What up Nation, it’s your boy ReX and the weekend is almost upon us. I’m going to assume that you’ve already given up doing any actual work for the rest of the day, so let’s grab some lunch and talk about our plans.
I don’t mean plans like your girlfriend wants to make, like going out for tapas and enjoying Crazy, Stupid, Love either. Although, i will sort of be asking all you bastards for a date night…
Inside: i want to play a game, judo news, my god this Rousey, and a couple of quick previews for the Zuffa shows this weekend. Come on in and let’s get loaded.
Who’s That Octagon Girl?
This beauty made her Octagon debut in October, 2006 at UFC 64. Name her.
Strikeforce Challengers 18 is on Showtime Tonight
The main event features two TUF alums with funnyman/gameplan master Jorge Gurgel against Joe Duarte. Duarte is more of a kickboxer, and lost via submission to Phillipe Nover (though the loss doesn’t appear on his official record), so all Gurgel has to do is showe off a little of his BJJ. We predict that this will not happen. Should be a fun, competitive fight.
Meanwhile, Pat Healy is fighting Eric Wisely, and after his upset victory over Lyle Beerbohm, he’s not really happy about fighting some dude making his promotional debut. He’s not happy with his workload either, so look for Healy to make a statement in this fight — things may not go well for Wisely.
The fight with the biggest buzz is actually the women’s division fight featuring “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey — her face and videos are all over the damn place. With only 2 pro fights, Rousey is getting a lot of hype and a lot of attention, and a spot on the main card gives her a chance to grab the spotlight. Not that Sarah “The Randleman” D’Alelio is going to make it easy on her, as she’s no slouch on the ground herself. Expect boxing in the first round, and an armbar in the second.
Here’s the full card:
Nate James vs Danillo Villefort
Sarah D’Alelio vs Ronda Rousey
Prelims:
Nah-Shon Burrell vs Lukasz Les
Keith Berry vs Gian Villante
Mike Bronzoulis vs Chad Leonhardt
Sterling Ford vs Milton Vieira
Did You See This?
Keiko Fukuda made news this weekend, when the 98 year old received her 10th dan in Judo, one of four people (and the only woman) to have received the highest degree of mastery in the gentle art. Fukuda, born in 1913, started studying at 21 under Jiguro Kano. Yes, that Jiguro Kano.
Props to DSTRYRSG for the video. If you can’t get enough of technique videos, those guys got you covered.
UFC Live Versus on 5 on Sunday
We’ve already previewed this card a bit, but it’s worth mentioning again. Hungry undercard guys on a free fight card usually do something fun to get noticed, and this is a very solid card from top to bottom. Oh, and i’ll be liveblogging the fights Sunday night, for the first time ever. It’s going to be awful. Come early and bring your rotten tomatoes.
Dan Hardy vs Chris Lytle
Ben Henderson vs Jim Miller
Donald Cerrone vs Charles Oliveira
Duane Ludwig vs Amir Sadollah
Facebook Fights:
C.B. Dollaway vs Jared Hamman
Joseph Benavidez vs Eddie Wineland
Ed Herman vs Kyle Noke
Ronny Markes vs Karlos Vemola
Alex Caceres vs Jim Hettes
Cole Miller vs T.J. O’Brien
Danny Castillo vs Jacob Volkmann
Edwin Figueroa vs Jason Reinhardt
Ronda Rousey Makes Me Feel Kinda Funny
Note: i’m no journalist, and i don’t pretend to be objective all the time. i think Eddie Alvarez is way underrated, PRIDE was awesome, and this Rousey chick is really cool. She Tweeted some pics yesterday, and i hope my wife isn’t reading this.
i’m just saying, she needs to stop flirting with me is all.
Who’s That Octagon Girl?
It’s Anne Rivera. We’ve seen Octagon Girls come and go, but isn’t it nice to look back every once in a while?
Kick off your weekend now, and let’s start talking about fights. And don’t let that captcha get you down. Fuck that captcha. Comment twice as much and show that stupid captcha who’s boss.
ProTip: To make an omega symbol: hold down Alt on your keyboard, punch in “234″, and let go of Alt. Boom. Now you don’t have to throw your laptop in rage. Or you could just refresh the captcha. Whatever works.
[RX]