Tag: Keith Kizer

Nevada Not Planning on Providing Monitors for Judges Any Time Soon

Filed under: Fighting, NewsIf you’re one of those who believe that providing monitors for each judge during a fight would help eliminate bad decisions in MMA, you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, Nevada, who has often been viewed as a trendsetter when it…

Filed under: ,

If you’re one of those who believe that providing monitors for each judge during a fight would help eliminate bad decisions in MMA, you’re not alone.

Unfortunately, Nevada, who has often been viewed as a trendsetter when it comes to implementing changes in MMA, has no immediate plans to provide individual monitors to each judge scoring MMA bouts.

Keith Kizer, the NSAC’s executive director, told MMA Fighting on Tuesday that the state would not add cageside monitors for judges any time soon.

When asked if he would be open to the idea if a promoter, say, the UFC, asked for it, Kizer simply replied, “Maybe.”

Chael Sonnen Breaks Silence on NSAC Troubles, Legal Woes, Fighting Future

Filed under: UFC, FanHouse Exclusive, NewsSpeaking publicly for the first time since his California state athletic commission testimony last December, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he considered h…

Filed under: , ,

Speaking publicly for the first time since his California state athletic commission testimony last December, UFC middleweight contender Chael Sonnen said on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour that he considered his UFC contract unfrozen and was looking forward to getting back in the cage as soon as possible.

A return to action will not come, however, until Sonnen steps before the Nevada state athletic commission again. During CSAC testimony last December, Sonnen told commissioners that he had cleared his testosterone replacement therapy use in Nevada with its athletic commission executive direction Keith Kizer. Kizer, however, disputed that. The sides met recently and Sonnen voiced a hope that a second meeting would give more clarity to his situation.

Saying he incorrectly phrased his testimony, Sonnen took blame for the mistake and anticipated the opportunity to allay the concerns of the influential Nevada commission.

On Second Thought, Garcia is Pretty Sure He Beat Phan, Is a Bit Put Off by All That Stuff Rogan Said

(Who’s to say what ‘Octagon control’ means, anyway? PicProps: UFC.com)
Among the warning signs that you may have won a bullshit decision, we’d think that A) The company being so unhappy that it decides to pay the other guy his win bonus anyway an…


(Who’s to say what ‘Octagon control’ means, anyway? PicProps: UFC.com)

Among the warning signs that you may have won a bullshit decision, we’d think that A) The company being so unhappy that it decides to pay the other guy his win bonus anyway and B) A resulting internet beef on the subject between the top athletic official in Nevada and a shoot-from-the-hip stand-up comedian would both be pretty high on the list. That is to say nothing of the chorus of boos from the live crowd and your own trainer shrugging at you like “We’ll take it, dude,” in the cage after the announcement of the verdict. On their own, any one of those things would be bad enough, but together they make Leonard Garcia’s split decision victory over Nam Phan from last weekend look like an open-and-shut case of judging incompetence.

At the time even Garcia — who seems like a totally likable guy, by the way – admitted during his postfight interview that he didn’t think he deserved to win. Given a day or two to think about it however, he now tells MMA Fighting.com that after sitting down with Phan to watch the fight (awkward!) and then viewing it “approximately 15 times” since, he’s changed his mind. You know what? Fuck it, Garcia thinks he won that bad boy.

read more

Death in the Cage: The Michael Kirkham Story

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Dennis Kirkham only saw footage of his youngest son’s mixed martial arts bouts once.

“The guy beat the heck out of the back of Michael’s head to the point where it was beet red,” Kirkham told FanHouse. “The other fighter was warn…

Michael KirkhamFAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Dennis Kirkham only saw footage of his youngest son’s mixed martial arts bouts once.

“The guy beat the heck out of the back of Michael’s head to the point where it was beet red,” Kirkham told FanHouse. “The other fighter was warned two or three times by the referee.”

Michael Kirkham lost that amateur fight in Columbia, S.C., on April 24 via a technical knockout, a bout he lamented on Facebook should have resulted in the disqualification of his opponent. Kirkham was given an automatic 30-day medical suspension for the TKO loss, but it doesn’t appear that he followed up with a doctor.

Two days after the suspension ended, Kirkham — known to his friends here in the Carolinas as “Tree” due to his 6-foot-9, 155-pound frame — suffered a brain hemorrhage in his pro debut at the University of South Carolina Aiken Convocation Center on June 26. He died two days later at the age of 30.

“I told him he wasn’t ready,” Dennis Kirkham said. “He said, ‘I’m fine, dad. I’m OK.'”