styx491

I watched clips of that, he can be pretty unintentionally funny and then he just rolls with it. He was definitely nervous too earlier.

Also:

I completely missed the card last night, can anyone tell me what the need to watch fights were?

Chad Dukes is a dick, and doing it to GSP of all people... if a host of a show has to interview someone, it's reasonable to assume that some research should be done on the person you are interviewing. Obviously, Dukes didn't really give a poop in the first place.

Also, this is interesting. Props to Dana.

Dana White: If there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out

If you're gay and you fight in the UFC, Dana White doesn't care.

In fact, the promotion president was kind of hoping you would come out of the closet. Just don't expect to be Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira's grappling partner if you do.

That's because "Minotauro" told UOL Esporte he won't train with gay fighters, because he doesn't want to get felt up by another man if they decide to take advantage of the situation.

Big Nog's sentiment came under fire from the Las Vegas chapter of the Culinary Union, who accused Zuffa of being an anti-gay organization.

White told reporters during yesterday's UFC 137 press conference (via USA Today) that not only is his fight promoton not anti-gay, but that he wants any gay fighters under his employ to make their presence known.

"The thing that Nogueira said down in Brazil, you know? And I'll tell you right now, if there was a gay fighter in UFC, I wish he would come out. I could care less if there's a gay fighter in the UFC. There probably is and there's probably more than one. I mean, it's 2012. Give me a break. But you're going to have guys like Nogueira who come from Brazil, who's got that macho, Latino -- doesn't want to roll with a gay guy. People are going to say stuff like this. But that's the best answer I can give you is, give me a (freaking) break and be honest. Come on. We're all human beings. We all make mistakes sometimes. It doesn't mean that the UFC is bad and we're unfit for children and all this other stuff. Tell you what: Out of the 375 guys, we've got a few lunatics; some guys that are nutty; and then we've got 300 and something that are incredible, awesome human beings who are inspirational to kids and adults and whoever else is a human being."

This is the UFC in 2012. And like White said, they have guys that are lunatics, nutty and awesome. And he's probably got some that are gay, too.

But is coming out of the closet really the best idea, considering the demographic mixed martial arts appeals to? And peer acceptance could be difficult, Nogueira's comments aside, because of the cliques that exist in training camps, the front office and beyond.

Anyone favor a don't ask, don't tell policy? Or is this one stone better left unturned?

Can of worms, you are officially opened.

UFC 136 Judo Chop: Uppercuts in Frankie Edgar vs. Gray Maynard 3

At UFC 136, we saw Frankie Edgar wrap up his trilogy with Gray Maynard with an emphatic exclamation point, knocking the undefeated Maynard out in the 4th round in order to gain a degree of closure and retain his UFC Lightweight title. But it wasn't an easy night for Edgar, who very nearly saw his title slip away during a Maynard onslaught in the opening round. Both men were able to land serious blows on their opponents, using combinations of punches to great effect. And for both men, the punch that really started it all was the same.

The uppercut.

Along with the hook, cross, and jab, the uppercut is one of the punches that forms the foundation of a fighter's boxing skills. At UFC 136, Edgar and Maynard both utilized this punch with great success, but they did so in different ways. In this Judo Chop, we'll break down the mechanics of the uppercut and see what these two Lightweights did in common, and where their techniques differed.

Before getting to the fight, let's look at the basics of an uppercut. Here's the description, courtesy of Fight Night: The Thinking Fan's Guide to Mixed Martial Arts:

The uppercut is a close-range boxing-based punch that travels in an oblique (vertically upward) trajectory. It can be delivered with either hand with the primary targets being the chin and solar plexus. The uppercut is a potent punch to use when applying the dirty boxing clinch or in conjunction with hooks... The rear uppercut to the head is the most prevalently used version of the punch in MMA.

There is a lot to like about the uppercut. It can be a devastating punch, with great knockout potential, as Junior dos Santos proved in his UFC debut against Fabricio Werdum. There are a few reasons for this. First, the momentum of the fist coming up with the weight of the body behind it gives a lot of power behind the blow. Second, defenses are more geared towards blocking punches down the middle or from the side. By coming up from below, the uppercut can break through those defenses. Third, if it doesn't get the KO, the uppercut can set up a devastating hook, as an uppercut forces the victim to lift his chin and potentially expose his head.

Let's see how these techniques are delivered by Edgar and Maynard in their UFC 136 title clash.

Full breakdown with gifs in the complete article.

I hope this week the overall stream quality is better than last week, but beggars can't be choosers

^ that's a great one so far!

watchthegame is shut down too

Nice this is the fight I really wanted to see Jones take. They both have such unorthodox styles that it should be interesting, although Bones does have a significant size/reach advantage on Shogun.

I'm hoping that the winner of Shogun/Hendo takes on the winner of this one.

I love this matchup too, although I don't wanna see Machida/Shogun again. If Machida wins, I expect a rematch with Jones. If Jones wins, then I completely agree that the winner of Shogun/Hendo gets the shot (unless Rashad heals up and the timing works out). Otherwise, Jones/Machida 2 and winner of Shogun/Hendo vs Rashad as the next eliminator.

Hey guys, I remembered one of the ones I was given previously. Try firstrowsports.net, then follow links.

I second this. I don't know how to find sopcast links but usually someone awesome posts one in here; I usually end up watching those. The streams on mmashare are good too but they're really unreliable.

Tony Ferguson is really good.

This is an impatient Denver crowd, it's immediately making me think about the differences from the ridiculous Rio crowd.

Brock's also one ass whooping away from retirement imo. Maybe two ass whoopings. I don't think he's gonna be a factor in HW anymore with the way the weight class has evolved to quicker, younger, and more technical fighters.

As I was typing that I realized that the "evolution" is basically JDS and Cain (maybe Schaub too). Reem is obviously a huge contender still but he hasn't really done anything in a major MMA promotion in a while (Brett Rogers is a typical one dimensional fighter).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXGlbpFyb4M

I had a dream last night that Rampage comes out ridiculously sharp and in shape, and fight's off Jon Jones' aggression then knocks him out hard and like a boss. I've never had an MMA dream before honestly I think it's going to be the other way around.

The blog was awesome, I love the behind the scenes stuff and the fighters, the things that we don't see ever. I love how the woman at the end asks if they've been paid before they leave. Great insights behind the scenes. I love watching the press conferences and the weigh ins from inside their angle as well as the actual broadcast. It adds such a great dimension to the whole experience.

Jon Jones comes across as really passive and directed; he's still young. Maybe he just looks really passive standing next to Rampage. The height advantage and the reach advantage are really noticeable when they are standing next to each other.

Works for me, thanks!

Amazing knockout.

---------- Post added September-10th-2011 at 11:28 PM ----------

Hahaha jacked up his hand on the first right that knocked Silva down, but "oh well, still got the knockout"

This situation to me is Nick being Nick and screwing up the press conference, then actually talking to Dana and the UFC guys and maybe apologizing. This sounds like a demotion on good faith that he will change his ways. Obviously winner of Penn/Diaz gets GSP.

So he just didn't go to the press conference because he didn't want to... even though everyone else goes, regardless of who they are.

JDS and Cain are also extremely easy to relate to for the a lot of people. Cain is young, Mexican (getting that Latino demographic really well), and he is the force that stopped Brock Lesnar and made him seem like a 4th grader in high school. JDS has that "nice guy" image that GSP has too, except not as exposed as GSP. He is also young since comparatively, 26 is still young in MMA. I'm bringing up their ages because these guys will be in the UFC for a while, so why not start the FOX deal with guys who the viewers will be following for the next decade. This is better than starting with established guys who may or may not be in the UFC in the next couple years.

Plus, as everyone has said, both guys like to actually fight and throw down rather than fight to win (like GSP). Zuffa will be hyping this fight up showing Cain stopping Brock and the KOTN he had on Big Nog (which after Nog's win last weekend is pretty huge), and for JDS showing his KO of Gonzaga, the striking clinic he gave Roy Nelson, and the destruction of Carwin. IMO the easiest way to get someone into MMA is to show excellent striking and "badass" status.

They're definitely going back, they want to do an event in one of Brazil's 100k arenas to break UFC attendance records.

I say we have an "ES Anything MMA thread" trip to Brazil. I'll chip in 5 dollars!

I thought the Barboza fight was super close, but the edge would go to Barboza for home field advantage.

UFC NEEDS to go back to Brazil. American crowds only know how to cheer, boo, and shout USA USA. The Brazil crowds are dynamic and super energized. I loved it when after the fights Florian would interview the fighters and they would start in English but then their emotions would take over and they would switch to Portuguese and the energy would just shift. I didn't even care what they were saying, it was more just how they were saying it.

That event was a huge success, great fights.

That was perfect striking. Anderson wanted to beat the **** out of him.

The crowd made that fight feel a lot more awesome than it would have, even thought it was a great fight for Paulo.