UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro was a memorable night for several reasons, not the least of which was the complete dominance of the Brazilian contingent on the card.
You could look at the match-ups beforehand and tell they were perhaps slightly titled in Brazil’s favor, but who among us really thought Stanislav Nedkov would be the only foreigner to defeat a Brazilian?
But now that the action’s over and the post-fight interviews are done, it’s time to sort through the aftermath to find UFC 134’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Won’t you join me?
Biggest Winner: Anderson Silva
It’s clear to me now that this man has something different in his brain. The same way an owl can triangulate the exact location of a squeaking field mouse in the dark, Silva can perform a minute’s worth of feints and look at where you reflexively move your head and hands and feet, and from there decide exactly how to separate you from your conciousness. To put it another way, he’s on some next level stuff out there. Normal human beings, no matter how much they practice, can’t do that. It seems to come so naturally to Silva that he appears at times incapable of appreciating how rare his violent gifts are. Fortunately, he has the rest of us to tell him, and accomplished, though helpless opponents like Okami to show him.
Biggest Loser: Brendan Schaub
Not only was he the biggest betting favorite who ended up on the losing end in Rio, he was also the USA’s best hope for a win on the night. We expected David Mitchell and even Dan Miller to get beat, but Schaub? He was supposed to be the next big heavyweight prospect, and maybe even the lone American to come back to the Northen Hemisphere with a victory stowed in his carry-on. He couldn’t get his head out of the way of Nogueira’s punches, however, so he ended up face down on the mat instead of hands raised on top of the cage. He’s still young and still growing as a fighter, so it’s not a major catastrophe, career-wise. At the same time, getting knocked out by an aging legend who seemed one or two defeats away from forced retirement is the kind of thing that’ll hit the pause button on your superstar plans with a quickness. The hype train hasn’t derailed, but it is always harder to get it started up again once it’s come to such a sudden stop.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Ross Pearson
That was a painfully close fight, and if it’s anywhere but Brazil, where even a glancing blow by a Brazilian brings the crowd to its feet, maybe he gets the decision. Even without it, he did better than many (myself included) expected him to, and proved his toughness beyond a reasonable doubt. Pearson may not be the best pure athlete in the lightweight class, but the man will keep walking you down and forcing you to fight him. Does that style have its limitations? Sure it does. Is it a whole lot of fun to watch, especially when the practitioner of such a style can take a shot as well as Pearson can? Definitely. I don’t see the hard-headed Brit becoming champion any time soon, but every division needs role-players as well as greats. If Pearson’s role is to put on exciting, gritty fights, at least it’s steady work.
Least Impressive in Victory: Thiago Tavares
His plan seemed to be to control Spencer Fisher on the mat and grind the pace down to such a yawn-worthy crawl that his opponent would eventually do something dumb just to try and force some action. Somewhat disappointingly, it worked. It’s not that Tavares didn’t deserve to win — he effectively dictated where and how the fight was contested, so that’s something — but he has to know that he won’t win many fans with takedowns and short, ineffectual punches on the mat. In a night of memorable Brazilian triumphs, his win was among the most forgettable. At least it’s better than losing.
Most Strangely Sympathetic: Forrest Griffin
Yes, he’s a grumpy young man. And no, he does not travel well. But honestly, once you see that sadsack look on his face and consider the fact that he’ll probably never be able to think about his daughter’s birth without also thinking about the night he got knocked out by “Shogun” Rua in Rio, you have to feel for the guy. What I wonder is whether the pursuit of cold hard cash alone is enough to sustain him in this business. He used to be a workhorse in the gym, the guy who told the new crop of TUF hopefuls that “the juice is worth is the squeeze.” These days he doesn’t act like he really believes it. It’s one thing to hate your job and do it anyway if you work at a kiosk in the mall selling cell phone accessories. When you fight for money, however, there are too many hungry young mercenaries out there for you to be going through the motions just for a paycheck. Griffin needs to decide whether he’s all the way in this sport. If not, he ought to get out.
Most Surprising: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
The walk to the cage was the most many of us had seen Big Nog move all week, so it was hard not to analyze every step for what it might tell us about his post-surgery mobility. He wasn’t exactly fleet of foot once the fight started, but then he was never known for his foot speed even in his prime. It seemed as though Nogueira’s plan A was to take Schaub down, but when that went nowhere he quickly resported to plan B: punch the guy in the face until he falls down. Before the fight, I would have said this was a terrible idea. Then he tried it and found Schaub was not all that difficult to hit. I might tap the brakes on the whole ‘Nogueira is back!’ meme that instantly sprouted up after the win, but at least this proves he’s not done. Not just yet, anyway.
Most Baffling: Rousimar Palhares
That’s two bizarre mental lapses in three tries for “Toquinho.” At least this one didn’t cost him the fight. I loved how Herb Dean reacted to Palhares’ premature celebration by looking at Dan Miller like he was a loose ball in a football game, just waiting to be noticed and scooped up. I admit I was a little curious to see what Miller would have done to Palhares had he been allowed to attack as Palhares straddled the top of the cage, flexing for the crowd, but I guess that was the rational point for Dean to pause the action and sort out the confusion. Palhares is obviously talented and has a lot of physical tools at his disposal, but somebody needs to teach this guy to fight until the referee tells him it’s over. There are too many ways to lose in MMA without creating new ones for yourself.
Most Unhelpfully Brief Cage Appearance: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
I’m sure he doesn’t mind winning inside of two minutes, but I sure would have liked to have seen a little more of him. It’s hard to know where his overall game is at when all his fight lasts about as long as it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket. Rua has always had that explosive power, particularly early in the fight. What people rightfully wonder about is his conditioning over the long haul. Saturday night’s fight didn’t give us a chance to find out anything about that, but hey, you can’t really complain about a first-round knockout. You also can’t say that you learned all that much about a fighter’s overall game that way.
Least Potent Offense: Yushin Okami
Aside from a clinch and a couple pawing right hands, Okami didn’t manage too many attempts at hurting Silva, which I thought was kind of supposed to be the goal. Then again, when you consider what happened on the few occasions when he did try to go on the attack, it’s hard to blame him. It seems like no matter what you do to Silva, whether it’s tossing out a jab or shooting for a takedown, you’re only giving him more information about how best to defeat you. Still, if you’re going to step in the cage and fight him, you have to fight him. The more time you spend standing around and letting him figure you out, the worse it’s going to be. As for Okami, he seemed defeated by the time he got off the stool for the second round. Again, hard to blame him. Just because he failed to figure out a fighting genius in the span of a few minutes, that doesn’t mean he’s not still a gifted fighter in his own right. It’s just that, especially in this business, the space between very good and great is so painfully vast.
UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro was a memorable night for several reasons, not the least of which was the complete dominance of the Brazilian contingent on the card.
You could look at the match-ups beforehand and tell they were perhaps slightly titled in Brazil’s favor, but who among us really thought Stanislav Nedkov would be the only foreigner to defeat a Brazilian?
But now that the action’s over and the post-fight interviews are done, it’s time to sort through the aftermath to find UFC 134’s biggest winners, losers, and everything in between. Won’t you join me?
Biggest Winner: Anderson Silva
It’s clear to me now that this man has something different in his brain. The same way an owl can triangulate the exact location of a squeaking field mouse in the dark, Silva can perform a minute’s worth of feints and look at where you reflexively move your head and hands and feet, and from there decide exactly how to separate you from your conciousness. To put it another way, he’s on some next level stuff out there. Normal human beings, no matter how much they practice, can’t do that. It seems to come so naturally to Silva that he appears at times incapable of appreciating how rare his violent gifts are. Fortunately, he has the rest of us to tell him, and accomplished, though helpless opponents like Okami to show him.
Biggest Loser: Brendan Schaub
Not only was he the biggest betting favorite who ended up on the losing end in Rio, he was also the USA’s best hope for a win on the night. We expected David Mitchell and even Dan Miller to get beat, but Schaub? He was supposed to be the next big heavyweight prospect, and maybe even the lone American to come back to the Northen Hemisphere with a victory stowed in his carry-on. He couldn’t get his head out of the way of Nogueira’s punches, however, so he ended up face down on the mat instead of hands raised on top of the cage. He’s still young and still growing as a fighter, so it’s not a major catastrophe, career-wise. At the same time, getting knocked out by an aging legend who seemed one or two defeats away from forced retirement is the kind of thing that’ll hit the pause button on your superstar plans with a quickness. The hype train hasn’t derailed, but it is always harder to get it started up again once it’s come to such a sudden stop.
Most Impressive in Defeat: Ross Pearson
That was a painfully close fight, and if it’s anywhere but Brazil, where even a glancing blow by a Brazilian brings the crowd to its feet, maybe he gets the decision. Even without it, he did better than many (myself included) expected him to, and proved his toughness beyond a reasonable doubt. Pearson may not be the best pure athlete in the lightweight class, but the man will keep walking you down and forcing you to fight him. Does that style have its limitations? Sure it does. Is it a whole lot of fun to watch, especially when the practitioner of such a style can take a shot as well as Pearson can? Definitely. I don’t see the hard-headed Brit becoming champion any time soon, but every division needs role-players as well as greats. If Pearson’s role is to put on exciting, gritty fights, at least it’s steady work.
Least Impressive in Victory: Thiago Tavares
His plan seemed to be to control Spencer Fisher on the mat and grind the pace down to such a yawn-worthy crawl that his opponent would eventually do something dumb just to try and force some action. Somewhat disappointingly, it worked. It’s not that Tavares didn’t deserve to win — he effectively dictated where and how the fight was contested, so that’s something — but he has to know that he won’t win many fans with takedowns and short, ineffectual punches on the mat. In a night of memorable Brazilian triumphs, his win was among the most forgettable. At least it’s better than losing.
Most Strangely Sympathetic: Forrest Griffin
Yes, he’s a grumpy young man. And no, he does not travel well. But honestly, once you see that sadsack look on his face and consider the fact that he’ll probably never be able to think about his daughter’s birth without also thinking about the night he got knocked out by “Shogun” Rua in Rio, you have to feel for the guy. What I wonder is whether the pursuit of cold hard cash alone is enough to sustain him in this business. He used to be a workhorse in the gym, the guy who told the new crop of TUF hopefuls that “the juice is worth is the squeeze.” These days he doesn’t act like he really believes it. It’s one thing to hate your job and do it anyway if you work at a kiosk in the mall selling cell phone accessories. When you fight for money, however, there are too many hungry young mercenaries out there for you to be going through the motions just for a paycheck. Griffin needs to decide whether he’s all the way in this sport. If not, he ought to get out.
Most Surprising: Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
The walk to the cage was the most many of us had seen Big Nog move all week, so it was hard not to analyze every step for what it might tell us about his post-surgery mobility. He wasn’t exactly fleet of foot once the fight started, but then he was never known for his foot speed even in his prime. It seemed as though Nogueira’s plan A was to take Schaub down, but when that went nowhere he quickly resported to plan B: punch the guy in the face until he falls down. Before the fight, I would have said this was a terrible idea. Then he tried it and found Schaub was not all that difficult to hit. I might tap the brakes on the whole ‘Nogueira is back!’ meme that instantly sprouted up after the win, but at least this proves he’s not done. Not just yet, anyway.
Most Baffling: Rousimar Palhares
That’s two bizarre mental lapses in three tries for “Toquinho.” At least this one didn’t cost him the fight. I loved how Herb Dean reacted to Palhares’ premature celebration by looking at Dan Miller like he was a loose ball in a football game, just waiting to be noticed and scooped up. I admit I was a little curious to see what Miller would have done to Palhares had he been allowed to attack as Palhares straddled the top of the cage, flexing for the crowd, but I guess that was the rational point for Dean to pause the action and sort out the confusion. Palhares is obviously talented and has a lot of physical tools at his disposal, but somebody needs to teach this guy to fight until the referee tells him it’s over. There are too many ways to lose in MMA without creating new ones for yourself.
Most Unhelpfully Brief Cage Appearance: Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
I’m sure he doesn’t mind winning inside of two minutes, but I sure would have liked to have seen a little more of him. It’s hard to know where his overall game is at when all his fight lasts about as long as it takes to microwave a Hot Pocket. Rua has always had that explosive power, particularly early in the fight. What people rightfully wonder about is his conditioning over the long haul. Saturday night’s fight didn’t give us a chance to find out anything about that, but hey, you can’t really complain about a first-round knockout. You also can’t say that you learned all that much about a fighter’s overall game that way.
Least Potent Offense: Yushin Okami
Aside from a clinch and a couple pawing right hands, Okami didn’t manage too many attempts at hurting Silva, which I thought was kind of supposed to be the goal. Then again, when you consider what happened on the few occasions when he did try to go on the attack, it’s hard to blame him. It seems like no matter what you do to Silva, whether it’s tossing out a jab or shooting for a takedown, you’re only giving him more information about how best to defeat you. Still, if you’re going to step in the cage and fight him, you have to fight him. The more time you spend standing around and letting him figure you out, the worse it’s going to be. As for Okami, he seemed defeated by the time he got off the stool for the second round. Again, hard to blame him. Just because he failed to figure out a fighting genius in the span of a few minutes, that doesn’t mean he’s not still a gifted fighter in his own right. It’s just that, especially in this business, the space between very good and great is so painfully vast.
The last time the UFC was in Brazil, there was no such thing as Spike TV or Facebook.
But for Saturday’s UFC 134, the promotion’s first trip to the South American cradle of MMA since 1998, fans can watch all 12 fights on a combination of Facebook, Spike and pay-per-view.
This will be the 15th consecutive event that the UFC has utilized Facebook to air preliminary card fights, dating back to January. And for the ninth straight event, each fight on the card will be broadcast in some form. The first five UFC 134 prelims will stream live on Facebook, followed by a pair of fights on Spike leading into the pay-per-view broadcast.
A pair of fights between Brazilians and Americans leads the Spike broadcast. A middleweight bout between Rousimar Palhares and Dan Miller kicks things off, followed by a lightweight bout between Thiago Tavares and Spencer Fisher.
Palhares (12-3, 5-2 UFC) fought exclusively in his native Brazil until signing with the UFC in 2008. His last three wins have been by submission. Miller (13-5, 1 NC, 5-4 UFC) has struggled since starting his UFC career 3-0. He suffered a three-fight skid with decision losses to Chael Sonnen, Demian Maia and Michael Bisping, but rebounded with back-to-back wins over John Salter and Joe Doerksen. But in March, he lost a unanimous decision to Nate Marquardt in his native New Jersey.
Tavares (15-4-1, 5-4-1 UFC) started his career 12-0 but has gone just 3-4-1 in his last eight fights. In March, he was knocked out by Shane Roller at UFC on Versus 3. Fisher (24-7, 9-6 UFC) is also coming off a loss. Ross Pearson took a unanimous decision from him at UFC 127 in Sydney in February, giving the Iowa-based fighter three losses in four fights.
On the UFC’s Facebook page, fans will get a Brazilian-heavy lineup. An opening bantamweight bout between Canada’s Yves Jabouin and American Ian Loveland is the only fight on the card to not feature a Brazilian. Three fights on the Facebook prelims feature Brazilians debuting in the UFC against fellow Brazilians. And Paulo Thiago (13-3, 3-3 UFC) looks to end a two-fight skid against David Mitchell (11-1, 0-1 UFC).
To gain access to the Facebook fights, which will begin at 6 p.m. Eastern, viewers must “like” the UFC on Facebook. As of Wednesday afternoon, the UFC had more than 6.2 million fans at the site. When the UFC first started streaming prelims fights on Facebook in January, it had approximately 4.5 million fans at the social networking site.
The UFC began streaming preliminary fights in January with its Fight for the Troops 2 show at Fort Hood, Texas. Since then, the promotion has included free Facebook fights for each event, regardless of the main card’s platform – be it on pay-per-view, Spike or Versus. For the historic UFC 129 card in Toronto in April, five prelims were aired on Facebook, followed by a pair on Spike leading into the pay-per-view – meaning for the first time, fans were guaranteed the opportunity to see each fight on the card. That has continued for each of the eight events since then, including Saturday’s card in Rio.
UFC 134 features a main event middleweight title fight between champion Anderson Silva and Yushin Okami, the last man to beat him – albeit by disqualification when Silva delivered an illegal upkick and Okami couldn’t continue. The co-main event features a rematch between former light heavyweight champions Mauricio “Shogun” Rua and Forrest Griffin. And also on the main card, heavyweight Brendan Schaub looks for his fifth straight win in a matchup against Brazilian legend Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Filed under: UFCUFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “…
UFC 134 in Brazil promises to be memorable for a variety of reasons. Here are just a few of them, in no particular order or importance.
I. “Yushin Okami is not only the biggest middleweight I’ve ever fought,” Mike Swick told me once, “He might be the biggest middleweight I’ve ever seen.” In fact, it was a decision loss to Okami that convinced Swick he was in the wrong weight class, since he just could compete with Okami’s size and strength. It may not always come across on TV, but Okami isn’t just a good wrestler — he’s a powerhouse. He’s the kind of fighter who can, if he has to, take you down and lay on you until the judges declare him the winner. For a champion whose biggest weakness is his takedown defense, that’s a legitimate problem.
II. But how much time will Okami get to work on the ground, anyway? Let’s be honest here: if Okami tries to go all human blanket on Silva for five full rounds, the Brazilian crowd is going to let him have it. No referee is going to admit it, but a continuous stream of boos has hastened more than one ref stand-up in MMA history. It shouldn’t, of course. The third man in the cage should remain oblivious to everything outside of it. That’s easier said than done, however. Sure, Bob Dylan had the fortitude to get booed every night when he went electric, but does Mario Yamasaki have that same iron will that Dylan had? Could Herb Dean power through “Like a Rolling Stone” even as the hate poured down on him? I’m not so sure. Let Okami get a couple rounds of takedowns and ground control under his belt, and we may find out.
III. There are two ways to beat Mauricio “Shogun” Rua. One is to be a vastly superior fighter, as Jon Jones was. The other is to deal with his bull rush in the early going, absorbing and/or deflecting his aggression as best you can, then turn it up in the later rounds when he’s burned through his jetpacks. The latter is what Forrest Griffin did the first time they met, whether intentionally or unintentionally, and it’s his best chance in the rematch. He’s bigger, stronger, and if he can make Rua carry some of that weight and wear himself out, that’s when Griffin can put him away. Skill-for-skill, Rua is probably the more gifted fighter, but Griffin has a way of just hanging around. Some nights, that’s enough.
IV. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira hasn’t fought in a year and a half. During that time, he also had knee and hip surgery. Now he’s coming back to fight Brendan Schaub, who’s looking to continue the legend-slaying tour he began with a knockout of Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic in March. Anybody else seeing disaster in the works for Big Nog? He’s the kind of fighter who seems to have crammed three careers worth of action into the last decade, and now he’s not looking quite so spry or resilient anymore. Schaub is a big, young, hungry heavyweight. Unless Nogueira can pull off a hail mary submission off his back — possibly after being knocked there by a Schaub right hand — it’s hard to see how he wins this.
V. If you’ve been looking for a chance to get to know more Brazilian fighters, you’re in luck. In all, fourteen Brazilians are competing on this card, ranging from ones you might know (ever hear of this Anderson Silva guy?) to ones you might not (Erick Silva and Luis Ramos, for instance, who will be debuting in the UFC against one another). In other words, even though he’ll be there to corner his buddy Okami, this might not be the night for Chael Sonnen to regale the boys backstage with his particular brand of cultural insult comedy.
VI. Once more unto the breach for Ross Pearson. The British lightweight was on his way up the ladder until that surprising loss to Cole Miller, then he bounced back with a decision over Spencer Fisher. The time for gradual build-ups is apparently over, because now he gets the Brazilian buzzsaw, Edson Barboza, who’s been known to make audience members cry just from witnessing his brutal leg kicks in person. Okay, so that last part is just a rumor I’m trying to start, but the point is it could be true. Pearson has a seriously tough night ahead of him against Barboza. Even if he pulls off the upset, chances are he’ll be hobbling through the airport in the morning.
VII. How good is Dan Miller‘s leglock defense? We’re about to find out. Miller’s never been submitted in his MMA career, but he’s also never fought an enemy of knee ligaments everywhere quite like Rousimar Palhares. “Toquinho” has won three of his last four with submissions below the waist. As long as he can keep his head in the game and avoid another costly mental lapse like the one he suffered against Nate Marquardt, he has the potential to be a real problem for Miller, who could really use a win right about now.
VIII. Pity poor Ian Loveland and Yves Jabouin. Theirs is the only fight on the card that doesn’t feature at least one Brazilian. Will that make it a novelty for the Rio fans, or just the perfect moment to visit the concessions stand? It is on the prelims, and early on in the night, too. If the crowd is operating on Brazilian time, they may miss it entirely.
IX. There’s just no way Anderson Silva will be anything but one hundred percent serious while fighting in his home country, right? I mean, it’s one thing to screw around in Abu Dhabi, but Rio? No chance he decides to samba for five rounds here. Not in front of family and friends, not to mention his big time corporate sponsors and his reactionary boss. Not on your life, right? Right?
Don’t ever tell this guy you want to “hang out and twist one up” — it doesn’t translate well. VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Rousimar Palhares is the root cause of 35% of all cases of Restless Leg Syndrome on the planet. If you have fully-functioning knees, you have never rolled with Toquinho. If your initials are “ACL“, chances are you have woken up screaming in the middle of the night due to a nightmare you can barely remember, but you were strangely compelled to check under your bed for Palhares. In 1903, Hurricane Rousimar barreled through Puerto Rico and the northern coast of South America. No one was killed, but thousands were unable to walk normally for the rest of their lives. Chuck Norris is the reason giraffes have long necks (roundhouse kick), but Rousimar Palhares is the reason they have those gnarly knees (hoof hook).
Some of that stuff may possibly have been made up and/or hyperbolized, but we all know that, like the Wu-Tang Clan, Rousimar P. ain’t nothing to fuck with. With his UFC Rio bout with Dan Miller almost upon us, let’s all take a few moments to get to know Paul Harris a bit better. When he’s not ruining your mobility for life, he actually seems like a humble, friendly kind of guy. Just don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Leave your own boasts of Palhares’ crazy awesomeness in the comments, if you think you can do better.
[RX]
Don’t ever tell this guy you want to “hang out and twist one up” — it doesn’t translate well. VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Rousimar Palhares is the root cause of 35% of all cases of Restless Leg Syndrome on the planet. If you have fully-functioning knees, you have never rolled with Toquinho. If your initials are “ACL“, chances are you have woken up screaming in the middle of the night due to a nightmare you can barely remember, but you were strangely compelled to check under your bed for Palhares. In 1903, Hurricane Rousimar barreled through Puerto Rico and the northern coast of South America. No one was killed, but thousands were unable to walk normally for the rest of their lives. Chuck Norris is the reason giraffes have long necks (roundhouse kick), but Rousimar Palhares is the reason they have those gnarly knees (hoof hook).
Some of that stuff may possibly have been made up and/or hyperbolized, but we all know that, like the Wu-Tang Clan, Rousimar P. ain’t nothing to fuck with. With his UFC Rio bout with Dan Miller almost upon us, let’s all take a few moments to get to know Paul Harris a bit better. When he’s not ruining your mobility for life, he actually seems like a humble, friendly kind of guy. Just don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Leave your own boasts of Palhares’ crazy awesomeness in the comments, if you think you can do better.
When we watched this video, we lost The Game. VidProps: PanicPulse/YouTube
Ed “Short Fuse” Herman impressed some of us last night when he went all Paul Harris on poor Kyle Noke, catching Noke with a heel hook and torquing that motherlover until Mario Yamasaki noticed Noke’s “owwie” face and tap simultaneously, stopping it with a minute left in the first round. No official word yet, but expect Noke to be walking gingerly for the next few weeks.
If you’re not familiar with the much-feared heel hook, take a quick peep at this video where the lovely Joanne Spracklen demonstrates the mechanics, and keep in mind that the twisting action at the heel puts a lot of strain on the knee of that leg. And when we say “a lot of strain”, we mean that ligaments pop and tissues tear when you start cranking on this.
Joanne illustrates the standard heel hook, whereas Herman pulled off the inverted variety, moving Noke’s leg to the other side of his hips and twisting the toes out away from the body; the effects are every bit as devastating.
Do NOT try this at home. Seriously, people talk about how kids are resilient and can bounce back from anything, but surgery on knee ligaments will slow even the best of them way down.
Plus, i’m being told that mine is past the manufacturer’s warranty period, and now i have to pay out of pocket to get him fixed. And that’s why we can’t have nice things.
[RX]
When we watched this video, we lost The Game. VidProps: PanicPulse/YouTube
Ed “Short Fuse” Herman impressed some of us last night when he went all Paul Harris on poor Kyle Noke, catching Noke with a heel hook and torquing that motherlover until Mario Yamasaki noticed Noke’s “owwie” face and tap simultaneously, stopping it with a minute left in the first round. No official word yet, but expect Noke to be walking gingerly for the next few weeks.
If you’re not familiar with the much-feared heel hook, take a quick peep at this video where the lovely Joanne Spracklen demonstrates the mechanics, and keep in mind that the twisting action at the heel puts a lot of strain on the knee of that leg. And when we say “a lot of strain”, we mean that ligaments pop and tissues tear when you start cranking on this.
Joanne illustrates the standard heel hook, whereas Herman pulled off the inverted variety, moving Noke’s leg to the other side of his hips and twisting the toes out away from the body; the effects are every bit as devastating.
Do NOT try this at home. Seriously, people talk about how kids are resilient and can bounce back from anything, but surgery on knee ligaments will slow even the best of them way down.
Plus, i’m being told that mine is past the manufacturer’s warranty period, and now i have to pay out of pocket to get him fixed. And that’s why we can’t have nice things.
("This big horsemeat-eating motherf*cker is next.")
There’s been a veritable orgy of UFC fight-bookings happening over the last couple days, and we might as well throw them all at you in one lump sum. We’ll start with one that might…
("This big horsemeat-eating motherf*cker is next.")
There’s been a veritable orgy of UFC fight-bookings happening over the last couple days, and we might as well throw them all at you in one lump sum. We’ll start with one that might not be the biggest of the bunch, but definitely struck us as the strangest…
Jim Miller vs. Kamal Shalorus – UFC 128: When Dana White proclaimed that Miller’s impressive kneebar submission win over Charles Oliveira at UFC 124 put him in the mix of lightweight contenders, nobody figured that would mean that he’d be paired with an Octagon newcomer in his next bout. But this is the UFC, and sometimes the organization’s MMA math just doesn’t make a hell of a lot of sense. The Sparta, New Jersey native will attempt to increase his winning streak to seven when he takes on (7-0-2) WEC veteran Shalorus at UFC 128 in his backyard in New Jersey.
Dan Miller vs. David Branch – UFC 128: Considering that his brother is on the card and they can save on cornermen hotel rooms and plane tickets, it’s a no-brainer that the UFC would have another local fighter like Miller on the card for UFC 128. The fact that they now have to pay Chuck Liddell’s seven-figure salary, bar and strip club tabs has not been lost on the accounting department who have undoubtedly suggested some cost cutting measures that will be implemented in 2011. Wait until you see the beat-up budget ex-strippers they bring in to replace Arianny and Chandella.
Filipovic will attempt to prolong his rapidly shortening career by defeating the up-and-coming fighter who is riding a three-fight winning streak which includes a "W" over Gabriel Gonzaga — the last man to put Cro Cop to sleep prior to Frank Mir turning his lights out in his last outing at UFC 119.
UFC 134 in Rio de Janeiro was a memorable night for several reasons, not the least of which was the complete dominance of the Brazilian contingent on the card. 
The last time the 
