It’s a good thing the MMA world was so excited to see the fourth meeting of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski at One FC 5: Pride of a Nation today in the Philippines, because now it might just get a fifth. The two former UFC champions were set to clash Friday near the top of the Singapore-based organization’s card, and they did, but with an unsatisfying result for fighters and fans alike, thanks to One FC’s convoluted and dangerous rules regarding kicks to the head of downed opponents.
They are legal. Sort of.
Phil Baroni won his bout earlier in the evening after effectively using kicks to the head of his opponent Rodrigo Ribeiro. However, when Arlovski landed glancing kicks to the head of Sylvia after dropping him to the mat on all fours with a punch combination, the referee called the blows illegal and gave Sylvia time to recover. When Sylvia could not, the fight was ruled a no contest. You see, One FC allows kicks to the head of a downed opponent only after a fighter is given express, in-the-moment permission by the referee. What could possibly go wrong?
(Check out GIFs of the Baroni and Arlovski finishes — as well as full results from One FC 5 — at the bottom of this post.)
Besides giving referees a strange discretion that would seem to do nothing but open up new and exciting opportunities for oversight, slip ups, and corruption, such a rule necessarily stops the action in fights and gives fighters something else to think about other than the only two things they should be — attacking their opponent and defending themselves.
(Hey, this just means One FC will rake in big bucks for “Sylvia vs. Arlovski 5: Please, God, Make It Stop”)
It’s a good thing the MMA world was so excited to see the fourth meeting of Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovski at One FC 5: Pride of a Nation today in the Philippines, because now it might just get a fifth. The two former UFC champions were set to clash Friday near the top of the Singapore-based organization’s card, and they did, but with an unsatisfying result for fighters and fans alike, thanks to One FC’s convoluted and dangerous rules regarding kicks to the head of downed opponents.
They are legal. Sort of.
Phil Baroni won his bout earlier in the evening after effectively using kicks to the head of his opponent Rodrigo Ribeiro. However, when Arlovski landed glancing kicks to the head of Sylvia after dropping him to the mat on all fours with a punch combination, the referee called the blows illegal and gave Sylvia time to recover. When Sylvia could not, the fight was ruled a no contest. You see, One FC allows kicks to the head of a downed opponent only after a fighter is given express, in-the-moment permission by the referee. What could possibly go wrong?
(Check out GIFs of the Baroni and Arlovski finishes — as well as full results from One FC 5 — at the bottom of this post.)
Besides giving referees a strange discretion that would seem to do nothing but open up new and exciting opportunities for oversight, slip ups, and corruption, such a rule necessarily stops the action in fights and gives fighters something else to think about other than the only two things they should be — attacking their opponent and defending themselves.
Rules like this are also going to be needlessly open to uneven application and enforcement. For example, Baroni won his fight and didn’t appear to look for nor receive permission to kick the head of the dropped Ribeiro, prior to striking. Neither did Arlovski. But Baroni won, Ribeiro lost, and Arlovski walked away with a no-contest despite convincingly beating his rival.
One FC put together a solid card with some great mixed martial arts competitors for their fifth event. Unfortunately, what will be most remembered is how the organization’s confused and unorganized rules left their referees, athletes, and spectators confused as well.
We don’t need an accounting from the organization as to what rationale led to their strange rule-set. They simply need to recognize the damage that they have done and abandon them.
Allow kicks and knees to the head of downed opponents, or don’t. One FC has to choose.
“One FC 5: Pride of a Nation” results
– Bibiano Fernandes def. Gustavo Falciroli via unanimous decision
– Eduard Folayang def. Felipe Enomoto via unanimous decision
– Andrei Arlovski vs. Tim Sylvia ended in a no contest (illegal kicks)
– Eric Kelly def. Jens Pulver via TKO, 1:46 of round 2
– Rolles Gracie def. Tony Bonello via submission (rear-naked choke), 1:33 of round 3
– Jung Hwan Cha def. Igor Gracie via TKO, 1:03 of round 3
– Soo Chul Kim def. Kevin Belingon via unanimous decision
– Gregor Gracie def. Nicholas Mann via submission (armbar), 3:38 of round 1
– Phil Baroni def. Rodrigo Ribeiro via TKO, 1:00 of round 1
– Shannon Wiratchai def. Mitch Chilson via KO, 3:02 of round 2
– Honorio Banario def. Andrew Benibe via KO, 3:47 of round 3
Our friends at With Leather just put together an incredible/awful collection of cheesy WWF promo photos from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and as we were browsing through some of these gems while drinking our coffee this morning, we couldn’t escape the eerie feeling that we’ve seen these faces elsewhere. The same snarling mugs, the same wacky personas — it’s obvious that some of our favorite MMA fighters owe a debt to these guys. So follow us back to pro wrestling‘s golden age, and allow us to make some startling comparisons.
Our friends at With Leather just put together an incredible/awful collection of cheesy WWF promo photos from the late ’80s and early ’90s, and as we were browsing through some of these gems while drinking our coffee this morning, we couldn’t escape the eerie feeling that we’ve seen these faces elsewhere. The same snarling mugs, the same wacky personas — it’s obvious that some of our favorite MMA fighters owe a debt to these guys. So follow us back to pro wrestling‘s golden age, and allow us to make some startling comparisons.
At least Tim Sylvia still has a remotely athletic physique from the chins up.
When I woke up this morning, Lafayette was beginning to take on water, a two hundred pound athlete was destroying fools in sumo wrestling, and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski was the most relevant fight taking place this weekend. Wait…this guy? And this guy? The most relevant fight of the weekend?! Naturally, the first thing I did was check my calendar to make sure I didn’t somehow travel back in time to 2005- as most of you did after reading that last sentence, I’m sure. Upon realizing that yes, it is in fact 2012, I said “Fuck it,” ate a gallon of ice cream for breakfast, and went back to sleep. If the rest of the universe just doesn’t care anymore, then neither do I.
Since it’s all we have to look forward to this weekend, we might as well at least try to get excited about the relatively meaningless nostalgia fight with this video of Andrei Arlovski’s open workout for the local Philippine press. Arlovski introduces himself with an enthusiastic “How’s taste my pee pee?” as he does some light drilling with Travis Browne (yes, that Travis Browne). After some basic drills, Andrei Arlovski answers some questions for the local media. The Pitbull, bless his heart, avoids an uncomfortable rape reference by saying he’s going to “play proctologist” and stick his hand up Tim Sylvia’s ass during the fight – not in a sexual way, but in an “I am beating the shit out of you and want to make this as humiliating as possible” way. He then tells the media that he plans on knocking out Tim Sylvia during the fight, a strategy we’ve seen backfire on him before. Before the clip ends, he brings things up to 2007 by shouting “THIS IS SPARTA!” while everyone laughs. Video is after the jump.
At least Tim Sylvia still has a remotely athletic physique from the chins up.
When I woke up this morning, Lafayette was beginning to take on water, a two hundred pound athlete was destroying fools in sumo wrestling, and Tim Sylvia vs. Andrei Arlovski was the most relevant fight taking place this weekend. Wait…this guy? And this guy? The most relevant fight of the weekend?! Naturally, the first thing I did was check my calendar to make sure I didn’t somehow travel back in time to 2005- as most of you did after reading that last sentence, I’m sure. Upon realizing that yes, it is in fact 2012, I said “Fuck it,” ate a gallon of ice cream for breakfast, and went back to sleep. If the rest of the universe just doesn’t care anymore, then neither do I.
Since it’s all we have to look forward to this weekend, we might as well at least try to get excited about the relatively meaningless nostalgia fight with this video of Andrei Arlovski’s open workout for the local Philippine press. Arlovski introduces himself with an enthusiastic “How’s taste my pee pee?” as he does some light drilling with Travis Browne (yes, that Travis Browne). After some basic drills, Andrei Arlovski answers some questions for the local media. The Pitbull, bless his heart, avoids an uncomfortable rape reference by saying he’s going to “play proctologist” and stick his hand up Tim Sylvia’s ass during the fight – not in a sexual way, but in an “I am beating the shit out of you and want to make this as humiliating as possible” way. He then tells the media that he plans on knocking out Tim Sylvia during the fight, a strategy we’ve seen backfire on him before. Before the clip ends, he brings things up to 2007 by shouting ”THIS IS SPARTA!” while everyone laughs.
If forced movie references are your thing, The Great White Hype may have come to mind while watching that clip. We’ve got a challenger who is taking this fight seriously and a champion (using the word as loosly as possible; suck it Powerhouse World Promotions) who is probably chasing ice cream trucks somewhere. If my forced pop culture reference is accurate, Arlovski will land exactly one punch before getting demolished by a pregnant looking Tim Sylvia, Travis Browne will storm the cage looking to fight The Maine-iac, and Greg Jackson will advise them not to give away a pay-per-view quality fight for free, thus earning Tim Sylvia one last bout in the UFC.
By the way, if you’re looking to take a trip down memory lane, check out the rest of the ONE FC fight card. Aside from the above match, we’ve got Jens Pulver returning to action against Eric Kelly, Phil Baroni squaring off against Rodrigo Ribeiro and Rolles Gracie pitted against Tony Bonello. We also have fights with Bibiano Fernandes and Felipe Enomoto to look forward to, if watching the old guys fight isn’t really your thing.
So tell us, are you excited for this weekend’s fights? Does Andrei Arlovski have a good shot at breaking even against Tim Sylvia? Or will you give up and just watch college football this weekend? Let us know what you think.
Though both the Pitbull and the Maine-iac endured their shareof setbacks during their post-UFC careers, both men are currently riding win streaks. Arlovski scored back-to-back knockouts of Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton while competing in ProElite last year, while Sylvia has won his last three bouts, most recently a 12-second TKO of Randy Smith. And while you might see this match as a relatively meaningless nostalgia fight, for Arlovski it’s still very, very real. As he said earlier this year:
“I would love to fight pee-pee taste…I beat him once and he beat me twice and it’s personal. He’s the only person in the word I really want to fight; really, really fight, it’d be a nasty fight. I don’t want to talk about what would happen in the fight, he’s a piece of shit and I’d just try to kick his blah blah blah.”
Will Arlovski even the score? Will Timmy take another step toward the UFC comeback that continues to elude him? Let us know what you think in the comments section, and re-watch their first two fights after the jump…
Though both the Pitbull and the Maine-iac endured their shareof setbacks during their post-UFC careers, both men are currently riding win streaks. Arlovski scored back-to-back knockouts of Ray Lopez and Travis Fulton while competing in ProElite last year, while Sylvia has won his last three bouts, most recently a 12-second TKO of Randy Smith. And while you might see this match as a relatively meaningless nostalgia fight, for Arlovski it’s still very, very real. As he said earlier this year:
“I would love to fight pee-pee taste…I beat him once and he beat me twice and it’s personal. He’s the only person in the word I really want to fight; really, really fight, it’d be a nasty fight. I don’t want to talk about what would happen in the fight, he’s a piece of shit and I’d just try to kick his blah blah blah.”
Will Arlovski even the score? Will Timmy take another step toward the UFC comeback that continues to elude him? Let us know what you think in the comments section, and re-watch their first two fights after the jump…
(Arlovski def. Sylvia via achilles lock, 0:47 of round 1, at UFC 51, 2/5/05.)
(Sylvia def. Arlovski via TKO, 2:43 of round 1, at UFC 59, 4/15/06.)
I feel bad for Tim Sylvia. I really do.He’ll forever be known as the guy who was knocked out by Ray Mercer in nine seconds. That’s a tough one to forget. But before that, back before he decided to leave the UFC for a giant payday from the now-defunct A…
He’ll forever be known as the guy who was knocked out by Ray Mercer in nine seconds. That’s a tough one to forget. But before that, back before he decided to leave the UFC for a giant payday from the now-defunct Affliction promotion, Sylvia was one of the best heavyweights in the world.
Granted, the UFC’s heavyweight division wasn’t very good when Big Timmy ruled it with a doughy fist. Most of the top heavyweights in the world were contracted to PRIDE at the time. But he did the best he could with the cards he was given, putting together a decent—if almost entirely forgettable—run.
But now, Sylvia is on the outside looking in. Despite winning seven of his last eight fights, Big Tim still can’t get a crack at the UFC. Even after offering to fight for free, the UFC isn’t ringing his cell phone.
Well, they actually did. He was considered for a bout with Daniel Cormier in Strikeforce. It’s not the UFC, but it’s also a world apart from the minor league shows Sylvia’s been inhabiting for the better part of two years. But once the news of Sylvia’s return to the big show leaked out, the vicious public outcry over the signing forced Dana White and the UFC to reconsider their offer. The contract that was offered to Sylvia was pulled before being executed by both sides, and Tim found himself without a home yet again.
Sylvia took to the Underground to apologize to everyone who wanted to see him back in the spotlight:
Sorry to all my fans hoping to see me back in the big show. We were talking to the UFC about the dc fight in sf and agreed to it. But for some reason they picked mir instead. It is what it is at least I was considered so maybe in the near future I will be back thanks for all of your support.
Tim seems to be wondering why in the world Zuffa would pick Mir over him. I think I can answer that question, if you’ll let me.
Zuffa picked Mir because beating him means more to Daniel Cormier than beating Sylvia would. Cormier is a potential heavyweight title challenger, and his next win needs to be important enough to legitimately vault him into the upper tier of the UFC’s heavyweight division. Beating Mir accomplishes that because he’s been in the limelight often enough to be a major and enduring star for the company.
Sylvia is the guy who lost to Ray Mercer in nine seconds.
Sure, he’s a former UFC heavyweight champion. And again, he’s won seven of his last eight fights.
But folks only remember the losses to Mercer, to Emelianenko and to Abe Wagner. They remember Sylvia showing up for fights at 320 pounds, a ballooned and cartooned version of the fighter he used to be. They remember all of the times he whined about the lack of respect he gets from the fans and the media.
They remember all of the times that Dana White went out of his way to make sure the fans knew that Sylvia sucked.
UFC fans have long-lasting and specific memories, which is to say that they remember what they want and ignore the rest of the evidence. And Sylvia is a victim of those memories, but he’s also a victim of his own doing.
Do I think Sylvia deserves another chance at the UFC? Sure. Why not? You’ll never convince me that he hasn’t earned a chance to show up on a preliminary card and face another middling heavyweight.
But I also understand why he’s frozen out of the company he so desperately seeks approval from.
(If you were a guest on that gay Indian party bus and want to share your story, please e-mail [email protected].)
Thanks to everyone who submitted stories for today’s crowd-sourced edition of the CagePotato Roundtable. We’ve selected 12 tales from the pile — ranging from drama to comedy to horror — and we’ll begin with a story that comes to us from an actual pro fighter, involving one of MMA’s greatest out-of-the-cage rivalries…
Sal Woods
A few years ago I fought on the Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields card. While at weigh-ins I was obviously star-struck from being at Al Hrabosky’s with a room full of legends and badasses. The only guy I had the balls to say what’s up to was Nick Diaz. He was completely cool and super polite, he said hi and introduced himself to the entire table (my cornermen, shaking each one’s hand). We were just shooting the shit about how it was my first time on a big card and that I was fighting T-Wood. I was thinking this dude is nothing like the interviews I have watched.
All of a sudden he looks over and sees Joe Riggs and almost flips shit, starts telling his corner guys “there’s that little bitch right there!” Looks over a crowd of people and called Riggs a punk bitch. Then Gil and someone else walked him away/cooled him down. Proved that if Nick doesn’t like you and fights you he may fight you again in the hospital and almost again at completely different fight’s weigh-in!
Noah “Jewjifshoe” Ferreira
You guys all remember Dan Barrera from TUF 6, right? Well I met him during a math class in the Fall of 2011 and it was one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had.
(If you were a guest on that gay Indian party bus and want to share your story, please e-mail [email protected].)
Thanks to everyone who submitted stories for today’s crowd-sourced edition of the CagePotato Roundtable. We’ve selected 12 tales from the pile — ranging from drama to comedy to horror — and we’ll begin with a story that comes to us from an actual pro fighter, involving one of MMA’s greatest out-of-the-cage rivalries…
Sal Woods
A few years ago I fought on the Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields card. While at weigh-ins I was obviously star-struck from being at Al Hrabosky’s with a room full of legends and badasses. The only guy I had the balls to say what’s up to was Nick Diaz. He was completely cool and super polite, he said hi and introduced himself to the entire table (my cornermen, shaking each one’s hand). We were just shooting the shit about how it was my first time on a big card and that I was fighting T-Wood. I was thinking this dude is nothing like the interviews I have watched.
All of a sudden he looks over and sees Joe Riggs and almost flips shit, starts telling his corner guys “there’s that little bitch right there!” Looks over a crowd of people and called Riggs a punk bitch. Then Gil and someone else walked him away/cooled him down. Proved that if Nick doesn’t like you and fights you he may fight you again in the hospital and almost again at completely different fight’s weigh-in!
Noah “Jewjifshoe” Ferreira
You guys all remember Dan Barrera from TUF 6, right? Well I met him during a math class in the Fall of 2011 and it was one of the weirdest experiences I’ve ever had.
There was a guy across the room in my math class who kept talking and interrupting the class, mumbling things about The Ultimate Fighter. I couldn’t help but think that I had seen him somewhere before. The guy got up and said something like, “Sorry to interrupt your class, I’m here for my cousin to get notes, his girl is pregnant. Thanks. Ultimate Fighter, UFC, peace.” Then he left and we thought it was over. But in the same way that an obsessive ex-boyfriend keeps popping up in closets and dressing rooms long after the breakup, Mr. Barrera was not willing to let this end. When we went into the computer lab to continue the class, there he was.
He was speaking with different people, who were mostly trying to ignore his ramblings. I, however, felt like a moth being drawn to his glowing beam of crazy. So I asked him what he was talking about and he pulled up a picture on one of the computers showing Dan Barrera weighing in for a fight. “Oh shit, you’re Dan Barrera. Yeah, you fought Ben Saunders.” To which he replied, ”Yeah and I beat him too, I put this hand through his face.”
Sure, I remember him getting a good shot in on Saunders, but Barrera would have us believe he easily won that fight. That is obviously not true, Saunders beat him…twice. Once during the show and once at the finale. Of course, when a mentally unstable, possibly cracked up pro fighter says something like that, I figured I should just let it slide. I find truth and reason don’t mean much to a deranged person.
Then he handed me a magazine article which featured him dressed as a cowboy, looking like he was ready to participate in a rodeo. As any normal person would do, Barrera asked me to read it aloud to the class. After graciously declining, he decided to read it instead, knowing the wisdom was too great NOT to share.
As he did so, I just had to wonder why this guy was crashing a college math class. Why is he showing pictures of himself on the Internet and reading aloud a magazine article featuring himself? I knew Dan was a little nutty from watching TUF, but squirrel shit has nothing on this guy.
Once the article was finished, it was time to leave us all with something really important to think about. Getting into preach mode, he actually pulled a Bible out of his pocket and said (to the best of my memory):
Do you see this? This is the word, it’s the word of our savior. How manyletters does law have in it? Who knows that? How many letters does law havein it? Don’t be scared. *writes “law” on the white board* It has three lettersin it. How many letters does God have? Don’t be scared, it has threeletters. You see? God made the law and his word is law. Now how many linesdoes an ‘A’ have? It has 3 lines. What’s three times three?…
That’s about all I can remember before the teacher came in and asked him to leave. I hope Mr. Barrera was on some good coke or meth, because honestly, if he’s like that sober he is not of this world.
Anytime I feel as though I’m losing my grips on reality, I just remember this experience and feel as though everything will be ok. Perhaps that was the true wisdom of Mr. Barrera. Thank you sir, you have helped change one person’s life for the better.
Derek C.
My brother and I were in Vancouver for UFC 115. Being from Winnipeg, we checked into our hotel downtown. The lady who checked us in said her husband was in charge of the hotel where all the fighters were staying and tipped us off on its location. (Thanks check-in lady!).
As soon as we got to the hotel we spotted Chuck’s trainer John Hackleman so we knew we were in the right spot. Moments later we ran into the Iceman himself so we were pretty stoked already. Then we saw Jon Fitch standing by himself checking in. And we continued to let him stand by himself because it’s Jon Fitch so who fuckin’ cares?
Walking back outside we recognized a chubby Asian dude but couldn’t quite figure out who it was. That is until it dawned on us, he wasn’t Asian at all but Diego Sanchez. Being a big fan of his we asked if we could get a picture with him. If you look at the picture, it is literally three seconds after Diego whispered in my ear, “Yo, I’m in Canada, land
of the good shit. You got any chronic you can hook me up with?” Being from Canada of course we did.
But it was back at our hotel. He said come back and we’d blaze up in his hotel room before he had to make some club appearance. Getting baked with the Diego sounded rad to us so we made the short trek and back. When we got there though he said he had to get going. But we gave him a joint or two anyways seeing as he was all chubby and still depressed from the beatdown BJ gave him months earlier. Maybe we didn’t get high with the Nightmare, but we were happy to hook him up with the best shit in the world
Fight Chix was started by Elisabeth and I back in 2006. I was doing design work for a company called STATS — we developed a statistical system like Fight Metric (before Fight Metric) and used it with the IFL. So I headed up that project and Elisabeth and I also used the networking as a spring board to launch Fight Chix.
Well it was May 19, 2007, and we were at the hotel bar in Hoffman Estates by the Sears Center. We were enjoying some drinks with Bas Rutten and Tiffany Fallon. Typically hanging out with Bas at a bar is an event unto itself, but this evening the focus was on a former champion who has recently lost his belt to Randy Couture. Elisabeth excused herself to use the ladies room and returned to the table PISSED. On her way back, Tim Sylvia was sitting with his feet up on a chair and blocked Elisabeth’s path back to our group. He was also with a group of fighters from the Miletich camp.
Tim looked up and said “So what is this Fight Chix thing” to which Elisabeth replied “It’s my clothing line. It’s for female fighters and fans of MMA.” Tim kinda laughed and responded with “Well that’s dumb, why would you start a clothing line for women, when its not a woman’s sport?” Several of Tim’s friends kinda laughed and Elisabeth stood her ground. “Really Tim? So there are no mothers, wives, sisters, or girlfriends that support you when you go into the cage? There aren’t fighters like Tara Larosa, Roxanne Modafferi or Julie Kedzie who train and compete just as hard? And if it wasn’t for women, you wouldn’t be here, now would you Tim?! Are we done here?!”
And Elisabeth walked back to our table as the Miletich camp cheered in a “you just got served” kinda way for Elisabeth. The result of this encounter was absolutely no bad blood for Tim Sylvia or anyone in his camp. It really lit a fire that still burns today, to be the best MMA Lifestyle brand out there for female fans and fighters. We know Tim isworking hard to get back in the UFC and we wish him well — and we thank him for his comment that was the gasoline on the fire of success.
Mike Osso
My friend’s wife works at NBC and became friends with Dana from seeing him in the building. He got her free tickets to UFC 128 in Newark since she was pregnant and her husband (my friend) are UFC enthusiasts. We didn’t know where we would be sitting until we got to the arena and picked up our tickets. Turns out they were great — 20 feet away from the cage, second row in the arena. The only better seats were the few rows of folding chairs set up on the floor. Our seats were directly behind who I now know was Tiki Ghosn. I have no direct pics of him from fear of him punching me in the face, but I do have pics from the night and other UFC fighters who came into our seating area because it was so close. The following story is 100% true and can be verified by the three other people with me.
So me, my friend, his wife, and her friend get to the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, and pick up our reserved VIP tickets that Dana White was kind enough to set aside for us. We get there early, as people are starting to fill up the arena. We sit behind this bald man with a weird beard, all alone, who no one pays attention to. We all love the UFC and this was our first event, and were like little children on Christmas spitting out all our UFC knowledge and excitement for the night. The undercard fights are starting, and there she is, Arianny Celeste, holding the ring card 25 feet in front of me. Me and my friend go nuts, as I yell out, “OMG! It’s Arianny, she’s so fucking hot, she’s dated so many UFC fighters, what a slut.”
Then, the bald man with the weird beard turns around, looks at me, and says “You should watch what you say, that’s my girlfriend.” I just get mad that this guy says this to me, so I respond “Oh yea, and who the hell are you?”, not thinking that this is a UFC fighter, since I have been a fan for about five years and have never seen him. Tiki responds “How long have you been a fan of the UFC?” I say, “About five years, why?” He says, “Well then you wouldn’t know me” and turns around.
I am now pissed that he stops talking so I jump on my Blackberry and google “Arianny Celeste’s boyfriend,” and the first choice that comes up on Google is “Arianny dating ufc fighter Troy Burkham” [Ed. note: He means Josh Burkman] so I tap Tiki on the shoulder and say “Hey man, are you Troy Burkham?” This seemed to infuriate him, and he responds “No, I’m Tiki Ghosn.” I laugh, and say, oh ok sorry man then I Googled him and saw that he used to be a UFC fighter. I then proceeded to say, “Hey man, I’m sorry” again and he said “Yeah, yeah, no problem” in a pissed off tone.
Me and my group had an awkward silence for the next couple minutes as we did not want to anger an old UFC fighter, but by the time the next fight came on we were loud and crazy again. Nothing else was said the rest of the night, except every time a fighter that came into the crowd or that I saw would come into view I’d yell out “OMG it’s…….” just to let him know I was a UFC fan, and I did know almost all past and present relevant fighters. The real highlight of the trip was getting my Jon Jones Form shirt autographed by Rashad Evans before they were really beefing, I still have it hanging in my room. Hope you enjoyed my story about how I almost got into a fight with an ex UFC fighter for calling his girlfriend a slut lol.
David Nadeau I got to roll with Shane Carwin while training BJJ in Boulder. I use the term “roll” loosely, of course. He passed my butterfly guard in a heartbeat, crushed me in side position, and laughed a little. I apologized for wasting his time.
[Ed. note: Short, sweet, and to the point. Cool story, bro.]
On the next page: A brutal cockblocking by Bas Rutten, an unexpected staredown with Chuck Liddell, and Viva Hate’s tale of black-on-black crime at the Boston Fan Expo.
