artmonkforHOF

Anyone notice Dana is wearing a shirt promoting an old fight where one guy tested positive afterwards? Stupid quirk, but Hunt still walks away with a draw, Silva gets a NC. Other fighters who lose get their loss changed to a NC, why not change the draw to an NC as well? All this talk of how awesome 178 will be means only one thing: injuries will derail the card. Seriously though, good to see the PPV's being stacked again, in my mind, 8 solid fights with top name fighters should be the norm from now on. If a PPV bout falls apart, there are 3 to bump up from the Prelims.

They ain't getting anywhere near 500k buys on any PPV anymore, those days are gone. The million was Brock Lesnar, the best GSP & Silva did in their prime was 700-800k, and that dropped to 500-600k by the end if their career. 400 would be amazing, probably 250-375k. That card was weak before Struve pulled out, if it had Wandy vs, ...anyone really, maybe 400-500 The PPV business is not booming anymore, the pulled Jones Gus 2 out of Toronto to Vegas, saying the first one didn't sell out( had Barao Weidland, but next fight was Mitrione Schaub for christ's sake), & "postponed" a PPV event in Montreal for later this year to next spring. They Haven't posted the new date yet. I wonder if the UFC actually knows what postponed means? Anyways, Canadian fans are pissed, went from 5 cards this year (3PPV , 2 FN) to 3(1PPV, 2FN) and only have 1 fight night card left, Halifax.

Yeah, that's why I qualified Penn as best American, there probably is a few Japanese that are ahead of him too. I noted Penn's reach earlier, was going to make a joke how I'm 5'8", but have a 5'6" (66") & probably the only fighter I would have a reach advantage on would be Nick Newell. Now, Nick would kick my ass, but I looked up his stats and I **** you not this is what it reads: Nick Newell 5'10", reach: 74" (6'2") WTF? I know that's projected, but isn't that insulting to Nick & amputee's in general? I know they do it for comparisons sake, but how about not listing it and listing length of arm from fingertip/fist to armpit, or at least noting it's projected. So Nick kicks my ass AND has a reach advantage on me.

Helps to look at Penn's record by weightclass and championship fights. Featherweight 0-1 (Edgar 3) Lightweight 11-3-1, 5-3-1 in championship fights (all UFC, except 1 RoR vs. Gomi) And now for the weights most fans don't think he should have fought at: Welterweight 3-5-1, 1-2 in championship fights Middleweight 2-0, both over Gracie's Openweight 0-1. He fought at 191, his opponent at 225....who happened to be Lyoto Machida. Add title eliminators, he has 2 wins at lightweight, a loss and a draw at welterweight. Not bad for a guy 5'9" tall with a WHOPPING 5'10" wingspan. The 1-5-1 at the end really hurts him, but so does fighting above his weightclass for most of his career. Heck, had there been more fights available at 145 in 2001 when he started- that might have been the best weight for him to compete at, but he started at the lowest available at the time, 155 & still was small for that division. If the UFC had 145 back then, I think we would be talking about Aldo chasing down Penn's title defense record like we do about Jones chasing (beating) Tito & Weidman chasing Silva. Best American Lower weight fighter of all time IMO

Your not alone, with around 45 cards thus year, say 12 fights per card, that's over 1100 fighters a year, if they fight twice per year on average that's 550 fighters. Across what will be 10 divisions, that's 55 fighters per division. No wonder they expanded the rankings to top 15. Missed Rousey, trying to find a clip, heck a gif should do it. Had no idea Struve was cancelled, so I got to my boys place, he didn't notice the fight was missing & Machida Weidman got pushed up. I said we got plenty of time, won't start until 12:15 at the earliest & sat outside smoking & drinking on a nice night. Get back at 12:12, middle of the 3rd round. Machida looked good in the 4th, but I guess that was it. Good on Weidman, let's see him smoke Vitor next, them someone his own age.

With leverage like that, Nick Diaz might get his $1million-or was it $500k?- to fight Silva. Even if he doesnt fight the Spider, I hope he gets that big payday, he could easily get as many -if not more-PPV buys as one of the champs Don't be scared homie (Dana), pay Nick his money!

I second that. Charles must have looked at a Fertitta daughter the wrong way or something, he's fought one killer after another, can't believe he only cracked the top 15 with that win.Looks like the UFC learned their lesson with the way they are protecting McGregor And now Chael has been fired from Fox. How long before we see Chael hosting "Night of Fights with the American Gangster" in Tijuana or Belieze?

But what a fight for grappling fans. Check out Jack Slack's quick recap on Fightland, I'm sure BJJ Scout will put something together on it soon. If all grappling exchanges where that exciting, no one would complain when a fight goes to the ground.

Raptors went off the board & took "the KD of Brazil", but can anyone seriously doubt Raptors GM Massai Ujiri right now? Even if this is a bust, I think he's allowed to have one after trading Carmelo & making Denver better, duping the Knicks into taking Bargnani and trading Rudy Gay then making the playoffs. Glad to see Wiggins, Bennett & Thompson in Cleveland together, just a short boat ride across Lake Erie in 3 years for the Raptors steal back all the Canadian talent. Thank you Vince Carter. Suck a diseased penis Bill Simmons & crawl back behind a bar where you belong. I'll have a white Russian.

In other news, Jacare Mousasi 2 as the co for 176 with Aldo, that should be a wicked fight. In WTF news, Faber on the Fox Sports1 prelims for 175 fourth of July weekend?????? Fox must have Dana by the balls. When I first heard that, I though no biggie, Uriah Hall on the prelims, but when I found out is was Faber in the prelims-& Hall on the PPV- I was shocked.

I'm done saying one fighter wins for sure anymore, but I don't consider it a knock on GSP for picking Silva as a favorite in that fight. Silva is bigger & it's just a bad style match for him with the size & reach advantage Silva has, not to mention that Silva strives fighting at distance. I would rather pay $60 to watch a PPV of those 2 sparring than some PPV they have been offering lately. Crap, I should keep that off the web, if Dana gets wind of it he'll make Silva & GSP do live webcam shows on fightpass, with a $50 password fee, $35 for FightClub members.

You got a point there, he usually "borrows" a famous pro wrestling taunts in his in ring interview after a win & in some other interviews as well. Bloody Elbow has a good piece on the spin Chael & Dana used to get in front of this the best they can & how horrible they look once someone discovers the real facts.

That's awesome on a lot of levels, not the least of which Vitor gets screwed if he isn't already with the NSAC & the failed tests. $100 says Vitor (or his wife) goes to Machida's gym & tries to Nancy Kerrigan Lyoto when he finally realizes he doesn't have a fight. 100% agree. Retire & become a regional hero in New Mexico, can't be that bad of a life.

So Chael has breast cancer & is trying to have a baby? He went on Jay Mohr's show & said he was prescribed both after coming off TRT, & notes they are not steroids or PED's, but doesn't note why they are banned. My guess is they can be used as masking agents. I bet Dana is really hating that Lorenzo caved to GSP's testing demands, this will not be the only big name that fails a test before a fight if NSAC is serious about out of competition testing. Well there is always TV Chael, & that sure as heck beats getting punched in the face for a living.

Well if we are going with revisionist history here, Diego would be 1-8 in his last 9, counting Pearson, Gomi & Kampmann as loses. His lone win would them be at UFC 121, vs Paulo Thiago back in 2010. Dude is just outmatched in today's UFC, but won't be cut, he has fans, Dana thinks he sells & judges count his flurries that miss but get good crowd reactions in his favor. Its like the perfect storm to extend a UFC career.

Same thing happened in diego's fight bs Kampmann, Marten picked him apart so bad he broke his right hand hitting bone he exposed earlier, couldn't use it during the 2nd half of round2 or all of 3. What's worse is you could say he list worse to Kampann but got a unanimous decision thanks to his flurries that landed maybe 10% of the punches thrown, but never on the itinial target. I like how the higlights just show Diego's flurries, complete with misses, he barely landed a clean shot. His chin might be iron, but his head is soup from taking shots. Some like Sanchez for his "heart", "iron chin" or his "grit", but I cringe when thinking about Diego even 5 years from now & what all those head shots will do to him.

Just realized it is in Toronto again (Jones is from upstate NY). I think this one I'll go to, just get a cheap seat & watch the screens. I'll go as a Jones hater. Anyone know how to say/spell "you're going to die!" in Swedish? I want that to become a tradition in every non English speaking country at weigh-ins & in the actual fight, at the very least it will make the Brazilians look a little less crazy.

& with those last 2 events, I found out the hard way the UFC's Canadian broadcast partner-Sportsnet- stopped broadcasting the Fight Pass fights for free in live tv. Well, on a premium sports cable channel not in the basic packages. Thanks for the warning pricks. Now word is Vitor's test results will be made public if he applies for a license in Nevada. Now why put Vitor in to replace Wandy under the suspicion he was dirty, when apparently Vitor failed that earlier test? Did Dana believe Belfort when he said he passed, or it won't be an issue? Seems odd to do that, I think the fight gets canned unless they can find Chael a replacement. Please dear God don't let Machida get hurt. Save Chael for Anderson's comeback. In other news, reason # 4,765,864 to not like Jon Jones- http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2014/6/3/5777034/ufc-jon-jones-deleted-instagram-video-addressing-fans-alexander-gustafsson-daniel-cormier Here's the quote, in it's entirety: Asking for an undefeated Olympic wrestler, strikeforce champion makes me somehow a coward? How about the fact that I beat Gustaffson already? Whether you guys like how close it was or not. It's my career. Not yours. End Quote. Supports my theory Jones only wants challenges he thinks he can handle, & avoids the real hard stuff. I picture in my head, Jones as a kid beating up on the smaller Chandler all the time, but never fighting the bigger Arthur without a sneak attack or Chandlers help. Strikes me as a guy more afraid of losing that struggling for a win, he wants the easy path is what in saying. With thar being said, if this is a negotiation tactic with the UFC- I think it's a convinient byproduct- I appluad Jones for using the leverage he has as champ and now the biggest star. Think about it, he turned down Chael, & pushed the Glover fight after the UFC announced the date & Dana corrected, then said another date that didn't happen. Clearly he us not afraid of Dana saying he's upset with him to the media. Jones is not going to bend in this, in the end, I think he gets exactly what he wants, even if that is just a bigger payday for Gus 2.

That might sound like a patriotic marketers wet dream, but all USA champs-especially new ones would actually be horrible for the UFC scheduling wise. Why you ask? Probably because the US has no universal health care system. Name the last US fighter to win a belt & NOT immediately get surgery-usually for something lingering, not even an injury from the most recent fight. Jones, Rousey & Mighty Mouse are the ones that come to mind & they all won their belts a while ago. Cain, Weidman, Hendricks, Pettis all went on the shelf after their wins. You can have all US champions, but get ready to have a Roy Nelson Matt Mitrone main event at UFC 185, and a string of bad PPV cards while the new champs are recovering from surgery. For the sake of the schedule, they need at least 3 champs to be from countries that have some form of social medicine. the UFC wants Irishman McGregor so that's one, maybe a Canadian as one and a Swede as the other if Brazil can't hold on to one? Just a thought.

I think the 8 fights he has remaining on his 10 fight deal he signed with Dana a while ago means Anderson will only be fighting for Zuffa for the rest of his career, if there even is one.

I don't think anyone ever has picked Machida to lose ever. That distance he fights at changes the fight entirely, I don't think Weidman will get frustrated & run into a KO like Bader did, this one will be interesting to see how it plays out with patient Weidman. I can't pick against Machida though. If I hadn't already been to Vegas last 4th of July & know just how insanely hot it is in Vegas, I would think of flying out to see that card. Best PPV of the year IMO. I'm thinking of driving to AC for FN 45-Miller Cowboy Cerrone. tickets are cheap & the card is decent for a fight night card. Why the heck is Barboza still fighting on undercards? The guy has main event written all over him.

Davis is Canadian not American, I think the UFC lists her as fighting out if whatever US gym she fights out if (Jackson?) but just listen to her, she's a hoser, maybe wait to hear here say "a-boot". while she's a longshot, last fight card should have shown everyone that seemingly unbeatable champions can fall with a decent gameplan. Take a fighters A game away & see what else they got, Davis or any other title challenger would be silly not to use a similar strategy going forward, forget trying to fight "your" fight, don't let your oppenenr fight theirs. Like it or not, an IMPRESSIVE win for Rory puts him in contention. He would destroy Hendricks after fighting a decent strikingsouthpaw in Lawler. He's fighting Woodley, Lawler won't get an rematch, Condit is out & Brown needs 1 more fight. Who else fights for the title other than the winner of Woodley Rory?

You might want to slow your roll; there are 3 title fights before Aldo Mendes 2, and it is Aldo, there still is a 40% chance he gets injured & the fight gets pushed. I think 1 of the 3 Americans will loose their belt by the time Aldo steps in the ring (Johnson, Rousey, Weidman). I'm not picking which one, I'm just guessing 1 will, would be nice to see Canada steal one back while GSP is on sabbatical though.

No intention to make the blood reference to you directly, trying to point out that elbows cut more often than not. Yeah, believe me I'm conflicted on it, but noticed how I didn't say anyone who has ever thrown an elbow should be banned or labeled as dirty? I don't really have a problem with standing elbows a la Weidman on Munoz or the Silva crazy KO, it's the ground ones where a fighter also throws his weight on it & cuts that I don't really like, and sone standing elbows in the clinch I saw from brown just looked more than vicious. What made it worse was Erick was taking them, sine like the "heart@ he showed, I worry about the long term damage he takes while "wobbly". As for Jones, f him. He throws that spinning elbow with the intent to hit the back of his opponents head half the time, you can tell by where he starts the follow through. Jones is dirty-eye pokes,& push kicks to the front of the knee cone to mind & one of the many reasons I don't really like the guy. I also suggested no elbows to the head since it was the old rule in Pride & why reinvent the wheel? Heck, the UFC still has a bunch of Pride fighters on their roster, so it's not like this would be some strange new rule. I have never heard anyone complain that Pride sucked because of no elbows to the head or it was ok, but would be better with elbows. Yes, you do get a crazy KO from an elbow every once in a while, but is that very rare feat worth the short & long term health if the fighters? Im starting to question it.

Notice what Browns medical suspension is for? Right Elbow. Weidman needed surgery twice on the elbow, one time to remove chips that he posted photos online of. Erick Silva got cut with a nasty GNP elbow from the mount & the fight ended shortly after, thankfully for him, what if the ref was not in the ball & he took 3 more? Coma? The point is elbow strikes to the head, especially on the ground do a ton of damage to both fighters & that is really what I want to get rid of. After watching how much damage Brown did in a small amount if time with those elbows I just figured it would be easier to ban all elbows to the head than just elbow strikes to the head to a grounded opponent. Elbow can hit just as hard as a punch, but is a harder & sharper surface which leads to the big cuts. Also, since there is more bone, a fighter can do a lot of damage to their elbow before feeling much pain. What's the point of having the fighters get cut open with elbows, risking long term injury to both fighters? If you need to see blood, just wait for a Diego Sanchez fight & his patented defense of blocking punches with his face, there will be blood in no time.