(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)
To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.
(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)
(Steve Ramirez vs. Darvin Wattree @ Pure Combat IX. This is how you do it, folks.)
To turn somebody’s lights out with one shot is a thing of beauty — but to do it with the very first strike you land? That puts you on a whole ‘nother level of awesomeness. Our favorite first-punch MMA knockouts continue after the jump. Condolences to those brave, unfortunate souls who went through eight-week training camps just to get assed-out in less than 10 seconds.
(First-punch knockout, cheap-shot-style. The YouTube description tells us that these guys are cousins. Now that’s country.)
(Chris Clements vs. Lautaro Tucas @ TKO 25. Let’s just say that Tucas’s gameplan wasn’t hand-crafted by Greg Jackson.)
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy went down three years ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why it Matters:
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SemtexRumble617)
• Jon Jones made his UFC debut on the card, defeating fellow undefeated fighter Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision. Jones would go on to win five of his next six fights in dominating fashion against some of the promotion’s best fighters including Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to win the UFC light heavyweight strap in a little more than two-and-a-half years since he first competed in the Octagon. Analysts predict that he will go down as one of the sport’s best fighters. Time will tell.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/IronChefKenichiSakai)
UFC 87: Seek and Destroy went down three years ago at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Why it Matters:
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SemtexRumble617)
• Jon Jones made his UFC debut on the card, defeating fellow undefeated fighter Andre Gusmao by unanimous decision. Jones would go on to win five of his next six fights in dominating fashion against some of the promotion’s best fighters including Vladimir Matyushenko, Brandon Vera and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua at UFC 128 to win the UFC light heavyweight strap in a little more than two-and-a-half years since he first competed in the Octagon. Analysts predict that he will go down as one of the sport’s best fighters. Time will tell.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/SAWrestlingEire)
• Brock Lesnar got his first UFC win by decisively beating PRIDE veteran Heath Herring via unanimous decision (30-26 all) after getting submitted in his first bout by Frank Mir. In his next bout, which was only his fourth in MMA, he defeated Randy Couture to win the UFC heavyweight championship.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/zeno35)
• Jon Fitch faced Georges St-Pierre for the UFC welterweight strap and was dominated by the French Canadian champion for five rounds. In spite of a seven-fight undefeated streak since the bout, including a draw in a so-called title eliminator with BJ Penn at UFC 127 in February, Fitch has been passed over more than once for another shot at St-Pierre.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/Sherdog)
• Kenny Florian defeated Roger Huerta, effectively knocking “El Matador” off of his trajectory towards an inevitable title shot. Florian would defeat Joe Stevenson in his next bout at UFC 91 to earn a second shot at the lightweight strap against BJ Penn at UFC 101.
The Future Is Bright This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be co…
The Future Is Bright
This is arguably the greatest time of the year for sports. Baseball is back on, NFL camps are scheduled to open shortly (normally), the NBA and NHL are down to their two best. MMA is now in a position to be contributing to the drama as well. UFC 131 is in Vancouver this Saturday and The Score Fighting Series is broadcasting a well conceived card.
Lethbridge, Alberta’s Jordan Mein will be fighting on The Score Fighting Series this Friday at 7:30 (EST). The event is being held at The Hershey Center in Mississauga, Ontario. The 21 year old, with a 21-7 record, has been dubbed the “Future of Canadian MMA” by many pundits. His test on Friday will demonstrate how worthy he is of that title.
Naturally, the face of Canadian MMA today is Georges St- Pierre. Jordan may never achieve all that the future UFC Hall of Famer has, but he has proven that his journey to reach that goal just may well be worth watching.
Jordan not only oozes talent, he is equally as charismatic. Sincere humility, infectious enthusiasm, and an affable disposition aligned with striking, wrestling, and submission skills make this a potential blue chip stock to be excited about. He is the first generation of MMA fighters. People schooled in the sport of MMA and not gravitating towards it with a strong base in one discipline.
When asked if people do not recognize his intelligence and articulate nature because he is an MMA fighter he joked with the confidence to use self-deprecating humour, ” I am not that intelligent nor articulate. I’m just straight MMA. ” While Jordan has impressed people with his well-rounded skills that have earned him this unofficial title, he has backed up the hype.
His past two fights were against former UFC fighters: Joe Riggs and Josh Burkman. Riggs once contested Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight title and defeated G.S.P.’s next title challenger Nick Diaz: Mein vanquished him in the second round via TKO. He then won a convincing, unanimous decision over Burkman.
Mein’s take on the Burkman fight was an example of what a humble and respectful person he is:”It taught me that I could get rocked and comeback. I learned that I can overcome adversity as I got rocked several times and was hurt a lot.”
Being the future of anything can often create the opposite effect. It inherently creates pressure and often paradoxically manifests failure. Jordan on the pressure: ” Pressure is what one needs in life. High pressure fights and competing at the highest level is what I want. The pressure is awesome because I know I can achieve the expectations.”
Those that know of Jordan already, know of his father: Lee Mein. Lee is a stalwart in Western Canadian MMA. The iconic figure recently won on his 44th birthday and bolstered his record to 5-9. His real contributions have been to developing talent in Alberta and Western Canada. C.M.C. (Canadian Martial Arts Center) is where he grooms fighters and like many dads worked hard on his son.
According to Jordan, the plan was absolutely always for him to become an MMA fighter. ” We started with Karate, Karate tournaments, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu and Jiu Jitsu tournaments. It then progressed to Sport Jiu Jitsu which was basically MMA. Everything was geared towards doing MMA.”
It has been well documented that fighters such as Floyd Mayweather Jr., Shane Mosley, and Oscar De La Hoya have had problems dealing with the father/coach relationship. Jordan happily says, ” I want my father to get his percentage from his manager fee. He deserves it. Absolutely, he is still the key person driving my development.”
People have asked for this young man to represent a nation. They expect titles and great fame. In considering the path G.S.P. has forged, emulated Canada’s current king might be near impossible. Jordan’s hopes for himself: ” When I put my head on my pillow I hope to see myself being a great entertainer and filling seats. I want to give the people exciting shows.”
Jordan’s fight will air live on The Score in Canada and be broadcast on http://www.thescore.com/. The card begins at 7:30 (E.S.T.) The show will also feature former Pride star Rameau Sokoudjou (11-8) vs. Roy Boughton (5-1), host a battle between UFC veterans Joe Doerksen (46-15) and Luigi Fioravanti (22-9), and features, in separate matches, up-and-coming Canadians Antonio Carvalho (12-4) and Adrian Wooley (7-1). Check it out.
(The splash of green on the far right edge of the photo? That’s Susie. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)
Editor’s note: Yeah, it’s been over a month since Gary has graced us with his presence; long story, but it’s our fault, not his. Please forgive us for the delay. If you have any burning questions for the next installment of “Ask Gary,” please submit them in the comments section below, and catch up on his past columns here and here.
‘zaman fu’ asks: Please tell us some crazy stories about your sister.
Susie and I have always been really close and most fans would be familiar with seeing her in photos or post-fight ring celebrations. Throughout her life, Susie’s had a number of different boyfriends and, most of them, I didn’t like. The only men who I ever liked have been her husband and the man that she’s with right now. I’m sure there is an entire biography that can be written based solely on crazy stories about my sister Susie. She’s a party animal. Anytime I went to a fight, she would party enough for the both of us. I’d always go back to my hotel room and she’d go out to party with the fighters and fans. Needless to say, she’s got the skinny on everybody.
‘DARKHORSE06’ asks: Dear Gary, How come you never got paid what you deserved? Why were people always ripping you off? And why was it so hard to save? Not to push any buttons.
Hindsight is 20/20. Each one of us has our own life to live. Nobody makes all of the right choices at the right times. I’ve done both good and bad things but when all is said and done, I’m the one living my life. I’ve learned not to spend too much time worrying about how other people think they may have lived my life. Everybody gets ripped off and I’m no different. Old guys like us may have gotten taken advantage of sometimes but it’s nothing to whine about. Hopefully the new fighters can benefit from our experience by learning to watch their back and pay attention to what’s going on. Don’t let people make decisions for you. Make decisions for yourself and be careful who you give your trust to.
‘danomite’ asks: Who, out of all the people you have fought, hit the hardest?
(The splash of green on the far right edge of the photo? That’s Susie. Photo courtesy of MMAWeekly)
Editor’s note: Yeah, it’s been over a month since Gary has graced us with his presence; long story, but it’s our fault, not his. Please forgive us for the delay. If you have any burning questions for the next installment of “Ask Gary,” please submit them in the comments section below, and catch up on his past columns here and here.
‘zaman fu’ asks: Please tell us some crazy stories about your sister.
Susie and I have always been really close and most fans would be familiar with seeing her in photos or post-fight ring celebrations. Throughout her life, Susie’s had a number of different boyfriends and, most of them, I didn’t like. The only men who I ever liked have been her husband and the man that she’s with right now. I’m sure there is an entire biography that can be written based solely on crazy stories about my sister Susie. She’s a party animal. Anytime I went to a fight, she would party enough for the both of us. I’d always go back to my hotel room and she’d go out to party with the fighters and fans. Needless to say, she’s got the skinny on everybody.
‘DARKHORSE06′ asks: Dear Gary, How come you never got paid what you deserved? Why were people always ripping you off? And why was it so hard to save? Not to push any buttons.
Hindsight is 20/20. Each one of us has our own life to live. Nobody makes all of the right choices at the right times. I’ve done both good and bad things but when all is said and done, I’m the one living my life. I’ve learned not to spend too much time worrying about how other people think they may have lived my life. Everybody gets ripped off and I’m no different. Old guys like us may have gotten taken advantage of sometimes but it’s nothing to whine about. Hopefully the new fighters can benefit from our experience by learning to watch their back and pay attention to what’s going on. Don’t let people make decisions for you. Make decisions for yourself and be careful who you give your trust to.
‘danomite’ asks: Who, out of all the people you have fought, hit the hardest?
You never even feel the people who hit the hardest because they just put you to sleep. I’d say that Fedor is one of the hardest hitters because he put me to sleep and I didn’t even feel a thing. Heath Herring also put me on Queer Street; a lot of people don’t give Herring the credit he deserved as a fighter but I’m telling you, he hits very hard. It’s very important for people to understand that just because somebody knocks you out, doesn’t necessarily mean they hit hard. It just means they hit you correctly, meaning you’re not breathing at the proper time or you don’t clinch your jaw at the right time. There’s a lot of guys who can hit hard but to be honest, no one personal really stands out. I was always prepared for the guys who hit hard so nobody ever really caught me off guard. I always did my research on my opponents and would train accordingly.
(Goodridge vs. Herring, Hero’s 4, 3/15/06)
‘danomite’ (again) asks: What do you think about Zuffa being the only big organization left?
Zuffa’s been treating everybody really well but the only problem with only having one player on the block is that it looks like a monopoly. Zuffa is cleaning up and doing what they need to do by taking the market share away from as many competitors as possible. And you know what? Good for them. You cannot blame them for making decisions in the best interest of the company. Now that Zuffa’s number one, other people are out to take a piece of their pie. The industry is starting to learn that if they are going to get any piece of the pie that Zuffa has been baking, they can’t be greedy and try to take more than their share.
‘jimbonics’ asks: How often are you mistaken for Gilbert Yvel? ‘danomite’ (wow) asks: Which black athlete or movie star do you get mistaken for most often? My money is on LT (Ladainian Tomlinson, not the other guy)
I always get mistaken for Rampage. Rampage Jackson and I go back a long way and we’ve had many conversations regarding how often we get mistaken for each other. We’ve hung out a lot together and we always have each other’s back. Rampage married a Japanese woman at the same time that I was thinking about marrying a Japanese woman. Rampage and I both know how to entertain the fans as arena celebrities; however, we are also very personable and approachable to individual fans. Both of us have been fighting our entire lives and have developed strong wills. We’ve always had the same attitude towards the sport and he’s always been my brother in this difficult sport.
‘SnackDaddy’ asks: Tits or ass?
Anybody who knows Big Daddy knows that I’m “Ass all the way, ass all day.” I love big booty.
Good night Vienna (or Vie-mma). Apologies, I’m a sucker for wordplay
There is something eminently enchanting about the combat sport phenomenon that is the much-vaunted knockout. It is a wonder to behold, a sight to savour. It carries with it…
Good night Vienna (or Vie-mma). Apologies, I’m a sucker for wordplay
There is something eminently enchanting about the combat sport phenomenon that is the much-vaunted knockout. It is a wonder to behold, a sight to savour. It carries with it an undisputable finality which a decision win, TKO and submission simply do not.
With a decision, fighters and fans alike are left to subjectively determine whether the bout has been adjudicated accurately and consequently whether the correct combatant has prevailed.
With a TKO, a fighter may fervently contend that the referee had prematurely intervened, that he was still sufficiently compos mentis to continue.
With a submission, the fighter is invariably—unless the casualty has been rendered unconscious via choke, or a victim’s limb has been snapped—capable of regaining his feet unaided, furiously shaking his head at having been caught in a submission hold that he has probably drilled eschewing or escaping one thousand times over during training camp.
However, when a mixed martial artist has disconnected a fellow fighter from consciousness, there remain very few questions that need to be addressed. It is indeed the most conclusive conclusion to an octagon battle, with the unfortunate fighter ordinarily necessitating a period of time to regain his faculties and wits.
Whilst far from constituting a damp squid, such contests just leave one craving a tad more action, the fireworks having precipitately been set off. In the blink of an eye, and before Goldie can even utter “it is all over”, it is actually all over. Mauro Ranallo perfectly encapsulates the situation “this one is over before it even begins”.
And some fighters may even lament their lack of cage time, especially newcomers like Duffee, or those having returned from a prolonged injury layoff, having essentially trained intensively between 8 to 12 weeks for a transient moment lasting literally a number of seconds. Milliseconds are actually required to distinguish between some of the top ten KOs of all-time, though it’s probably the easiest paycheque these fighters will ever earn. In no other sport (aside from other combat sports including boxing) may a victor be determined so quickly.
So enjoy the slideshow, don’t dare blink, and knock yourself out (don’t take me literally of course).
The MMA Hour finally returns on Monday with a full lineup of guests from around the MMA world.
* UFC light heavyweight Tito Ortiz will discuss the recent injury that forced him to pull out of his fight against Antonio Rogerio Nogueria and when he expects to return to action.
* Heavyweight Heath Herring will explain why he hasn’t fought since August 2008 and if a return to MMA is in his plans for the future.
* UFC middleweight Chris Weidman will stop by the studio once again to look back on his Octagon debut victory against Alessio Sakara on Thursday.
* UFC heavyweight Matt Mitrione will deliver his popular “Mitrione Minute.”
* We will also be giving away 2010 UFC Knockout packs (suggested retail price $20 per pack and $160 per box), which are currently available in hobby shops and select online retailers. It is open to legal residents of the 50 United States (including the District of Columbia). For a chance to win, just have the best call of the day. Here are the official rules of the contest.
And of course, we’ll be taking your calls. Give us a shout at: 212-254-0193 or 212-254-0237.
Watch the show live below beginning at 1 PM ET / 10 AM PT. Download previous episodes of The MMA Hour on iTunes here.
The MMA Hour
