I know what you’ve all been thinking this week. You’ve been thinking “This whole pissed off and angry Anderson Silva is a frightening change of pace, and the press conference was fun I guess, but damn it, I need to know how Steven Seagal will take credit for all of this!” Well don’t worry, person who doesn’t exist – you won’t have to wait until after the fight to find that out.
Ariel Helwani caught up with Cockpuncherto discuss Anderson Silva’s upcoming rematch with Chael Sonnen. After appearing reluctant to give the mere mortal an interview, Seagal explained how Silva’s intense new attitude is entirely his doing. And those concerns you may be having over The Spider’s emotions affecting his performance? Don’t worry, Seagal has an answer for that, too.
I know what you’ve all been thinking this week. You’ve been thinking “This whole pissed off and angry Anderson Silva is a frightening change of pace, and the press conference was fun I guess, but damn it, I need to know how Steven Seagal will take credit for all of this!” Well don’t worry, person who doesn’t exist – you won’t have to wait until after the fight to find that out.
Ariel Helwani caught up with Cockpuncherto discuss Anderson Silva‘s upcoming rematch with Chael Sonnen. After appearing reluctant to give the mere mortal an interview, Seagal explained how Silva’s intense new attitude is entirely his doing. And those concerns you may be having over The Spider’s emotions affecting his performance? Don’t worry, Seagal has an answer for that, too.
Perhaps the most note-worthy quote from this interview was Steven Seagal’s claim to have taught Anderson Silva “two or three things…stuff that we thought was maybe illegal that’s not illegal.” When pressed for more information, Seagal claimed to not want to give anything away so that Chael won’t know to expect it. Of course, for a guy who doesn’t want to give anything away, it’s odd that he clarified that the technique is a stand-up technique.
In other words: Anderson Silva now has Teh Deadly in his possession, he’ll use it to defeat Chael Sonnen, and it looks like a technique that most people thought was illegal but totally isn’t. Awesome.
And on that note, I leave you with this game of patty-cake between The Keeperand Rafael Cavalcante gone terribly wrong.
(Look, Roy, we’re all big Harry Potter fans, but this Rubeus Hagrid obsession of yours is going a little far.)
Like that of current light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar seems to be the subject of much debate amongst the MMA community. Not only was his heart called into question following his UFC 141 loss to Alistair Overeem, but in light of recent events, even the legitimacy of his title reign has seemingly been written off by some fans of the sport and wiped from the collective memories of others. Meanwhile, the hardcore conspiracy theorists claim that Lesnar’s run was nothing more than a genius ploy by Vince McMahon to boost Lesnar’s popularity before looping him back into the WWE. He’s a polarizing figure to say the least.
And when questions began to arise about the possibility of Lesnar becoming a future inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, some of us nearly blew a fucking gasket. Among those detractors was that of Roy “Big Country” Nelson, who is scheduled to face Dave Herman on tomorrow night’s main card. A professional fighter for over seven years, Nelson was none too happy to hear all of this blasphemy, and when interviewed by Ariel Helwani, let his feelings be known about Lesnar’s chances:
You know what? If Brock belongs in the hall of fame, so do I. It’s not that hard to win the title when it’s set up that way for you. Pretty much [a silver platter]. After Dave Herman, I guess I get a title shot. Interim! Because someone’s gonna get hurt.
It’s pretty hard to deny the truth in Nelson’s words. Yes, Lesnar did win a title (and defend it), and all Nelson has done lately is get his face smashed in spectacular/gruesome fashion, but the fact that Lesnar got a shot after going 1-1 is pretty…you know what, we’ve already discussed this. I’m not going to retread any old ground.
Anyway, join us after the jump for Nelson’s full interview with Helwani, in which he also discusses his diet (of course), returning to his Kung-Fu roots, as well as his (and every fighters) gripes with his pay rate.
(Look, Roy, we’re all big Harry Potter fans, but this Rubeus Hagrid obsession of yours is going a little far.)
Like that of current light heavyweight champ Jon Jones, former UFC heavyweight champ Brock Lesnar seems to be the subject of much debate amongst the MMA community. Not only was his heart called into question following his UFC 141 loss to Alistair Overeem, but in light of recent events, even the legitimacy of his title reign has seemingly been written off by some fans of the sport and wiped from the collective memories of others. Meanwhile, the hardcore conspiracy theorists claim that Lesnar’s run was nothing more than a genius ploy by Vince McMahon to boost Lesnar’s popularity before looping him back into the WWE. He’s a polarizing figure to say the least.
And when questions began to arise about the possibility of Lesnar becoming a future inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame, some of us nearly blew a fucking gasket. Among those detractors was that of Roy “Big Country” Nelson, who is scheduled to face Dave Herman on tomorrow night’s main card. A professional fighter for over seven years, Nelson was none too happy to hear all of this blasphemy, and when interviewed by Ariel Helwani, let his feelings be known about Lesnar’s chances:
You know what? If Brock belongs in the hall of fame, so do I. It’s not that hard to win the title when it’s set up that way for you. Pretty much [a silver platter]. After Dave Herman, I guess I get a title shot. Interim! Because someone’s gonna get hurt.
It’s pretty hard to deny the truth in Nelson’s words. Yes, Lesnar did win a title (and defend it), and all Nelson has done lately is get his face smashed in spectacular/gruesome fashion, but the fact that Lesnar got a shot after going 1-1 is pretty…you know what, we’ve already discussed this. I’m not going to retread any old ground.
Anyway, join us below for Nelson’s full interview with Helwani, in which he also discusses his diet (of course), returning to his Kung-Fu roots, as well as his (and every fighters) gripes with his pay rate.
Nelson also discussed his affinity of all things pro wrasslin’ with Damon Martin of MMAWeekly, and as in his interview with Helwani, stated his desire to possibly cross over to the WWE to lay a good old fashioned fake ass whooping on Lesnar.
I think [King Mo opened] a lot of doors for a lot of different fighters, and it actually opens up a lot of fighter’s eyes that there’s other ways to make a living, that you can actually do both sports. It’s like it’s okay to be a Deion Sanders playing football and baseball, or like a Bo Jackson playing football and baseball. It’s good that athletes can do that. After I beat Pee Wee, I might just have to call out Brock Lesnar. I might just have to go to WWE because I might just have to call him out, go to WWE, and whoop his ass.
Given Nelson’s extensive Jiu-Jitsu background, he’d easily be able to thwart of many, if not all of Lesnar’s fake attacks, which have already claimed the arm of Triple H in Ronda-Rousian fashion. So who’s down for Nelson/Lesnar…IN A CAGE?!
When asked his opinion on the NSAC’s aforementioned ruling in the case of Mr. Diaz, Mir seemed to side with the “what kind of bullshit is this?” crowd, stating that “…obviously just having metabolites in his system means that he was not under the influence of marijuana in contest the night they tested him, but I guess that’s why they wear suits and I wear no shirt when I go to work.” I hear you there, bro. Mir also discussed his plans for dos Santos, mainly, that he will pull guard on the champ if need be, because shooting on “Cigano” will likely not be a viable option.
Join us after the jump for Helwani’s interview with dos Santos, who makes some pretty ballsy claims to say the least.
When asked his opinion on the NSAC’s aforementioned ruling in the case of Mr. Diaz, Mir seemed to side with the “what kind of bullshit is this?” crowd, stating that “…obviously just having metabolites in his system means that he was not under the influence of marijuana in contest the night they tested him, but I guess that’s why they wear suits and I wear no shirt when I go to work.” I hear you there, bro. Mir also discussed his plans for dos Santos, mainly, that he will pull guard on the champ if need be, because shooting on “Cigano” will likely not be a viable option.
Helwani’s interview with dos Santos was decidedly different, as “Cigano” spent a good amount of time trying to clarify earlier statements he made about Mir’s lack of heart, and the fact that he is “not a man.” If that sounds like a bit harsh of a criticism considering the source, the heavyweight champion only meant to say that when the going gets tough, Mir gives up. Although Big Nog might disagree with that notion (as well as the driver who nearly took Mir’s life), do you think it’s a fair assessment of the former heavyweight champ, Potato Nation?
But perhaps even more unexpected than dos Santos’ semi trash-talk was his claim that, given a few months of training, he could take WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO & The Ring Heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko, or anyone else in the world for that matter (conversation begins at the 5:30 mark). Whereas a statement like that might come off as arrogant for any other fighter, there’s something about the way Junior delivers his words (ie. in hilariously broken English), combined with the ever-present smile pasted across his face, that just makes him seem more genuine than some of the other guys out there. SO WATCH YOUR BACK, WLADIMIR.
Since we haven’t asked this in at least a week; who you got, Potato Nation?
(Seen here: Bob Sapp’s most legit fight in the past five years.)
If you’ve followed this thing we call MMA for even a couple years now, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of the travesty to the sport that is Bob Sapp. If he were a band, the boys over at MetalSucks would refer to him as “A Shitstain on the Ass of the Universe,” which is perhaps the most appropriate label to place on someone who seems to be doing his damnedest to soil the metaphorical trousers of the sport we hold dear.
Possibly sent on a mission of mercy by the fellas over at Mitch and Murray, Ariel Helwani decided to bring Sapp onto his show, “The MMA Hour,” to dispel or confirm the general consensus that he has thrown most, if not all of his fights over the past four or five years. What started off as at least a coherent defense on Sapp’s part quickly spiraled into a smorgasbord of nonsensical rants and accusations punctuated by creepy, baritone laughter, before concluding with several futile attempts by “The Beast” to justify his pathetic existence through Youtube hits, or something like that. In other words, it was typical Bob Sapp.
Just take this gem, for instance, which actually came before Sapp decided to go full retard:
I will receive no damage to my body that will be long lasting for a small insignificant amount of cash. I think we’ve seen that now with examples with the NFL and the fact that some of these guys are coming back and saying, “Hey we want some money, we have brain damage.” I’m getting paid well underneath what a professional boxer would, or Manny Pacquiao. So I will, in no means ever, will I sustain long-lasting damage for a small paycheck. Never will that happen, never will “The Beast” ever have that happen.
Join us after the jump for the whole interview.
(Seen here: Bob Sapp‘s most legit fight in the past five years.)
If you’ve followed this thing we call MMA for even a couple years now, then you’ve undoubtedly heard of the travesty to the sport that is Bob Sapp. If he were a band, the boys over at MetalSucks would refer to him as “A Shitstain on the Ass of the Universe,” which is perhaps the most appropriate label to place on someone who seems to be doing his damnedest to soil the metaphorical trousers of the sport we hold dear.
Possibly sent on a mission of mercy by the fellas over at Mitch and Murray, Ariel Helwani decided to bring Sapp onto his show, “The MMA Hour,” to dispel or confirm the general consensus that he has thrown most, if not all of his fights over the past four or five years. What started off as at least a coherent defense on Sapp’s part quickly spiraled into a smorgasbord of nonsensical rants and accusations punctuated by creepy, baritone laughter, before concluding with several futile attempts by “The Beast” to justify his pathetic existence through Youtube hits, or something like that. In other words, it was typical Bob Sapp.
Just take this gem, for instance, which actually came before Sapp decided to go full retard:
I will receive no damage to my body that will be long lasting for a small insignificant amount of cash. I think we’ve seen that now with examples with the NFL and the fact that some of these guys are coming back and saying, “Hey we want some money, we have brain damage.” I’m getting paid well underneath what a professional boxer would, or Manny Pacquiao. So I will, in no means ever, will I sustain long-lasting damage for a small paycheck. Never will that happen, never will “The Beast” ever have that happen.
(The interview starts around the 2:13:00 mark.)
Some notable quotes from Sapp include:
On his appearance fee: On average, it’s roughly around that $30,000 to $40,000 a fight range. And that can be a bit misleading because in between time, I am doing the television shows and commercials and things of this nature and so when you say on average, that’s what it is. Obviously it calculates to be significant more between three to five times that, yes that is correct. However, when you talk about just the fights, with me, you have to worry about the schedule commercials and stuff like that, but just the fights right now, you are looking at basically $30,000 to $40,000.
On whether or not he is throwing fights: Am I throwing these fights? No. Will I go into that ring and receive large amounts of damage for small paychecks? No. When it came to K-1, at the time, when everyone at K-1 was doing well they get paid significantly enough to have you go into that ring, and hey, any kind of injury you get, they are going to pay. Let me give you an example: Mirko Cro Cop, he cracked my eye socket. Mirko Cro Cop, he received his paycheck, I received my paycheck and they also paid for my entire hospital bill. These small organizations that you see that look so wonderful, they pay none of your bills if you get hurt, period. If you want to get hurt for a small amount of money in a fight, we call that the military. If you would like to get hurt in an arena where it is supposed to be sanctioned and it is supposed to be safe and their supposed to pay for at least your medical bills if you get hurt, then we call that entertainment. If you want to see two strangers fight for free, you can do that. We will give you seven dollars and go in a night club and you can see two drunks getting it on in the corner, fighting. You have no idea who they are and you can do that for free. My fans and my family they will stand by me and behind me, win or lose. So, Bob Sapp, I guess it is easy to love a winner.
On how he justifies his increasingly terrible performances: One thing that I say, is let’s take a look and rewind back. You saw some historical and difficult fights that I fought with Ernesto Hoost and with Antonio Noguiera, this is correct. If you were to take a look at what recently has happened with K-1 and the fact that you had wonderful, great, strong fighters such as Ray Sefo fight for K-1 and then K-1 leaves and they were left without collecting a paycheck. So, when “The Beast” enters the ring, is he in there to collect a paycheck? The answer is hell yes! You’re asking, “Bob you are receiving less damage, there is no amount of damage that you are receiving and sometimes these fights are being lost.” Well, if you would want to put numbers on my record, whether they be a zero or number one, you will be doing so on my paycheck. That is what it is, plain and simple. The Beast is number one in the media for every 12 fights, that is correct. We see this and we know this. I’m number one in every media category. Number one in the entertainment, number one for the views, I am number one and I have a losing record. So, if I was to come in on a winning record, these small organizations, the last thing they would be able to do is afford my services and on top of it, what am I going to do? Be number one and number one? If I am, they are no longer going to be able to afford me. So I just won myself out of a job.
Other interesting things of note:
-After Helwani begs Sapp to stop with his “shtick” and just answer his questions honestly, Sapp more or less agrees to have sex with Ariel on pay-per-view if the price is right. We’ve never seen a moose impregnate a chickadee before, but we imagine that it would at the minimum last longer than twelve seconds.
-Sapp also tries to justify his loss to Minowaman as legit because Minowaman won the Super Hulk Tournament for Christ’s sake, and is therefore a champion. Technically, we must agree with him.
-Ariel makes a challenge to Sapp, not unlike our own, to see if he can last until exactly the one minute mark of his next fight, which is scheduled to take place in Kazakhstan. Clearly Ariel is not aware that Sapp can not count past eleventeen.
-Around the 2:50:00 mark, Sapp’s mind apparently short-circuits, and he launches into a series of bizarre accents and incoherent dialogue that no human on this planet including Sapp himself could even begin to understand. Helwani proceeds to hand him a verbal beatdown worse than any actual beatdown he has received in the past few years.
If there is some sort of Purple Heart handed out for MMA journalism, Helwani just earned it for suffering through that mind-numbing interview.
Friendship is, and always will be, one of life’s trickiest puzzles. It is also one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences a person will ever have. But despite all of the wonderful joys that come from having a friend, not all friendships are made to last the sands of time like Fred and Barney. How could they? Ego, pride, and the opposite sex often reduce the strongest of bonds to mere ashes. And we wouldn’t want it any other way because some guys make good friends, but much better enemies. Here’s a look at five classic friendships gone awry…
Jon Jones – Rashad Evans
In a time when instant gratification is king, the world is still awaiting the showdown between former friends and training partners, ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans and Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. Jackson’s MMA used to be a place where the two sweat and bled together, side by side, day after day — as friends. These two were more like brothers than Ken and Frank, so much so that they vowed never to fight each other, suggesting someone would fake an injury to avoid the confrontation at all costs.
We’ve had multiple in-cage showdowns, a twitter beef or two, and a minor club incident since the moment the young rising star confirmed that he would indeed fight the former TUF 2 winner if Dana White really wanted him to. Fast forward a year and the two have still yet to fight thanks to injuries, both real and imagined. Some would argue that “Good things come to those who wait,” but patience is not a virtue most of us possess. We want to see these dudes throw down now! All we are concerned with at this point is who the teacher is and who is the student.
(“You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am yours. – Ben Franklin)
Friendship is, and always will be, one of life’s trickiest puzzles. It is also one of the most rewarding and enriching experiences a person will ever have. But despite all of the wonderful joys that come from having a friend, not all friendships are made to last the sands of time like Fred and Barney. How could they? Ego, pride, and the opposite sex often reduce the strongest of bonds to mere ashes. And we wouldn’t want it any other way because some guys make good friends, but much better enemies. Here’s a look at five classic friendships gone awry…
Jon Jones – Rashad Evans
In a time when instant gratification is king, the world is still awaiting the showdown between former friends and training partners, ‘Suga’ Rashad Evans and Jon ‘Bones’ Jones. Jackson’s MMA used to be a place where the two sweat and bled together, side by side, day after day — as friends. These two were more like brothers than Ken and Frank, so much so that they vowed never to fight each other, suggesting someone would fake an injury to avoid the confrontation at all costs.
We’ve had multiple in-cage showdowns, a twitter beef or two, and a minor club incident since the moment the young rising star confirmed that he would indeed fight the former TUF 2 winner if Dana White really wanted him to. Fast forward a year and the two have still yet to fight thanks to injuries, both real and imagined. Some would argue that “Good things come to those who wait,” but patience is not a virtue most of us possess. We want to see these dudes throw down now! All we are concerned with at this point is who the teacher is and who is the student.
Shaquille O’Neal – Kobe Bryant
When these ballers weren’t trashing each other in the media or asking how their ass tasted, they were putting boots to other people’s asses on a regular basis leading to an incredible four NBA Championships including a three-peat from 2000 to 2002. Like all locker rooms, there was probably a sign above the door that read something like this: Check your ego at the door — unless your name is Kobe f’n Bryant.
To put it plainly, Los Angeles just wasn’t big enough for the two of ‘em. What started out as “innocent” hazing slowly morphed into insults being hurled like flaming arrows over a castle wall. The Shaq-Kobe beef separated fans like the Mason-Dixon Line did the legality of slavery. The best part is that the airing of their dirty laundry was just as pleasant to witness as the greatness displayed in the paint.
Ultimate Fighting Championship – Spike TV
At a time when both were looking like the desperate guy outside a casino, smelling of stale cigarettes and booze, hoping to turn the ten bucks bummed from a do-gooder back into the thousands he lost the night before, they realized they were each other’s best, and possibly only chance at hitting the jackpot. In a way, they both made each other. For every fan the UFC has thanks to the amount of exposure given to The Ultimate Fighter, Spike TV has another viewer to boost its Nielsen Ratings with shows like Manswers and 1000 Ways to Die. The symbiotic relationship between Zuffa and Viacom literally kept the UFC and Spike TV alive to fight another day.
Like all good things, this too came to an end. After the UFC signed the FOX deal, the fine gentlemen at Spike’s HQ made no secret about their intent to attack their former partner at all costs. Stealing a page out of White’s own book, Spike won the ratings war with a rerun counter-program to a live event. Not liking the taste of their wounds, the UFC will be forced to amp up their game and make sure the free fights that get tossed to the casual fans for free are actually worth watching. Competition breeds excellence, and that’s exactly what the fans deserve.
As with many things in the world of professional wrestling, storylines often change frequently over the course of a few years. During the 1980s, two of the WWF’s biggest stars played opposite roles. On one hand you had the baby face Hulk Hogan, on the other, you had Randy Savage playing the heel. It is pro wrestling math at its finest. However, things changed in 1987 when the former rivals formed The Mega Powers and decided to fight the good fight together.
Thankfully, Savage’s wife Elizabeth drove a wedge between the pair, granting fans the opportunity once more to see the two guys at the top get it on in the squared circle. Even among smarks, you’d have an easier time finding someone who believed in the Easter Bunny than you would finding someone who couldn’t wait for “Hulkamania” and “Macho Madness” to renew their epic battle.
Ben Fowlkes – Ariel Helwani
During his two-year stint at CagePotato, no one minded when Ben Fowlkes wrote while inebriated, or mailed it in when he had to chase a story for Fight! magazine. It’s a much different story, however, where Ben currently hangs his scarf. The folks over there don’t take too kindly to keyboard warriors who play hooky.
Most weeks, Ariel Helwani of MMA Fighting hosts a live show with a bold-faced lie of a title, The MMA Hour. Amidst all the high-profile fighters and managers who stop by and break news or analyze fights, comedic relief was needed. Enter Ben Fowlkes. He and Ariel got along well and verbally sparred with the best of them. The ebb and flow of sarcasm and mutual respect was uncanny. A match made in Heaven they were, and fans ate it up. Until…
Apparently Fowlkes no-showed an episode, so Helwani, being the Judge, Jury and Executioner that he is, laid down the hammer and handed the MMA Journalist of the Year nominee a six-week suspension from the show. Fowlkes claimed he was getting an interview or maybe it was skiing, whatever. The jabs thrown on Twitter between the two created more entertainment in a few short weeks than our entire comments section has this year. Okay, I’m not actually sure if that’s true or not because, quite frankly, I don’t read anything on this site, including my own articles, but I digress. Watching the petty in-fighting among our biggest rivals gave us a sick satisfaction that has comforted us during these trying times.
So here we have Quinton and Ariel on the streets of Tokyo four days before UFC 144, walking and talking, and walking and talking, and walking and talking until they finally arrive at an arcade to play Tekken Tag. Along the way, they discuss Rampage’s first trip to Japan fighting Kazushi Sakuraba, the different kind of racism in Japan, the unmatched atmosphere of PRIDE in its heyday, how a person’s personality is determined by their blood type, fight fixing, his betrayal by you-know-who and subsequent reckless driving arrest. Then they walk some more, and Quinton talks about parenting, matchmaking, his greatest career triumph, privacy, retirement, and how he won’t be fully appreciated until he’s gone.
It’s probably the most in-depth interview with Rampage you’ll ever see. Give it a look.
So here we have Quinton and Ariel on the streets of Tokyo four days before UFC 144, walking and talking, and walking and talking, and walking and talking until they finally arrive at an arcade to play Tekken Tag. Along the way, they discuss Rampage’s first trip to Japan fighting Kazushi Sakuraba, the different kind of racism in Japan, the unmatched atmosphere of PRIDE in its heyday, how a person’s personality is determined by their blood type, fight fixing, his betrayal by you-know-who and subsequent reckless driving arrest. Then they walk some more, and Quinton talks about parenting, matchmaking, his greatest career triumph, privacy, retirement, and how he won’t be fully appreciated until he’s gone.
It’s probably the most in-depth interview with Rampage you’ll ever see. Give it a look.
