So apparently Anderson Silva and Jay-Z have joined forces under the latter’s Life+Times network to launch a new web series focused on MMA rivalries called STATIC. In episode two, STATIC takes a hilariously overdramatized look back at the Mayhem Miller vs. Nick Diaz rivalry a.k.a The Nashville brawl and the aftermath that followed. It is ridiculous for so, so many reasons.
1. Nothing like a close-up of a some dude who is neither Jason Miller nor Nick Diaz to kick off a video about the rivalry between Jason Miller and Nick Diaz.
2. “Where I come from, people like that get slapped.” — Nick Diaz, referring to Ariel Helwani but edited to make it seem relevant.
3. Oh, I see. That was all just part of the intro. The actual segment devoted to Diaz vs. Miller starts with that footage of Diaz incomprehensibly ranting/flipping off his camera while driving. Definitely the best way to let fans know that this rivalry is, like, *super* serial.
4. Holy shit, the voice of whoever’s narrating this.
5. = My reaction to every piece of Mayhem Miller-related news in the past two or so years.
So apparently Anderson Silva and Jay-Z have joined forces under the latter’s Life+Times network to launch a new web series focused on MMA rivalries called STATIC. In episode two, STATIC takes a hilariously overdramatized look back at the Mayhem Miller vs. Nick Diaz rivalry a.k.a The Nashville brawl and the aftermath that followed. It is ridiculous for so, so many reasons.
1. Nothing like a close-up of a some dude who is neither Jason Miller nor Nick Diaz to kick off a video about the rivalry between Jason Miller and Nick Diaz.
2. “Where I come from, people like that get slapped.” — Nick Diaz, referring to Ariel Helwani but edited to make it seem relevant.
3. Oh, I see. That was all just part of the intro. The actual segment devoted to Diaz vs. Miller starts with that footage of Diaz incomprehensibly ranting/flipping off his camera while driving. Definitely the best way to let fans know that this rivalry is, like, *super* serial.
4. Holy shit, the voice of whoever’s narrating this.
5. = My reaction to every piece of Mayhem Miller-related news in the past two or so years.
6. It’s funny, I never recall hearing Dan Henderson‘s take on the whole Nashville brawl that effectively got MMA shitcanned from CBS. It only took four years to get, and go figure, it’s calm and completely reasonable. What is with that guy?
7. Perhaps the one positive we can take away from the Nashville brawl is that Gus Johnson was inadvertently backhanded by Jake Shields during it. #TheLittleThings
8. How quickly do you think Michael Bisping agreed to drop everything he was doing for the chance to take the piss out of Miller one more time? Five seconds? Fifteen?
9. “Diaz, everyone knows is crazy.” — Dominick Cruz, with perhaps the understatement of the century.
10. Wait, that’s Roy Jones Jr. narrating this thing? Why did they take so long to tell us that? And is that how he actually talks? Because I feel like I’m listening to Roy Jones Jr. impersonating Ice-T impersonating a bayou police officer.
11. We get our first shot of Mayhem, post-everything. He looks…good.
12. Seeing Nick Diaz smile is like seeing your Dad cry.
13. The stock photos being used in this segment could not be more amateurish, and the Microsoft PowerPoint manner in which they are being presented isn’t helping. I’m guessing Jay-Z couldn’t pony up the cash for a Getty Images account.
14. The dude Miller “smashed” that night? Tim “Moab” Stout. He’s 12-10, and fought just once after getting beaten by Miller on a few week’s notice. No, I do not know what a “Moab” is.
15. Apparently, Nick Diaz’s version of “jumping on” someone equates to throwing a waterbottle at their face backstage and then calling them fat. Miller would later partially adopt this strategy while coaching TUF 14.
16. Cut to: Footage of an absolutely gassed Mayhem drilling leg kicks, “You’re the Best Around” plays triumphantly in the background (not really, but it should be).
17. And now we get Miller’s “Don’t Be Scared Homie” interview. God I hope this is going somewhere soon.
18. Except that we all knew it wasn’t going anywhere, because Miller and Diaz have never actually fought, as Jones Jr. explains. Therefore, this is not a *real* rivalry. Therefore, this installment of STATIC has been a complete waste of everyone’s time.
Here at CagePotato HQ (read: my desk at work when the boss is in the crapper), we feel it only necessary to start writing the eulogy now, while the memories are still vivid, in an attempt to bring comfort to the grieving family and friends when the time comes. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we, and look back fondly at the most memorable moments in Strikeforce’s storied mixed martial arts history.
Frank Shamrock Gets a Friendly Stockton Greeting From Nick Diaz
In the spring of 2009, Strikeforce served up a hot matchup between former UFC champion and MMA legend Frank Shamrock and the future Strikeforce Welterweight champion and world-renowned trash talker Nick Diaz. As you can glean from the above photo and the ensuing nut grab you can see on YouTube at roughly the 3:23 mark, these two were about as cordial as a Kentucky Derby winner who had just spotted Alistair Overeem waiting in the stable with a knife and fork.
The remarkable thing about the whole ordeal was that Diaz remained true to himself at the risk of coming across as a disrespectful punk, not willing to play nice simply to placate other people, even if they did sign his paycheck. In all of the press conferences that have been held over the years, fighters have generally been pretty calm and polite — so much so that you have to wonder if they realize that the guy they’re shaking hands with is the same guy who’s getting paid to cave his face in come fight night. Not the Stockton, Calif. native, though, whoe’s about as subtle as he is media friendly. You’ll never have to guess what the Cesar Gracie product is thinking. This classic photo by Esther Lin is a reminder of just that.
(This belt means as much as the one Carlos Condit is carrying around. It’s funny how that works.)
Here at CagePotato HQ (read: my desk at work when the boss is in the crapper), we feel it only necessary to start writing the eulogy now, while the memories are still vivid, in an attempt to bring comfort to the grieving family and friends when the time comes. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane, shall we, and look back fondly at the most memorable moments in Strikeforce’s storied mixed martial arts history.
Frank Shamrock Gets a Friendly Stockton Greeting From Nick Diaz
In the spring of 2009, Strikeforce served up a hot matchup between former UFC champion and MMA legend Frank Shamrock and the future Strikeforce Welterweight champion and world-renowned trash talker Nick Diaz. As you can glean from the above photo and the ensuing nut grab you can see on YouTube at roughly the 3:23 mark, these two were about as cordial as a Kentucky Derby winner who had just spotted Alistair Overeem waiting in the stable with a knife and fork.
The remarkable thing about the whole ordeal was that Diaz remained true to himself at the risk of coming across as a disrespectful punk, not willing to play nice simply to placate other people, even if they did sign his paycheck. In all of the press conferences that have been held over the years, fighters have generally been pretty calm and polite — so much so that you have to wonder if they realize that the guy they’re shaking hands with is the same guy who’s getting paid to cave his face in come fight night. Not the Stockton, Calif. native, though, whoe’s about as subtle as he is media friendly. You’ll never have to guess what the Cesar Gracie product is thinking. This classic photo by Esther Lin is a reminder of just that.
Gina Carano vs. Cris Cyborg, The Biggest Women’s Fight In History
Before Ronda Rousey stole Dana’s heart, before Bellator ever had a woman’s tournament, and before Invicta FC ever promoted an entire fight card with nothing but female combatants, there was Gina Carano. The world loved her after being introduced to her on the revamped American Gladiators as “Crush.” From there she went on to become one of the most searched for people of the year — being named in Maxim‘s Top 20 Hot List didn’t hurt either. To say that the future Hollywood starlet had a following is a bit of an understatement. The buxom brunette was more than just a pretty face though, sporting an impressive 7-0 record heading into the inaugural Strikeforce women’s featherweight championship fight against the roid-fueled always-game Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos.
I’m a firm believer that more people were interested in seeing Carano fight than they were in WMMA. That being said, it doesn’t change the facts. Scott Coker had big brass balls to promote an MMA event with two women’s names on the marquee and broadcast it on Showtime to boot. At the time, no one had any real sense of how successful the ladies would be at selling tickets or drawing the coveted 18-34 year-old television viewers. That’s how it is when you’re blazing a trail.
The fight was lopsided and with literally only a second to spare in the first round, “Cyborg” punched her way to a TKO victory earning her a place in Strikeforce history as the first women’s champ. According to the events Wikipedia page, Coker’s gamble paid off.
The event averaged 576,000 viewers on the Showtime cable network. It peaked with 856,000 viewers for the night’s main event between Carano and Santos. The Carano vs. Cyborg event set a new MMA ratings record for Showtime, eclipsing a card headlined with Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbot, which averaged 522,000 viewers. It also more than doubled Strikeforce’s previous offering, Lawler vs. Shields, an event that averaged 275,000 viewers.
Arguably the Greatest Round in MMA: Nate Diaz vs. Paul Daley
Lately, when the UFC kicks off another abominable installment of The Ultimate Fighter, they host a special two-hour (or more!) season premiere wherein all the hopefuls are cheered on as they drink donkey ejaculate paired off and given one five-minute round in the Octagon to prove their mettle. Sadly, most of the neanderthals that drag their knuckles up the cage steps aren’t particularity familiar with clocks or the concept of time.
Again and again, we see guys completely oblivious to the beating they’ve been dished out and are content to clean their plate. All the while Dana and Lorenzo are baffled that the kids don’t just go for broke, swing for the fences, something (anything!) instead of pulling guard or playing patty-cake. In short, the fights to enter the TUF house are the polar opposite of the championship bout between Nick Diaz and Paul “Semtex” Daley.
These two middleweight bad boys had no intentions of leaving the opening frame, let alone leaving it in the hands of the judges. Fists flew with ill ambition. Caution was not only thrown to the wind, it had a jetpack strapped to its back and shot out of a cannon. If you didn’t know any better, you might’ve thought they were told the loser of the bout would have to spend a year in jail with War Machine because neither man seemed to conserve energy for the “championship rounds” — instead opting to kick it into high gear when the tide shifted in their favor.
This one round is a casual fan converter. Have your buddy from work/gym/AA meetings watch this and soon you’ll only have to pay half price for the next PPV.
On the next page: “Business as usual,” the fall of a legend, and the fight after the fight…
With the recent allegations aimed at former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the sports world has been thrown into a bit of chaos in the past few weeks. The story, which has undoubtedly tarnished the legacy of not only the college itself but also its legendary football coach Joe Paterno, is one of the most shocking and disturbing events to surface in the history of competitive sports.
Whether or not we’ll actually try to do anything but mock them is yet to be determined.
Check out ten of the dirty little not-so-secrets of MMA’s past after the jump.
With the recent allegations aimed at former Penn State defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky, the sports world has been thrown into a bit of chaos in the past few weeks. The story, which has undoubtedly tarnished the legacy of not only the college itself but also its legendary football coach Joe Paterno, is one of the most shocking and disturbing events to surface in the history of competitive sports.
Whether or not we’ll actually try to do anything but mock them is yet to be determined.
Here we go.
#10 – Brock Lesnar’s UFC 100 Tirade
(Video courtesy of YouTube/krispyism. Apologies for the shitty video quality.) What happened: After dealing with months of Frank Mir‘s off-color brand of mental warfare, Brock Lesnar let his fists do the talking at UFC 100, which is where the talking should have ended. After smashing Frank Mir in the second round of their heavyweight title fight, Lesnar proceeded to not only berate a battered Mir, but flip off the crowd, openly insult one of the UFC’s biggest sponsors in Bud Light, and then hint at fornicating with his smokin hot wife. Ok, so maybe the last part wasn’t so bad (if you put yourself in Lesnar’s position), but the rest of Brock’s outburst came off to critics and fans alike as an act of incredible stupidity and childishness. At a time when many UFC fans were reluctant to allow someone from the world of professional wrestling into their realm, Lesnar’s dramatic antics were the warning flare that many were looking for to discredit the UFC as a professional organization.
(Video courtesy of YouTube/leer5858.) What happened: On the heels of an interim title loss to Antonio Rodrigo Nogueria and a 36 second annihilation at the hands of Fedor Emelianenko, it seemed to many that former UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia had hit rock bottom. But nay, we had only witnessed the beginning. When it was announced that Sylvia would challenge former WBO champion Ray Mercer to a MMA match, most figured it was part of some charity event, or maybe just a case of a good old fashioned freak show fight. It turns out the latter was correct, as Tim Sylvia showed up to the event dressed as Giant Silva, and proceeded to be flattened 9 seconds into the bout compliments of the very first punch that Mercer threw.
The fallout: The fight was basically MMA’s version of Billy Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs, except that neither of the competitors were even close to being in their prime. And as that match attempted to ignite women with the belief that they could compete with men in a sports setting (lolz!), this match opened the floodgates for the likes of James “Mushmouth” Toney to badger his way into an undeserved fight in MMA’s highest promotion. And though MMA reigned supreme at UFC 118, there was truly no winner to be had in what was one of the most pathetic, one sided matches in the sport’s history.
As for the fighters involved, Mercer’s punch was apparently so powerful that it permanently disabled Sylvia’s ability to fight at under 300 lbs thereafter. Despite that fact, Sylvia would go 6-1 following the loss, picking up wins over Paul Buentello, Marius Zaromskis, and most recently Andreas Kraniotakes at the abysmal Pro Elite 2: Big Guns event. Mercer has yet to compete in MMA again.
#8 – Paul Daley’s Cheap Shot at UFC 113
(Video courtesy of YouTube/codymckinley.) What happened: Let’s be honest, Paul Daley is kind of a scumbag. After coming up short in his #1 contender match against Josh “Fraggle Rock” Koscheck, Daley decided that the best chance to land his most significant strike of the fight would be after the fight was over. So he approached Koscheck in what seemed to be a congratulatory hug, and then took a swing at him. Referee Dan Miragliotta best summed up the moment when, after rag-dolling Daley into the cage, simply said, “Are you kidding me?”
The fallout: Turns out, Dana White was not kidding either, and immediately fired Daley following the fight, stating, “I don’t give a shit if he’s the best 170 pounder in the world, he will never come back here again.” But, true to DW’s form, never doesn’t exactly mean…never. In the midst of the Strikeforce purchase, White was asked about the possibility of Daley returning to the UFC, and had this to say, “We’ll see what happens with that first. I just have a hard time with what Daley did.” Consistency, folks, it’s truly what keeps a thriving business thriving. And speaking of British folks with less than stellar reputations…
("Thank you for your opening statement, Mr. Miller. Mr. Diaz and Mr. Shields now have 30 seconds to present their rebuttal." PicProps: BuzzHollywood.com)
Even after a panel of world renowned experts weighed in last week to unanimously declare…
("Thank you for your opening statement, Mr. Miller. Mr. Diaz and Mr. Shields now have 30 seconds to present their rebuttal." PicProps: BuzzHollywood.com)
Even after a panel of world renowned experts weighed in last week to unanimously declare that Jake Shields still needs to prove himself worthy in the UFC’s 170-pound division, the company is not wavering in its plans to shoehorn him into a title shot against the winner of next month’s Georges St. Pierre vs. Josh Koscheck scrap. Shields now even says he’ll be cageside at UFC 124 in Montreal, pretty much ensuring that the UFC will tempt fate by having the Cesar Gracie jiu jitsu fighter enter the Octagon to confront the victor.
We all know what happened the last time the former Strikeforce middleweight champ was involved in a postfight altercation inside a cage. Bad things, man. Fortunately, if Shields decides to engage in a company-sponsored mean-mug competition after UFC 124 it will at least be at an event run by professionals, so the possibility of an encore performance of “Strikeforce: Nashville” is pretty slim. Especially since all parties involved will no doubt get a stern “Be cool, motherfuckers,” speech from Dana White prior to the show. Still, Shields was already teasing a heel turn during his recent interview with MMA Weekly …
(Video courtesy YouTube)
20 years from now when Nick Diaz’s MMA career is over and he is holed up in his mom’s house, video blogging about weed, his past glory and cold fission, don’t say you didn’t see it coming.
In this very Dan Quinn-esque vid…
(Video courtesy YouTube)
20 years from now when Nick Diaz’s MMA career is over and he is holed up in his mom’s house, video blogging about weed, his past glory and cold fission, don’t say you didn’t see it coming.
In this very Dan Quinn-esque video response to Jason Miller’s recent remarks to Joe Rogan about him on the UFC analyst’s Ustream webcast, Diaz goes off on Mayhem for criticizing his ganster lifestyle and for accusing him for starting the Strikeforce brawl.
= My reaction to every piece of Mayhem Miller-related news in the past two or so years.
