Truly great fighter nicknames are hard to come by in MMA. If they aren’t blatant attempts to sound intimidating using some well-worn cliche like “The Assassin” or “The Hitman”, they’re alliteration or pun-focused atrocities like “The Muscle Shark” Sherk or “Twinkle Toes” Trigg. I swear to God, if one more fighter calls themselves “The Pitbull”, I am going to walk into the nearest MMA gym with a fully loaded AK-47 and just start spraying bullets.
Worst of all, the nicknames many MMA fighters choose often fail to fit their personalities/fighting styles. Bob Sapp is not a “Beast.” Likewise, TUF 19 winner Corey Anderson does not beast 25/8, because the constraints of time prevent him from doing so. Justin McCully may be illiterate, but he is definitely not “The Nsane1.” And so on, and so forth.
But in the late aughts, there was one MMA fighter who rose to prominence in the UFC thanks largely to his inventive and more importantly appropriate nickname: Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory.
What is a barn cat, exactly? Well, I’m glad you asked…
(Photo via Sherdog.)
Truly great fighter nicknames are hard to come by in MMA. If they aren’t blatant attempts to sound intimidating using some well-worn cliche like “The Assassin” or “The Hitman”, they’re alliteration or pun-focused atrocities like “The Muscle Shark” Sherk or “Twinkle Toes” Trigg. I swear to God, if one more fighter calls themselves “The Pitbull”, I am going to walk into the nearest MMA gym with a fully loaded AK-47 and just start spraying bullets.
Worst of all, the nicknames many MMA fighters choose often fail to fit their personalities/fighting styles. Bob Sapp is not a “Beast.” Likewise, TUF 19 winner Corey Anderson does not beast 25/8, because the constraints of time prevent him from doing so. Justin McCully may be illiterate, but he is definitely not “The Nsane1.” And so on, and so forth.
But in the late aughts, there was one MMA fighter who rose to prominence in the UFC thanks largely to his inventive and more importantly appropriate nickname: Tamdan “The Barn Cat” McCrory.
What is a barn cat, exactly? Well, I’m glad you asked.
Having grown up in an aggressively rural town and worked on farms for years, I have dealt with the feral, disease-ridden beast known as the barn cat more than most. While not much different than your average household feline at first glance, I would place barn cats closer to the lynx or bobcat in terms of their attitude. They are paranoid, untrustworthy (even by a cat’s incredibly low standards), and prone to bouts of unprompted aggression, which makes sense when you realize that they only wind up on farms in the first place because their owners have actively chosen to abandon them there. I seriously cannot tell you how many times I have seen someone drive up to the edge of a cornfield and heave a cat out the window like it was yesterday’s garbage before peeling off like the cold-blooded scumbag they are.
But back to the man behind the nickname. After compiling a 3-2 record in his first five UFC bouts, McCrory all but vanished from MMA competition following his split decision loss to John Howard at UFC 101. Until yesterday morning, that is, when Luke Thomas broke the news that “The Barn Cat” will make his highly anticipated return to the cage at Bellator 123, a.k.a the card that the UFC totally *isn’t* trying to counter-program by holding a Fight Night card 10 miles down the street.
Speaking of nicknames, McCrory will face off against Brennan “The Irish Bad Boy” Ward, who according to our “What Your MMA Nickname Really Says About You” breakdown, is probably an asshole who isn’t even really from Ireland.
Featuring a featherweight title fight rematch between Pat Curran and Patricio “Pitbull”(*sigh*) Freire and the MMA return of Bobby Lashley, Bellator 123 goes down from the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT on September 5th.
(Angry Jose Aldo looks identical to Happy Jose Aldo)
It’s been a rare, event-less weekend. Despite the lack of fisticuffs, Saturday and Sunday have been packed with quite a bit of mid-level news and fight booking house-keeping matters.
The biggest recent news has been a spat between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. As you’ve likely heard, an Aldo injury forced “postponement” [Ed’s note: LOL] of UFC 176.
If Aldo can’t stay healthy and is too fragile to go through a training camp, then I think it is time to step aside and let guys who are able to do that and able to push through all that stuff, to be a champ.
To put it bluntly, Aldo was fucking pissed. He told Combate (translation via MMA Fighting):
Maybe I have so many injuries because I’m not taking the same ‘supplements’ you take. I have injuries because I train a lot to beat you like I did last time, and I think you remember that and still have nightmares about it. I did all the medical exams I had to do, but if you’re a doctor now, I can send them so you can take a look. Maybe you can prescript one of your supplements so I can heal faster.
The one who gets beat up usually runs away from another beating, but you can’t run forever because I’m going after you. Before the cage is closed you can say whatever you want, because once they close it you won’t be able to open your mouth, so keep talking while you have a mouth. And who are you to say where we are going to fight? I don’t think Dana White would be happy to see someone making his decisions. … You’re the one who seems to only fight at your home, who desperately doesn’t want to fight in Brazil. I got injured before and my fight with Frankie Edgar was moved from Brazil to Las Vegas. I fought your coach in your home, fought at Mark Hominick’s home in front of 55,000 fans, I fought in Japan and Europe. And now you tell me you want to be the champion? A champion doesn’t choose opponents or where the fight is going to be. And now I ask you, who’s the real pussy?
Harsh words from a harsh man.
In other UFC news…
(Angry Jose Aldo looks identical to Happy Jose Aldo)
It’s been a rare, event-less weekend. Despite the lack of fisticuffs, Saturday and Sunday have been packed with quite a bit of mid-level news and fight booking house-keeping matters.
The biggest recent news has been a spat between Jose Aldo and Chad Mendes. As you’ve likely heard, an Aldo injury forced “postponement” [Ed’s note: LOL] of UFC 176.
If Aldo can’t stay healthy and is too fragile to go through a training camp, then I think it is time to step aside and let guys who are able to do that and able to push through all that stuff, to be a champ.
To put it bluntly, Aldo was fucking pissed. He told Combate (translation via MMA Fighting):
Maybe I have so many injuries because I’m not taking the same ‘supplements’ you take. I have injuries because I train a lot to beat you like I did last time, and I think you remember that and still have nightmares about it. I did all the medical exams I had to do, but if you’re a doctor now, I can send them so you can take a look. Maybe you can prescript one of your supplements so I can heal faster.
The one who gets beat up usually runs away from another beating, but you can’t run forever because I’m going after you. Before the cage is closed you can say whatever you want, because once they close it you won’t be able to open your mouth, so keep talking while you have a mouth. And who are you to say where we are going to fight? I don’t think Dana White would be happy to see someone making his decisions. … You’re the one who seems to only fight at your home, who desperately doesn’t want to fight in Brazil. I got injured before and my fight with Frankie Edgar was moved from Brazil to Las Vegas. I fought your coach in your home, fought at Mark Hominick’s home in front of 55,000 fans, I fought in Japan and Europe. And now you tell me you want to be the champion? A champion doesn’t choose opponents or where the fight is going to be. And now I ask you, who’s the real pussy?
Harsh words from a harsh man.
In other UFC news:
Michael Johnson is out of his UFC on FOX 12 bout with Josh Thompsondue to injury. This is a shame as the two were expected to curtain-jerk the main card and it would’ve been quite an exciting affair. Let’s hope the main event of Robbie Lawler vs. Matt Brown stays intact.
World Series of Fighting, too, has some title news. Lightweight champion Justin Gaethje–who recently defeated Nick Newell at WSOF 11–will defend his title against Melvin Guillard. No date has been announced. We’re amped up for this one. Gaethje is quite talented, and Guillard looked fantastic in his last fight against Gesias Cavalcante.
That’s all for now, Potato Nation. We suggest you make the best of what’s left of your Sunday.
“I have my sights set on getting back into the cage as soon as possible, with July in mind, but I want to be 100 percent healthy heading into that cage to smash ‘Pitbull.’”
“I have my sights set on getting back into the cage as soon as possible, with July in mind, but I want to be 100 percent healthy heading into that cage to smash ‘Pitbull.’”
Bellator’s tenth season hasn’t even started yet and the company is already in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Remember the highly suspicious bait-and-switch Bellator pulled in November 2013? The one where their light heavyweight champ Attila Vegh conveniently got “injured,” allowing Bellator to book a much-anticipated rematch between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Emanuel Newton (who really should’ve adopted the nickname “Kingslayer” after defeating Mo the first time) for an interim title?
Fast forward to yesterday, when Ariel Helwani interviewed Vegh in what looks like a dingy auto repair shop. Vegh spoke about the “injury,” but not before some prodding by Helwani.
Bellator’s tenth season hasn’t even started yet and the company is already in the headlines for the wrong reasons.
Remember the highly suspicious bait-and-switch Bellator pulled in November 2013? The one where their light heavyweight champ Attila Vegh conveniently got “injured,” allowing Bellator to book a much-anticipated rematch between Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal and Emanuel Newton (who really should’ve adopted the nickname “Kingslayer” after defeating Mo the first time) for an interim title?
Fast forward to yesterday, when Ariel Helwani interviewed Vegh in what looks like a dingy auto repair shop. Vegh spoke about the “injury,” but not before some prodding by Helwani.
“I was injured,” Vegh maintained through a translator when first asked about the situation.
“I did have an injury before, but I was ready for the November fight,” he then said. “I wasn’t disappointed, but I was ready to fight.” He claimed to have “internal bleeding” from a kick to the rib cage.
Helwani kept pressing while Vegh and his translator nervously fiddled. He wanted to know why Vegh didn’t ask Bellator to book him in the fight against Newton since, after all, the Slovak was ready for the fight. Vegh channeled his inner Dana White with his response.
“No, I didn’t ask them,” he said. Why not? “Because.”
“I was ready just in case if somebody would be out or injured,” he explained. Then the discussion drifted to other, less interesting topics.
Let’s get this straight. According to Vegh, the CHAMPION (Vegh) was relegated to being an alternate for an INTERIM title fight. Wow. Is that the most Bellator thing that’s ever happened? We’re not definitively saying Bellator screwed Vegh, but the situation sounds fishy to us, especially in light of this interview.
Bellator: Where title shots are earned, not given…unless you’re not quite as marketable or well known as somebody else. Then we’ll give you a title shot.
Last night, I decided to jump on a grenade and inform you of everything that was wrong with Bellator’s decision to book a third fight between Daniel Straus and Pat Curran at Bellator 112. That I have somehow managed to avoid being dubbed a “jealous h8r” for my opinion up to this point is a miracle on par with Stefan Struve’s return to sparring, but I digress.
In any case, the main point I outlined in the case against Straus vs. Curran III was that there was a far more interesting (and logical) matchup to be had: Straus vs. Pitbull 2. You see, not only had Patricio “Pitbull” Freire won the season 9 featherweight tournament in November with a first round TKO of Justin Wilcox (the third TKO win in his past 4 fights), but he remains the only man to defeat newly-crowned champion Daniel Straus in Bellator. Throw in the fact that Straus was utterly dominant in his victory over Curran just two months ago and you’d have to be a short-sighted nincompoop to rebook Straus vs. Curran III, right?
Wrong. Bellator booked it, and now Patricio Pitbull is pissed right the fuck off. Which can only mean that he will be forced to fight for Bellator for the rest of his natural life, Amen.
Last night, I decided to jump on a grenade and inform you of everything that was wrong with Bellator’s decision to book a third fight between Daniel Straus and Pat Curran at Bellator 112. That I have somehow managed to avoid being dubbed a “jealous h8r” for my opinion up to this point is a miracle on par with Stefan Struve’s return to sparring, but I digress.
In any case, the main point I outlined in the case against Straus vs. Curran III was that there was a far more interesting (and logical) matchup to be had: Straus vs. Pitbull 2. You see, not only had Patricio “Pitbull” Freire won the season 9 featherweight tournament in November with a first round TKO of Justin Wilcox (the third TKO win in his past 4 fights), but he remains the only man to defeat newly-crowned champion Daniel Straus in Bellator. Throw in the fact that Straus was utterly dominant in his victory over Curran just two months ago and you’d have to be a short-sighted nincompoop to rebook Straus vs. Curran III, right?
Wrong. Bellator booked it, and now Patricio Pitbull is pissed right the fuck off. Which can only mean that he will be forced to fight for Bellator for the rest of his natural life, Amen.
I’m very disappointed with the whole situation. I’m very upset with the organization.
They said I would be fighting the winner of Straus vs. Curran III, but I question why that fight has to happen first. I told them I should get the shot, and then they just said that’s the direction the company is going and for me to just keep doing what I’m doing. Nothing they do right now is going to make right what they have done to me.
But if Bellator doesn’t believe in me – if they don’t want me to be champion and to do things right – I’d like to just ask them to let me out of my contract.
Fun fact: Swap the pistol with a railroad spike, and this is exactly how a Bellator contract meeting looks.
I find it interesting that Bellator told Patricio that his rematch wouldn’t be in line with “the direction the company is going.” Fans have been wondering for a while if Bellator’s merger with Viacom has been responsible for any of their puzzling business decisions as of late, and exactly how much decision-making power founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney has been left with. Decisions like Straus vs. Curran III, which a fan of the sport like Bjorn would probably recognize as against his company’s best interest, seem to suggest that he is either not driving the Bellator bus anymore or is asleep at the wheel.
But one aspect I didn’t cover in my virulent takedown objectionable critique of Straus vs. Curran III is the location in which the fight will take place. Thankfully, Daniel Straus is here to comment on that situation as well (via Straus’ Facebook):
Oh, now I see what Bellator was talking about with “the direction they were going.” Bellator 112 is transpiring at the Horseshoe Casino in Hammond, Indiana, a mere hour and a half drive from Curran’s hometown of Crystal Lake, Illinois. They were just being literal. I wonder how Eddie Alvarez is going to feel when they announce that his trilogy fight with Michael Chandler will be going down in the backseat of the Trans Am that Chandler got his first hummer in. (#carpuns)
So yeah, you done fucked up, Bellator. Here with a closing statement about how bad you done fucked up is, once again, Patricio Pitbull (via MMAFighting this time):
That whole ‘where the title shots are earned, not given’ is pure bulls–t now. That doesn’t exist anymore. Bellator is eating its own words. They didn’t respect my wins in the tournament.
It wasn’t even close. Straus won and is the f–king champion. Curran does not deserve a rematch. Curran is (Bellator’s) little boy. I hope Straus beats him up. I want Straus to destroy him inside the cage.
I won’t fight again. I will wait for my shot at the title to shut Bellator up.
File another grievance form to Bellator’s HR department, which has got to look like Charlie Kelly’s mailroom by now.
(Rampage intimidates Beltran while Bjorn Rebney continues to do his best Dana White impression. / Image via Sherdog)
Bellator 108 had the potential to be a disaster for the perennial runner-up promotion, but it wasn’t. All of the main card fights were exciting, first-round finishes. And, most importantly, the right guy won the main event.
Here’s the event recap, from bottom to top:
On the prelims, Bellator’s 6’6″ English light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary advanced to 6-0. He’s raw but, from what we’ve seen so far, also quite talented and diverse. If he were in the UFC, there’d be dozens of “Is Liam McGeary the man to beat Jones in 2014?” articles written by now.
UFC and strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell won a forgettable unanimous decision against a guy named Jesus Martinez who also had a Jesus tattoo. Awesome.
Two other UFC vets were featured on the prelims: Tom DeBlass and Jason Lambert. The fight between them was short. DeBlass scored a walk-off KO with a devastating hook early in the first round.
The main card started with the featherweight tournament final between Bellator mainstray Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Justin Wilcox. Pitbull finished Wilcox in the first round in largely uncompetitive fight. Every one of Freire’s frequently-landed punches seemed to rock Wilcox, who eventually succumbed to the Brazilian’s flurries. This was the second time Freire has won the Bellator featherweight tournament.
Read on to learn about the specifics of Rampage’s victory as well as of the Bellator heavyweight title fight.
(Rampage intimidates Beltran while Bjorn Rebney continues to do his best Dana White impression. / Image via Sherdog)
Bellator 108 had the potential to be a disaster for the perennial runner-up promotion, but it wasn’t. All of the main card fights were exciting, first-round finishes. And, most importantly, the right guy won the main event.
Here’s the event recap, from bottom to top:
On the prelims, Bellator’s 6’6″ English light heavyweight prospect Liam McGeary advanced to 6-0. He’s raw but, from what we’ve seen so far, also quite talented and diverse. If he were in the UFC, there’d be dozens of “Is Liam McGeary the man to beat Jones in 2014?” articles written by now.
UFC and strikeforce veteran Nah-Shon Burrell won a forgettable unanimous decision against a guy named Jesus Martinez who also had a Jesus tattoo. Awesome.
Two other UFC vets were featured on the prelims: Tom DeBlass and Jason Lambert. The fight between them was short. DeBlass scored a walk-off KO with a devastating hook early in the first round.
The main card started with the featherweight tournament final between Bellator mainstray Patricio “Pitbull” Freire vs. Justin Wilcox. Pitbull finished Wilcox in the first round in a largely uncompetitive fight. Every one of Freire’s frequently-landed punches seemed to rock Wilcox, who eventually succumbed to the Brazilian’s flurries. This was the second time Freire has won the Bellator featherweight tournament.
Then the card moved onto Marcos Galvao vs. Tom McKenna. Galvao, a BJJ ace, smothered McKenna, cut him open, and finished him via TKO near the end of the first round. Thought it seemed like a piss-break match (it was the least-significant fight of the night yet it was sandwiched between two important fights rather than at the beginning of the card), it was an enjoyable fight to watch.
A Bellator heavyweight title fight was the night’s co-main event, which is telling. A has-been former UFC champ facing a never-was UFC reject took top billing over a match for a “world” title. Champion Alexander Volkov met fellow Russian Vitaly Minakov. The fight started with brief fireworks, then went into a lull after which Minakov floored Volkov and finished the champ with strikes. It was all over in a round.
Rampage Jackson fought late-replacement Joey Beltran in the main event. Despite being a little doughy (the fight was at a catchweight of 210 rather than 205), Jackson didn’t look as bad as the MMA world thought he would. He was a little quicker than in his previous outings, threw a few kicks, and landed some great knees. There were bouts of stalling and clinching for the latter half of the first round, but Rampage eventually landed a flurry that floored Beltran, prompting a stoppage right as the bell rang. One of the night’s highlights came after the fight, during Rampage’s post-fight promo. He was trying to take the mic from Jimmy Smith, who refused to acquiesce all the while you could hear someone screaming “DON’T LET HIM TAKE IT,” at the top of their lungs. It was about as awkward as that time Dana White reprimanded Colton Smith for ignoring the Harley-Davidson rep when he won a motorcycle.
Overall? Not bad. The fights were optimized for the casual fans (quick TKO finishes) and, for the first time in a while, something went right for Bellator: Rampage won his fight in convincing fashion. And the card he was on, one that was likely to draw more eyes than others, was entertaining. The fights might actually want to make people watch another Bellator show in the future.
But the biggest issue after Bellator 108 is what they’ll will do with Rampage now. He’s likely to high-profile for a tournament, yet they’ll compromise their integrity (like that matters) if they gift Rampage a title shot. Bellator’s future will be interesting, to say the least.
Complete results:
Main Card:
Quinton Jackson def. Joey Beltran via TKO (punches), 4:59 of Round 1
Vitaly Minakov def. Alexander Volkov via TKO (punches), 2:57 of Round 1
Marcos Galvao def. Tom McKenna via TKO (punches), 4:29 of Round 1
Patricio Freire def. Justin Wilcox via TKO (punches), 2:23 of Round 1
Preliminary Card:
Sam Oropeza def. Chip Moraza-Pollard via TKO (punches), 0:37 of Round 1
Tom DeBlass def. Jason Lambert via KO (punch), 1:45 of Round 1
Nah-Shon Burrell def. Jesus Martinez via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Anthony Morrison def. Kenny Foster via majority decision (28-28, 29-27, 30-26)
Liam McGeary def. Nahim Wali via submission (armbar), 1:31 of Round 1
Will Martinez def. Kevin Rodday via submission (rear naked choke), 3:50 of Round 1
Dan Matala def. Ryan Cafaro via TKO (strikes), 3:52 of Round 2
Rob Sullivan def. Sergio da Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
