Tag: Australians

Insane Fight Double-Feature: Ref Cam Catches Bloody Battle w/Head Kick KO and a Jordanian Grappling Match for the Ages

I’ve said this before, but perhaps my favorite aspect of working at CagePotato is not the seemingly endless bankroll to sponsor stuff like this, the kick-ass company car (an ’84 Celica, red), or the mandated “Sexy Bikini Party Fridays” written into all our receptionists contracts. No, the cocaine mountains and rampant sexism are nice and all, but the real reason I come into the office two afternoons a month is you guys. Specifically, the insane fight videos you guys often pass along to us via our tips line.

Take this undiscovered gem of a scrap between Ibrahim El Sawy and Hashem Arkhagha that went down back in December 2012, which was passed along to us by CP reader Farzeen Mohmed. In the main event of an already exciting night of fights put on by Jordanian fight promotion Desert Force, El Sawy and Arkhagha took things to a WHOLE. NOTHA. LEVEL, exchanging near-knockouts and submission attempts with reckless abandon for two action-packed rounds. While the second doesn’t quite stack up to the first in terms of action, it does fit the very definition of a war of attrition. And hey, Yves Lavigne even shows up to ref this thing! SCORE.

Check out the full fight above, then join us after the jump for an equally, if not more riveting fight between a couple of unbreakable Aussies.

I’ve said this before, but perhaps my favorite aspect of working at CagePotato is not the seemingly endless bankroll to sponsor stuff like this, the kick-ass company car (an ’84 Celica, red), or the mandated “Sexy Bikini Party Fridays” written into all our receptionists contracts. No, the cocaine mountains and rampant sexism are nice and all, but the real reason I come into the office two afternoons a month is you guys. Specifically, the insane fight videos you guys often pass along to us via our tips line.

Take this undiscovered gem of a scrap between Ibrahim El Sawy and Hashem Arkhagha that went down back in December 2012, which was passed along to us by CP reader Farzeen Mohmed. In the main event of an already exciting night of fights put on by Jordanian fight promotion Desert Force, El Sawy and Arkhagha took things to a WHOLE. NOTHA. LEVEL, exchanging near-knockouts and submission attempts with reckless abandon for two action-packed rounds. While the second doesn’t quite stack up to the first in terms of action, it does fit the very definition of a war of attrition. And hey, Yves Lavigne even shows up to ref this thing! SCORE.

Check out the full fight above, then join us after the jump for an equally, if not more riveting fight between a couple of unbreakable Aussies.


(Props: Valor via r/MMA)

I’ve been carrying the flag for the ref cam (and now the Google Glass cam) for years now and it utterly enrages me to know that we may never see it in the UFC. Despite countless protests outside Dana White’s office, a letter writing campaign that was nothing short of Dufresnean, and a third thing I can’t discuss until the lawsuit is settled, little progress has been made in the fight to bring the ref cam to the UFC.

But I guess we can all take solace in the fact that, the UFC’s stubbornness aside, promotions like Australian’s Valor are more than willing to satiate the MMA fan’s voyeuristic desires (ways MMA is Like Porn for a thousand, Alex). And when the fights are the kind of knockdown, drag out wars like the one that went down between Callan Potter and David Butt at Valor Fight 7 last Saturday, the ref cam only enhances one’s viewing experience. Close-ups of the action, a “dogma” aesthetic, and no Jon Anik shouting lines from the MMA Commentator’s handbook?

–J. Jones 

The Next *Next* Big Dumb Thing is Here: “Footbrawl”

Maybe it’s just me, but my apathy for all the stupid, knock-off, hybrid MMA sports that have been created in the past few years has reached levels I previously thought unimaginable. Less than a year ago, I would have come across something as — for lack of a better word — retarded as Footbrawl and immediately launched into a three to five hundred word diatribe in which I explained to you exactly how retarded something like Footbrawl truly is. I would have pointed out that, sure, grappling is cool, but it loses some of its luster (or at least its practicality) when two men holding American Gladiator-style jousting sticks repeatedly doink you from above. That last sentence is only gay if you are.

Furthermore, I would have relentlessly mocked the minds behind this sportbortion for daring to combine Ultimate Ball and Jiu-Jitsu with the God’s honest intent of entertainment. I would have waxed poetic about a sport that, when carried out, most closely resembles a Plutonian laundromat riot circa 2033. But the XARM’s, the Wheeled Warriors, and the Warrior Islands of the past few years have all but completely desensitized me to the stupidity of humankind. And this shit doesn’t even have a Tater Williams.

So I beg of you, Potato Nation, to pick up where I have failed in the comments section. Trash this sport. Trash the ever-loving hell out of it.


(Just so we don’t come across as completely negative, a cheers is in order for whoever decided upon using Rage Against the Machine for background music. And that’s where the compliments stop.)

Maybe it’s just me, but my apathy for all the stupid, knock-off, hybrid MMA sports that have been created in the past few years has reached levels I previously thought unimaginable. Less than a year ago, I would have come across something as — for lack of a better word — retarded as Footbrawl and immediately launched into a three to five hundred word diatribe in which I explained to you exactly how retarded something like Footbrawl truly is. I would have pointed out that, sure, grappling is cool, but it loses some of its luster (or at least its practicality) when two men holding American Gladiator-style jousting sticks repeatedly doink you from above. That last sentence is only gay if you are.

Furthermore, I would have relentlessly mocked the minds behind this sportbortion for daring to combine Ultimate Ball and Jiu-Jitsu with the God’s honest intent of entertainment. I would have waxed poetic about a sport that, when carried out, most closely resembles a Plutonian laundromat riot circa 2033. But the XARM’s, the Wheeled Warriors, and the Warrior Islands of the past few years have all but completely desensitized me to the stupidity of humankind. And this shit doesn’t even have a Tater Williams.

So I beg of you, Potato Nation, to pick up where I have failed in the comments section. Trash this sport. Trash the ever-loving hell out of it. Trash it until someone claiming to be the CEO of Footbrawl is forced to defend the sport via several poorly-written comments. Hell, trash me for even recognizing its existence. And when you’re through with that, trash the Jets for sucking so bad at everything, because fuck ‘em. Several sources have declared the CP comments section to be “the cesspool of the MMA world,” so let’s see if we can lower that bar from “cesspool” to “AIDS-infested shithole” with this article. Make me proud, ladies and gents.

–J. Jones