Tag: Caged In

UFC Welterweight Brian Ebersole Calls Josh Koscheck Bad Names

The bitter breakup between Josh Koscheck and Javier Mendez from American Kickboxing Academy took a new twist last night when Brian Ebersole jumped into the fray.Ebersole, never known for mincing his words, lashed out at Koscheck (via Vigilante MMA) ove…

The bitter breakup between Josh Koscheck and Javier Mendez from American Kickboxing Academy took a new twist last night when Brian Ebersole jumped into the fray.

Ebersole, never known for mincing his words, lashed out at Koscheck (via Vigilante MMA) over what he believes is disrespectful and arrogant treatment of Mendez. And really, Ebersole is simply saying the same thing that everyone else in the world not named Josh Koscheck is saying.

This wasn’t a happy ending, and most of the blame seems to be falling squarely on Koscheck and his charming personality.

He mentioned that Javier coached him but that he didn’t learn anything. Really? I learn from BJJ blue belts whilst I travel the globe teaching and training. And you can’t learn from a former World Champion? That’s a curious comment, if you ask me, which you did.

I’m not alone in thinking he’s a dick. …

In all of our interactions, never once did he thank me for booking his 1st fight, or taking my Christmas holiday to head out and train with him (on my own dime). I think he was successful because he had a chip on his shoulder all his life. And that’s fine. But when life opens its doors to you, allows you to live the dream, maybe some class, tact, and grace is called for? …

Josh probably had a big problem anytime criticism came; and 90% of that would have come from Javier, because it was not in the nature of the other coaches. Not surprising that they butted heads.  And not surprising that Kos has acted like a child in regard to his life-changing plans. Disappointing to many, no doubt.  But not surprising to anyone who knows him.

I appreciate Ebersole’s honesty, and I appreciate his ability to put together a coherent sentence. I conducted a live chat with him prior to his fight in December, and he simply asked me for directions, took the computer from me and moderated the chat by himself. 

And again, most of the blame for this situation appears to be falling on Koscheck. I don’t see any of his long-time friends from AKA jumping up and heading to his rescue, and that speaks volumes. I’ve been to AKA on several different occasions, and I can tell you from experience that there is a true team mentality within the ranks there. 

Koscheck appears to be the odd man out, and I guess that’s the way he wants it.

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UFC’s Decision to Visit Canada 3 Times in 2012 Is a Smart One

UFC president Dana White and Canadian director of operations Tom Wright announced during a press conference in Calgary Wednesday morning that the UFC would be making three stops in Canada during the 2012 calendar year.The dates kick off with June’s vis…

UFC president Dana White and Canadian director of operations Tom Wright announced during a press conference in Calgary Wednesday morning that the UFC would be making three stops in Canada during the 2012 calendar year.

The dates kick off with June’s visit to Calgary, which will be headlined by Jose Aldo defending his featherweight title against an unknown opponent. They’ll return in September for a show in Toronto—likely at the Air Canada Centre and not the Rogers Centre—and then make the trek back to Montreal two months later for what will likely be Georges St-Pierre’s first fight in nearly two years.

“The doctors said it’s the fastest recovering they’ve seen in an ACL injury,” said St-Pierre, who indicated that he wants to return at the Montreal event.

The one Canadian city that won’t be getting a new UFC event any time soon? Vancouver. After several successful visits to the city, the UFC is now fighting a ban on the sport after the conclusion of a two-year regulatory period. White noted that Vancouver likely will not get a show for the next two years, at the very least.

The UFC is wise in making Canada one of their centerpiece nations. Having gone to six events in Canada, I can tell you that the level of rabid fandom that exists in cities like Montreal far exceeds that of anywhere else in the world. Okay, I suppose you’d have to include Brazil in that category. 

But the point remains—Canada is full of loving, supportive fans, and they’re going to continue getting big events because of it. I think the rest of the world should take notice, and I’m not even a Canadian.

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Matt Hughes Says Dana White Will Decide If He Fights Again

Matt Hughes is a legend of the fighting game. Because of that, he’s earned the right to decide when he walks away from the sport for good.But as Hughes told MMAjunkie.com prior to taping last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, the decision is isn’t up to …

Matt Hughes is a legend of the fighting game. Because of that, he’s earned the right to decide when he walks away from the sport for good.

But as Hughes told MMAjunkie.com prior to taping last night’s episode of UFC Tonight, the decision is isn’t up to him. It’s not even up to his wife, who has repeatedly told Hughes over the previous 12 months that she’d like her husband to retire and come home to the farm.

“She wants me to retire from fighting so fighting doesn’t retire me,” Hughes said. 

That’s not the way she put it, he adds. Somebody else told him that, but the point is the same. She gets worried and doesn’t want to see her husband hurt.  

“And I see where she’s coming from,” Hughes said. “She didn’t grow up like I did. She’s a city girl, not rough at all. I grew up on a farm with a twin brother. We grew up beating each other up.”

The decision rests with UFC President Dana White, Hughes said. White has noted in the past that he’d like Hughes to retire soon, but Hughes said the decision hasn’t been made and that he hasn’t heard from White regarding the end of his career.

“I’m at a crossroads between fighting another fight or retirement,” he said, adding that a decision will come “soon.” “I’m 38, and I keep getting older, and the fighters keep staying the same age. I wanted the fall and spring off, and now it’s time to talk with DW.”

I’ve heard rumblings that Hughes may be slotted for a fight against Yoshihiro Akiyama later in the summer. If that’s the case, it would be a great fight for both men. Akiyama probably should’ve been cut already, but the UFC likes guys who go out there and put on exciting fights, and that weighs heavily in his favor.

A loss to Hughes would certainly spell the end of his UFC run, though.

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Ken Shamrock Still Holds a Grudge Against UFC President Dana White

Ken Shamrock’s having a hard time letting go.There’s no question that Shamrock is one of the legends of the early days of the sport, and I respect him for all that he’s done to get us to where we are. Without Shamrock, I wouldn’t have my job. And I rea…

Ken Shamrock‘s having a hard time letting go.

There’s no question that Shamrock is one of the legends of the early days of the sport, and I respect him for all that he’s done to get us to where we are. Without Shamrock, I wouldn’t have my job. And I really, really like my job.

But it’s long past time for Shamrock to move on, both from the fight game and from a feud with Dana White that he just can’t win.

Shamrock talked to Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour:

“I don’t like to come in and say, ‘I’ve done this and I’ve done that,’ because really, it takes a village to make something happen. It takes a lot of people to make it successful. And to hear Dana White say, ‘I did this and I did that. It was me. And he didn’t do this and didn’t do that.’ Well, how in the world did they get to where they were at if it was just Dana? Because I didn’t see him in the ring. I didn’t see Dana fighting. I didn’t see the numbers go up when they had just Tito there. I didn’t see any of that.

What I saw was me getting in there, building an organization, having a feud with Tito Ortiz to help build those numbers, along with Dana White and the corporation and the company to shoot that feud. And also to have Tito there, who was a great villain — to have someone going against me. And that’s how we did those numbers. Because we all got involved and did it.”

Again, Shamrock is owed plenty of respect for his work in the early days of the sport. And there is a very real chance that without his feud with Tito Ortiz, MMA never would have reached the heights it has today. That’s a fact.

But Shamrock is mistaken when he trivializes White’s role in building the sport. Without White and his brash, take-no-prisoners style, it’s very likely that the UFC never becomes as popular as it did. The rise of the UFC and of mixed martial arts in the mainstream took three parts: exciting fights on television, intriguing characters and a promoter willing to say and do things that other sporting figureheads would never even consider.

Shamrock will never grasp this concept. And that’s why he’s stuck on the outside, fighting bums and buffoons like James Toney when he could have a lifetime role with the company much like Chuck Liddell.

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Fairy Tale Fans: Why Tim Tebow Supporters Are Naturals for Mixed Martial Arts

Sports fans are typically a pretty realistic bunch.Look at fans of teams like the Cleveland Browns, who are lousy, know they are lousy and don’t try to pretend otherwise. Entire industries have sprouted up with the seemingly sole purpose of critic…

Sports fans are typically a pretty realistic bunch.

Look at fans of teams like the Cleveland Browns, who are lousy, know they are lousy and don’t try to pretend otherwise. Entire industries have sprouted up with the seemingly sole purpose of criticizing athletes and coaches, pointing out all of their flaws, humanizing what were once mythical creatures. A separate cottage industry exists to mock and deflate the sports media. Sociologically, it’s fascinating stuff.

Mixed martial arts fans? We’re that beast of another color. Hope springs eternal in mixed martial arts.

It’s a place where fans can, in all seriousness, suggest that an athlete with no wrestling background, no discernible proclivity for wrestling, and a decade of ignoring his fundamental flaws in the area, can become a master of the discipline simply by switching training camps.

The idea that certain people simply aren’t good at something never seems to cross a mixed martial arts fan’s mind. In the insular community of super fans, training is always the answer.

Got beat up by a guy who’s been kickboxing his whole life or a prodigy with amazing hand speed and reflexes? Just travel to Holland or Thailand and book some time with a handful of grizzled kickboxing coaches. Problem solved!

Other sports don’t have these fairy tale fans. When a quarterback comes out of college and can’t make the deep throws, no one suggests that spending the summer with Dan Marino will make the kid into the next Jeff George. There’s a more sophisticated understanding that success in high stakes athletics is a product not just of rigorous training, but of innate ability as well. MMA fans are more democratic than that. In fact, athleticism rarely comes into the equation when discussing fighters, or at least certainly not with the frequency you see skill sets mentioned in pre- and post-fight analysis.

Part of this disconnect is a product of the sport’s rise to success in America. Royce Gracie was MMA’s poster boy, not despite his lack of athletic skill but expressly because of them. Gracie’s uninspiring physique and average speed and strength made it all the more impressive when he dispatched opponents with shocking ease. The UFC at the time was less athletic contest, more infomercial for Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. It made sense to emphasize the technique over the technician. After all, that was the product they were moving.

None of that, of course, explains why Tim Tebow supporters live in a fantasy land. Football fans have had decades to grasp the prerequisites for success as an NFL quarterback. Making good decisions under pressure and the ability to accurately throw a football where you want it to go are key. If an athlete can’t do these two things at an otherworldly level, he is going to fail in the professional ranks. Period.

There’s no examples of successful quarterbacks who fail in these two simple areas. There are copious examples of system quarterbacks, and make no mistake that Tebow—who was just traded to the Jets today—is every bit the system quarterback a kid from Texas Tech is, failing to make it against more complicated defensive schemes and better athletes.

Yet Tebow fans remain undaunted. He just needs seasoning. Some time under the wing of a veteran quarterback who can show him the ropes. He needs time.

His fundamental flaws? An inability to throw the football quickly or where he wants it to go? Never part of the discussion with his millions of rabid fans.

Maybe Tim Tebow’s ultimate home is MMA? It will be the perfect home for his fans, a place where hope springs eternal and you are just one miracle coaching session away from glory. A place where his mythical ability to win and legendary will power will be more than enough.

After all, according to MMA fans, a couple of months at Golden Glory and a stint at Greg Jackson’s fantastic gym in New Mexico is all it takes to achieve your dreams in the fight game. It’ll be like taking candy from a baby.

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UFC’s Jake Shields Says He’ll Eventually Be Able to Strike with the Best in MMA

Jake Shields is one of the best grapplers in mixed martial arts, and yet he seems to be focused on the idea that he can eventually compete with other great strikers in the welterweight division.As Shields told HeavyMMA.com Duane Finley: 
Working b…

Jake Shields is one of the best grapplers in mixed martial arts, and yet he seems to be focused on the idea that he can eventually compete with other great strikers in the welterweight division.

As Shields told HeavyMMA.com Duane Finley: 

Working behind top-notch grappling and his “American Jiu-Jitsu,” Shields has made the canvas the last place his opponents want to find themselves. But in order to claim championship gold in the UFC, he knows it is going to take solid striking and the ability to use his standup for transitions. While that portion of his game may not be exactly where he wants it, Shields is confident everything will come together and he will become the UFC welterweight champion.

My striking still has holes, but it has gotten a lot better, Shields said. I am going to continue to work and develop my skills and I believe in the next year I’ll be able to stand with the best strikers out there. I still have a little ways to go, but we have definitely made big improvements.

I came so close to the title and fell short. Now I feel like I’m close again. I’ve beaten the current (interim) champion, Carlos Condit, and Martin Kampmann, who is a top contender right now. I know I can beat these guys, and it all depends on me working my way back up and getting my shot. I’m not sure what’s next, but hopefully the UFC will give me a contender so I can get back up where I want to be.

Much like Demian Maia, Shields is a fighter who seems willing to vacate the powerful skill that got him to the top of the welterweight heap—his world-class grappling—in favor of standing and trading punches with guys who are much better at that aspect of the game.

It’s one thing if Shields wants to shore up his striking game so that he can rely on it as a fail-safe if his takedowns aren’t working.

That’s an admirable thing. 

But I’m hoping Shields doesn’t completely abandon his grappling game like Maia has in recent years. Shields’ striking should never be his go-to in a fight—that honor should always be reserved for his attempts to get the fight to the ground, where he’s as deadly as anyone in the sport. 

Still, I give Shields kudos for wanting to become a more well-rounded fighter. 

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