Author: Matt Saccaro

UFC’s Yoislandy Izquierdo Talks ‘Daily Dedication and Sacrifice’ of Training MMA

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember. The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.But Izquierdo is ready.Hard work is nothing…

Yoislandy Izquierdo is a name you should learn to remember. 

The Cuban-born MMA fighter is a lightweight prospect who will be making his debut at UFC on FUEL TV 2 against battle-hardened Swede Reza Madadi.

But Izquierdo is ready.

Hard work is nothing new to the man who pours hours and hours into training daily. He had to leave his home several years ago and work his way up to the best MMA promotion in the world.

“I left Cuba at the age of 23 years under political asylum,” Izquierdo told Bleacher Report through his manager Alfred Munoz, who translated.

“I was working for an export auto company a short time ago, but I am now a full-time fighter,” said Izquierdo. “I realized I wanted to be an MMA fighter for a living when I saw I had a talent in the sport and enjoyed practicing it.”

That talent in the sport is quite considerable. Izquierdo first fought in April 2010 and is now 6-0 in professional MMA, with three wins by TKO and one win by submission to his name. 

But fighting isn’t easy. 

“The most difficult thing about being a professional MMA fighter is putting forth daily dedication and sacrifice in training,” he said. Nevertheless, Izquierdo isn’t one to back down from a difficult task or to be daunted by a challenge; he looks at the difficulties in a positive light. 

“The best thing about being a pro fighter is seeing how all of my sacrifices and hard work are not done in vain when I give my all in the fights. At the same time, the admiration and support I receive from my fans feels great.”

Despite the fame and praise of being a successful MMA fighter, Izquierdo hasn’t forgotten the people who helped him get this far. 

“I would like to thank all of my fans, because in some way or another, they have had a huge part in my career. I would like to also thank my family, trainer and manager,” he said. 

Yoislandy Izquierdo vs. Reza Madadi is scheduled to air on the Facebook preliminaries for UFC on FUEL TV 2 on April 14th. It will be Izquierdo’s seventh MMA bout, and his first fight in the UFC.

 


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UFC: Mythical Versions of Real MMA Fighters That Fans Still Believe in

MMA fans are affectionate towards their favorite legendary fighters, but sometimes, that affection borders on excessive.And sometimes, it goes so far past excessive that it creates an everlasting myth around the fighters that’s certainly apocryphal, bu…

MMA fans are affectionate towards their favorite legendary fighters, but sometimes, that affection borders on excessive.

And sometimes, it goes so far past excessive that it creates an everlasting myth around the fighters that’s certainly apocryphal, but idealistic fans never fail to believe it without question.

Take BJ Penn, for example, a fighter who was perennially inconsistent but is never chided as such. Instead, his deluded fans only talk about how the “motivated” BJ Penn could destroy any fighter on earth. 

The motivated BJ Penn is a mythical version of the real BJ Penn who had trouble taking the fight fame seriously. 

What are the other mythical versions of real fighters? Read and find out!

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UFC: Do Rankings Even Matter in MMA?

Rankings are the most pointless thing in mixed martial arts. No, really, they are.Why? The reasons are numerous and, quite frankly, obvious. First of all, the UFC doesn’t have its own official rankings to determine fights and title shots. Yes…

Rankings are the most pointless thing in mixed martial arts. 

No, really, they are.

Why? The reasons are numerous and, quite frankly, obvious. 

First of all, the UFC doesn’t have its own official rankings to determine fights and title shots. Yes, there’s a loose pecking order in the division, but nothing is put on paper (or on a Web site, or what have you) in terms of who ranks where. The fights in the UFC are left to matchmaker Joe Silva rather than statisticians. 

However, even if the UFC did have their own rankings, the majority of rankings in the world would still be pointless. 

Most MMA Web sites have their own versions of rankings determined by their “experts” in the field. 

If the UFC had their own official rankings, the rankings on other Web sites would mean nothing. But the UFC doesn’t have their own rankings, so that means that the various Internet rankings must mean something, right?

Wrong. Rankings on any Web site mean absolutely nothing in the greater context of the mixed martial arts world for the simple reason that the most important fights—those in the UFC—are not derived from a coherent ranking system on even the most popular of MMA sites.

MMA rankings determine nothing of consequence and are only useful for two things in the MMA world. 

First, they’re good for an increase in web traffic. 

Second, they provide cannon fodder for debate between forum posters or other kinds of Internet aficionados as to why the rankings suck or don’t suck. 

Mixed up in all this nonsense are the pound-for-pound rankings and the rankings of the greatest fighters of all time. 

Both those topics are ridiculous since you’ll never get to see if the rankings are “right.” That is to say that in regular weight-class rankings, you can see the No. 1 guy fight the No. 2 guy and the rankings change accordingly. 

But this is an impossibility with pound-for-pound and all-time rankings.

You can’t make Fedor Emelianenko a decade younger and throw him in there with Anderson Silva, just like you can’t make Jose Aldo the same size as Jon Jones. You just can’t do these things, so debating it is a completely useless gesture; a superlative exercise in futility. 

Rankings, for all the importance they’re given, are worthless. They have no point in mixed martial arts and the MMA community would do well to stop debating endlessly about them.

 

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UFC on FUEL TV 2: Will the Long Break Help or Hurt the UFC?

March 3rd. That was the last time the UFC held an event. It was the UFC’s debut on the B-level network FX.You’d have to go back to February 26th for the last event of a grander scale—UFC 144.The event drought is nearing its end, but it still…

March 3rd. 

That was the last time the UFC held an event. It was the UFC’s debut on the B-level network FX.

You’d have to go back to February 26th for the last event of a grander scale—UFC 144.

The event drought is nearing its end, but it still has a few days left in it. We won’t be seeing new UFC programming until UFC on FUEL TV 2 on April 14th. 

This may seem like a bad thing but, in reality, it’s actually good that the fans had such a break in action. 

From a financial standpoint, the event drought is a good thing because it allowed fans a reprieve from constantly having to shell out close to $60 every couple of weeks for UFC pay-per-views. 

Thus, fans won’t gripe (as much) about paying for UFC 145 and UFC 146. 

However, there’s another reason independent of finances why the long break between events will make fans less prone to complaining. 

Fans are desperate for entertainment, for violence. 

It’s been over a month since the last new fights and some fight junkies are beginning to get restless. 

A new UFC event—even if it’s an expensive pay-per-view or an event on FUEL TV with largely lower-level fighters—will be a much anticipated and warmly welcomed happening. 

The break was a great thing (and they should happen more often), but it’s time for this one to end.

Fans, for all their vitriol against the UFC, ultimately need the UFC. Without their events and fighters, fans would be lost now and for the rest of time.

 

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UFC: Life Lessons We Can Learn from MMA

MMA can seem brutal and horrible, and at times it is, but it can also teach valuable life lessons.In a literal sense, MMA training can teach people the useful skill of self defense. For example, there was a child who used a rear naked choke (a hold see…

MMA can seem brutal and horrible, and at times it is, but it can also teach valuable life lessons.

In a literal sense, MMA training can teach people the useful skill of self defense. For example, there was a child who used a rear naked choke (a hold seen often in MMA as well as Brazilian jiu-jitsu) to subdue a vicious dog.

Even watching MMA can increase a person’s self defense ability, as was demonstrated by a man who stopped a knife-wielding attacker with a single-leg takedown, a move he learned how to do from watching MMA for years.

Partaking in MMA also has obvious health benefits and can instill confidence in people who lacked it beforehand. 

However, there are more…abstract lessons that can be learned from following the sport of mixed martial arts. 

Perhaps the most important thing that can be learned is embracing the philosophy behind mixed martial arts, meaning that they should discard ideological baggage (as MMA discarded the ideological baggage from traditional martial arts) and simply embrace what works. 

MMA can also teach fans to become well rounded individuals. Just as MMA fighters seek knowledge in all areas of fighting, so too should the average person seek knowledge in all areas of life by studying martial arts, history, science and various other topics. 

Fighters, too, can also teach lessons. Frankie Edgar overcame tremendous adversity in his two most recent fights against Gray Maynard. He was nearly knocked out but he never gave up and he was ultimately victorious in their last meeting.

The common man (or woman) can harness this fighting spirit when they are downtrodden and feel defeated. Watching Frankie Edgar will teach them that defeat is only a state of mind, that if they keep pressing on they can eventually defeat an adversary that seems stronger and menacing.

Mixed martial arts fighters can also teach people about the power of redemption. Court McGee, a former heroin addict, was saved by MMA and is now fighting in the UFC.

MMA is a powerful sport with powerful men and powerful stories. It can take slack-jawed gawkers and transform them into fit, fearless, motivated Renaissance men. 

 

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Alistair Overeem Tests Positive: What This Says About MMA as a Whole

Alistair Overeem’s failing of his pre-fight drug test is abhorrent. Not because he failed, but because now fans won’t get to see the greatest heavyweight fight in recent memory between him and UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.Fans were robbed…

Alistair Overeem‘s failing of his pre-fight drug test is abhorrent. Not because he failed, but because now fans won’t get to see the greatest heavyweight fight in recent memory between him and UFC heavyweight champion Junior dos Santos.

Fans were robbed of a great fight, of a chance to see the lineal heavyweight championship merge with the UFC heavyweight championship. And why, because of some increased testosterone? Laughable! Absurd!

This whole debacle shows one of the biggest flaws in MMA and in sports as a whole: There are banned substances. 

No substance should be banned in any sport, period. 

The purpose of sports is competition and entertainment. Performance enhancers increase both of these. They make athletes more competitive and, therefore, make the sports they partake in more entertaining to the viewer. 

What would be the downside of legalizing all steroids and other forms of performance enhancers?

There’d be more home runs, more touchdowns and, in MMA’s case, more knockouts and less canceled title fights. 

Think about it: Having banned substances cost us Condit vs. Diaz II and Overeem vs. dos Santos. Was it worth it? Was it worth losing great fights to have purportedly clean athletes?

The crusade against performance enhancers is a clever farce, a dog and pony show that lets the sports organizations pretend that their athletes are more amazing than they really are. It’s an illusion that only those with a gross amount of naivety believe. 

Of course, here is where critics of performance enhancers make a pathetic attempt at moralizing and say that the health of the athletes is paramount. If you don’t like performance enhancers, don’t watch any sports; “it’s hard to find the moral high ground when we’re all standing in the mud.”

Such a stance ignores the stark realities of the sports world. The health and well-being of the athletes is the least important thing in the sports world—the NFL’s recent concern over devastating hits and concussions notwithstanding.

Professional athletes are employed for two purposes: To entertain the fans and to generate revenue. The legalization of performance enhancing drugs would increase their capacity to do both.

It’s true that there’d be health repercussions down the road; however, if the athletes are worried about their health, they’re in the wrong business. Professional sports is a brutal world and the athletes were aware of the risks when they made their choice. 

They risk their bodies for everlasting fame and, in the cases of the more fortunate, are made wealthy in return. And, “if you’re going to be a cripple, it’s better to be a rich cripple.”

Athletes will always find ways around tests, anyone who denies this is naive. Nothing on earth can stop performance enhancers, not Congress, not internet writers, nothing. So why not then level the playing field for all athletes in the world and let them achieve new peaks of chemically-enhanced excellence?

Yes, the glory of professional sports never fails to exact its toll in broken bones, dementia, shredded tendons and other physiological calamities. However, the body is only temporary—even to the healthy—while the glory one achieves in the cage or on the gridiron lasts for all eternity.

 

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