One thing that sets us apart from most other MMA sites (besides the hatred flung around the comment section like a beach ball at a Metallica concert) is the sense of community you’ve all shown. We’ve met a bunch of you handsome devils at the MMA Expo in Boston and our “Banned” party in Toronto and have always enjoyed conversing with you guys — except for ThisRedEngine. That guy was a douche.
Anyway, to add to our interaction with you guys on the front line, we’re happy to introduce what we’re hoping will be a regular segment around these parts: Ask the Potato Live.
Basically, it will serve as the video version of The Bum Rush Radio Show, but the difference will be that every episode will be based around your questions and the topics you want to discuss. It’s as much your show as it is ours, except we’re doing all the grunt work to set it up.
Here’s how you can get involved:
1. Sign up for a free Spreecast account and when the show is live, set up your video cam and microphone and let us know via the chat that you want to talk to us. We’ll queue you in and you can pose your question for us or our occasional special guest.
One thing that sets us apart from most other MMA sites (besides the hatred flung around the comment section like a beach ball at a Metallica concert) is the sense of community you’ve all shown. We’ve met a bunch of you handsome devils at the MMA Expo in Boston and our “Banned” party in Toronto and have always enjoyed conversing with you guys — except for ThisRedEngine. That guy was a douche.
Anyway, to add to our interaction with you guys on the front line, we’re happy to introduce what we’re hoping will be a regular segment around these parts: Ask the Potato Live.
Basically, it will serve as the video version of The Bum Rush Radio Show, but the difference will be that every episode will be based around your questions and the topics you want to discuss. It’s as much your show as it is ours, except we’re doing all the grunt work to set it up.
Here’s how you can get involved:
1. Sign up for a free Spreecast account and when the show is live, set up your video cam and microphone and let us know via the chat that you want to talk to us. We’ll queue you in and you can pose your question for us or our occasional special guest.
(We may look odd, but at least we know a little bit about MMA.)
In our ongoing effort to provide the Potato Nation with the best interactive reader experience in the MMA blogosphere, we’re happy to announce a new addition to the site.
Starting this Thursday, we’ll be streaming a weekly live video edition of “Ask the Potato” and we’d love for you guys to get involved. If it catches on, we may even start doing “Ask the Potato Live” shows on a regular basis with actual guests. No promises though. We know how disappointed kids are when their parents let them down.
More details after the jump.
(We may look odd, but at least we know a little bit about MMA.)
In our ongoing effort to provide the Potato Nation with the best interactive reader experience in the MMA blogosphere, we’re happy to announce a new addition to the site.
Starting this Thursday, we’ll be streaming a weekly live video edition of ”Ask the Potato” and we’d love for you guys to get involved. If it catches on, we may even start doing “Ask the Potato Live” shows on a regular basis with actual guests. No promises though. We know how disappointed kids are when their parents let them down.
Here’s how you can join in:
1. Check out the site Thursday for a post with an embedded streaming player that will allow you to watch live.
2. If you want to join us on the show to ask a question, debate a topic, or just to tell us how much we suck, sign up for a free Spreecast account and click on the show link we provide when it’s live on Thursday. Pretty simple.
3. If you’re too gun shy to show your face on the air for fear of revealing that you’re really Sean McCorkle (I’m looking at you, Xenophon) you can chat with us on the show page and pose your questions there as long as you have a Spreecast account.
We hope to see some familiar faces and look forward to the inevitable glut of insults hurled our way about how we all have faces for radio.
It’s been an eventful week to say the least. Strikeforce Heavyweights are all but done, Overeem went before the NSAC, and Jon Jones choked Machida out cold. Too bad you didn’t ask us any questions about those things. That would have been cool. You did manage to pull some decent questions out of your asses, however, and we’ll take a few moments to address them now.
EnemyofRealityasks: Dear, dear, Dear, DEAR Cage Potato. How I look forward to your wise words. Do tell me, what would your top 3 list of MMA refs look like?
It would like a lot like any other list, EnemyofReality, only it would have referee names instead of groceries, chores, and people to kill.
We actually covered this subject a couple of years ago, but times change and you’re asking now, so here we go. There are a lot of refs to choose from, but not necessarily a lot of great refs to choose from. If we were climbing into the cage—and we’re starting to warm up to the idea–we’d like to have Herb Dean, Big John McCarthy, or Josh Rosenthal in there to save our ass.
It’s been an eventful week to say the least. Strikeforce Heavyweights are all but done, Overeem went before the NSAC, and Jon Joneschoked Machida out cold. Too bad you didn’t ask us any questions about those things. That would have been cool. You did manage to pull some decent questions out of your asses, however, and we’ll take a few moments to address them now.
EnemyofRealityasks: Dear, dear, Dear, DEAR Cage Potato. How I look forward to your wise words. Do tell me, what would your top 3 list of MMA refs look like?
It would like a lot like any other list, EnemyofReality, only it would have referee names instead of groceries, chores, and people to kill.
We actually covered this subject a couple of years ago, but times change and you’re asking now, so here we go. There are a lot of refs to choose from, but not necessarily a lot of great refs to choose from. If we were climbing into the cage—and we’re starting to warm up to the idea–we’d like to have Herb Dean, Big John McCarthy, or Josh Rosenthal in there to save our ass.
“Nothing to lose” seems to be the popular consensus from our readers. True, we’re still in the dog house with the UFC from the last incident, so from that perspective we wouldn’t be risking much. But we wouldn’t want to jeopardize our good relationship with CagePotato’s reigning “Hottest Women in MMA Grand Prix” champion. Not buying it? Well, we also gave our lawyers the next few months off to celebrate and recover from their hard fought victory, and you know what they say: never leave it in the hands of the judges. It shouldn’t really matter; you only read it for the articles anyway.
@nannerbs Brennan Valenzuela asks: Is it still possible to get the “Chocolate Al’ Shirt?
Nearly 500 people purchased CagePotato’s “Chocolate Al” shirts in the week following their launch. If you were lucky enough to snag one, we have good news: not only will you be sporting an uber-stylish, limited edition piece of MMA folklore on New Year’s Eve, you also helped save the life of Dan Miller’s son. If you missed the boat, you’ll have the rest of your life to regret it. Do yourself a favor and grab one of our exclusive “MMA Hairstyles” shirts while you still have a chance.
@matt_simpson84 Matt Simpson asks: Premature to say Big Nog is done, no? Was destroying Mir on feet. Got caught by BJJ black belt and nearly escaped.
Premature to say that Big Nog is done? Whaaaaaat?????????
Big Nog is thirty five years old, has a history of taking vicious beatings, underwent dual-hip surgery last year, and just got his shoulder destroyed by Frank Mir. Sure, he could take freak show fights in Japan or be used as a gatekeeper in the UFC when he returns from his injury. But do we really want to remember the PRIDE legend for an unspectacular run in the Octagon? He’s had a great career, and we’re fine letting it end with the tough as nails Brazilian refusing to tap.
That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. And we still check that Google+ page we set up. Not that we want questions from that thing, we just feel like bragging.
You know, Potato Nation, Coleman just really likes potatoes. I mean, I know that’s not profound or nothin’. Heck! We all do…but for him, it goes much more beyond that.
So how many of you all came here last weekend only to be disappointed by the lack of answers to your seemingly endless questions? Maybe we’re getting too far ahead of ourselves, so let’s start over: How many of you noticed that we didn’t run a new edition of Ask the Potato last week? We just saw at least three hands go up, so we’re going to assume that the rest of you are just too shy to respond. We’re keeping it short and sweet and to the point this week, much unlike this sentence, so let’s get down to business.
KarmaAteMyCat asks: What’s the most vicious injury you have ever seen in MMA to date?
You know, Potato Nation, Coleman just really likes potatoes. I mean, I know that’s not profound or nothin’. Heck! We all do…but for him, it goes much more beyond that.
So how many of you all came here last weekend only to be disappointed by the lack of answers to your seemingly endless questions? Maybe we’re getting too far ahead of ourselves, so let’s start over: How many of you noticed that we didn’t run a new edition of Ask the Potato last week? We just saw at least three hands go up, so we’re going to assume that the rest of you are just too shy to respond. We’re keeping it short and sweet and to the point this week, much unlike this sentence, so let’s get down to business.
KarmaAteMyCat asks: What’s the most vicious injury you have ever seen in MMA to date?
Injuries are pretty common in this sport, particularly if you’re a champion. From swollen heads to flayed feet, we’d like to think we’ve seen it all over the years. But of all the limbs to snap inside the cage, our nominee has a clear leg up on the competition. Just seconds into the second round of their UFC: Fight for the Troops bout, Dale Hartt checked a leg kick from Corey Hill, instantly transforming his tibia and fibula into giant sticks of Laffy Taffy. Unlike Joe Theismann’s famous injury, there was no sock or pant leg to shield viewers from the sight of his twisted, mangled leg. Another key difference: Hill returned to competition only one year later; in fact, he just racked up a win last week. Think there’s a more deserving injury? We’re all ear!
Giblets asks: TRT – Really a medical issue or a loop hole for gear monkeys?
We’re hack journalists, Giblets, not doctors. But that doesn’t stop us from performing breast exams or doling out pills behind the neighborhood 7-Eleven, and it sure as hell isn’t going to stop us from answering your question.
Testosterone is a hormone responsible for increasing bone and muscle mass as well as stimulating aggressive behavior. Now where is the last place you would expect to find a large number of men suffering from a serious testosterone deficiency? If you said “inside the Octagon”, you’re wrong. The answer is Lilith Fair–low testosterone or not, no man wants to listen to that garbage. But competing in an MMA fight is a close second, so don’t feel bad about your answer. We’re hardly authorities on the matter, so check out what the very knowledgeable Dr. Johnny Benjamin has to say on the issue. And when even Nate Marquardt’s coach thinks the therapy has no place in the sport, you’ve got to know that something’s up.
RwilsonR asks: If any athlete from any other sport, from any generation, could cross over succesfully to MMA, who would it be and why? Is it this man?
But we’re going to take the easy route and pick someone who actually competed in combat sports before MMA was around. Given the trend of dominant wrestlers finding success in MMA, we imagine that any of your great wrestlers from yesteryear would have had successful MMA careers if the sport was around while they were in their prime. Specifically, we’ll go with Sports Illustrated’s pick for the greatest athlete to ever hail from Iowa, Dan Gable.
Dan Gable was an absolute wrecking ball in his prime, having lost only one match in his entire collegiate career (his last match, against Washington’s Larry Owings). Of course, that was just his opening act: He would go on to win a gold medal at the 1972 Olympic Games while not giving up a single point. So yeah, we imagine he would have wrestlefucked his way to a hell of a career in MMA, if it was an option for him.
One final thing worth mentioning: After retiring from competition in 1975, Dan Gable decided he wasn’t done dominating college wrestling, so he became the head coach at the University of Iowa. During his tenure from 1976–1997, Iowa won 15 NCAA team titles, including a record nine straight titles from 1978 to 1986 and 21 straight Big Ten titles. Had MMA been around, we imagine that he’d start a gym that would rival any of the top gyms today.
That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. And we still check that Google+ page we set up. Not that we want questions from that thing, we just feel like bragging.
We’re back with yet another installment of Ask the Potato. You know the drill by now. You ask us somewhat serious questions. We give you bitter, sarcastic responses. Those Black Friday discounts we got yesterday have us feeling pretty stoked, so we’re not going to be nearly as facetious as usual. Sarcasm? Only one way to find out…
RSparrow asks: Who’s the black guy that’s always at the weigh ins? Like some kinda hype man, wtf?
We’re back with yet another installment of Ask the Potato. You know the drill by now. You ask us somewhat serious questions. We give you bitter, sarcastic responses. Those Black Friday discounts we got yesterday have us feeling pretty stoked, so we’re not going to be nearly as facetious as usual. Sarcasm? Only one way to find out…
RSparrow asks: Who’s the black guy that’s always at the weigh ins? Like some kinda hype man, wtf?
That’s a pretty vague question, RSparrow. You could be referring to just about anybody. We’ll go out on a limb here and assume you’re talking about Burt Watson. If you’re unfamiliar with UFC’s “babysitter to the stars”, do yourself a favor and check out Ariel Helwani’s in depth interview:
RwilsonR asks: What is the best fight that was never made?
It depends on what you mean by “best”. Do you mean what duo would have produced the most exciting scrap? Do you mean the fight that would have mattered most in the rankings? Or do you mean what fight would have meant the most to the overall landscape of the sport? There are plenty of correct answers to your query, but we’ll start the conversation with two:
Three years after his departure from the UFC, Royce Gracie signed to put undefeated record to the test at Pride 2 against the Mark Kerr. “The Smashing Machine” had yet to taste defeat and was in his prime, and a pairing against the sport’s first hero would have been a blockbuster. Weeks away from the clash, Royce would pull out of the fight citing back issues. A win for Royce would have further cemented his legacy in the sport and quelled talk of him departing when tougher competition emerged. A victory for the hulking Kerr would have served as a true passing of the torch moment in MMA.
When Affliction tossed their gaudy, skull-clad hat in the promoters ring, they used their foothold as sponsors to secure the best free agents available. Though they signed several respectable Octagon outcasts, their crowned jewel was undoubtedly Fedor Emelianenko. In late 2007 Randy Couture broke free from the UFC in a heated dispute, and a dream match-up with Fedor teetered on the brink of reality. Serious talk of the bout began and commercials were even shot before the UFC filed an injunction to silence that noise. It was then that the words “champions clause” first entered into our vocabulary. The bout would have been a coup for Affliction, who hosted two financially crippling events before folding up shop on the heels of a busted Fedor-Barnett headliner, which for that reason alone could qualify as an answer to your question.
Look, we hate to be like that NFL fan who boldly predicts that the Packers will win every week. Even that guy’s mom hates that guy. But sometimes that jackass makes a good point. What we’re getting at is this: Until Anderson Silva loses, we’re going to keep predicting that he wins.
RwilsonR asks (again):Which fighter is the biggestletdown in MMA history? Is it PauloFilho?
Call us crazy, but no- It isn’t Paulo Filho. Sure, he’s now famous for having stupid tattoos, (allegedly) doing a lot of Roofies and pulling out of fights. But back in his WEC days, he was a legitimate top five middleweight who many were saying could beat Anderson Silva. Even though those days are in the rear-view mirror, he can’t be the biggest letdown to us because he actually did live up to the hype surrounding him at one point in time.
Rather, our pick is Satoshi Ishii. Remember when the decorated judoka was one of the hottest free agents in MMA, despite never having competed? Well, Ishii has parlayed that into a decision loss to forty year old Hidehiko Yoshida, getting disqualified from an exhibition bout, “notable” victories over Minowaman and Jerome Le Banner and a draw to the aforementioned Paulo Filho. He’s now rumored to be Fedor’s opponent for his (somewhat annual) New Year’s Eve freakshow fight. Definitely not the career trajectory we were predicting for Ishii.
We’re actually a little surprised by this too. We don’t mean that in a “I can’t believe that selfish prick isn’t going to pay for this!” kind of way; we mean it in a “Dana’s actually proven to be rather generous in these situations before” kind of way. We’re the first ones to point when Dana’s horns poke out of that beautiful bald head, but he’s been known to cover them up with a white hat on multiple occassions. Not long ago, he ponied up to help a young girl get life saving surgery. He didn’t send out a press release to toot his own horn, either. He just did it. The truth is, we’re just guessing that he hasn’t already contributed. Dan says that someone already made an incredible $20,000 donation. Were not saying it came from Dana, but we can’t rule out him stepping up to the plate either.
That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. Hopefully, you haven’t been asking us questions on that Google+ page we set up, because we still haven’t figured that thing out.
Don’t worry- we didn’t forget about you. We were just a little busy yesterday. To demonstrate that your questions weren’t asked for no reason, we’ll jump right into answering them today. Unless, of course, you asked a question and we didn’t answer it. Then it was definitely asked for no reason. Oh well.
So let’s get started, shall we?
Kyle Gifford asks (via Facebook): Why haven’t you taken any questions from FB?
Victory, comrade!
Don’t worry- we didn’t forget about you. We were just a little busy yesterday. To demonstrate that your questions weren’t asked for no reason, we’ll jump right into answering them today. Unless, of course, you asked a question and we didn’t answer it. Then it was definitely asked for no reason. Oh well.
So let’s get started, shall we?
Kyle Gifford asks (via Facebook): Why haven’t you taken any questions from FB?
Sorry about that, Kyle. We won’t ignore you in the future. Unless you continue to ask awful questions, that is.
Kyle Gifford asks (via Facebook):I’ve been following CP since the beginning. Can I get a free shirt? I no longer frequent the forums but I did when it first started.
No, Kyle. No you cannot. Next question.
Tarran Constable asks (via Facebook): who are the 2 worst pound for pound fighters in the ufc and strikeforce? And if they were to fight, who would win?
If you’re asking us to compare the worst fighter in the UFC to the worst fighter in Strikeforce, you’re just begging us to make a weak basketball analogy. So here it is: This is like asking what would happen if the worst player in the NBA played one on one against the worst player in the D-League. Even if that happened, you’d never hear from the winner again, so who really cares?
1.) Pick two fighters who lost on the undercard of Friday’s Challengers event. Go ahead, any two will do.
2.) Get a coin, and label one side for the first fighter and the other side for the other fighter.
3.) Flip said coin.
4.) Acknowledge that you just wasted your time.
RwilsonRasks:What is the best fighting/martial arts movie of all time that doesn’t involve Bruce Lee? And no picking some cult Hong Kong POS that is totally unwatchable. I’m talking classic 70?s, 80?s, 90?s Hollywood cinema.
Throughout MMA’s short history, we’ve seen countless fighters try to adapt the martial arts to suit their particular skill set and physical attributes; it’s basically how Gracie Jiu Jitsu was formed. We’ve also seen our fair share of former Olympians make the transition to the fighting world. Lost in the revisionist history of mixed martial arts, however, is Kurt Thomas. In addition to founding his own martial art form, he put his life on the line to serve his country. Never forget.
Fried Taco asks: Who is your favorite commenter (can’t be someone who works for CP, or any of the secret Break Media alliances with other organizations that we all really know about but pretend don’t exist – and no fair picking a girl who takes her clothes off for you).
Okay, Fried Taco. We know where you’re going with this, so we better have a chat. We like you. You’re a wonderful guy, and we’ve had some great times with each other. But things are very hectic here at Cage Potato, and frankly, we’re not ready to commit to just one commentator right now. We know it sounds like a total cop-out, but we’re serious when we say it: It’s not you, it’s us. Let’s just stay friends, okay?
EnemyofReality asks: Dear CP…. I think I might be going bald. Should I go with the shaved head w/ goatee-tattoo and piercing Kerry King look or should I go with the regular guy, ball cap smiling Junior Dos Santos look?
Neither. You’re not a famous metal guitarist or a UFC champion, so you’ll look like a tool trying to imitate one. For an image that won’t get people to refer to you as “that douchebag”, try either of these:
That’s all for now, folks. Tune in next week as we answer even more of your (hopefully at least kind of) MMA related questions. You know the drill: You can send us questions through our Facebook page. You can tweet them to our Twitter account, as well as hashtag questions with #AskThePotato. You can register for our forums and post your questions there. Or you can just post them in the comments section of this article. Or maybe you can show us how to use that Google+ page we set up so we can take questions from there. You can ask questions on that thing, right?
