Caged In | UFC Betting Sites - The Best MMA Online Bookies

Strikeforce World Grand Prix: Why Josh Barnett vs. Daniel Cormier Moves Me

Sometimes, a fight just speaks to you. It comes out of the mind of UFC matchmakers Joe Silva and Sean Shelby and implants itself immediately in your heart. It can happen in any art form—music, movies, you name it. Occasionally it disappoints in unspeakable ways (looking at you, Under Siege 2. Suck it, Chinese Democracy). Other times? You can find yourself moved in ways a sporting event should never move a grown man.

For me, Josh Barnett‘s fight with Daniel Cormier is one of those bouts that connects with my soul as a fan. I’m not sure exactly what it is that has tickled my fancy. More than anything, though, it’s the not knowing.

Usually, we have a pretty good idea what’s going to happen in a fight. Sure, we are often completely, embarrassingly and bafflingly wrong. But the important point is that we think we know. With this fight, will it be the the final bout of Strikeforce’s epic Heavyweight Grand Prix? I can’t even begin to guess.

We know Daniel Cormier is an amazing wrestler. But beyond those talents, ones developed under the watchful eye of the best American wrestler of the modern era, John Smith, and honed on the world level, a fighter of diverse skill is emerging.

Cormier could have easily padded his record with ground-and-pound smashings of lesser lights. That’s the normal progression for a superior wrestler making his way in MMA. Instead, he made it a point to stand and trade with opponents, putting his reputation at risk to prepare himself to be a complete fighter. It’s paid off. He’s battle tested and ready now, in all areas, having confronted his weaknesses instead of running from them.

But what can you say about Josh Barnett? He’s only one of the top five heavyweights of all time, a man who’s stared across the cage at the great ones. The last time he was in the cage with an Olympic-class wrestler? That man’s name was Randy Couture, and Barnett wrecked him (there’s the small matter of a subsequent failed steroid test; who wants to bring up ancient dirty laundry?).

Barnett may have a decided disadvantage in wrestling pedigree. What he does have is more than a decade of bending other men, and their appendages, to his will. He will test Cormier is ways no one has before. Can he, at 34 years of age, muster up what it takes to beat the sport’s top heavyweight prospect?

I really, truly, have no idea. And that’s what makes this fight so troubling. And so damn appealing. When they close the cage door, we’ll finally know. That’s worth all the anticipation. All the wondering. It’s worth everything. It’s why we watch.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier Info and Predictions for the Main Card

The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix was set to be the jumping off point for the promotion to compete with the UFC. Comprised of seven of the best heavyweights in the world plus Brett Rogers, the winner of the tournament would have a real claim to be…

This weekend the Grand Prix comes to a close with Josh Barnett facing Daniel Cormier in the finals. The winner of the bout will hang around in the promotion for one more fight against a yet-to-be named UFC heavyweight. The loser is likely to be directly transferred over to the UFC.

In the co-main event, Gilbert Melendez faces Josh Thomson for the third time in his career. The bout is for Gilbert’s lightweight belt. With a win, it’s arguable to say that Gilbert will have cleaned out the Strikeforce lightweight division.

The undercard airs Saturday night on Showtime Extreme at 8:00 pm ET. Switch over to Showtime at 10:00 pm ET for the main card. Sorry West Coast, but it’ll be delayed for you guys.

Begin Slideshow

Chael Sonnen, Jim Rome and the Non-Submission at UFC 117

You remember UFC 117, don’t you? The main event between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen was one of the greatest fights in UFC history, and it was certainly among the greatest comebacks in the history of the sport. Hell, in my mind, it was the absolute …

Prior to that first fight, Sonnen spent months creating a character that ignited public interest in him for, well, the first time in his career. And much of that legend was created during appearances on radio personality Jim Rome’s nationally syndicated radio program.

The highlight of those early radio appearances consisted of Rome confronting Sonnen about comments he made regarding Lance Armstrong. If you missed it, Sonnen said that Armstrong had given himself cancer by taking performance-enhancing drugs. But when he appeared on Rome’s radio show, Sonnen denied ever making the comments—shortly after Rome played him the comments, mind you—and concluded by saying that the fake Sonnen actually sounded Hispanic.

Hilarious stuff, to be sure. To most people anyway.

Ever since that day, Sonnen has been a favored guest of both Rome and his millions of listeners. Rome invites Sonnen back on the show every few months, whether he has a fight to promote or not, and earlier this week, Sonnen appeared on Rome’s new CBS Sports network television show to promote his new book, The Voice of Reason.

Rome and Sonnen talked about the book only briefly, instead focusing on Sonnen’s upcoming rematch with Silva. Rome essentially gave Sonnen a chance to say wacky things and shine in the public eye like he does so well, and Sonnen more than lived up to the task when describing his loss to Silva in the first fight.

Sonnen: It was an absolute misunderstanding and misapplication of the rules by me. We’re in the fifth and final round and he locks on a submission. I acknowledge that he has it on tight by slapping my hand on his leg.

Rome: You tapped.

Sonnen: I tapped. So what I thought is that we go to the cards and he’d win that round. Apparently, if you tap, it ends the entire contest, which I was not made privy to.

Rome: Isn’t that what a tap is? You tap and you’re done?

Sonnen: Apparently, it is.

Rome: C’mon. You don’t know what it means to tap?

Sonnen: I do now.

Rome: Chael, that’s a crazier thing than the noise you were running to me on my radio show.

This one goes in the Chael P. Sonnen Hall of Awesome Quotes, folks. It has all the hallmarks of a great Sonnen piece of work, and by that I mean it’s complete and utter nonsense, it’s creative and Sonnen delivered it with a straight face. I don’t know how he keeps himself from laughing while saying it, but it’s an incredible talent.

I understand that there are those of you who don’t like Sonnen’s game. But honestly, if you’re so stuck up that you can’t enjoy what is quite obviously a complete farce done for entertainment purposes, you probably need to find a new hobby.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bob Sapp Continues to Find New Ways to Embarrass Himself in Capitulation Tour

As Bob Sapp continues his “International Capitulation Tour,” falling to Soa Palelei in less than 30 seconds in Australia, it’s hard to remember why he mattered in the first place. But he did. Most surely. And not just as a gimmick, although his gimmick was always there, propelling him to a celebrity no fighter has had before or since. After all, when your gimmick is “huge, incredibly muscular black guy with a great laugh” it’s hard to leave it at the door.

#CFC 21 @soathehulk def Bob Sapp via TKO (Punches), Rd 1, 0:20

— Pete D. (@longhornsMMA) May 18, 2012

We care about Sapp, and promoters can still sell Sapp, because at the core of Bob Sapp is an amazingly dangerous man. Somewhere, lurking beneath the pussy cat who taps out the first time he even senses an opponent is about to strike, is the Bengal tiger. Or the rhino. Fill in your own animal metaphor as you see fit.

Whichever jungle creature, it was one that mauled the great Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira when he was at the height of his game. One that cornered and proceeded to bully Hall of Fame kickboxer Ernesto Hoost like he had Rivers Cuomo glasses and a pocket protector. With little formal training, with just his own strength and athleticism leading the way, Bob Sapp seemed poised to become one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time.

And then it all went to hell. Sapp’s meteoric rise in Japan created an incredible demand on his time. And, frankly, he didn’t much care for fighting. When there was a choice to be made between a goofy Japanese game show and a sparring session, the decision was a no-brainer for Sapp. It was the game show, every time. In a 2008 interview, Sapp described to me a typical week in his Japanese MMA prime:

“I would eat breakfast early, go to sleep, wake up again at 8 AM. From there I’d go and do television shows from about 8 to 2 o’clock. From 2 to 4 I would eat lunch, from 6 to 9 I would have to do some more television shows and then some rest and go eat dinner. Then I’d have to do some commercials and television shows, some of the late night television shows. The next day I’d get up and go anywhere from a pro wrestling match or pro wrestling practice, then kickboxing practice, followed by MMA practice,” Sapp said. “A kickboxing or MMA match would be followed almost immediately by commercials or pro wrestling. Then the next day I’d have a full onslaught of television. It was hard. And that’s one of the reasons my records are going to stand. I don’t think you’ll find anyone who’s going to be able to work and do that much stuff. I did comedy shows and the only thing beating out my fights were my comedy shows. The entertainment I was providing was ridiculous. They had me doing absolutely everything and anything.”

This withering schedule didn’t leave much time to train and develop his game. A persistent eye injury, product of a 2003 Mirko Cro Cop left hand that broke his orbital bone, left Sapp deathly afraid of permanent injury.

Scared and indifferent? A bad combination for any fighter, made particularly worse in Sapp’s case because his rank cowardice is so contrary to his fearsome appearance. It’s that look that makes it possible for Sapp to go into new territories, sell fans on his fight with scary muscles and charming interviews. When he’s done in the first round, as he has been five times this year alone, he can skedaddle out of town and cash his check.

But for how much longer? He’s pulled off his routine in Croatia, Indonesia, Poland, India and Australia. Soon there won’t be a single burg, no matter the size, that doesn’t know about Sapp’s bait and switch. That’s when the tour will finally come to a close. Better get the t-shirt while you can.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Strikeforce: Barnett vs. Cormier Main Card Power Rankings

It’s hard to believe that, after 16 months of waiting, speculating and hand-wringing, the Strikeforce world heavyweight grand prix is actually going to come to an end.Back when it was announced, MMA nerds—and yes, I include myself in that illustr…

It’s hard to believe that, after 16 months of waiting, speculating and hand-wringing, the Strikeforce world heavyweight grand prix is actually going to come to an end.

Back when it was announced, MMA nerds—and yes, I include myself in that illustrious group—went bonkers over the possibilities the tournament held. After all, there are three things that every fan adores about the sport, and two of them are heavyweights and tournaments. The other two things? Arianny Celeste and Brittney Palmer, of course.

There was a chance the tournament would never be completed at all. Back in August, it looked like Strikeforce was all but dead. But here we are. Scott Coker’s last grand experiment is finally coming to an end.

As per usual, we’re going to power rank each of the main-card fighters. Think of this as a pound for pound list, but one that only includes the dudes fighting on the main card.

Oh, and I’m excluding Nah-Shon Burrell and Christopher Spang because, well, they’re Nah-Shon Burrell and Christopher Spang.

Let’s get started.

Begin Slideshow

UFC’s Jon Fitch Doesn’t Care If You Think He’s Boring

We’ve all heard the jokes about Jon Fitch. How watching Fitch fight is something like watching paint dry or watching grass grow. Dana White even gets in on the jokes from time to time, needling the welterweight for his dry fighting style on Twitter.It’…

It’s all a bunch of nonsense, of course. I love exciting fights as much as the next guy, and I think they’re a valid thing when you’re trying to bring in new fans. But there’s one thing more important than being exciting or cutting Chael Sonnen promos or wearing outlandish clothes during your walkout: winning.

That’s the bottom line, really. You can be the most exciting fighter in the world, and it might buy you a few extra losses in the UFC before they send you packing. But it’s not going to help you stick around forever as you rack up loss after loss. Winning is the only thing that keeps you employed, and it doesn’t matter what it looks like.

Here’s Fitch chiming in on the criticism from the fans while talking to Duane Finley:

“I haven’t been paying enough attention to the sport to know what other guys are doing or if, in fact, the squeaky wheel is getting the grease,” Fitch said. “I don’t know who is squeaking or not. My daily life consists of me training my ass off and spending time with my family. I don’t go outside that bubble. Going to the UFC in New Jersey was the first time I had done anything like that in a while. I’m in the fight environment if I’m fighting or if I have a teammate fighting. Otherwise, I don’t pay much attention.

“If people think that I’m not beating people up in there, all they have to do is look at my opponent’s face after the fight. If I’m not doing work in there, then how did their face get so f***ed up?”

Fitch has a point. He’s got a style that doesn’t endear itself to meathead audiences, but it’s effective. And think about it this way: Randy Couture has been using the same style for years, only it’s a stand-up version that’s heavily based on wrestling, and he’s lauded as a hero while Fitch gets booed out of the building every time he steps in the cage. How is that fair?

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com