We’re not even one week into 2013, yet we already have a strong candidate for CagePotato.com’s coveted MMA Fail of the Year at the year-ending Potato Awards. And yes, “coveted” is the right word here – with all of the ugly tattoos, terrible t-shirts, goofy haircuts and general jackassery in this great sport, it’s a legitimate honor to be recognized for failing harder than everyone else around you. Last year, the award went to a guy who dared his opponent to knock him out seconds before getting knocked out. Following in his footsteps, this instructor is so confident that he has discovered the “ultimate” way to defend against an armbar that you should really be expecting his demise well before it plays out.
This guy’s “Ultimate Armbar Defense” isn’t exactly scientific; it involves grabbing your own gi collar and holding on for dear life. Don’t ask me how a jiu-jitsu purple belt didn’t realize that he was setting himself up for a textbook gi choke, but he didn’t, and the inevitable happens by the end of the video. My favorite part of the video is the very end, when he wakes up, remembers where he is, puffs his chest out and looks into the camera with manly, Ronda Rousey-esque confidence.
We’re not even one week into 2013, yet we already have a strong candidate for CagePotato.com’s coveted MMA Fail of the Year at the year-ending Potato Awards. And yes, “coveted” is the right word here – with all of the ugly tattoos, terrible t-shirts, goofy haircuts and general jackassery in this great sport, it’s a legitimate honor to be recognized for failing harder than everyone else around you. Last year, the award went to a guy who dared his opponent to knock him out seconds before getting knocked out. Following in his footsteps, this instructor is so confident that he has discovered the “ultimate” way to defend against an armbar that you should really be expecting his demise well before it plays out.
This guy’s ”Ultimate Armbar Defense” isn’t exactly scientific; it involves grabbing your own gi collar and holding on for dear life. Don’t ask me how a jiu-jitsu purple belt didn’t realize that he was setting himself up for a textbook gi choke, but he didn’t, and the inevitable happens by the end of the video. My favorite part of the video is the very end, when he wakes up, remembers where he is, puffs his chest out and looks into the camera with manly, Ronda Rousey-esque confidence.
It’s sort-of brilliant – your opponent can’t kick your ass if you kick your own ass first, and even though you’d lose a grappling match if you choked yourself out to defend against an armbar, at least your opponent didn’t technically beat you. As long as you didn’t have an incompetent referee, you’d lose well before your opponent realizes you’re asleep and armbars you out of principle.
The bar has been set high in 2013, Taters. I don’t recommend trying to defeat this guy at his own game, but for those about to fail, I salute you.
With 2012 mercifully coming to an end, you had to imagine that at least one more fighter would be taken off of the year’s final card due to the great injury curse. Sure enough, at the last possible second a key member of UFC 155 has been removed from the card, causing the organization to scramble to find an adequate replacement. Okay, he’s not a fighter – and he’s not even a casualty of the injury curse – but damn it, this year has been brutal for last-second withdrawals.
Veteran announcer Mike Goldberg will not be calling the fights tonight at UFC 155. Originally, his absence from tonight’s event was attributed to an illness, but it turns out that this isn’t quite the case. Via MMAJunkie:
UFC President Dana White on Friday confirmed the change to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) but could not offer specifics into the situation or when Goldberg is expected to return to his post.
“He’s taking time off and is not working this weekend,” White said. “I don’t know when he will be back.
With 2012 mercifully coming to an end, you had to imagine that at least one more fighter would be taken off of the year’s final card due to the great injury curse. Sure enough, at the last possible second a key member of UFC 155 has been removed from the card, causing the organization to scramble to find an adequate replacement. Okay, he’s not a fighter – and he’s not even a casualty of the injury curse – but damn it, this year has been brutal for last-second withdrawals.
Veteran announcer Mike Goldberg will not be calling the fights tonight at UFC 155. Originally, his absence from tonight’s event was attributed to an illness, but it turns out that this isn’t quite the case. Via MMAJunkie:
UFC President Dana White on Friday confirmed the change to MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) but could not offer specifics into the situation or when Goldberg is expected to return to his post.
“He’s taking time off and is not working this weekend,” White said. “I don’t know when he will be back.
White declined to offer any specifics on the reason for Goldberg’s leave.
Damn, that doesn’t exactly sound promising. Hopefully he’s not going through anything too serious, but from the looks of things, he won’t be back any time soon. While it’s possible that his sabbatical is a sign that he’s on his way out of the UFC, we’ll hold off on the tribute until more information becomes available.
Stepping in on short notice to join Joe Rogan will be B-Team announcer Jon Anik. Anik, who usually calls the fights on FX and FUEL TV alongside Kenny Florian, will be making his UFC PPV debut. Assuming he doesn’t completely drop the ball tonight, the position is his for the foreseeable future.
“Wait…a ham sandwich walked into a bar? How is that even possible?”
New years often mean new beginnings. For Bellator, this means cutting ties with former bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky.
Makovsky took to his Twitter account yesterday to confirm his release, tweeting “Honestly shocked but thank you for the opportunity @BellatorMMA @BjornRebney.”
A former D1 wrestler for Drexel University, Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky was the face of Bellator’s bantamweight division since the beginning, becoming the inaugural bantamweight champion at Bellator 32 with a unanimous decision victory over Ed West. A pair of non-title fights saw him knock out Chad Robichaux and choke out Ryan Roberts, improving his Bellator record to a flawless 6-0, and the future was wide open for Fun Size.
“Wait…a ham sandwich walked into a bar? How is that even possible?”
New years often mean new beginnings. For Bellator, this means cutting ties with former bantamweight champion Zach Makovsky.
Makovsky took to his Twitter account yesterday to confirm his release, tweeting “Honestly shocked but thank you for the opportunity @BellatorMMA @BjornRebney.”
A former D1 wrestler for Drexel University, Zach “Fun Size” Makovsky was the face of Bellator’s bantamweight division since the beginning, becoming the inaugural bantamweight champion at Bellator 32 with a unanimous decision victory over Ed West. A pair of non-title fights saw him knock out Chad Robichaux and choke out Ryan Roberts, improving his Bellator record to a flawless 6-0, and the future was wide open for Fun Size.
Unfortunately, 2012 was a rough year for Makovsky. In his first title defense, he lost his bantamweight strap to Eduardo Dantas by arm triangle choke in April. Looking to rebound from the loss, Zach took on Anthony Leone at Bellator 83. Zach dropped a close, yet ultimately forgettable split-decision to the noticeably larger Leone, finishing the year without a victory and now as a free agent.
It sucks to be released from a contract so close to the holidays, but it’s doubtful that Makovsky will remain a free agent for too long. Also, given the size advantage that Leone held over him, don’t be too surprised if he flirts with the idea of dropping to flyweight. For now though, enjoy some of his more memorable moments.
Look, we’re all busy today with our Christmas shopping/football watching/religious obligations/normal Sunday activities to waste too much time not driving to the liquor store before the parking lot fills up, so I’ll make this brief. Bantamweight prospect Cody Land fought James Harrington at featherweight during Disorderly Conduct MMA’s Season’s Beatings card last Friday. Harrington picks the wrong time to drop his hands and is met with a brutal overhand left. The result is equal parts this and this. One forced and awkward, yet obligatory “falling Christmas tree” joke later, and we’re ready for the holiday. Alright homies, let’s get drunk.
Look, we’re all busy today with our Christmas shopping/football watching/religious obligations/normal Sunday activities to waste too much time not driving to the liquor store before the parking lot fills up, so I’ll make this brief. Bantamweight prospect Cody Land fought James Harrington at featherweight during Disorderly Conduct MMA’s Season’s Beatings card last Friday. Harrington picks the wrong time to drop his hands and is met with a brutal overhand left. The result is equal parts this and this. One forced and awkward, yet obligatory “falling Christmas tree” joke later, and we’re ready for the holiday. Alright homies, let’s get drunk.
For that matter, could Good Guy Junior have saved last season?
We’rejust finishing up with a season of The Ultimate Fighter that most of us didn’t even pretend to watch, and are getting ready for a season that we’ll only watch to see how creatively Chael Sonnen can troll Jon Jones. Okay, perhaps some of us actually want to watch TUF for less cynical reasons – say because it’s free MMA or to see if the show discovers a legitimate fighter who has slipped through the cracks – just like how some professional football fans actually keep up with the UFL.
With the show in desperate need of a mix-up, Dana White has been open to the idea of casting Ronda Rousey as a coach, while still keeping the contestants themselves men. The idea picked up even more steam yesterday when White suggested that Ronda Rousey could be coaching against Miesha Tate on an upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Via MMAFighting:
“It could happen,” White said. “If there’s two people who would probably coach, you kick [the idea] around, this could happen, that could happen. If they did, it could be [Rousey] and Miesha. You know, we’ll see. Timing has a lot do with it.”
For that matter, could Good Guy Junior have saved last season?
We’rejust finishing up with a season of The Ultimate Fighter that most of us didn’t even pretend to watch, and are getting ready for a season that we’ll only watch to see how creatively Chael Sonnen can troll Jon Jones. Okay, perhaps some of us actually want to watch TUF for less cynical reasons – say because it’s free MMA or to see if the show discovers a legitimate fighter who has slipped through the cracks – just like how some professional football fans actually keep up with the UFL.
With the show in desperate need of a mix-up, Dana White has been open to the idea of casting Ronda Rousey as a coach, while still keeping the contestants themselves men. The idea picked up even more steam yesterday when White suggested that Ronda Rousey could be coaching against Miesha Tate on an upcoming season of The Ultimate Fighter. Via MMAFighting:
“It could happen,” White said. “If there’s two people who would probably coach, you kick [the idea] around, this could happen, that could happen. If they did, it could be [Rousey] and Miesha. You know, we’ll see. Timing has a lot do with it.”
Having Rousey and Tate coach a season of TUF is an interesting idea on paper. The show would give WMMA exposure, Rousey and Tate would have some memorable clashes throughout the season and the season-ending coaches’ fight would actually be meaningful. It may not be a drastic change, but simply making two skilled female fighters coaches may be able to regenerate interest in the show.
But if the UFC really wants to give the show a complete overhaul, why not cast an all-female season?
My biggest gripe with The Ultimate Fighter is that the show hasn’t been producing relevant fighters, because talented prospects no longer have to go through reality television in order to get a shot in the UFC. Case in point, Hacran Dias was a 20-1-1 fighter when he tried out for TUF Brazil. Rather than being sent through the show, Dias was offered a contract on the spot, and won his UFC debut over Yuri Alcantara at UFC 147. The lesson here is that if you have a shot at immediate relevance, you aren’t fighting on The Ultimate Fighter anymore.
An all-female season could be different because WMMA is still in the early stages of its development. Much like how the first two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter made plenty of previously unknown fighters staples in the UFC for years, it’s possible that there are enough skilled females flying far enough under our radars to be willing to go through a season of TUF in order to land a contract.
For that matter, it’s also possible that established female fighters like Sara McMann would be willing to compete on the show simply because WMMA gets practically zero exposure. Just look at the first article we wrote about Ronda Rousey. When Strikeforce first inked a deal with her, she was…some sort of vegan Olympic judoka, I guess? In hindsight, it’s comical that the collective MMA community wasn’t shitting bricks over such an important signing, but we simply hadn’t heard of her until then. It’s very possible that even more potentially great fighters are going undiscovered due to the lack of coverage that WMMA has been receiving.
The catch is that while fans are more than happy to accept Ronda Rousey as a world-class athlete, they may still not be ready to accept WMMA as a legitimate competition. Female athletes in America simply do not receive the same coverage as their male counterparts, which may make the TUF formula even more stale with the inclusion of women. For example, will an altercation in the TUF house between two women be interpreted by viewers the same way as an altercation between two male contestants, or dismissed as just petty female drama? Logically, the sexes of the contestants shouldn’t make a difference, but it does, and it could wind up turning even more people away from the struggling franchise.
So that leads us directly into our question: Assuming that the editting crews do their best to portray the fighters in a positive light and as serious athletes (i.e. none of this), do you think an all-female season can save The Ultimate Fighter? Would you be more likely to watch the show if Ronda Rousey and Meisha Tate are coaches? And what are the odds that something like this happens if they’re coaching an all-male season? Keep it civil, you guys.
If you haven’t been keeping up with a television series, taking the time on a Saturday night to watch the series finale is a gigantic waste of time. Heading into the finale of a season that we could not have cared less about, the UFC realized that they were facing this exact problem. The promotion realized that if the finale was going to generate any kind of interest, it would have to actually place as little emphasis as possible on the fighters from the show. Rather than focusing on the contestants, the finale was a card packed with current UFC talent.
In an effort to ensure that this wouldn’t backfire, the promotion made sure that the guys filling in for whoever was actually on this season of The Ultimate Fighter were guys you’ve heard of. One great fight led to another great fight, and pretty soon we were anticipating one of the best free shows we’ve been given in a while. As we wrote yesterday, on paper, this card wasn’t so much a TUF Finale as it was a genuinely stacked lineup of free fights that included one main card match between two guys you’ve never seen before.
Even though injuries scrapped the fight between this season’s coaches (as is tradition), and Jamie Varner was forced off of the card at the last minute (more on that later), this event exceeded all of our expectations. Actually, that puts things too mildly: this may have been, top to bottom, the best event of 2012. Let that sink in: A TUF Finale produced a legitimate candidate for Event of the Year – when was the last time we’ve been able to say THAT?
Photo courtesy of Getty Images.
If you haven’t been keeping up with a television series, taking the time on a Saturday night to watch the series finale is a gigantic waste of time. Heading into the finale of a season that we could not have cared less about, the UFC realized that they were facing this exact problem. The promotion realized that if the finale was going to generate any kind of interest, it would have to actually place as little emphasis as possible on the fighters from the show. Rather than focusing on the contestants, the finale was a card packed with current UFC talent.
In an effort to ensure that this wouldn’t backfire, the promotion made sure that the guys filling in for whoever was actually on this season of The Ultimate Fighter were guys you’ve heard of. One great fight led to another great fight, and pretty soon we were anticipating one of the best free shows we’ve been given in a while. As we wrote yesterday, on paper, this card wasn’t so much a TUF Finale as it was a genuinely stacked lineup of free fights that included one main card match between two guys you’ve never seen before.
Even though injuries scrapped the fight between this season’s coaches (as is tradition), and Jamie Varner was forced off of the card at the last minute (more on that later), this event exceeded all of our expectations. Actually, that puts things too mildly: this may have been, top to bottom, the best event of 2012. Let that sink in: A TUF Finale produced a legitimate candidate for Event of the Year – when was the last time we’ve been able to say THAT?
If there was a sour note to be taken from last night, it was the postponement of what appeared to have Fight of the Night written all over it, a lightweight fight between Jamie Varner and Melvin Guillard. Given the way that the rest of the fights played out, it’s hard to remain too upset that the fight didn’t go down last night as planned, but it’s still unfortunate that such an exciting fight was moved to UFC 155 at the last minute due to Varner’s stomach illness. A lot of people on Twitter are being quick to accuse Varner of pre-fight bitchassness, but then again, a lot of people on Twitter also think that having Bieber Fever is something they should advertise to the rest of the world (Keep your illnesses to yourselves, people – you don’t see me talking about my crippling drinking problem on the internet).
The main event of the evening pitted TUF 10 veterans Matt Mitrione and eventual winner Roy Nelson against one another. Given Roy’s experience advantage, as well as Mitrione taking the fight on short notice, the quick victory for Big Country wasn’t much of a surprise. We all know that Nelson packs one hell of a punch and has no problem taking out the lower-to-mid level heavyweights, the question now is whether or not he can start picking up victories against the deep end of the heavyweight division.
Also, let’s not be too hard on the Blackzilian by association, Matt Mitrione. It’s hard to imagine that Mitrione’s decision to take the fight on short notice wasn’t at all influenced by the public shaming his boss put on him for turning down Daniel Cormier, because Matt simply isn’t at Roy’s level yet. He entered the fight with six professional bouts, and even though all of them were in the UFC, only two of those fights were victories over fighters still employed by the promotion (and only one of those fighters still competes as a heavyweight). With a little more time, Matt Mitrione can develop into one of the UFC’s better heavyweights, but for now, he’s not ready for fighters as experienced as Roy Nelson.
Elsewhere on the card:
-It was obvious from the start that despite Barry’s unimpressive 4-5 UFC record and Shane Del Rosario’s successful Muay Thai career that the former WBC Muay Thai heavyweight champion wanted absolutely nothing to do with HD on the feet. I don’t exactly blame Del Rosario, as Barry is a powerful puncher who lacks a competitive ground game. Still, his strategy was for nothing in the end. Barry may not have much of a ground game, but as he demonstrated in his victory over Christian Morecraft and continued to demonstrate last night, he has enough of one to avoid submissions from fellow strikers. Once the second round began, Barry ended the fight before Del Rosario could attempt another takedown, picking up Knockout of the Night.
– Yes, Barry took home Knockout of the Night on a card that produced six of them. Personally, I think Rustam Khabilov should have been given the KOTN bonus, although I highly doubt he left the arena without some sort of locker room bonus. Khabilov was absolutely flawless in his UFC debut, making Vinc Pichel look like just another TUF washout (which makes sense, considering he is one). Besides, how many fights end via knockout by suplex?
– I don’t agree with Mike Pyle that his victory puts him in the Top 10, but he delivered a quick, entertaining knockout over James Head last night, making it three victories by knockout in a row. Three straight knockouts certainly make a case for a step-up in competition. We’ll talk about the rankings once we see how he fares with stiffer competition.
– Can someone please hook Jonathan Brookins up with a boxing coach? Brookins is a tough fighter with a passable ground game, but his striking hasn’t changed since his TUF days. While it was good enough to beat the not-quite-readies of reality television, a fighter of Dustin Poirier’s caliber can weather the early storm that Brookins brought last night. Once Poirier was able to regain his composure, it was business as usual, as Poirier put Brookins away with a D’arce choke at 4:15 of the first round.
– No, Poirier did not take home Submission of the Night. Instead, TJ Waldburger took home SOTN honors for his more competitive battle against Nick Catone, which ended with a technical submission by triangle choke just over one minute into the second round.
– Fight of the Night went to Tim Elliott vs. Jared Papazian, although FOTN honors are a bit misleading. Usually, the best fight on the card is the closest, most competitive fight on the card. While this fight was certainly entertaining, it sure wasn’t close and it damn sure wasn’t competitive. It was fifteen minutes of Tim Elliott doing whatever the hell he wanted while Jared Papazian offered minimal resistance. The scorecards read 30-25, 30-25 and 30-26 for a reason.
– One last note: At the beginning of this season of TUF, I wrote “Cool reality show, bro. Let me know who wins it.” Dude’s name is Colton Smith. Wrestlehumping, free Harley, tending to my crippling drinking problem…hey, remember how this card had six knockouts? That was awesome.
Full Results:
Main Card:
Roy Nelson def. Matt Mitrione via TKO (punches), 2:58 Round One
Colton Smith def. Mike Ricci via Unanimous Decision (30-27 x2, 30-26)
Pat Barry def. Shane Del Rosario via KO (punch), 0:26 Round Two
Destin Poirier def. Jonathan Brookins via submisison (D’Arce choke), 4:15 Round One
Preliminary Card Results:
Mike Pyle def. James Head via TKO (knee and punches), 1:55 Round One
Johnny Bedford def. Marcos Vinicius via TKO (strikes), 1:00 Round Two
Rustam Khabilov def. Vinc Pichel via KO (slam and punches), 2:15 Round One
TJ Waldburger def. Nick Catone via technical submission (triangle choke), 1:04 Round Two
Hugo Viana def. Reuben Duran via KO (punch), 4:05 Round One
Mike Rio def. John Cofer via submission (armbar), 4:11 Round Three
Tim Elliott def. Jared Papazian via Unanimous Decision (30-25 x2, 30-26)
