Friday, January 7, 2011 :
Wow, has it been really 6 months since i've updated this thing? Holy crap. Nobody is paying attention anymore. I should post something quick! Well, never fear fight fans. I have taken a lengthy hiatus (for apparently no reason) and Da Hooded Rat has once again returned to blogging. There are plenty of things to discuss the first week of 2011. Among them :
-Let's start with Brock Lesnar. The last time we've seen this guy in a cage, He was doing his best Denis Savard spin-o-rama impression at the onslaught of one Mr. Cain Velasquez. Since he's stepped away, he's said nothing. He's been hunting deer up north in Canada and made no statement as to what's next for him.
Then, there was a report from Dave Meltzer from Yahoo! Sports a week or so ago that caught my eye : It says Lesnar is packing it in, folks. How apparently at his age, Lesnar doesn't want to risk further injury (which, after we saw his fight with Velasquez, might probably happen), and he wants to do another WrestleMania "badly" and he'd get paid in the avenue of $2 Million to do half an hour's work (which is in my opinion and given his WWE background, easy money). Of course, UFC president Dana White refuted his apparent aspirations (MMA is a sport now, kids. Whereas Wrestling is merely entertainment).
Again, I waited for a response from Lesnar. Still Nothing, but then Lesnar surfaced on Tuesday from those same northern woods...to promote his new book. According to "Showdown" Joe Ferraro from Sportsnet.ca, Lesnar says its a "book about a life story," and his "fight to the top, through WWE and the UFC, despite all the doubters.".
Yet, he shed no light on the future of his MMA career.
Its clearly obvious what he has to do. He's got to face the music and let people know exactly what he's doing. If not we all lie in wait and wonder what he'll do and speculate. He's got to be clear cut on this topic, and not run away from scrutiny like he did from Velasquez's punches. If he does that, I'd have to say MMA fans, from mainstream to casual, will give him respect and a little bit of credit, and not keep us in the dark. Next :
-Fans of the UFC in Toronto. DO NOT be fooled by people on the Internet trying to sell you UFC tickets. Remember that episode of the Simpsons where Homer bought the tickets to the Superbowl for his friends and all he received were Premium Plus crackers? Well, that's what you'll get. According to UFC Canada head Tom Wright, Tickets don't go on sale for the event at the Skydome April 30th for at least a couple more weeks (Maybe early February, I'm not even too sure). So if you think you bought your tickets, you'd actually better check your credit card statement to see where the money is really going. And you better call your credit card company to explain there might be some bogus charges on your card.
-Strikeforce Heavyweight GP announced :
Now, this is big big news. I know this is just the Nostalgic "Pride FC" fan in me talking, but....The man once dubbed "The baddest man on the planet" is returning. According to numerous MMA outlets, "The Last Emperor" Fedor Emelianenko is coming back for a main event Feb. 12th in New Jersey vs Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva. This will be the first round in a Heavyweight Grand Prix Tournament announced by Strikeforce that will feature not only the 2 aforementioned fighters, but also UFC alums Fabricio Werdum (who was the man to give Fedor his only non controversial loss last summer) and Andre Arlovski, but Pride alums Alistar Overeem (the current Strikeforce champ), Josh Barnett and Sergei Kharitonov. An alternate bout between Strikeforce heavyweights Shane Del Rosario and Lavar Johnson was also announced, according to MMAJunkie.
Yes, Fedor is on the downside of his career. Yes, he's looked sloppy since he dropped Tim Sylvia at the first "Affliction" card, entitled "Banned" in 2008. But, honestly on paper, this tournament looks really, really good. I for one would love to see a potential semi-final showdown between Fedor and Kharitonov, due to their shared heritage and team rivalry (Russian Top Team vs. Red Devil Sport Club), but can't see anybody besides Overeem (who just came off a New Year's dismantling of former UFC heavyweight Todd Duffee at Dynamite! in Japan) and perhaps Fedor, winning this tournament. If there is a dark horse, watch out for Kharitonov, who has had back and shoulder problems of recent day to deal with, but in his time in Pride was a dangerous striker (who knocked out Overeem) and could fight on the feet or the ground. However this tournament finishes, it will nevertheless be interesting to watch.
-Speaking of New Year's, the UFC 125 main event between Frankie "The Answer" Edgar, and Gray "The Bully" Maynard, ended in a disappointing draw. The three judges ringside scored the bout 48-46 a piece (one for Edgar, one for Maynard) with the third scoring the bout 47-47. I was clearly not happy with the result.
There is an old analogy that to "be the champ, you've got to beat the champ". The first round saw Maynard drop Edgar on at least 3 occasions, looking to finish the man who stopped BJ Penn off. Yet, try as he might, Edgar didn't give up and didn't slow down. After the first round, it was a much different fight. There is an argument that Maynard won the 3rd with his 2 successful takedowns, but I still gave that round to Edgar based on his reversal and subsequent guillotine choke attempt at the end of the round. I thought Edgar showed tremendous "fighting spirit" by coming back from the 1st round dismantling composed, focused and determined to win. Yet, why was it a draw?
The answer is simple : People haven't given Edgar enough credit where its due. This man defeated the most dominant 155 lb'er of all time, BJ Penn twice (the first fight was iffy, mind you but he still one. The second one was more distinctive) with great textbook boxing, bobbing and weaving, moving his head in and out and effective striking. He did the same thing against Maynard after his falter in the early going. But, he's not BJ Penn. I just don't believe people really want to give a relatively new champion his due because his pedigree isn't as established as a man like Randy Couture or George St. Pierre. A third fight that was announced put the brakes on the WEC's lightweight champ (which was folded into the UFC) Anthony Pettis, fighting Edgar in a unification bout. I believe that Frankie Edgar will come back with a strong showing in the third contest and will decisively defeat Maynard and prove the doubters wrong. All that time, Pettis will lie in wait.
Questions? Comments? Do you really want to beat the crap out of me because I haven't updated this thing in so long? get back to me mmarmaggeddon@gmail.com or hit me up on twitter @MMArmaggedon
Until next time, Fight fans!
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