A while back, retired legend Randy Couture joked that the only way he’d come out of retirement for would be if the UFC offered him a fight against Steven Seagal. Let us repeat that: It was a joke.
Couture is a four-time Olympic alternate in Greco Roman wrestling and one of only two UFC fighters in history to hold world championships in two different divisions. Seagal is an actor and aikido master whose success in real fights is officially undocumented, although his on-set altercations have become the stuff of pants-crapping legend.
The action star has hung around the best fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, for the past few years, however, all the while claiming to coach Silva. It has been hilarious to observe, and Couture’s joke about fighting Seagal clearly played on Seagal’s many audacious claims about his own fighting and coaching abilities while passing himself off as an MMA expert.
Predictably, Seagal didn’t see Couture’s tongue-in-cheek statement as such during a recent interview on The MMA Hour. “I always thought that Randy was my friend and a gentleman. I’m kind of confused as to why he would say that,” Seagal said on the show.
“All I can say is, I’m here. Anybody can find me anytime and anyplace. If Randy really wants to fight me, he can fight me anytime he wants. It’ll be for free, and it’ll be some place where there are no witnesses.” When asked if this hypothetical match would take place under MMA rules, Seagal told Ariel Helwani, “I don’t play by rules. That’s not how I fight.”
Since Seagal’s poor self awareness and lack of humor allowed for him to talk about him fighting Couture as a real possibility, we thought it would be fun to give “Captain America” a call and get his reaction to it all…
A while back, retired legend Randy Couture joked that the only way he’d come out of retirement for would be if the UFC offered him a fight against Steven Seagal. Let us repeat that: It was a joke.
Couture is a four-time Olympic alternate in Greco Roman wrestling and one of only two UFC fighters in history to hold world championships in two different divisions. Seagal is an actor and aikido master whose success in real fights is officially undocumented, although his on-set altercations have become the stuff of pants-crapping legend.
The action star has hung around the best fighter in the world, Anderson Silva, for the past few years, however, all the while claiming to coach Silva. It has been hilarious to observe, and Couture’s joke about fighting Seagal clearly played on Seagal’s many audacious claims about his own fighting and coaching abilities while passing himself off as an MMA expert.
Predictably, Seagal didn’t see Couture’s tongue-in-cheek statement as such during a recent interview on The MMA Hour. “I always thought that Randy was my friend and a gentleman. I’m kind of confused as to why he would say that,” Seagal said on the show.
“All I can say is, I’m here. Anybody can find me anytime and anyplace. If Randy really wants to fight me, he can fight me anytime he wants. It’ll be for free, and it’ll be some place where there are no witnesses.” When asked if this hypothetical match would take place under MMA rules, Seagal told Ariel Helwani, “I don’t play by rules. That’s not how I fight.”
Since Seagal’s poor self awareness and lack of humor allowed for him to talk about him fighting Couture as a real possibility, we thought it would be fun to give “Captain America” a call and get his reaction to it all.
“I’m the one that started the joke as an off-handed comment I made to Jay Glazer — that I’d only come out of retirement if it were to fight Seagal. Obviously now somebody has talked to him about it and it has gotten some legs,” Couture chuckled to us over the phone today.
“I’m not surprised that he wants to do it in private, remote location where nobody could see it happen. Obviously I intended it as a joke. I don’t think it would really happen.”
Couture is clearly bemused by the actor’s ominous-sounding statements. Asked if he was intimidated by Seagal’s claim that the fight would be truly no holds barred, Couture neatly replied, “I don’t think that changes the nature of the fight at all.”
So it’s safe to say that Couture is not going to take Seagal up on his battle-to-the-death challenge, then, right? “Hey, it could happen organically I suppose,” Couture ended, simply.
After the post-fight press conference for Bellator 82, I was lucky enough to catch up with one of our all-time favorite MMA ring girls, Jade Bryce. When you’ve been around the business for any significant amount of time, you are rarely blown away during an interview — especially when you’re talking with the hired eye candy. Wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.
Ms. Bryce is one of the most knowledgeable and genuinely caring people in the MMA industry. During our conversation, we touched on topics ranging from her favorite fighters to her weakness for chocolate chip cookies. But it’s only when we broached the subject of what she wants for Christmas that her passion was truly enkindled. Check out the highlights of our little one-on-one below.
CagePotato: Hi, Jade, thanks for making time to speak with us. We have a few quick questions for you, which should help our readers get to know you a bit better. For starters, who is your favorite fighter?
Jade Bryce: Since I began with Bellator, I’ve always really loved Michael Chandler and the “Pitbull” brothers a lot, as well as Alexander Shlemenko. I also really like Douglas Lima and Ben Saunders, but yeah, my favorites have always been Shlemenko, “Pitbull” brothers, and Chandler. Oh! [Pat] Curran too. Which is weird because him and [Patricio] “Pitbull” are going to fight soon, so it’ll be a hard fight for me.
CP: For sure. Watching two of your favorite fighters punch each other in the face must be like torture to you. What about Ben Askren, do you think he’s going to defend his title successfully against Karl Amoussou?
JB: No.
CP: Wait, what?! You’re kidding, right? You might be the only person not from France to say that.
JB: I know, but I’m always the one to say, “I told you so.” Everyone else thought Eddie Alvarez was going to win against Chandler, but I had been saying for a year that Chandler was going to win. And no one believed me when it came to “Pitbull” or Chandler, and he has the belt now. I think Amoussou is going to do really well [in his fight against Askren.]
(That makes two of us who went commando today. Pic Props: Playboy)
After the post-fight press conference for Bellator 82, I was lucky enough to catch up with one of our all-time favorite MMA ring girls, Jade Bryce. When you’ve been around the business for any significant amount of time, you are rarely blown away during an interview — especially when you’re talking with the hired eye candy. Wouldn’t you know it, that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.
Ms. Bryce is one of the most knowledgeable and genuinely caring people in the MMA industry. During our conversation, we touched on topics ranging from her favorite fighters to her weakness for chocolate chip cookies. But it’s only when we broached the subject of what she wants for Christmas that her passion was truly enkindled. Check out the highlights of our little one-on-one below.
CagePotato: Hi, Jade, thanks for making time to speak with us. We have a few quick questions for you, which should help our readers get to know you a bit better. For starters, who is your favorite fighter?
Jade Bryce: Since I began with Bellator, I’ve always really loved Michael Chandler and the “Pitbull” brothers a lot, as well as Alexander Shlemenko. I also really like Douglas Lima and Ben Saunders, but yeah, my favorites have always been Shlemenko, “Pitbull” brothers, and Chandler. Oh! [Pat] Curran too. Which is weird because him and [Patricio] “Pitbull” are going to fight soon, so it’ll be a hard fight for me.
CP: For sure. Watching two of your favorite fighters punch each other in the face must be like torture to you. What about Ben Askren, do you think he’s going to defend his title successfully against Karl Amoussou?
JB: No.
CP: Wait, what?! You’re kidding, right? You might be the only person not from France to say that.
JB: I know, but I’m always the one to say, “I told you so.” Everyone else thought Eddie Alvarez was going to win against Chandler, but I had been saying for a year that Chandler was going to win. And no one believed me when it came to “Pitbull” or Chandler, and he has the belt now. I think Amoussou is going to do really well [in his fight against Askren.]
CP: Looks like we should start taking gambling advice from you. Speaking of gambling, you kind of rolled the dice choosing the career of a model/ring girl. What’s the best part of your job?
JB: The best part is that I have the best seat in the house. I’m an avid fan of MMA and have been since before I had the job. To be able to sit that close and see that much action is just so awesome for me. I’ve learned so much and become so close with the Bellator family that when one person leaves it breaks my heart. I’m with them more than I am at home, really. So, that’s the best part — that I have a new family and I get to travel.
CP: Sounds like a pretty sweet gig. What about the worst?
JB: The worst part is…you know, I love chocolate chip cookies. (laughing) So the worst part is self-discipline and staying in shape because in modeling there’s all these different looks and body shapes, but with being a ring girl, you have to have a gym body. You’ve always gotta be in shape, work out when you’re tired, and stuff like that. But I’m a very healthy person so at least that helps keep me in check. But even that isn’t really that big of a con because it’s stuff I would want in my life anyways.
JB: I’d be interested to know what she does for weight cutting because I am actually trying to drop like six pounds. (laughing) I’m an avid hiker. I have a steam room in my house. And I even have protein shakes for breakfast and lunch every day, so I feel really healthy, but I’d be interested in knowing what other healthy things you can do for weight cutting. I do try to limit liquids and similar things two days before the fights or any photo shoot. I don’t really have any routine besides hiking and eating super healthy. I don’t drink any soda or eat fried foods.
CP: That must be hard around the holidays.
JB: (laughing) It is! I let myself have one free day, which is Sunday — but I still don’t eat any fried foods. For me, I’m more into bbq ribs in my back yard.
CP: Sounds delicious. Just a couple more questions and we’ll let you get out of here. What does the future hold for women’s MMA in your opinion?
JB: I think we have so much amazing talent out there, but we just need more of it to be able to have tournaments. I love Jessica Aguilar and of course Ronda Rousey is stronger than dynamite. There’s just not enough women but the ones that we have are amazing. I say give it another year or two and it’ll be just as popular as men’s MMA.
CP: Our final question is of the utmost importance, what does Jade Bryce want for Christmas?
JB: I want all of your readers to go to my YouTube channel and watch my video of what I want for my birthday, which is in two weeks. I want to adopt a school and it costs $4,000. What happens is, approved kids who have free lunches are sent home with food so they have something to eat at dinner and on the weekends. Growing up, I didn’t have much and I know others that didn’t either. Starvation is so painful; it’s my mission to put a stop to it. Blessing in a Backpack is going to make that happen. Check out my video [Ed. Note: This one is nice too.] and it’ll explain what to do. I want to match everyone dollar for dollar — so $2,000 and $2,000 — and so far I’m half-way there. But I’ve only got two weeks left.
CP: That is one of the best causes to support and one of the most selfless things on any Christmas wish list this year. Thank you for being so gracious with your time and happy early birthday.
Bantamweights beware. Radames Garcia is looking to destroy your dreams. Ranked number one in the nation and sporting an amateur record of 9-1, all he is waiting for is a chance to make his pro debut.
“My last two opponents pulled out. My coach said one of them thought I was too big,” Garcia said.
The 29-year old native of Miami, Florida is fighting out of Cung Le’s gym in San Jose, California. In a little more than two years, Garcia managed to win two state titles in the amateur leagues of both California and Nevada.
Garcia first learned about MMA from a conversation with his co-worker. He invited Garcia to train with him at Tribull Mixed Martial Arts Center.
“At first, I thought it was illegal. I wanted to make sure it was legit. I had no clue about it at the time and I didn’t want the cops to bust down the doors and end up in jail,” Garcia laughed.
Bantamweights beware. Radames Garcia is looking to destroy your dreams. Ranked number one in the nation and sporting an amateur record of 9-1, all he is waiting for is a chance to make his pro debut.
“My last two opponents pulled out. My coach said one of them thought I was too big,” Garcia said.
The 29-year old native of Miami, Florida is fighting out of Cung Le’s gym in San Jose, California. In a little more than two years, Garcia managed to win two state titles in the amateur leagues of both California and Nevada.
Garcia first learned about MMA from a conversation with his co-worker. He invited Garcia to train with him at Tribull Mixed Martial Arts Center.
“At first, I thought it was illegal. I wanted to make sure it was legit. I had no clue about it at the time and I didn’t want the cops to bust down the doors and end up in jail,” Garcia laughed.
Garcia went and was hooked. He walked into Tribull in July 2010 and had his first fight in November. Garcia ended up losing by submission. He later parted ways to train at Cung Le’s.
“Tribull focused more on grappling than stand-up,” said Garcia, “my hands were wild so my coaches and other fighters recommended me to Cung Le. So, I took a level one kickboxing class over there and I liked it.”
In the beginning of February 2011, Garcia enrolled in Cung’s school and had his second amateur fight on the 20th. He won by submission.
Garcia continued to train and rapidly rose through the ranks, eventually winning the 2011 California State Championships and the Nevada State Championships in Reno.
Garcia never expected to win any titles.
“It never came to mind. I just wanted to compete in a sport. I thought this was a cool opportunity to challenge myself and compete.”
And that exactly is his motivation to continue in this sport.
“I just want to compete and impress the crowd. I just want to get in the cage and hit somebody in the face and not get in trouble for it. It’s fun. I’m just smiling and high-fiving the crowd while my opponent is going all 8-Mile with his hoodie on and being all angry.” Garcia said.
One opponent was particularly angry. After Garcia’s victory, he learned his opponent’s goal was to remain undefeated and become a UFC champion. Garcia was then bestowed the moniker of “The Dream Crusher” by his fight team.
However, “The Dream Crusher” has his own dreams in MMA.
“I would love to win a pro title in any league. I was hoping Strikeforce but it’s going out of business. I now just want to keep beating undefeated fighters,” Garcia said.
Recently we brought you episode one of HBO’s “24/7: Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV” documentary series. The third episode premiers Saturday night so it’s a perfect time for you to catch up and see episode two (above) if you haven’t already.
Other than the elusive white whale of a fight between PacMan and Floyd Mayweather Jr, a fourth fight between the Phillipine’s Pacquiao and Mexico’s Marquez is pretty much the only meaningful pound-for-pound match up in boxing right now. In the latest episode of “24/7” we once again get uncomfortably close to Pacquiao and his wife Jinky’s embattled marriage and see up close and personal how the Marquez family has come up in the world.
We also get more from the two fighters’ trainers, Freddie Roach for Pacquiao and Ignacio Beristain for Marquez, two of the best and most famous in the sport. There’s Pacquiao dancing Gangman Style and filing for re-election for his congressional post in between Bible meetings, and Marquez starting his Mexico City training camp off early to fight off old age.
Check out Episode Two and then tune in to HBO Saturday night at 9:30EST for the third installment. If you miss that, we’ll have it published on CP later as well because we have to do everything for you guys.
Recently we brought you episode one of HBO’s “24/7: Pacquiao vs. Marquez IV” documentary series. The third episode premiers Saturday night so it’s a perfect time for you to catch up and see episode two (above) if you haven’t already.
Other than the elusive white whale of a fight between PacMan and Floyd Mayweather Jr, a fourth fight between the Phillipine’s Pacquiao and Mexico’s Marquez is pretty much the only meaningful pound-for-pound match up in boxing right now. In the latest episode of “24/7″ we once again get uncomfortably close to Pacquiao and his wife Jinky’s embattled marriage and see up close and personal how the Marquez family has come up in the world.
We also get more from the two fighters’ trainers, Freddie Roach for Pacquiao and Ignacio Beristain for Marquez, two of the best and most famous in the sport. There’s Pacquiao dancing Gangman Style and filing for re-election for his congressional post in between Bible meetings, and Marquez starting his Mexico City training camp off early to fight off old age.
Check out Episode Two and then tune in to HBO Saturday night at 9:30EST for the third installment. If you miss that, we’ll have it published on CP later as well because we have to do everything for you guys.
We were already plenty excited for former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar‘s challenge of featherweight king Jose Aldo — which will finally take place February 2nd at UFC 156 — but it turns out the stakes are larger than we thought. Aldo says that if he beats Edgar he will know he’s ready to move up to 155 pounds and challenge for that belt.
Edgar is trying to see if his speed will translate at featherweight and bring him more gold. Aldo is similarly using the fight as a litmus test for his readiness to take on the lightweights of the world. MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle has the report.
“I’ve considered going to lightweight,” said Aldo. “As soon as my trainer decides that I can go up, then I will. This fight with Edgar will be a turning point. If I can win [against] him well, then I can prove that I can go [to 155 pounds].”
We were already plenty excited for former lightweight champion Frankie Edgar‘s challenge of featherweight king Jose Aldo — which will finally take place February 2nd at UFC 156 — but it turns out the stakes are larger than we thought. Aldo says that if he beats Edgar he will know he’s ready to move up to 155 pounds and challenge for that belt.
Edgar is trying to see if his speed will translate at featherweight and bring him more gold. Aldo is similarly using the fight as a litmus test for his readiness to take on the lightweights of the world. MMA Fighting’s Dave Doyle has the report.
“I’ve considered going to lightweight,” said Aldo. “As soon as my trainer decides that I can go up, then I will. This fight with Edgar will be a turning point. If I can win [against] him well, then I can prove that I can go [to 155 pounds].”
Aldo, who is one of only four Zuffa champions to have held a world title for three consecutive years (Tito Ortiz, Georges St. Pierre and Anderson Silva being the other three), has said for some time that it is difficult for him to make the 145-pound featherweight limit. He’s already cleaned out his division and says that Edgar might just be his final challenge at that weight class.
“He has a very strong reputation thanks to destroying several opponents,” Aldo credited Edgar. “That’s the motivation for me to face him and that will be probably my last biggest challenge [at 145 pounds].”
Do you think Aldo can take out Edgar, who lost his title in a close bout to Benson Henderson, followed by an equally close rematch loss? If so, do you think Aldo would have a good shot at taking out the Hendersons of the lightweight division?
Everybody gather around and break out your tinfoil hats, because it’s conspiracy time.
The above clip comes to us courtesy of Inside MMA, who recently held interviews with both the lightweight number one contender Nate Diaz and coach Cesar Gracie, who is beginning to sound like little more than an omnipresent entity whose soul (get it? SOUL? I should really be getting paid more for this gold) reason for existence is to echo whatever a Diaz brother manages to mumble out between bong rips.
From what we could decipher, it appears that both Nate and Cesar have finally caught on to the longest running screwjob in MMA history: The judges vs. The brothers Diaz. Gracie was able to see through the bullshit and was the first to bring this to light, stating:
I’ve never really seen a close decision where the nod was given to the Diaz’s. If it’s close, they’re going to lose. I don’t know why, maybe the judges don’t really care for them that much; they’re brash.
While we were initially content to play Team Cesar Gracie a song on the world’s smallest violin, upon doing a little research (I KNOW RIGHT), we actually stumbled across a plot so thick and intricate that not even Nicolas Cage could unravel it in a series of increasingly shitty kids movies, so join us after the jump if you think your puny Earthling brains can handle it.
Everybody gather around and break out your tinfoil hats, because it’s conspiracy time.
The above clip comes to us courtesy of Inside MMA, who recently held interviews with both the lightweight number one contender Nate Diaz and coach Cesar Gracie, who is beginning to sound like little more than an omnipresent entity whose soul (get it? SOUL? I should really be getting paid more for this gold) reason for existence is to echo whatever a Diaz brother manages to mumble out between bong rips.
From what we could decipher, it appears that both Nate and Cesar have finally caught on to the longest running screwjob in MMA history: The judges vs. The brothers Diaz. Gracie was able to see through the bullshit and was the first to bring this to light, stating:
I’ve never really seen a close decision where the nod was given to the Diaz’s. If it’s close, they’re going to lose. I don’t know why, maybe the judges don’t really care for them that much; they’re brash.
While we were initially content to play Team Cesar Gracie a song on the world’s smallest violin, upon doing a little research (I KNOW RIGHT), we actually stumbled across a plot so thick and intricate that not even Nicolas Cage could unravel it in a series of increasingly shitty kids movies, so join us after the jump if you think your puny Earthling brains can handle it.
The Official Nate Diaz/Ben Henderson UFC Conspiracy Theory
The brothers Diaz have a combined lifetime record of 6-12 when going the distance. 6 +12 = 18. 18 is the number of professional wins Benson Henderson will have if he manages to defeat Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 5 in December. In their professional careers, the brothers Diaz have only fought twice in December and both fights have gone the distance: Nate was able to score a UD over Donald Cerrone at UFC 141, and Nick was the victim of a controversial decision loss to the Japanese-born Kuniyoshi Hironaka at the Japanese-born promotion Shooto’s Year End Show 2002.
This brings the combined record of the Diaz brothers in December to 1-1. Remove the dash from 1-1 and you get 11. Subtract 11 from 18 and what do you get? 7. Now add that to the 2 brothers Diaz and you get 9. As in 9/11.
As the first Zeitgeist film proved without a shadow of a doubt, 9/11 was not an act of retribution carried out by Muslim extremists, but was in fact an incredibly orchestrated event carried out by the government — and specifically, former Texas governor/president George W. Bush — in order to cause mass fear and generate support for the war on terror, thus producing massive economic gains for the top parties involved. UFC President Dana White is an unabashed supporter of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), a failed bill proposed by Republican Texas governor Lamar S. Smith that aimed to expand the United States government’s control of copyrighted intellectual property, and would have given the government the power to shut down entire websites for infringing property on just a single web page. This proposed law was considered by many to be an extension of The Patriot Act, which was signed into law by George W. Bush in a response to…9/11.
Ergo, Dana White, who had just purchased the UFC along with the Fertitta brothers in January of 2001, used his ties with George Bush and therefore the government and agreed to turn a blind eye to the events of 9/11. For this, Bush agreed to have his longtime friend and fellow Republican John McCain back off the anti-UFC bandwagon just long enough for the UFC to get the ball rolling. The UFC would return the favor by throwing their undying support behind both The Patriot Act and SOPA (which would increase government control of media and limit our ability to steal borrow UFC content), knowing that if their fans could be brainwashed into buying clothes as atrocious as this, they would pretty much support anything. More money for the UFC, more control for the gov’t. It is no coincidence that to this day, DW credits John McCain as being the guy “who started the UFC.”
So where do Bendo and the brothers Diaz come into all this? Hold onto your butts.
Nick Diaz‘s first professional fight was on August 31st, 2001. Add those numbers together (8 + 3 + 1 + 2 + 1) and you will get 15, the exact number of losses the Diaz brothers have combined. 15 is also the precise amount of time in minutes in which the brothers Diaz have lost nearly all of their decisions.
Ben Henderson, on the other hand, is half Korean. The bad guys in the Red Dawn remake were infamously changed from Chinese to North Korean in the editing room due to the fact that China has quickly become one of the most lucrative markets for American movies, whereas North Korea is all but completely devoid of foreign influence. North Korea, coincidentally, has been locked in border disputes with China for ages now. And what sport, pray tell, has begun to broadcast pay-per-view events in movie theaters? THE UFC, THAT’S WHO. Who recently held their first ever event in China? THE UFC, THAT’S WHO. Ben Henderson is also one of only two fighters of Korean decent to win a belt in the UFC. Who was the other? B.J. Penn, who is fighting on the same card as Henderson and Diaz and appears to be in better shape than we ever thought possible.
Do you get it yet? Henderson and Penn are sleeper-cell fighters, sent by the North Korean government under the close surveillance of Dana White and company in an effort to showcase the dominance of (North) Korea, all the while using DW’s ins with China to set them up for the ultimate double-cross. In return, the UFC will become the one and only form of foreign media to grace the North Korean market. North Korea will in turn invade America, then China, and after inevitably defeating both of us, the UFC will therefore become the only form of media. Period. 24/7, all day, every day.
Being the conspiracy theorists that the brothers Diaz are, they clearly stumbled upon this as children before joining the UFC in an attempt to thwart Dana White’s efforts, knowing that, if they were to become champion, they could expose White for the snake in the grass he truly is. However, being that judges can be bought and sold nowadays, DW made sure to metaphorically cut them off at the pass and ensure that they would never win a close decision in the UFC. After screwing Nick Diaz out of the chance at UFC 143, tainting his urine sample, and ushering him into a hasty retirement, the UFC set their eyes on his little bro.
So after they threw Nate to the wolves in three consecutive bouts and were unable to stop him, the UFC rigged the second Henderson/Edgar fight in order to ensure that the (half) Korean grappler — a grappler being the ultimate foe of a Diaz –remained champion long enough to put an end to Diaz’s run once and for all. Diaz was given his title fight, but unfortunately, it will come on December 8th, just 9 days shy of the 1 year anniversary of Kim Jong-il’s death, which was revealed by the North Korean government on December 19th, 2011. Add in the 0 chance of victory Nate Diaz has if his fight goes to a decision and you get 9/11/2001.
If, no, once Henderson secures a controversial split-decision over Diaz at UFC on FOX 5, it will set into motion a chain of events that ends in the destruction of the very freedoms this country was built upon: Life, liberty, the pursuit of happiness — the very same freedoms the brothers Diaz have been trying to protect for as long as they’ve existed.
