“Are you really going to make me do this?” asked the dark haired beauty that I will someday call “The Misses.”
“Yes dear,” I reassured, “I know last week was pretty bloody and it made you cringe, but that’s usually not the case. Plus you wanted to see what would happen when someone fought Kimbo, right?”
“Yeah, he’s scary,” was all she muttered as she took her place next to me on the couch.
Listening to Mike Goldberg talk about Burns with Kearns fitness, your not sure whether he's talking about an intensely BA workout, or your crazy 1970's P.E. coach. But the fact is, Goldie knows of what he speaks, and Burn with Kearns delivers on every single level.
The DVD's are filmed in Kevin's home with Kevin himself wearing awesomely short shorts. This is all part of the "in the know" feeling you get with BWK. The DVD's have such a personal look and feel, it's almost as if the guy's in your basement taking you through the grind. Kevin is a master trainer and strength and cardio coach to guys like, Kenny Florian, Stephan Bonnar and Marcus Davis to name a few. Working with the animals of Sityodtong, this is cutting edge stuff that will put even the hardest core on their butt.
But this is my favorite part. I had a question about something on the DVD, I shot Coach Kevin an email AND THE GUY CALLED ME BACK WITHIN 5 MINUTES! it was nuts and something I had not experienced before. Kevin answered my question, chatted and made himself completely avalible. Amazing. But the whole system is amazing. Combining balance and strength with cardio and agility is both sic and crazy. But the DVDs are also fun and never boring. Burn with Kearns is the goods, do yourself a favor with this one. (Burn With Kearns.net $79.00 for the entire DVD collection)
The lights dimmed, my breathing grew shallow… the anticipation was almost too much for me. After months of waiting, writing about it, arguing about possible outcomes, and soaking up whatever I could find about the most anticipated season of TUF yet, it was finally here! Fortunately, I didn’t sympathy yak all over my couch in honor of Abe Wagner’s nervous pre-fight stomach. What I did do was sit my woman down next to me (yes, even my nerdy ass eventually got a girl!) and began to tell her how TUF 1 launched the modern age of the UFC and how this new season of TUF was going to bring a whole new legion of fans to the sport… Starting with her.
10:00pm rolled around and Spike was still finishing up an Ultimate Fight Night that featured some of the best fights in recent memory. It was going to be a tough act to follow, but held much promise with a cast with ex-NFLers, an IFL Heavyweight Champ, a crazy guy who says he beat Mir twice, and the erstwhile street fighting legend, Kimbo Slice. As the show opened we got treated to what is sure to be the first of many smack talking sessions between coaches, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and “Sugar” Rashad Evans. My lady, to my right had to ask me to translate Jackson’s slangese a couple times but she was, so far, entertained. Then came the grand entrance of this year’s lineup. In the words of the aforementioned coach, “… each one bigger than the next.” This was one impressive group of dudes and, again, my lady was entertained… dare I say, impressed. Finally, Dana stepped in and asked the fighters if they noticed that there were only 15 of them. The big announcement everyone already knew about, but was news for the men in the training center at the time this was taped, was dropped. In walked Kimbo and the reality TV drama of everyone else wanting to kick his ass was kindled. Score three for TUF holding my gal’s interest and zero for people who think this sport is only for beer swilling knuckleheads.
The rest of the hour leading up to our first match was fairly uneventful as TUF shows go. The greatest point of interest being Rampage’s fawning over Kimbo and his apparent notion that simply picking the largest guys from the line-up would ensure his team many victories. My moans and groans upon seeing Kimbo go to team Rampage had to be explained to the lady who hasn’t been privy to the golden grilled one’s history.
“He needs to develop a solid ground game and some good takedown defense, hun,” I patently explained.
“I dunno,” she came back, hesitantly. “He looks pretty scary. Can’t he just knock a guy out when he tries to tackle him?”
“Ahh, my sweet. You have so much to learn…”
And truly, I was disappointed to see Kimbo go to team Rampage. I like Quinton well enough, but I don’t believe there will be a comparison between his training camp and one headed up by a Greg Jackson protégé. Kimbo, despite appearing to want to eat flesh in the ring, seems like a pretty decent guy in his interviews and I would love to see him get the training he needs to become a top tier fighter. Alas, he appeared to want to be with Rampage as much as the howling ex-champ wanted him, though. Perhaps we’ll be treated to some of the funniest street slang laden convos in TUF history. For now though, the pre-fight antics where at a minimum and Quinton’s attempt to chose the camera man instead of the last unpicked fighter had the new girl fan losing interest and exclaiming, “That’s not nice!” TUF 3 – Preconceived Notions 1.
Finally it was time for the fight. Rampage called out the six foot tall wrestler, Jon Madsen to face his much larger engineer-who-would-be-fighter, Abe Wagner. Upon seeing the pair face off, my better half declared, “That guy is way bigger! Rashad’s guy is gonna get his butt kicked!”
“Not necessarily,” I replied, perhaps a bit too smugly. “For one, ‘the big guy’ was going on about how he has a good job and MMA isn’t his life. I bet he quits easily because he has an out in his mind. For two, he’s got no wrestling skills. This is exactly what I was saying about Kimbo. Just watch.”
To her credit, she did watch. Even through the bloodiest fight in TUF memory. Joe took the larger man down at will and opened a cut early in the first with an elbow to the head. Very little technique, beyond a double leg takedown, was to be had in either round of this match and even I was pretty well bored by it. At least, on his way to the decision win, Joe helped make my point about how Kimbo will need well rounded skills. Finally, I promised my lady that all the fights were not like this and got a little boost in her interest when TUF ran a short video preview of antics to come for the rest of the season. The blood had taken its toll on her psyche, however. After week one, the score stands at TUF 3 – Preconceived Notions 2.
Thus ends the opening week of my little social experiment, introducing TUF (and the UFC) to an estrogen made, newbie fan. There is much to be seen yet. Hopefully a fighter or two will emerge as a personality a new fan can latch onto and perhaps some quality reality show antics will entertain along the way. A little dose of some fights approaching the entertainment value of the card preceding this episode would be nice too. With all of the talk about this sport eventually becoming the biggest in the world, it has a long climb to reach that status. The last time I checked, the New York Yankees alone earned more revenue than the entire UFC. Just the same, I hold my hopes high and I do my part, bringing in one fan at a time…
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Mark "The Ezequiel" Figula is the biggest wuss to ever enter a cage... the most spindly chickenass dude to ever tap out at NAGA... the boy who was told that the pen is mightier than the sword... and thus he writes. Check out his home page of scribblings at www.markfigula.com
This hottie makes his way on to THE HOT LIST with nothing more than his gorgeous smile. This, however, is not to say that lightweight Tyson Griffin is anything short of talented. Strength, talent, physique, and natural good looks all play into Griffins HOT status.
With a smile that would make any girl’s heart melt, dark thick hair, deep dark piercing eyes, abs of steel, as well as a pretty damn fine gluteus maximums, Tyson certainly has the looks needed to be considered a Hottie; NO questions about that!
What really makes a fighter hot though is if they have talent. This 5’ 6”, 155 lb, powerhouse of a fighter has a professional MMA record of 13-2 (6-2 within the UFC) proving his talent as a fighter. This wresting based fighter has demonstrated both strength and versatility. Within the UFC, Griffin has won both via TKO as well as submission, and has done so within the first rounds of the fights. What makes Tyson so great is that he has proven many times over he can go all three rounds, control the fight, and take the decision as well.
Coming off his most recent win over Rafael Dos Anjos, Griffin is set to fight Hermes Franca on the UFC 103 card. I personally can’t wait to see Tyson in his tight booty shorts again! There is something about a talented fighter that is just attractive. A talented fighter in tight shorts though, oh boy…. That’s just plain sexy!
At only 25 years old, this young fighter is just now starting what promises to be a very successful career in MMA. Meaning we will see Tyson and his wonderful shorts for some time to come. YAY!!!!
So let's talk THE HOT LIST. What is it, who makes the cut AND is there an order? First things first. What is it? When my brother decided to start this site, I told him that the acknowledgment of hot guys in MMA was completely non-existent on the standard MMA news site. And since I'm the older sister, he has to do what I say and give me, and all the other women who love MMA a voice...or at least pictures of the hottest guys in Mixed Martial Arts. Hence, THE HOT LIST.
As for who makes the cut, well that's easy. If he's hot, he'll make the list.
Last but not least, the order the hotties come up in is random. So don't be offended GSP because Patrick came up first. January will we put the guys in order. Then it will get even hotter. If YOU want your voice to be heard, write. 300 words or so of who YOU think should make THE HOT LIST. So here we go.
PATRICK "The Predator" COTE
In the sea of hot MMA fighters, Patrick Cote is a killer whale. I wont say he's a shark, because he's much to sweet. But he is a killer. A sweet killer like the Shamu at Sea World, who jumps up and tongues a tourist from Ohio then later that week, snaps his trainers leg off. Sweet but very dangerous.
I love grapplers but there is something oh so sexy about strikers. A guy that is willing to stand up and bang, well, need I say more. With a thunderous punches and an iron chin, "The Predator" has earned his nickname. Taking Anderson Silva into deep water? That's hot right there. Oh and his accent is adorable. Those Canadians can just talk and talk. It never stops being sexy.
So let's talk Patrick's stats. 13-5-0, 5 feet 11, and 185 lbs. That's nice, I mean really nice. His birthday is February 29th in case you want to send him a present and he's still a youngin at 29 years old. Thick dark hair, great trustworthy eyebrows and abs that you can break boulders on, Patrick "The Predator" Cote is definitely hot and is easily skates onto THE HOT LIST.
This weekends UFC 102 has been approached by many in the MMA world as, and I quote “This was not a strong card by any stretch of the imagination as far as immediate relevance for title pictures was concerned and was lacking in star power.” (MMA Torch). I could not disagree more with this statement and thought that this was once again another powerhouse night of fights. Granted not every bout had the makings of the next contender for a title shot. However, let us first discuss the absolute battle between two hall of fame fighters in Randy “The Natural” Couture and Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira. These two let it all hang out and in the end “Big Nog” returned to his old form and put himself in contention once again for a heavyweight title shot in the very near future.
Let's not overlook the middleweight match up between Nate “The Great” Marquardt and Demian Maia. Does this have future relevance towards a title fight? Absolutely!!! Coming into this bout both fighters knew the winner would probably be next in line for a shot against Anderson “The Spider” Silva. Nate Marquardt proved that he is ready by knocking out a great opponent in Maia in 0:21 seconds of the first round.
The “Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine may not be up for a title shot in the near future but he is always a perennial contender and an exciting fighter. His opponent Thiago Silva has one loss since entering the octagon. That one loss came at the hands (and legs) of the current Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. So once again he must be mentioned as a top contender in the stacked Light Heavyweight Division.
Most importantly the future of the sport, the guys on the undercard. Everytime one of these young fighters is given the opportunity to fight for the UFC, this may be their shot at someday becoming a UFC champion. So these fighters fight their respective hearts out the second they are in that cage.
Please remember, just because YOUR favorite fighter isn't on the card, someone's favorite fighter is! And just because you have never heard of a fighter, does not mean their relevance should be questioned. It just means they are young and need a break. And as far as star power, there are few stars in the MMA universe that shine as bright as Randy Couture and Minotauro Nogueira. Have respect.
When looking at this card from the perspective of both a fight fan and as a matchmaker, this was definitely a win-win for fight fans everywhere. So stop hating. Once again, well done UFC!
Keep the Faith.
When asked if the fight this weekend at the Rose Garden in Portland, Oregon has relevance to the UFC or to MMA one must embark on a journey of history going back to the first UFC in November of 1993 rightfully named “The Beginning”. That was only a very short 16 years ago, however many successes have happened since then and these two fighters have a large amount to do with that success. First we must ask ourselves what the true meaning of relevance means. The dictionary defines it as a: having significant and demonstrable bearing on the matter at hand b: affording evidence tending to prove or disprove the matter at issue or under discussion. So do these two prolific fighters fit inside this definition? The answer would have to be a resounding YES!!
Both of these fighters have dominated the sport since there first time entering the cage. Both from very different pasts, yet they have been on a virtual collision course with one another since the very beginning. Randy “The Natural” Couture has been involved in 15 title fights since entering the UFC while Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira held the title of heavyweight champion in Pride for nearly 2 years. The list of who they have beaten is MMA’s list of Hall of Fame inductees for the next 10 years! Many people thought Randy “The Natural” Couture had no relevance when he fought The Huntington Beach Bady Boy Tito Ortiz for the first time or when he took the heavyweight title away from Tim Sylvia. And for the first time in his outstanding career Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira actually gets knocked out in his latest fight and is immediately washed up because he got caught by a solid punch from former Heavyweight Champion in Frank Mir?
MMA fans are bigger then that we don’t need the attitude of “what have you done for me lately” we are not talking about Manny Ramirez holding out for millions and then being a bust, or Brett Favre retiring every other day. We are talking about two individuals that could very well be fighting for the title or defending it this weekend. After this fight the winner will once again be considered one of the top contenders for another heavyweight title bout. If you must ask yourself if these two fighters are relevant to the sport or to the UFC maybe you should ask yourself if you are relevant as a fan!
Keep the Faith.
For those of you who were around last week, you may be aware that I have undertaken a little social experiment, seeing if this highly touted season of TUF would be compelling enough to attract even the most girly of new fans. The result after a somewhat lackluster first week was that we had a girl, squeamish on all the blood, whose attention was hanging on the golden toothed thread of seeing what “this Kimbo guy” was all about.
Enter week two and what I hoped would be a show more reflective of some of the excitement seen in seasons past. Jessica’s wish to find out more about Kimbo was answered right away as the show began with a copious helping of Kimbo waxing philosophical regarding the target on his forehead. Still not convinced that size isn’t the most key factor, Jessica kept asking what the big deal about him was in a house surrounded by men quite a bit larger than he. Again, I assured her it was about technique and skill and not physical prowess.
Speaking of which… How about that Monday Night Football watching, beer guzzling, jiggle-while-jogging, 30 extra pounds of an affair with pasta that “Big Country” sported while running around the mats in the next segment? If it were not for having been so impressed with his previous performances and ability to not gas out, I might have joined my lady in the guffawfest as Nelson got berated by his coaches for being “un-coachable.” Roy has been bucking the system and taking his roundish physique into the ring for 13 wins out of 17 tries since April 2004. He might, arguably, be the top pick to win this season of TUF. The problem seemingly is that Roy has been doing it his own way for so long that he’s having a hard time listening when anyone one else tells him what to do. The “sit down” with him made for an interesting look into his personality and ego and got him the, “What a tool!” remark from my right.
The drama with Slice and Nelson over, we moved into more reality show fun in the form of a quibbling Rampage and Rashad. Once again, the verbose Jackson chose a fight that seemingly pitted his goliath versus one of Rashad’s Davids. This time the match-up’s behemoth was espousing his utter dedication to the sport instead of his great computer job back home. The ex-NFLer, Wes Shivers stated he would be entering the cage at 280 (on a 6’ 7” frame) to face off against the Londoner, James McSweeney who just about came up to Shivers’ chin. As the show went into both training camps, it became clear that Rashad has absorbed plenty from his mentor, Greg Jackson. His training sessions looked crisp and his cool-down, talk sessions, where he brings the team together mentally, seemed to really have positive effect. Once such session was interrupted by a ticked off Rampage who was insiting that Team Rashad vacate the gym due to being there over their allotted time (by five minutes, no less!). Some verbal sparring ensued and, once again, from my right I heard the declarations of, “What a tool!” I didn’t get to ask which verbal jouster she was referring too, however, because it appeared my message was finally sinking in…
“You know, that NFL guy is huge, but I don’t know if he’s going to be able to beat Rashad’s guy. His whole team looks more prepared.”
Ahhh, now she was getting it! But was she enjoying it? Would the UFC have a new fan? Perhaps we’d be treated to an epic brawl with these two and she’d be sucked in by the excitement of it all. Then again, maybe not.
Our fight for the night, while certainly better than one from the previous week, was not exactly an instant classic. Shivers came out executing a game plan to keep range on the much shorter Brit. He succeeded to a degree while McSweeney danced in and out, trying to score points. At times, though, McSweeney’s dancing out involved turning his back and nearly running. When the fight did make it to the ground, Shivers didn’t know how to put his considerable size to use, controlling the position, and he even blew an easy Americana attempt when he forgot all about controlling his opponent’s hips before working the submission. The whole first round had me screaming out instructions, as if I could help either of these guys. The positive side of that was that the ever curious subject of our experiment asked me to explain what I was talking about and, thus, she got an education in what she was seeing. We took one step closer to the realization that this wasn’t some dumb basher street fight, but that there was a world of technique involved.
Enter round two and lesson two: Much like in real estate where it’s about location, location, location; in MMA it is often about cardio, cardio, cardio. Following a brief scrum on the ground, both fighters spent the last half of the second frame gasping for air and trying like hell to muster the energy to pounce while both their respective coaches urged them on frantically. So much for the proclamations of dying before quitting. My wise guru advice to the lady upon witnessing this? “Fatigue makes cowards of the bravest men.”
And so it ended in a majority decision. McSweeney apparently doing less sucking wind than Shivers and pulling out the win. Our girl was more impressed than last week but still not buying into the “big hoopla” about the sport. I did, however, do my part to get her stoked for next week, explaining how the match-up between Kimbo and Big Country is something many people would have got a pay per view ticket to see. Much is on the line for both these men and their need to prove something. We can all hope that the end result will be a fight that shows why we all love this sport so. For now, the hype of it all has future Mrs. Me intrigued…
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Mark "The Ezequiel" Figula is the biggest wuss to ever enter a cage... the most spindly chickenass dude to ever tap out at NAGA... the boy who was told that the pen is mightier than the sword... and thus he writes. Check out his home page of scribblings at www.markfigula.com