My first IFL diary is now online at Cage Potato, featuring some behind-the-scenes commentary from Las Vegas. Here’s an excerpt:
Covering the IFL for the past year and a half, here’s one lesson I’ve learned: during any interview with Matt Lindland, he’s going to get mad at me at least once. I can never tell what [...]
Entries from February 2008
February 29, 2008
“Sometimes You Have to Hit People”
February 29, 2008
UFC 82 Head-to-Head Picks
I apologize for the lack of updates, but I’m in Vegas for tonight’s IFL event and haven’t had too much free time. Fortunately, CBS Sports now has our head-to-head picks up, so you can head over there and check out our predictions for the fights. You also might want to scroll down and see the [...]
February 26, 2008
Exclusive Chris Wilson Interview
Yesterday I did an interview with Team Quest’s Chris Wilson, who’s making his UFC debut this weekend against the highly-touted Jon Fitch. I’ve admired Wilson ever since I got to know him when he fought in the IFL, and it should be interesting to see what he can do against a tough guy like Fitch [...]
February 26, 2008
IFL Las Vegas Preview
The IFL hits Vegas on Friday night for the first event in 2008. Those of you with HDNet can see it live at 7:30 PST/10:30 EST. The rest of you will have to either buy a ticket or catch the fights on the internet, though they should be available fairly soon following the [...]
February 25, 2008
Elite XC Pays Uptown Price For A Downtown Fight
This is the conclusion I’ve arrived at: either Tank Abbott and Kimbo Slice both have really excellent representation, or someone over at Elite XC is a little too loose with the purse strings. Why do I say this? Because they paid a reported $301,000 for the forty-three-second brawl at “Street Certified” two weeks [...]
February 20, 2008
The Long Wait For MMA on HBO
This past Friday night I got sucked into watching the replay of the first Kelly Pavlik-Jermaine Taylor boxing match on HBO. It was late, I’d been drinking, and there was fighting on TV. I’d seen it before, but I figured why not watch it again.
It really got me thinking about what an excellent [...]
February 17, 2008
Kimbo KO’s Tank…So Now What?
It should have surprised no one. Kimbo Slice defeated Tank Abbott in under a minute at last night’s Elite XC presentation, “Street Certified”. The bout was just as frenetic and one-sided as we all knew it would be, though somehow people still seem to think this is a significant accomplishment for Kimbo.
It isn’t. Some of [...]
February 15, 2008
Tank Abbott Continues Brave March Toward Certain Death
It’s going to be a shame when Tank Abbott is killed in the cage by a combination of punches and exhaustion on Saturday night. The live TV audience will be mildly shocked, I’m sure. At least, they’ll be shocked for about two minutes, until they go back and look at the pre-fight training [...]
February 14, 2008
WEC: The Tribal Arm Band of MMA Has Another Good Night
As much as I enjoy making fun of the WEC, they have been putting on some entertaining shows in the last few months. The production values aren’t great, and their play-by-play announcer makes Mike Goldberg seem like a seasoned vet, but their fights thrive on action and unpredictability. Last night’s show saw several [...]
February 12, 2008
M-1 Global’s Fedor-themed Reality Show: Worst Idea Ever?
They have a funny way of looking at things over at M-1 Global. By funny, of course, I mean stupid. That’s the only explanation for their latest endeavor, a reality show where sixteen fighters compete for the chance to face Fedor Emelianenko. Oh yeah, they also seem to think that this is a new idea.
[...]
February 12, 2008
Why Are Pro Fighters So Humorless?
Give Jimmy Kimmel some credit. He isn’t good looking. He isn’t terribly smart. Aside from being mildly amusing, he doesn’t have any obvious talent. And yet, here he is, the host of his own late-night talk show, and he doesn’t shy away from the hard questions when Kimbo Slice drops by [...]
February 9, 2008
Fighters in Love
From this week’s Crave Online column:
Hey there fight fans, can we talk frankly here for a minute? Can we just drop the pretenses and lay it all on the line? There’s this thing that’s been going through my mind for a while now. I’ve been holding it in because, well, it’s not exactly about fighting. [...]
February 8, 2008
MMA-America: UFC Announces Plan to Sue Everyone on Earth
If you haven’t yet checked out MMA-America, I suggest you do so immediately. Here’s why:
LAS VEGAS — Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White announced at a press conference on Thursday plans for the fighting organization and its parent company, Zuffa LLC., to “sue every fucking person on the fucking planet,” as part of an [...]
February 7, 2008
Why It Isn’t Easy Being Matt Serra
Imagine you’re Matt “The Terror” Serra. You’re a 5′6″ pro fighter from Long Island. You aren’t particularly good-looking or charismatic. Your nickname only works if someone says it with the same thick accent that you have. The Terra.
You scratch and claw your way through an MMA career, but can’t catch a break until you go [...]
February 6, 2008
UFC Lawyers Have a Busy Year Ahead of Them
Ah, litigation. How can you have a fight promotion without it? Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, certainly can’t. Their legal division has been far more active than their heavyweight one of late, filing suit against former champ Randy Couture and, most recently, Dream Stage Entertainment, the former parent company of Pride FC.
Technically, the [...]
