to weigh in on the controversial decision. Go figure, he was in Diaz’s corner:

@nickdiaz209 won that fight in my opinion. He is what every fighter should be a true martial artists who comes to fight. Well prepared and with a gameplan. Not one that [involves] running from a fight. Why come to fight if you gonna run? Hackney was running when we fought and I had to take the fight to him, Shamrock showed up not to lose in our rematch it’s a shame really. I for one am proud of Nick and happy he is part of Grace Jiu-jitsu family.

Well, we can go ahead and discredit anything Gracie says from this day forward, because you would have to be insane to believe that Keith Hackney would run from anybody…ever. He was not running from you, Mr. Gracie, he was simply luring you in using a level of mental warfare that you have not even begun to understand. You think you won that fight, simply because Keith allowed you to put him in an armlock? Please, this man defeated both a serial killer and a killer whale in hand to hand combat, and simply threw the fight for the good of the sport. You should be thanking him.

-J. Jones

Video Roundup: Lesnar Presents Jr. Hodge Trophy, MMA Stars Talk Valentine’s Day & More

We haven’t seen or heard much from Brock Lesnar since his first round UFC 141 TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and subsequent retirement from MMA. Most of us assumed he was likely off on another possibly illegal hunting trip, or perhaps was spending day and night just getting on top of that smoking hot wife of his. In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ recently popped up in Minneapolis to present Minnesota Gopher freshman wrestler Logan Storley with the 2011 Junior Hodge Trophy. Storley, who recently helped the Gophers clinch half of the Big Ten Dual Meet conference championship (along with Penn State), attended the same high school as Lesnar, who, as we all know, was a NCAA Division I Champion himself. After compiling an incredible 262-3 record, Storley was voted the nation’s best prep high school wrestler by the Amateur Athletic Union and WIN Magazine. Now start training those hands, son.

Join us after the jump for a plethora of videos from around the MMA blogosphere, including a nasty Thai Boxing KO, Thiago Alves‘ first (and incredibly brief) UFC on FX video blog, and more…

We haven’t seen or heard much from Brock Lesnar since his first round UFC 141 TKO loss to Alistair Overeem and subsequent retirement from MMA. Most of us assumed he was likely off on another possibly illegal hunting trip, or perhaps was spending day and night just getting on top of that smoking hot wife of his. In either case, the former UFC Heavyweight Champ recently popped up in Minneapolis to present Minnesota Gopher freshman wrestler Logan Storley with the 2011 Junior Hodge Trophy. Storley, who recently helped the Gophers clinch half of the Big Ten Dual Meet conference championship (along with Penn State), attended the same high school as Lesnar, who, as we all know, was a NCAA Division I Champion himself. After compiling an incredible 262-3 record, Storley was voted the nation’s best prep high school wrestler by the Amateur Athletic Union and WIN Magazine. Now start training those hands, son.

Check out a plethora of videos from around the MMA blogosphere below, including a nasty Thai Boxing KO, Thiago Alves‘ first (and incredibly brief) UFC on FX video blog, and more…

MMA Stars Talk Valentine’s Day

Yury Bessmertny KO’s Gago Drago – Thai Box Mania 2012
(skip to the 7:25 mark for the KO)

Thiago Alves UFC on FX Video Blog #1

Phil Davis Predicts Evans/Jones

-J. Jones