Are you a fat, nerdy MMA fan who lives with his mother and spends his time trolling the Internet? Well, obviously not, so you’ll have to play along here. But if you were overweight, and also decided that the whole “eating healthier and exercising” thing didn’t involve enough former UFC champions for your liking, then would I have a treat for you. Tim Sylvia has founded The Maine-Iac 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge, so that you can get in shape with the former UFC champion.
So what is inspiring Tim Sylvia to challenge his loyal fans? Is he trying to persuade people that fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son? Is he concerned about the rising obesity rates in our children? Believe it or not, it appears he’s doing this due to his own weight issues. I know, I can’t think of a single mean-spirited, sarcastic comment to make here, either, so let’s hear it from the former champion himself:
Are you a fat, nerdy MMA fan who lives with his mother and spends his time trolling the Internet? Well, obviously not, so you’ll have to play along here. But if you were overweight, and also decided that the whole “eating healthier and exercising” thing didn’t involve enough former UFC champions for your liking, then would I have a treat for you. Tim Sylvia has founded The Maine-Iac 90 Day Weight Loss Challenge, so that you can get in shape with the former UFC champion.
So what is inspiring Tim Sylvia to challenge his loyal fans? Is he trying to persuade people that fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life, son? Is he concerned about the rising obesity rates in our children? Believe it or not, it appears he’s doing this due to his own weight issues. I know, I can’t think of a single mean-spirited, sarcastic comment to make here, either, so let’s hear it from the former champion himself:
Well as most of you know, I am in my late 30?s and getting towards the end of my fighting career and I have noticed that it is getting harder and harder to maintain my weight. I received a short notice on a fight opportunity and weighed 330 lbs. at the time. To be in ultimate fighting shape – I needed to be 265 lbs! I only had 5 weeks to drop so a friend of mine turned me onto the Body by Vi Challenge. Within 3 weeks I lost 35 lbs but I had to bust by butt to get there!!! With that being said I was so surprised at how easy this diet was and how great the shakes tastes. Needless to say I am a believer and happy to share this with all my friends and fans. Join me in this journey to a better lifestyle. So please if you’re interested in a better way of life and just want to feel better – Join Me Today in the Body by Vi 90 day Challenge!
I know what you’re thinking: How can a guy with such an intense workout routine balloon up to 330 pounds? The answer, of course, is a lack of $249 Transformation Kit -proudly labeled “Tim’s Kit” – in his diet. Said kit contains some protein powder, a multivitamin, some flavor packets, and a whole lot of snake oil scientific weight loss stuff.
As Fightlinker pointed out, Sylvia’s challenge is really just an affiliate thing of the Body by Vi Challenge, meaning that Tim makes money off of everyone who buys something from his site. Eh, we’ve seen worse attempts at paying bills from former MMA fighters. Much worse. So how about picking up some protein powder from a former champion?
It’s sometimes easy to forget that the cultures of our professional sports are not isolated from the rest of society, and that the two affect each other. This is easy to spot when looking at the issue of LGBT rights: the same way that professional athletes are still hesitant to accept a gay teammate, a person can still be fired for being gay in twenty-nine states. Progress is slowly being made on both fronts, as last week, NFL athletes Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo filed a Supreme Court brief arguing that not only is California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional, but also that professional athletes have an important role in promoting tolerance in society.
The outspoken equal rights advocates [Author Note: By the way, if you haven’t read Kluwe’s rebuttal to Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr., who tried to persuade the Baltimore Ravens to stop Ayanbadejo from voicing his stance on gay marriage, go read that now.] have recently caught the attention of one of our sport’s most popular fighters, Rashad Evans. Evans has not only signed their brief, but he also issued a strong statement in support of gay marriage. As he told Outsports:
“I’ve never been a homophobe, never understood what that is all about. I knew some people who were gay and never cared about their sexuality. But at the same time, I didn’t fully understand the issues around gay people until my friend BA started telling me about his full public support for gay marriage. We talked about the issue and I decided its not enough to not be against a minority, if you want things to go better for them you have to speak up with them.
It’s sometimes easy to forget that the cultures of our professional sports are not isolated from the rest of society, and that the two affect each other. This is easy to spot when looking at the issue of LGBT rights: the same way that professional athletes are still hesitant to accept a gay teammate, a person can still be fired for being gay in twenty-nine states. Progress is slowly being made on both fronts, as last week, NFL athletes Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo filed a Supreme Court brief arguing that not only is California’s Proposition 8 unconstitutional, but also that professional athletes have an important role in promoting tolerance in society.
The outspoken equal rights advocates [Author Note: By the way, if you haven’t read Kluwe’s rebuttal to Maryland state delegate Emmett C. Burns Jr., who tried to persuade the Baltimore Ravens to stop Ayanbadejo from voicing his stance on gay marriage, go read that now.] have recently caught the attention of one of our sport’s most popular fighters, Rashad Evans. Evans has not only signed their brief, but he also issued a strong statement in support of gay marriage. As he told Outsports:
“I’ve never been a homophobe, never understood what that is all about. I knew some people who were gay and never cared about their sexuality. But at the same time, I didn’t fully understand the issues around gay people until my friend BA started telling me about his full public support for gay marriage. We talked about the issue and I decided its not enough to not be against a minority, if you want things to go better for them you have to speak up with them.
“I’m a UFC fighter, a macho-type sport. I am a heterosexual guy in a tough macho sport, which is exactly the reason I feel a duty to say I support gay marriage and gay rights.
“I have nothing to gain personally from supporting this issue, and that’s the point. Society as a whole is better when there is equality, and I want to live in a country where everyone has the same rights because we all benefit from that.
“What people overlook is that is isn’t a sex issue, its a love issue. There’s no justifiable reason for trying to get in the way of two people who love each other.
“I have kids. I don’t want them growing up in a society where they, or their friends, could be second class citizens based on which person they fall in love with or who they want to be happy with.”
Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.
Mark Hunt is currently riding a four fight win streak, coming off of a brutal, jaw-breaking knockout over Stefan Struve at last Saturday’s UFC on FUEL 8. Meanwhile, dos Santos is coming off of a gutsy, yet lopsided loss to Cain Velasquez at UFC 155.
Will Hunt continue his unlikely rise through the UFC heavyweight division, or will Junior dos Santos prove to be too much for him? Let us know your early predictions in the comments.
(The Twitter avatar of a rational man capable of leading the nation, obviously. Props to Fightlinker for the find.)
Background: Like many of you, I was very upset when Ben Goldstein published a post about South Dakota State Representative Steve Hickey’s ridiculous tirade against MMA, but probably not for the same reasons that you may have been. As a Christian, I found it odd that a pastor would not only write things about death that I felt contradicted the messages contained in the Bible, but also cite Forrest Gump while doing so. It’s bad enough for a pastor to write that he can’t muster up sympathy for a person who has died because said person was just asking for it through his hobbies – I cringe picturing Hickey’s stance on rape if it’s anything like his stance on death – but to essentially say that a dim-witted, fictional Hollywood character has more wisdom than the person who your entire religion is built around is just completely unacceptable.
And that’s when I made the mistake of emailing Hickey, telling him that while I couldn’t care less what his opinion on MMA is, his stance on death is disgusting to me. For whatever reason, I was expecting a completely rational response. Instead, Hickey published an “Open Letter to Christian MMA fans” that I can’t help but feel is sort-of directed at me, where he accuses me of writing the piece that I not only told him was written by Ben Goldstein, but also was signed with Ben’s initials. Today I’m here to respond to that open letter. If this isn’t of any interest to you, move along, there’s nothing to see here.
(The Twitter avatar of a rational man capable of leading the nation, obviously. Props to Fightlinker for the find.)
Background: Like many of you, I was very upset when Ben Goldstein published a post about South Dakota State Representative Steve Hickey’s ridiculous tirade against MMA, but probably not for the same reasons that you may have been. As a Christian, I found it odd that a pastor would not only write things about death that I felt contradicted the messages contained in the Bible, but also cite Forrest Gump while doing so. It’s bad enough for a pastor to write that he can’t muster up sympathy for a person who has died because said person was just asking for it through his hobbies – I cringe picturing Hickey’s stance on rape if it’s anything like his stance on death – but to essentially say that a dim-witted, fictional Hollywood character has more wisdom than the person who your entire religion is built around is just completely unacceptable.
And that’s when I made the mistake of emailing Hickey, telling him that while I couldn’t care less what his opinion on MMA is, his stance on death is disgusting to me. For whatever reason, I was expecting a completely rational response. Instead, Hickey published an “Open Letter to Christian MMA fans” that I can’t help but feel is sort-of directed at me, where he accuses me of writing the piece that I not only told him was written by Ben Goldstein, but also was signed with Ben’s initials. Today I’m here to respond to that open letter. If this isn’t of any interest to you, move along, there’s nothing to see here.
It came as a big surprise to me this morning when I woke up to read on other MMA news sites that you have apparently published part of an email I had sent you. I don’t regret anything I’ve written, but I did find it odd that you took my email as a defense of MMA. As I wrote in the email, not only couldn’t I care less about how you feel about the sport, but also, I didn’t even write the article that you have attributed to me. I also found it pretty odd that you didn’t chose to publish that part, but I digress.
I’m not here to point out the factual inaccuracies in your posts about MMA. I’m not here to debate you. I’m also not here to encourage you to watch a sport you have no interest in. I’ve already seen dozens of people try to do all three of those things on the comments sections of your website, only to watch you essentially claim that knowing absolutely nothing about the sport helps you see it for what it really is (?). I may be a lowly writer for CagePotato, but even I have better things to do with my time than argue with a guy who genuinely seems to believe that his ignorance towards a topic makes him the only trustworthy source of information on it.
Rather, I am here to tell you that if you are serious about getting MMA banned, you may want to consider stepping down from your unofficial position as the anti-MMA community’s mouthpiece.
Up until now, the only reason that anyone has paid attention to your rant has been your comparison of the sport to child pornography. In your mind, you didn’t receive the reaction you wanted because other people were too shocked to focus on the point you were making. In reality, other people dismissed the comparison because, believe it or not, they can tell that you didn’t even have a point when you made it. You’ve flip-flopped on what the comparison is supposed to mean – a telling sign in itself that you made it without any real point in mind – going from ”MMA is the worst sport in terms of injuries and violence” (which it clearly is not, as anyone who knows who Lawrence Taylor and Joe Theismann are would know) to “Anyone who understands addiction knows that it starts off with MMA then progresses to murder!” (Because obviously, porn addiction starts with innocent stuff like child porn then works its way to buying a Girls Gone Wild DVD, right?).
Making such an over-the-top comparison does nothing but turn away people who may otherwise agree with you, and serves no purpose other than turning your own argument into a gigantic self-parody. Perhaps if you are serious about getting MMA banned, you should allow more rational people to lead the argument. Who knows, maybe a businessman who has actually researched whether or not MMA legalization affects the economy or a doctor who has researched the long term negative health effects of being an MMA fighter may be taken much more seriously than a pastor who tries to use scare tactics and shock value to make his case.
Sincerely Yours,
Seth Falvo
P.S. If you really want answers to the questions you have posed at Christian MMA fans and fighters, Fightlinker has already published a rebuttal, and I personally think it’s fantastic.
P.P.S. While I appreciate your offer of a free book, if you did as much research while writing it as you did while being South Dakota’s unofficial voice of the anti-MMA community, I must decline your offer. I have no use for a doorstop, paperweight, or firewood, and frankly, I bought more toilet paper today at Sam’s Club than I’ll ever go through.
Make no mistake, no matter how last night’s main event was going to end, it was going to be an important moment in UFC history. For the first time in the promotion’s history, two female athletes would be competing in the UFC. Squash match or not, the historical significance of the fight and the freshly minted UFC Women’s Bantamweight title were enough to bump the fight up to main event status.
I’ve seen dozens of writers today write about how “predictably” the main event ended, but I can’t help but feel that this does a severe injustice to the fight we were treated to. Yes, it ended in a first round armbar victory for Ronda Rousey, and no, literally nothing else about this fight was predictable.
This is in large part a credit to challenger Liz Carmouche. Few people gave Carmouche any sort of chance to win, as clearly reflected by the betting odds for the fight. Yet for the first time last night, Carmouche was able to expose holes in Rousey’s game, and make the women’s champion look beatable. She wasn’t Rousey’s slightly-resistant grappling dummy – she was a very worthy challenger who almost finished Rousey with a rear-naked choke, and has teeth marks on her arm to show for it. Let’s all stop and admit that none of us expected this from her.
Photo courtesy of Getty Images
Make no mistake, no matter how last night’s main event was going to end, it was going to be an important moment in UFC history. For the first time in the promotion’s history, two female athletes would be competing in the UFC. Squash match or not, the historical significance of the fight and the freshly minted UFC Women’s Bantamweight title were enough to bump the fight up to main event status.
I’ve seen dozens of writers today write about how “predictably” the main event ended, but I can’t help but feel that this does a severe injustice to the fight we were treated to. Yes, it ended in a first round armbar victory for Ronda Rousey, and no, literally nothing else about this fight was predictable.
This is in large part a credit to challenger Liz Carmouche. Few people gave Carmouche any sort of chance to win, as clearly reflected by the betting odds for the fight. Yet for the first time last night, Carmouche was able to expose holes in Rousey’s game, and make the women’s champion look beatable. She wasn’t Rousey’s slightly-resistant grappling dummy – she was a very worthy challenger who almost finished Rousey with a rear-naked choke, and has teeth marks on her arm to show for it. Let’s all stop and admit that none of us expected this from her.
Let’s make sure to give Ronda Rousey her proper dues as well. Rousey responded to the stiffest test of her career the only way she knows how to: by cranking an arm until something taps or snaps. She managed to score her seventh victory by way of first round armbar in just as many professional fights, living up to the hype that she had been justifiably receiving. It may not have been her prettiest victory, but she survived the challenge and kept calm under pressure.
Above all else though, Rousey and Carmouche deserve respect for shattering not only the ceiling for women in the UFC, but the glass ceilings that fans placed on female fighters. Say what you want about women not being as strong or fast as men, or that the talent pool isn’t as deep (as opposed to the stacked men’s flyweight division), or keep talking about the ability to dunk a basketball like it even remotely matters*. Just don’t say that women don’t belong at our sport’s highest level of competition. If you value the quality of the fights over the sexes of the athletes, you walked away from last night’s main event excited about future women’s matchups.
Elsewhere on the card:
– I’ll admit that before the event, I thought a case could be made that Henderson vs. Machida was the real main event. On paper, Rousey vs. Carmouche was little more than a squash match designed to give Rousey the title. Meanwhile, on paper, Machida vs. Henderson was a legitimate fight for light-heavyweight number one contendership. Unfortunately, anyone who sat through Machida vs. Henderson was reminded that things rarely play out in real time the way that they should play out on paper.
If Rousey vs. Carmouche was everything fans can look forward to from the UFC’s newest acquisitions, then Machida vs. Henderson was everything fans were already sick of. A “too elusive to be interesting” fighter more concerned with winning rounds than putting on a show? Check. An aging fighter on testosterone replacement therapy? Check. A judge ignoring the things he’s supposed to be looking for and picking the winner of the fight based on a vague notion of “Octagon Control?” *sigh* Check. “Forgettable” barely describes this one.
– Yes, Machida is next in line for a shot at the light-heavyweight title, although Dana White didn’t exactly sound thrilled to be announcing it. “It wasn’t a barnburner,” said White about Machida vs. Henderson. “It wasn’t the most exciting fight you’ve ever seen. You won’t be writing stories about this fight until the end of time. But Lyoto won the fight. He beat the number one contender.”
– Urijah Faber knew he needed to put on an extra special performance against Ivan Menjivar if he wanted job security, and did exactly that. You don’t see too many standing crucifix-to-rear-naked choke finishes, but then again, you don’t see too many fighters as creative and athletic as Urijah Faber. When he’s matched up against the Ivan Menjivars of the division, the end result is something special.
– Court McGee was a tough-as-nails middleweight, is now a tough-as-nails welterweight, and continued to look solid against lower-end competition with his victory over Josh Neer. I don’t see a Demian Maia-esque resurgence at welterweight in McGee’s future, but then again, I didn’t see one for Maia, either.
– If Robbie Lawler knocking out Josh Koscheck isn’t at least an honorable mention for “Most Satisfying Beatdown of 2013,” then a lot of heels are going to get their asses kicked by old-school warriors this year. However, I was surprised to see how many people thought that the fight was stopped too early. It’s one thing not to like a fighter, it’s another thing to want him dead.
– Lawler rightfully took home the $50k Knockout of the Night bonus for his performance. Meanwhile, Koscheck may very well find himself unemployed. I’m sure Dana White likes Koscheck, just as I’m sure he likes Jon Fitch, too. By the way, Fitch not only made less money than Koscheck does per fight, but he also had a higher “ranking” when he was released.
– Submission of the Night honors did not go to Ronda Rousey, but rather, Kenny Robertson for his first round kneebar submission over Brock Jardine.
– Fight of the Night went to the three round war that was Dennis Bermudez vs. Matt Grice. These two featherweightst absolutely stole the show with this fight. In the end, Bermudez won by decision.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Ronda Rousey def. Liz Carmouche via submission (armbar), 4:49 of Round 1
Lyoto Machida def. Dan Henderson via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Urijah Faber def. Ivan Menjivar via submission (rear-naked choke), 4:43 of Round 1
Court McGee def. Josh Neer via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Robbie Lawler def. Josh Koscheck via TKO, 3:57 of Round 1
Preliminary Card:
Brendan Schaub def. Lavar Johnson via unanimous decision (30-27 x 3)
Michael Chiesa def. Anton Kuivanen via submission (rear-naked choke), 2:29 of Round 2
Dennis Bermudez def. Matt Grice via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Sam Stout def. Caros Fodor via split decision (29-28 x 2, 28-29)
Kenny Robertson def. Brock Jardine via submission (kneebar), 2:57 of Round 1
Neil Magny def. Jon Manley via unanimous decision (30-27 x 2, 29-28)
Nah-Shon Burrell def. Yuri Villefort via unanimous decision (29-28 x 2, 30-27)
* By the way, if dunking a basketball is the measuring stick of whether or not a person is a good athlete, then our sport’s most accomplished light-heavyweight is, well, you’ll see:
Cejudo on Inside MMA talking about his upcoming MMA debut.
With the future of Olympic wrestling up in the air, it isn’t necessarily a surprise to learn that some Olympic hopefuls are giving MMA a shot. Earlier this week, it was announced that Henry Cejudo, the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal, is preparing to make his MMA debut in March.
The twenty-six year old wrestler failed to make the Olympic team in 2012, but has had a very decorated amateur wrestling career, including an Olympic gold medal at 55 kg (121 lbs) in 2008. This doesn’t mean that Cejudo is completely one-dimensional, however. He also has over three years of amateur boxing experience, which includes winning a Copper Gloves tournament in 2010.
Cejudo on Inside MMA talking about his upcoming MMA debut.
With the future of Olympic wrestling up in the air, it isn’t necessarily a surprise to learn that some Olympic hopefuls are giving MMA a shot. Earlier this week, it was announced that Henry Cejudo, the youngest American wrestler to win an Olympic gold medal, is preparing to make his MMA debut in March.
The twenty-six year old wrestler failed to make the Olympic team in 2012, but has had a very decorated amateur wrestling career, including an Olympic gold medal at 55 kg (121 lbs) in 2008. This doesn’t mean that Cejudo is completely one-dimensional, however. He also has over three years of amateur boxing experience, which includes winning a Copper Gloves tournament in 2010.
Despite wrestling at 121 pounds, Cejudo will compete in MMA at bantamweight. His professional debut will take place on March 2 in Tucson, Arizona. Yes, that’s next Saturday, and no, his opponent isn’t exactly a legend killer. His opponent will be Michael Poe, an 0-4 fighter who has only made it out of the first round once. Unless Cejudo comes into this bout without any knowledge of submission defense, it’s hard to see him losing this one.
Regardless of the outcome of his debut, Cejudo has already agreed to a multifight deal with Gladiator Challenge. He is scheduled to make his promotional debut on March 24 against an opponent to be determined. Cejudo hopes to compete eight times this year. No, that “eight” is not a typo.
With that said, what are the odds that Cejudo actually manages to compete that many times this year? Would it be smarter for him to fight at flyweight? Let us know in the comments section.
