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Braulio Estima Responds to Cesar Gracie’s…Response, And it Ain’t Pretty

(An artist’s depiction of what may have happened had Nick Diaz not been a complete space-case.)

Sigh…

We can’t be the only MMA news outlet that is getting tired of Nick Diaz’s inability to accept responsibility for his actions, or at the bare minimum speak up when his inability to do so is called into question. The man is one of the most entertaining and plain intimidating fighters in the game today, yet the only thing that seems to be holding him back is this ever-present sense of adolescent rebellion. And it looks like were not the only ones sharing this frustration.

You know the story by now. After no-showing for his BJJ superfight against Braulio Estima, Diaz went back into hiding, opting to have coach Cesar Gracie do his talking for him. In an incredibly long letter, Gracie claimed that a “lack of professionalism” on Estima’s part (ie. an inability to make the required 180 lbs.) was the reason for Diaz’s decision to pull out, even though Estima claimed to have made the required weight on the morning of the fight.

This was enough to set off a “fed up” Estima, who responded to Gracies claims with his own statement that awaits you after the jump.

(An artist’s depiction of what may have happened had Nick Diaz not been a complete space-case.)

Sigh…

This was enough to set off a “fed up” Estima, who responded to Gracies claims with his own statement.

@CesarGracieBJJ Hi César i was reading yr statement. vry interesting points..

1st- When junior approached me 2 Offer me the fight I was actually training at the blackzilians at the time so obviously I was training Mma. Junior told me abt nick not wanting 2 fight an Mma fighter. I nevr fought before so he said it was fine & y u dnt cancel the fight before if ths was really an issue..??

2nd- nobody has ever bended no rules for me. Because there was no rules set to start off with, it wasnt going to be a UFC match but a superfight on a BJJ Expo so the whole point here was for us to show a fight..has Nick signed a contract that stated the date time and weight that we both need to reach? I didn’t. And since this whole thing was going to be a friendly event I really don’t see any issue here even if Nick turned up 10lbs overweight. Still when asked I went and dropped the weight to meet the requirement. Actually to put things straight it was myself that called Junior around 10pm Friday to check if there is going to be a weigh in at all. He kept contacting you and got back to me saying I need to be 180 that time, of course I said I can’t for the simple reason I was away in Irvine and it was already late at night but I said sure no problem I’ll make it first thing in the morning if needed, even if it would put me in a bigger disadvantage I didnt care I just came to fight. Junior had actually called me back no later than midnight that he spoke to you and confirmed the weigh in for 10am.

Besides when did Nick actually weigh in? And who witnessed that if we are being so strict and proffessional?

3rd – you are saying Nick had left by 10am Saturday morning? Why you never said anything then? I even asked you I’d like to see him and his weight and you said he’s not gonna come down because he ate already and wouldn’t make the weight anymore. And Lana after speaking to you called his room and said he was actually there sleeping. Nobody at any point had mentioned he could have left. Leaving me believing we would fight till the very last minute, now youre talking about lack of proffesionalism in the organisation of the superfight and this was very professional behaviour right?

There is many more points here that I don’t agree with but I am just fed up of this whole situation and don’t agree for anyone to ever release the blame from Nick for whatever reason, we were there to fight and that’s what should happen no excuses, we are both professional athletes and should respect one another no matter what. And this is inexcusable.

I don’t know about you guys, but there seems to be so much “he said/she said” drama surrounding what was supposed to be a friendly charity match that I’ve really gone past the point where I give a shit about the match that was suppose to happen in the first place. Nick Diaz is being Nick Diaz, and why anyone would expect otherwise is beyond me. Whether or not you will place the blame on Diaz or Estima for this blown opportunity likely depends on how much of a Diaz enthusiast you really are, and I’m not going to try and change anyone’s mind. Like I said, the guy is a fantastic fighter. I just wish he would grow the fuck up.

-J. Jones

[VIDEO] Chael Sonnen Talks Anderson Silva, Sports Psychology, and Damn Near Everything Else on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’

(Little did Zach Galifianakis know that this would be the most awkward episode of “Between Two Ferns” to date.)

As has become public knowledge by this point, there are two sides to Chael Sonnen. Two sides that, while vastly different from one another, combine to form a charismatic, well-spoken, yet incredibly polarizing mixed martial artist. The fact that Sonnen manages to effortlessly shift between these two paradigms when hyping a fight, giving a post-fight interview, or relentlessly tearing apart a Canadian reporter is only a testament to his ability to enthrall while repelling, to pique one’s interest while simultaneously drawing their ire. This may sound like a bit of “nut-hugging” as the MMA blogosphere likes to so eloquently put it, but there’s no denying that Sonnen is truly a unique individual, and one who could sell a ketchup Popsicle to a woman in white gloves without batting an eye.

But the Chael Sonnen that sat down with Joe Rogan as part of his infamous (as far as podcasts go) “The Joe Rogan Experience” was not the fight-hyping, pro rasslin’ “Oregon Gangster” that many fans can’t bear the sight of. Instead, for over two and a half hours, Rogan managed a feat that perhaps no other interviewer, journalist, or low-level blogger has even come close to: He managed to bring out the sincerity in Chael Sonnen.

And it was nothing short of fascinating.

Not fascinating in a “what’s he going to say next?” kind of way, but rather in a “man behind the myth” kind of way, and to put it simply, it stands above any other Chael Sonnen interview I personally have ever seen. The two dished on everything from Sonnen’s turning point as an MMA fighter (which came as a result of hypnotherapy, believe it or not), to Dan Severn’s infamously terrible work against Shannon Ritch, to Chris Leben’s batshit crazy childhood. But none of it felt forced, or fabricated. The Chael Sonnen that sat down with Rogan was endearing, empathetic, and above all else, realistic, and a kudos is due to Rogan for managing to bring that out of him.

Check out the full podcast after the jump.

(Little did Zach Galifianakis know that this would be the most awkward episode of “Between Two Ferns” to date.)

And it was nothing short of fascinating.

Take this tidbit, in which Rogan asks Chael what he honestly would have expected had his rematch against Anderson Silva taken place in front of the eighty-some thousand fans in Rio as originally planned:

It would’ve been a scene. I don’t think they could’ve controlled it. They swore that they could, they’d have presidential security there, they were planning on having the President of Brazil there, so they’d have their secret service. It’s like, ‘guys, you can’t do it.’ There was just a soccer game and 73 were trampled to death. You can’t control a crowd when they decide to storm, you just can’t. It’s displaced responsibility. You can’t control that, especially when I’m the main event. And the relevance to that is, it means the beer started pouring five hours earlier. So now your not only talking about an insightful crowd, you’re talking about a drunk crowd.

Rogan pushed on, asking Sonnen what he thought would have happened had he beat Silva in his home country, and it was here that Sonnen truly opened up.

I think it would have been bad. I think it would have been very, very bad. And I would not have backed off one bit. Because I’m not gonna change; I’m gonna dance with the one that brought me. I’m going to be aggressive, I’m going to be in your face…I’m going to do my job as soon as Bruce Buffer gets out of my way. And I can’t change, I don’t know how to change. This is what I’m programmed to do. I hate to talk like one of those maniacs, ‘I’d have given my life blah blah blah,’ but Joe, I swear to you, hand to God, I’d have given my life to win that championship if I had to.

Let’s not forget, this isn’t tough guy talk. I signed the contract to go to Brazil to do the fight, and in my heart I thought, ‘I don’t know how this is gonna go.’ I made my mother promise she wouldn’t go. My mother doesn’t get it, she’s an older woman. She’s got a ruby or a diamond on every finger, you know, you don’t go into South America like that, let alone a fight. It was just one of those deals, but look, this is what I’m gonna do.

Check out the full podcast below. The conversation in question starts somewhere around the hour and a half mark, but I’d recommend you check out the whole thing.

–J. Jones

Reminder: Urijah Faber’s New UFC 148 Opponent Will Be Revealed on This Week’s Episode of ‘The Ultimate Fighter’

(Holy shit! That dude looks tough!)

If the abysmal ratings of The Ultimate Fighter 15 are any indication (hint: they are), then most of you are likely not up to speed on the happenings of this season, and I’m no exception. For instance, I couldn’t even name one of the participants still competing (Steve Sicilia?), nor could I tell you which phase of the tournament we are currently in. I chalk up my lack of enthusiasm over TUF 15 to the show’s shift to Friday nights, because personally, I’d rather get bombed on a mixture of hand grenades and PBR and hit on a mid-30’s divorcee with lowered self-esteem then watch Team Faber strip down and get a good sweat on in Team Cruz’s locker room, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But this Friday’s episode may mark the first time in the season that you and I might actually want to hold off on the brain damage and sexual harassment lawsuits for the time being.

After it was revealed that Dominick Cruz had suffered an ACL injury and would be forced out of his trilogy fight with Urijah Faber in last week’s episode, Dana White announced that during this week’s episode, he would reveal Cruz’s replacement. The mystery opponent will square off against Faber at UFC 148 for the interim bantamweight title, because the UFC simply can’t have enough interim champs at one time.

Join us after the jump for more on this story.

(Holy shit! That dude looks tough!)

If the abysmal ratings of The Ultimate Fighter 15 are any indication (hint: they are), then most of you are likely not up to speed on the happenings of this season, and I’m no exception. For instance, I couldn’t even name one of the participants still competing (Steve Sicilia?), nor could I tell you which phase of the tournament we are currently in. I chalk up my lack of enthusiasm over TUF 15 to the show’s shift to Friday nights, because personally, I’d rather get bombed on a mixture of hand grenades and PBR and hit on a mid-30′s divorcee with lowered self-esteem then watch Team Faber strip down and get a good sweat on in Team Cruz’s locker room, not that there’s anything wrong with that. But this Friday’s episode may mark the first time in the season that you and I might actually want to hold off on the brain damage and sexual harassment lawsuits for the time being.

Rumors instantly started springing up that everyone from Michael McDonald, who is coming off a brilliant knockout of former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Torres, to Renan Barao, who is currently scheduled to face Ivan Menjivar at the same event, would be next in line for a crack at Urijah. However, Barao recently told Tatame that the UFC had yet to contact him on the potential of facing Faber, but that he would be more than willing if the opportunity presented itself:

It would be great. Actually, I fight any guy UFC tells me to. I’m prepared and I can fight anyone.

I started my preparation and I’ll fight anyone they tell me to. I’ll be prepared to go there and do a good jog and a good fight. My focus in on Menjivar. It’s all speculations, bets. I’m slated to fight Menjivar.

It’s a fans thing. They want it to happen. People on Facebook and Twitter want me to be in this fight and Faber himself pointed me out. The champion got injured and Faber is fighting. I’d be really glad to confront him. That’s all. They haven’t say anything to me.

So who do you think will be the man to step up, Potato Nation? And if not Barao or McDonald, then who else?

Personally, I’m hopping on the quickly growing bandwagon of people that think we should just cut our losses and have Stephan Bonnar and Forrest Griffin duke it out again for old time’s sake. Any other takers?

-J. Jones

Gambling Addiction Enabler: Zombie vs. Poirier Edition

(I’ll show you Linsanity, you racist sonofabitch!)

Perhaps it’s because we are truly spontaneous creatures at heart, but we are more excited for tomorrow night’s UFC on FUEL broadcast than perhaps any other free card in as long as we can remember, if only because it gives us an excuse to do something on a Tuesday night that we normally save for the weekends ie. drink, shout at the TV until our ears bleed, and gamble away the money we have yet to even earn. And since we don’t want to be the only MMA fans waiting in line at the soup kitchen come next week, we figured we’d drag you all down with us. Because, honestly, it’s neither as easy or as fun to start a soup fight with the homeless by yourself. Anyway, check out the betting lines below, courtesy of BestFightOdds, and join us after the jump for our more-or-less comprehensible advice.

MAIN CARD (FUEL TV)
Chan Sung Jung (+270) vs. Dustin Poirier (-330)
Amir Sadollah (-185) vs. Jorge Lopez (+160)
Donald Cerrone (-255) vs. Jeremy Stephens (+215)
Yves Jabouin (-235) vs. Jeff Hougland (+195)
Igor Pokrajac (+145) vs. Fabio Maldonado (-165)
Jason MacDonald (+200) vs. Tom Lawlor (-240)

PRELIMINARY CARD (Fuel.tv, 5:30 p.m. ET / 2:30 p.m. PT)
Cody McKenzie (-105) vs. Marcus LeVesseur (-115)
Brad Tavares (-175) vs. Dongi Yang (+155)
T.J. Grant (-400) vs. Carlo Prater (+325)
Rafael Dos Anjos (-280) vs. Kamal Shalorus (+240)
Jeff Curran (-135) vs. Johnny Eduardo (+115)
Alex Soto (+200) vs. Francisco Rivera (-240)

Thoughts…

(I’ll show you Linsanity, you racist sonofabitch!)

Thoughts…

The Main Event: Don’t let your love for all things zombie apocalypse fool you; come tomorrow night, Dustin Poirier will become the clear cut number one contender at 145, whatever that means. Although he and Chan Sung Jung are incredibly similar on paper, in that they are both well versed in submissions yet prefer to stand and trade, Poirier hasn’t even so much as wobbled in his Zuffa career aside from his loss to Danny Castillo nearly two years ago. And not to take anything away from Jung, but his two most recent victories, though impressive, have come over a guy who would be on a five fight losing streak if not for the general incompetence of MMA and another guy who has fallen from number one contender to undercard fodder in just under a year. Poirier is bigger, stronger, and packs the mix of power and aggression that will not let up until Jung is flat on his back. Granted, we also said Hominick would steamroll Jung, only to made fools of shortly thereafter, so perhaps we should stop counting “The Korean Zombie” out. Starting….next time.

The Good Dogs: Sheesh, the betting lines on this card make us yearn for the days of PRIDE freak shows ala Cro Cop vs. Dos Caras Jr, where big risk at least gave us the outside hope of reaping a big reward. Looking over the main card, the only underdog bet that stands out has got to be Jason MacDonald. Though he’s never been one for consistency, and is coming off a submission to strikes loss at the hands of Alan Belcher, the fact that he’s trying to earn a retirement fight at UFC 149 in Canada has to mean something in terms of an X-factor, right? I mean, the man he is fighting came to the weigh-ins dressed as another fighter dressed as a guitar player for Christ’s sake. No self respecting man wants to get his ass kicked by the class clown on his way out the door.

You may be wondering why we’ve kind of brushed off Donald Cerrone vs. Jeremy Stephens, but the fact that Stephens has lost to every single upper echelon fighter he has faced should let you know how we feel about the outcome of that one. We love you, Lil’ Heathen, but we also believe that history tends to repeat itself.

The Easy Bet: Fabio Maldonado. The dude is an absolute beast who will walk through Pokrajac’s punches with a smile on his face, as is his M.O., before delivering a beautiful body shot KO that voids “The Duke’s” bowels upon impact.

Official CagePotato parlay: Poirier + Cerrone + Maldonado + Curran

Suggested stake for a $50 wager
$20 on the parlay
$10 on MacDonald
$5 on McKenzie to keep shit real
$15 on a 12-pack of Budweiser Platinum to make sure it stays that way

-J. Jones

Dear Lord, Vinny Magalhaes’ M-1 Belt is Currently Worth Over Fourteen Thousand Dollars

(Oh, come on, Vinny. You know that a belt is worthless once it has been in the bathroom! Photo courtesy of @VinnyMMA)

Although we feel like we didn’t really get to know Vinny Magalhaes that well during his run on TUF 8 that took him all the way to the show’s finals, watching how he’s responded to his whole M-1 contract debacle has only endeared us to the guy all the more.

If you’re not familiar with the story, we’ll give you the gist: After winning the M-1 Light Heavyweight title back in October of 2011, Magalhaes got fed up with the promotion after they failed to offer him a single title defense under his contract, opting to attempt and resign him under a new one instead. M-1 Global Director of Operations Evgeni Kogan began a “he said/she said” contract dispute with Magalhaes that left the ADCC champion on the shelf for the rest of 2011 and all of 2012 to this point. After finally being told that he has been released from his contract, Vinny decided to put his belt up for sale on Ebay, figuring that it would at least sell for the 20 dollars worth of scrap metal it was composed of.

The bidding officially began on May 13th, and at a steal of just nine cents. It now stands at 14,600 dollars.

What. The. Shit.

(Oh, come on, Vinny. You know that a belt is worthless once it has been in the bathroom! Photo courtesy of @VinnyMMA)

The bidding officially began on May 13th, and at a steal of just nine cents. It now stands at 14,600 dollars.

What. The. Shit.

We have no idea what kind of person spends that kind of money on that kind of belt, so we’ve decided to come up with a few of the most likely options:

1. Dana White is buying the belt so he can place it next to the contract the UFC offered Fedor and a NEW contract for Vinny Magalhaes. He will then vlog himself setting fire to all three and pissing on the remains to put out the flames.

2. Chael Sonnen is buying the belt because he has been banned from Wal-Mart ever since ordering Mike Duke’s wife to build him some patio furniture, and the plastic on his current belt is starting to crack.

3. Tim Sylvia is buying the belt, along with one of Jake Shields’ EliteXC belts and the vacant DREAM heavyweight belt to try and convince Dana White that he is now a multi-promotional, multi-divisional champion, and finally deserves a shot in the UFC.

4. Unbeknownst to Vinny, the belt contains a microscopic map etched in crystal that will lead one to the lost city of Atlantis. Indiana Jones and a rambunctious group of Nazi’s are currently engaged in a bidding war that will determine the very future of mankind.

Feel free to add to the growing list of conspiracy theories in the comments section.

-J. Jones

Knockout of the Day: Mamed Khalidov Crushes Rodney Wallace at KSW 19

(The Wallaceberries taste like Wallaceberries!)

With all the freak show greatness that comprised this past weekend, we all but forgot to report on some of the matchups that actually, you know, mattered. It’s kind of like when you went to Disney World with the intent of riding Space Mountain until you puked, but ended up stuck at the ring toss game all day because some ginger and his group of middle school friends called your form “faggy” and you HAD TO WIN THAT STUFFED DRAGON TO PROVE THEM WRONG. And we hate to say it, but Bob Sapp and Kimbo Slice will forever be the crappy carnival games that we simply cannot avoid.

In fact, while we were all watching “The Beast’s” record dip below the .500 mark at Saturday’s KSW-19 card (because somehow that just happened), there was a fight that took place earlier on the card that didn’t make us laugh and then immediately hang our heads in shame, believe it or not. We’re talking, of course, about Mamed Khalidov vs. Rodney Wallace. As we’ve stated before, Mamed Khalidov may be the best fighter out there not signed to a major promotion, and it kind of baffles us as to why. The Polish powerhouse’s record currently stands at 25-4, and over the past few years, he has quietly decimated every UFC washout that has crossed his path without batting an eye. Khalidov started out his 2011 season by adding to the legend of Irvin’s Curse, then rounded it out by scoring lightning quick submission victories over Matt Lindland and Jesse Taylor in successive bouts. But like a psychopathic Japanese girl after a mock casting audition, Khalidov is still waiting for that phone call.

Last weekend, he looked to make it four Zuffa vets in a row when he faced off against Rodney “Sho Nuff the Master” Wallace in a middleweight contest. As has become the standard for Khalidov, the bout featured a multitude of spinning based attacks and ended in less than two minutes.

Check out the brutal one punch-KO after the jump.

(The Wallaceberries taste like Wallaceberries!)

(Fight starts at the 7:00 mark.)

Now that Hector Lombard has signed with the UFC, Khalidov truly stands alone as a 185er that deserves a shot at the big time. Say what you want about the quality of the opponents he’s faced, but the man has not lost since 2010 (via decision to Jorge Santiago) and has only lost twice in the past seven years. If that doesn’t earn you at least an appearance on a Strikeforce card, then everything we’ve claimed to know about this sport is a lie. Wallace may not have been a star in the UFC by any means, but he managed to take Brian Stann, Jared Hamman, and Phil Davis to the judges scorecards, which is a feat in it’s own right. Khalidov, however, might not even be aware that judges exist in the MMA spectrum — he’s gone the distance just twice in nearly 30 fights and has only been out of the first round a handful of times. We owe it to ourselves to get this guy in the UFC, so let’s follow the words of famed author, comedian, and occasional fighter Forrest Griffin, who once said, “Do you wanna know how fights get done now? If enough people get on Twitter, it’ll happen.”

The proof is in the pudding, Potato Nation. Let the Twitter-bombing begin.

-J. Jones