(You see this, right here? It’s like pedophilia gold, son.)
The weigh-ins for tomorrow night’s UFC on FX 3 card kick off in just a few minutes, so join us after the jump for live results, won’t you? Featuring a rematch of the bodged flyweight tournament semifinal between Ian McCall and Demetrious Johnson, as well as a sure to be slugfest between Josh Neer and Mike Pyle, the UFC’s return to FX can only exceed our expectations, and might just become one of the sleeper cards of the year.
Bullshit hype aside, come check out the weigh-ins and see what happens.
(You see this, right here? It’s like pedophilia gold, son.)
Preliminary Card (FUEL TV): Leonard Garcia (146) vs. Matt Grice (146) Mike Pierce (171) vs. Carlos Eduardo Rocha (170.5)
Seth Baczynski (171) vs. Lance Benoist (170.5)
Dustin Pague (136) vs. Jared Papazian (133)
Tim Means (155.5) vs. Justin Salas (155)
Caio Magalhaes (186) vs. Buddy Roberts (185)
Bernardo Magalhaes (155) vs. Henry Martinez (156)
Jake Hecht (171) vs. Sean Pierson (170)
(Khalidov’s most recent bit of UFC-washout dispatching handiwork at KSW 19.)
If you’ve even been a semi-regular reader of this site over the past few months, then you are probably familiar with our nuthuggery when it comes to Polish powerhouse Mamed Khalidov. With a record that currently stands at 25-4, Khalidov has made a name for himself as of late by quickly and violently decimating any challenge placed before him under the KSW banner. His diet has consisted mainly of ex-UFC talent including James Irvin, Jesse Taylor, Jorge Santiago, and Matt Lindland, and he has not lost a fight since March of 2010 (in a rematch with Santiago). In those fights, Khalidov has proven to be as dynamic and powerful a striker as he is a lethal submission savant, and with the Biblical-scale plague of injuries currently sweeping through the UFC’s roster, now seems like a better time than any for Khalidov to test himself in the sport’s highest promotion, don’t you think?
Well, even though it is being reported that Khalidov has in fact been offered a contract by Dana & Co, the jury is still out on whether or not we’ll actually be seeing him stateside anytime soon. The reason, as it always is, boils down to simple dollars and cents. Or lack thereof.
(Khalidov’s most recent bit of UFC-washout dispatching handiwork at KSW 19.)
If you’ve even been a semi-regular reader of this site over the past few months, then you are probably familiar with our nuthuggery when it comes to Polish powerhouse Mamed Khalidov. With a record that currently stands at 25-4, Khalidov has made a name for himself as of late by quickly and violently decimating any challenge placed before him under the KSW banner. His diet has consisted mainly of ex-UFC talent including James Irvin, Jesse Taylor, Jorge Santiago, and Matt Lindland, and he has not lost a fight since March of 2010 (in a rematch with Santiago). In those fights, Khalidov has proven to be as dynamic and powerful a striker as he is a lethal submission savant, and with the Biblical-scale plague of injuries currently sweeping through the UFC’s roster, now seems like a better time than any for Khalidov to test himself in the sport’s highest promotion, don’t you think?
Well, even though it is being reported that Khalidov has in fact been offered a contract by Dana & Co, the jury is still out on whether or not we’ll actually be seeing him stateside anytime soon. The reason, as it always is, boils down to simple dollars and cents. Or lack thereof.
Even though Khalidov hasn’t faced a legitimate test since his aforementioned rematch with Santiago (who, let’s face it, has proven to be less than UFC material), he is looking to prove himself to a whole new audience, and the UFC would obviously be the best place to do so. The initial contract Mamed was offered, however, is apparently so “laughable” that he is turning it down because he makes a great deal more competing under the KSW banner. That’s right, the same promotion that can’t even afford to hire ADHD-free judges can somehow manage to outbid the promotion that is willing to pay Nick Diaz three hundred thousand dollars just to show up to a press conference. You gotta love the places incompetence can bring you in today’s society.
According to FightersOnly, Khalidov currently makes around $30,000 a fight under his current KSW contract, which isn’t bad at all. When you consider that less than half of his fights under the promotion have lasted over two minutes, it makes that number look even more better. But if the UFC isn’t even coming close to matching that offer, Khalidov might as well plow through the next season of The Ultimate Fighter scrubs and get locked into one of their paltry contracts. The fact that he is considering turning down the contract must mean that the number offered is far below the 30K he makes a fight over in his native Poland, which is pretty sad considering his skill set and record.
But looking at things from the UFC’s perspective, Khalidov is a generally unknown (even to some more knowledgeable fans) prospect who hasn’t been legitimately tested in a couple of years. He lacks the drawing power, and could, like his Sengoku counterpart in Santiago, prove to simply not be at UFC level within just a couple fights. But that’s why they’re called gambles.
Personally, I think Khalidov will fair quite well in the UFC’s middleweight division, and should be offered a contract that reflects a good degree of confidence in his abilities. Check out a few of his most recent performances and give us your assessment.
Khalidov vs. Santiago 1 (unfortunately, we cannot find a video of this fight that doesn’t include some crappy European techno in the background, so just turn off your speakers for this one.)
Luckily “Captain America” is here to put things in perspective:
You know, I understand it. There’s this whole movement out there for anti-aging. It started out with guys in their 50’s who, naturally as you get older, your testosterone levels deplete. Your body quits producing more, and they want to feel and recover and do the things they did when they were younger. I understand that.
But I think there are natural ways to jumpstart your body’s own production rather than put an external source of testosterone in your body. And I think putting the external in only compounds the issues that your already having. I think the problem…obviously Chael, Marquardt, there’s been several athletes that have been using TRT.
I think for them, it’s not a function of having depleted levels of testosterone, it’s wanting to have testosterone levels of a 21 year old again, because when you were 21, let’s face it, you recovered better, you’re probably gonna compete better, especially if you’re 32 and have that experience going into a fight.
Couture goes on to mention several of the methods he used to stay young at heart, which included marrying, then divorcing lunatics at least ten years his junior on the regular. True dat, brother.
Join us after the jump for the full interview.
(Titty Relaxation Therapy > Testosterone Replacement Therapy any day of the week.)
Luckily “Captain America” is here to put things in perspective:
You know, I understand it. There’s this whole movement out there for anti-aging. It started out with guys in their 50′s who, naturally as you get older, your testosterone levels deplete. Your body quits producing more, and they want to feel and recover and do the things they did when they were younger. I understand that.
But I think there are natural ways to jumpstart your body’s own production rather than put an external source of testosterone in your body. And I think putting the external in only compounds the issues that your already having. I think the problem…obviously Chael, Marquardt, there’s been several athletes that have been using TRT.
I think for them, it’s not a function of having depleted levels of testosterone, it’s wanting to have testosterone levels of a 21 year old again, because when you were 21, let’s face it, you recovered better, you’re probably gonna compete better, especially if you’re 32 and have that experience going into a fight.
Couture goes on to mention several of the methods he used to stay young at heart, which included marrying, then divorcing lunatics at least ten years his junior on the regular. True dat, brother.
But Couture’s greatest bit of wisdom on TRT came when he simply stated that the positives are by far outweighed by the negatives:
[MMA Commissions] designate what the top line is for a natural human being, and unfortunately, if you get carried away with TRT, you’re gonna cross that line and you’re gonna come up positive in a test.
In our profession, to be banned from making a living for probably a year, and trashing your reputation, it’s really not worth it.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is why Couture is one of the guys you go to when you’re trying to make sense of things. Because, like your war-hardened Grandpa, he can both school you in a debate on almost any subject and still kick your ass if things get physical.
Speaking of grandfathers, for those of you hoping that Couture was just biding his time before he attempts to become the first AARP card-holding heavyweight champion, we are sorry to inform you that Couture “doesn’t want any part” of Junior dos Santos. He also states that he picked Mir to win over dos Santos, proving that some of those senility theorists might just be onto something.
(Inferior heavyweight contender, or marketing genius?!)
Perhaps we’re in the minority here, but we’re getting pretty God damn sick of mixed martial artists throwing around the word “retirement” like Kim Kardashian throws around the word “marriage.” Because retirement, like marriage, is a sacred institution, and nowadays it seems as if every other fighter is taking a big, steaming turd on what was once holy ground. In the past year alone, both Jamie Varner and more recently B.J. Penn have retired, only to come out of said retirement before anyone could even assess their retirement in the first place. Though the jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz and Jason Miller will be out of action, it’s looking like you can add none other than former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to the former list, as it has been reported by co-Host of Tough Talk on wrestlingobserver.com, Mike Sawyer, that Lesnar will return to the UFC within the year. He broke the news over his Twitter:
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA Had an interesting conversation with someone VERY close to all the Brock Lesnar stuff. He is fighting THIS YEAR in UFC & not Frank Mir…
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA plans change all the time, but the name I was told isn’t Roy.
Brian ?@FrontRowBrian If it’s not Mir fighting Lesnar in UFC later this year as @TOUGHTALKMMA reports, who is it? @roynelsonmma? @stefanstruve? @ShaneCarwin II?
(Inferior heavyweight contender, or marketing genius?!)
Perhaps we’re in the minority here, but we’re getting pretty God damn sick of mixed martial artists throwing around the word “retirement” like Kim Kardashian throws around the word “marriage.” Because retirement, like marriage, is a sacred institution, and nowadays it seems as if every other fighter is taking a big, steaming turd on what was once holy ground. In the past year alone, both Jamie Varner and more recently B.J. Penn have retired, only to come out of said retirement before anyone could even assess their retirement in the first place. Though the jury is still out on how long Nick Diaz and Jason Miller will be out of action, it’s looking like you can add none other than former heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar to the former list, as it has been reported by co-Host of Tough Talk on wrestlingobserver.com, Mike Sawyer, that Lesnar will return to the UFC within the year. He broke the news over his Twitter:
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA Had an interesting conversation with someone VERY close to all the Brock Lesnar stuff. He is fighting THIS YEAR in UFC & not Frank Mir…
Mike Sawyer ?@TOUGHTALKMMA plans change all the time, but the name I was told isn’t Roy.
Brian ?@FrontRowBrian If it’s not Mir fighting Lesnar in UFC later this year as @TOUGHTALKMMA reports, who is it? @roynelsonmma? @stefanstruve? @ShaneCarwin II?
Now, this rumor may not be coming from the most reliable source, but if there is any truth to this, then we gotta ask what the hell DW and company are thinking. Oh wait, they’re thinking that having Lesnar back in the UFC will significantly add to their stacks of cash which already stand higher than Joe Silva on a step ladder.
But Sergio Hernandez of CageSideSeats seems to think that we are all being made fools of, and that the UFC have become nothing than pawns in a possible WWE storyline. He writes:
In his short career, he defeated a Hall of Famer, won the heavyweight championship and became the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) draw in the history of the company.
Four months later, he was back in WWE, F5ing John Cena out of nowhere and kicking off their rivalry which culminated in a terrific match at Extreme Rules.
Following Lesnar’s loss to Cena that night, he attacked WWE COO Triple H. Snapping “The Game’s” arm, he hasn’t been seen since and his old mouthpiece Paul Heyman showed up at one point to announce his client’s resignation and subsequent lawsuit against WWE.
Of course, in the world of professional wrestling, this is all a charade.
So when Lesnar showed up at last night’s UFC 146 event and rumors began swirling the former champion was looking to get his old job back, it get me thinking [sic].
According to Dave Meltzer, Lesnar’s meeting with White did not go well. Perhaps the UFC President felt the biggest star in the sport was genuinely interested in making a comeback only to find out his appearance was all to help legitimize the storyline in which he quit WWE.
Meltzer also mentioned a “game is being played.”
It’s unclear what he means by that. Perhaps the aforementioned theory is true and Lesnar plus Vince McMahon is simply using the UFC.
Or maybe Dana White — who has had meetings with McMahon in the past — is helping an old friend with his new gig?
We gotta say, this theory makes much more sense than the actual possibility of Lesnar returning to the UFC. As Hernandez also mentioned, it’s not like the beatings Lesnar took at the hands of Cain Velasquez and the Ubereem have been long forgotten, so who would honestly expect Lesnar’s return to be anything but a marketing ploy? One thing’s for sure, if he were to return, it surely wouldn’t help add to the legitimacy of a sport that is constantly trying to gain credibility in the mainstream.
But on the outside chance Lesnar actually is returning, Sawyer seems convinced that he will either face Stefan Struve, Roy Nelson, or Shane Carwin. We can go ahead and cross Struve off that list, because he is not nearly well known enough to be facing a guy like Lesnar, even though he has about 5 times the experience. Nelson has been angling for a fight with Lesnar for what seems like an eternity now, even to the point that he would be willing to go to the WWE to “whoop his ass,” so perhaps all of his trash talking could finally pay off. As for Carwin, he and Lesnar already engaged in a classic war at UFC 116, and Carwin finally has a return date tentatively set, so that could make for the most interesting storyline of the three, but what do you think, Potato Nation? Should we even be considering this lunacy as a possibility?
(The fact that Aldama’s feet look something like this surely didn’t help matters.)
My God. As if it wasn’t crazy enough that CP reader Jason Jenkins was able to pull off that insane tilt-a-whirl KO just last week, now this shit happens. Matter of fact, while we’re naming knockouts after carnival rides, we’d like to be the first to officially dub this baby, which took place at Total Gym Peleas Amateur Chapo Challenger 1 in Mexico last weekend, “The Scrambler.” Not only because it certainly scrambled the brains of it’s recipient, Esteban Santillanez, for quite some time, but also because the kick looked like it was thrown by a man who forgot to buckle his safety harness on the aforementioned ride.
Christian Aldama is the man behind the incredible kick, which awaits you after the jump.
(The fact that Aldama’s feet look something like this surely didn’t help matters.)
My God. As if it wasn’t crazy enough that CP reader Jason Jenkins was able to pull off that insane tilt-a-whirl KO just last week, now this shit happens. Matter of fact, while we’re naming knockouts after carnival rides, we’d like to be the first to officially dub this baby, which took place at Total Gym Peleas Amateur Chapo Challenger 1 in Mexico last weekend, “The Scrambler.” Not only because it certainly scrambled the brains of it’s recipient, Esteban Santillanez, for quite some time, but also because the kick looked like it was thrown by a man who forgot to buckle his safety harness on the aforementioned ride.
Christian Aldama is the man behind the incredible kick, which awaits you after the jump.
(It’s as if the province of Ontario is giving us the middle finger at every waking moment.)
When you report on all things MMA for a living (or at least claim to) like we here at CP do, it becomes a rarer and rarer occurrence that something truly blows our collective minds. A botched drug test here, a DWI/Domestic Assault arrest here — none of these things really surprise us in the sense that they are completely unheard news stories. Rather, it is often the whos and whats of a given case that give us food for thought. In other words, it is not everyday that we are treated to a rampage across Southern California that really makes us sit back and ponder the peculiarity of a given situation.
Today is one of those days, Potato Nation.
For you see, our buddies at Fightlinker managed to come across a story originally reported by Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro that involved Canada’s ever-budding amatuer mixed martial arts scene, and we felt the need to pass it along.
But first, a little backstory. For those of you keeping track, Ontario did not legalize mixed martial arts until the beginning of 2011, but the Ontarian (yes, that’s what they call themselves) response was overwhelmingly positive. UFC 129 became the fastest selling card in UFC History, selling over 55,000 tickets in just over two days. We’re talking about a card that had Jake f’ing Shieldzzzzz in the main event, people. The UFC returned to Ontario at UFC 140, and in both occasions, saw the usual mix of enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans in attendance, something that cannot be said for many other venues.
So one would think that when it came to determining a set of rules for which amateur MMA would be governed by, Ontario would have more than an infinitesimal inkling as to how the sport they loved so much was run. You would be wrong. So, very, very wrong.
(It’s as if the province of Ontario is giving us the middle finger at every waking moment.)
When you report on all things MMA for a living (or at least claim to) like we here at CP do, it becomes a rarer and rarer occurrence that something truly blows our collective minds. A botched drug test here, a DWI/Domestic Assault arrest here — none of these things really surprise us in the sense that they are completely unheard news stories. Rather, it is often the whos and whats of a given case that give us food for thought. In other words, it is not everyday that we are treated to a rampage across Southern California that really makes us sit back and ponder the peculiarity of a given situation.
Today is one of those days, Potato Nation.
For you see, our buddies at Fightlinker managed to come across a story originally reported by Sportsnet’s Joe Ferraro that involved Canada’s ever-budding amatuer mixed martial arts scene, and we felt the need to pass it along.
But first, a little backstory. For those of you keeping track, Ontario did not legalize mixed martial arts until the beginning of 2011, but the Ontarian (yes, that’s what they call themselves) response was overwhelmingly positive. UFC 129 became the fastest selling card in UFC History, selling over 55,000 tickets in just over two days. We’re talking about a card that had Jake f’ing Shieldzzzzz in the main event, people. The UFC returned to Ontario at UFC 140, and in both occasions, saw the usual mix of enthusiastic and knowledgeable fans in attendance, something that cannot be said for many other venues.
So one would think that when it came to determining a set of rules for which amateur MMA would be governed by, Ontario would have more than an infinitesimal inkling as to how the sport they loved so much was run. You would be wrong. So, very, very wrong.
First, let’s take a look at some of the more glaring observations that Ferraro made when looking through Ontario’s AMMA rulebook:
– MMA has seven weight classes. This group believes amateur MMA should have 12.
– I do not believe MMA should ever consider using standing eight counts, like they do in boxing or kickboxing. This organization believes amateur MMA should use standing eight counts.
– If you land a “Jump Kick to (the) Head,” you are awarded three points. “Jump Kick to (the) body” will garner you two points.
If you have not figured it out yet, by looking at the link to the rules above, yes, the organization that runs the sport of amateur MMA in the province is Kickboxing Ontario, as well as, Kickboxing Canada, aka CASK (Council of Amateur Sport Kickboxing). And there is absolutely nothing wrong with that, but what they are doing can and should be modified to better reflect amateur MMA, and not kickboxing.
After reading over the rulebook myself, I found that the classes outside of the standard seven in MMA include Light Bantam, Light Welter, Light Middle, Cruiser, and Super Heavy, which is fine if that’s what Ontario wants to do. It’s a tad ridiculous considering that these weight classes will only exist at one place in the world, but if Ontario wants to add Rumbleweight, Franklinweight, and Moneyweight to their rankings, fine.
But then my eyes passed over the phrase “standing eight counts.” In MMA. If the very thought of that concept filled you with a sense of constipated, sickening anxiety and befuddlement, then you are not alone. Aside from being the main argument *against* boxing pundits beliefs that MMA is more dangerous than boxing, it makes about as much sense as a screen door on a submarine. How does one enact an eight count in a sport where a fighter is allowed to follow his opponent to the canvas to finish him off, or possibly work for a submission? Perhaps this is why MMA rules and regulation shouldn’t be, as Ferraro pointed out, run by a kickboxing organization. At least if they are not even going to attempt and understand the sport they have been put in charge of.
And don’t even get us started on this “Jump Kick to (the) Head” scoring bullshit. According to those rules, Edson Barboza would have walked away from UFC 142 with not only his FOTN and KOTN bonus, but a promotion, a new car, and a lifetime supply of Plinko chips.
Now let’s move on to some of the observations made by Ferraro at the amateur MMA event itself, the first of which took place the day before he even arrived. Warning: you may come away from this with a newfound respect for Steve Mazzagatti and Kim Winslow:
When I arrived at the venue on Sunday morning, even before I walked in I received a phone call from two concerned (and bitter) coaches, whose experiences the day before were extremely disappointing. To make a long story short, they watched a bout where a fighter dominated his opponent, knocked him down to the ground and when he went to finish him off, his opponent pulled his arm inside and held him tight. The referee apparently stopped the bout and gave the win to the bottom fighter, for a “near submission.” Apparently, all hell nearly broke lose.
Having instigated more than a few montage-interrupting riots, food fights, and full on tribal wars in my day, I can say that in this occasion, a retaliation of Brobdingnagian proportions would have been justified. Let’s continue:
Back to paying attention to the action, where my heart sunk as I watched what the aforementioned coaches and athletes all said would take place. Things like during the bout taking place at 10:45 a.m., the referee halted the action and stood the competitors up (apologies, as I was unable to retrieve their names) so one of them could adjust his headgear. I have no issue with that, but when the bout was restarted, it was done so in the standup and NOT where it should have been restarted — on the ground.
The same thing took place during the bout taking place at 11:17 a.m., where the two competitors were stood up and restarted after grappling themselves out of bounds. During the bout at 11:24 a.m., one fighter submitted his opponent. I saw the tap. But the referee stood them up and they began competing again. Another tap, another standup, another restart.
(I later found out that this is “how it is.” A submission ends the round, and the next round commences. I later discovered, but was unable to confirm, that one competitor earned two submissions, but lost round three. The tally from the scorecards had him losing the bout. Preposterous? For the average folk, yes. Knowing what I know, it is “how it is.”)
I actually walked away during this bout, as two minutes later, at 11:26 a.m., unlike the description in its Rules and Regulations, the “safety zone” was not present around the competition area. One competitor executed a double leg takedown on the perimeter, finishing off the technique on the concrete floor. Now I have held tournaments in the past. I have promoted MMA in and outside of a cage. I have been a part of and witnessed hundreds upon hundreds of grappling and MMA events, but this was a first. A scary one, but it paled in comparison to what ended my day.
I actually returned a few hours later to the very area where I was scared for the safety of the two competitors. Next to the mats was a ring where “K-1 Rules” bouts were taking place. I watched in sheer horror as one competitor knocked out his opponent, who stiffened up in mid-air and landed like a two-by-four onto the mat.
He lay there motionless as I waited for the referee to tend to his safety. Instead (and I do not fully blame her as she has surely not been trained and certified CORRECTLY), the ref simply made sure that the one fighter remained in the neutral corner, while conducting an eight count… ON A FIGHTER WHO WAS OUT COLD. We cringed as the youngster lay motionless for the better part of 20 seconds and I had enough… I made my way to the barricade but stopped when I saw the paramedics enter the ring, albeit with no sense of urgency. Again, I had enough and left.
As a huge proponent of amateur MMA, and amateur combat sports in general, I must say that this is nothing short of horrifying to come across. For Christ’s sake, Michael Vick treated his dogs with more care and understanding than the so-called “officials” of a sport that, while ever-improving in its safety (except for in Ontario, of course), has proven that it can still be deadly if the correct procedures are not followed, and even when they are. Unbelievable.
As Ferraro also concluded, although it is great to see any new region accept MMA, doing so in this seemingly rushed, incoherent fashion is not only blindingly stupid for everyone involved, but a serious threat to the safety of those who choose to participate. Those in charge of this unnamed organization best make some changes before holding another event, or it is going to be all too clear who to blame when the worst case scenario plays out.
