Monthly Archives: August 2007

Rear Naked Ramblings – 08/30/07

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

- UFC 74 payouts

- Read the Nevada State Athletic Commission injury report from the fallout of UFC 74.

- Dana White says that Brock is coming. And no, he doesn’t look like that anymore.

- Alex Marvez talks about UFC 74, including Dana White’s promise to wait until the drug test results come out before giving out bonuses to his fighters.

- Todd Martin also gives his thoughts about UFC 74.

- Matt Hughes is starting his own fight team.

- Last chance for Fedor and the UFC?

- Team Hughes vs. Team Serra

- Michael Bisping talks to Sam Caplan and gives his thoughts about moving down to middleweight.

Talking Points

Well, I was right with one prediction and wrong with another. In the last RNR, I said that I had to bet with my head instead of my heart, and predicted that Gabriel Gonzaga would beat Randy Couture. Boy was I wrong. But at least I said that Georges St. Pierre would win a unanimous decision against Josh Koscheck and he did.

UFC 74 was a really fun show, capped off with a great main event. At this point, any time Randy Couture steps into the octagon, it’s a special moment. The guy is 44 years old and is possibly more dominant right now that at any time in his career. He smothered the much bigger Gonzaga and controlled him like a big brother would control a little one. Though he did break his arm trying to block a high kick, he was never in trouble and dominated from the first bell. It was simply amazing to watch.

My play by play recap of the event won’t be on the site for a couple weeks because we are doing some upgrades to the site. Also, the home page won’t be updated either, which means my calendar will be out of date. However, as soon as I am able to update it, it will be updated. September is going to be a busy month.

If you want to contact me, click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMAHelpWeb.com

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Rear Naked Ramblings – 08/24/07

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Unfortunately, I will not have live play by play of UFC 74 this weekend. I’ll be out of town and not watching it until Sunday evening. I’m going to avoid anyone who looks like a UFC fan on Saturday night and just hope that I’m successful so I don’t find out the outcome between Randy Couture and Gilbert Gonzaga.

News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Jens Pulver is out of next week’s WEC show.

- Tim Sylvia vs. Brandon Vera is now official for UFC 77, underneath the rematch between Rich Franklin and Anderson Silva.

- Sam Caplan asks, “What’s next for Wanderlei Silva?”

- Randy Couture is confident.

- Todd Martin looks at Randy the underdog.

- Mark Kerr is suspended indefinitely.

- Dana White answers questions for Yahoo! Sports.

- Josh Koscheck doesn’t mind being the bad guy.

Talking Points

Randy Couture thinks that his conditioning and big fight experience will bring him victory in his heavyweight title defense against challenger Gabriel Gonzaga. And at this point, how can you question the man? He made his name as an underdog in this sport. When Vitor Belfort was the new, big thing in the UFC early on in the sport, Randy upset him. When Dana White needed someone to put in the ring with Chuck Liddell to determine the light heavyweight championship, Randy Couture was put in the spot. And he won again. And just earlier this year, going back up in weight, he came out of retirement at 43 years old to beat Tim Sylvia in the single most inspirational fight I’ve ever watched. Can you bet against Randy Couture?

Gabriel Gonzaga knocked Mirko Cro Cop out with his own signature head kick. Gabriel Gonzaga is a Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist. So not only does he have a good stand-up game, but his ground game is excellent as well. Randy won’t simply be able to put him on his back and ground and pound him. He’s a more well rounded fighter then Tim Sylvia. My heart says that Randy takes him the distance and wins another decision. My head says that Gonzaga probably beats him within the first three rounds. We’ll see come this Saturday.

As for the other big fight, Josh Koscheck is trying to continue to make a name. After beating Diego Sanchez in an unconvincing fashion, he is going to have to beat maybe the most well rounded fighter in the welterweight division in Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre is coming off a shocking loss to Matt Serra which he has attributed to personal problems. I think Koscheck’s talent and athletic ability takes him far in this fight, but St. Pierre is simply too skilled. Let’s remember that Koscheck is still a young fighter as far as experience is concerned. And with his ability, at his peak, he can probably become one of the best in the game. But I don’t think his time is now. I see St. Pierre controlling the stand-up game and doing a good job neglecting Koscheck’s wrestling and winning a unanimous decision.

If you want to contact me, click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMAHelpWeb.com

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Rear Naked Ramblings – 08/19/07

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Finally, it’s official. Wanderlei Silva is in the UFC.

- Ask Dana White a question via Yahoo! Sports.

- Georges St. Pierre had a tough time dealing with his loss to Matt Serra.

- Fedor Emelianenko needs to go to the UFC to compete.

- UFC 74 conference call notes.

- Kevin Randleman had a tough week.

- More steroid test failures in MMA.

- You shouldn’t fight with high blood pressure.

Talking Points

Spike TV has a Randy Couture block on Thursday evening starting at 10PM. They are going to show Unleashed with his match against Tim Sylvia first, followed by the countdown preview show to Couture vs. Gonzaga, and finally an UFC All Access featuring Randy Couture. These shows are very important to the PPV buy rate for the show this Sunday. The UFC does a great job at hyping their PPVs through these shows and if they are done well (which they usually are), they can probably swing several thousands of fans to pay $40 to watch the show, who weren’t going to watch it already. With Randy Couture as the subject, I don’t think it will be that hard. Couture’s story as a 44 year old legend in the sport, coming back to a weight division he hadn’t fought at in years, is an amazing one. While this show won’t do the same type of business as the Chuck Liddell vs. Rampage Jackson fight, it should still do solid business.

If you want to contact me, click here.

Thanks for reading,

Garrett M. Gonzales
MMAHelpWeb.com

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Rear Naked Ramblings – Brandon Vera Is Back

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Brandon Vera is back with the UFC.

- Kendall Grove talks about his upcoming fight with Patrick Cote.

- Dana White talks about HBO and syndication.

- Randy Couture trains with Wanderlei Silva.

- Todd Martin compares MMA fighters to their sports counterparts.

- Dear Don, I’m a twenty four year old woman …

- Zach Arnold talks about Dana White’s stance on steroids from a fighter’s perspective.

Talking Points

Brandon Vera comes back to a much different UFC Heavyweight division. When Vera beat Frank Mir to put himself in line for a title shot, there was no Randy Couture, Mirko Cro Cop, or Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Unfortunately for Vera, when it came time for him to challenge Tim Sylvia for the title, he only had one fight left on his contract. If he were to beat Sylvia and not resign with the UFC, he could leave as champion, making the UFC look bad. When it didn’t look like he and the UFC were going to be able to work out a contract extension, his title shot went to Randy Couture. And like they say, the rest is history.

Vera improves an already solid division. And he’s a young and exciting fighter who puts on highly energetic fights and has a style that is fun to watch. Though he’s a little on the light side, other than Sylvia, the top heavyweights aren’t behemoths. They are athletic heavyweights without a ton of bulk. So Vera fits right in.

Rear Naked Ramblings – How To Fail A Drug Test And Get Your Suspension Reduced

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Silverbacks vs. Pitbulls on September 20th at the IFL finals.

- Strikeforce heads to the Playboy Mansion.

- Dana White calls Fedor Emelianenko’s handlers “crazy Russians“.

- Diego Sanchez leaves Greg Jackson’s camp.

- Spencer Fisher is out of his match at UFC Fight Night 11 because of a staph infection, but Kenny Florian is in.

- This is what happens when you can’t make weight and you lose to cake.

- Sean Sherk and Phil Baroni were granted extensions at the CSAC meeting on Monday.

- What happens if Sean Sherk’s suspension is held up?

- Zach Arnold can’t believe James Toney’s suspension was reduced.

- Dave Doyle also can’t believe the CSAC reduced James Toney’s suspension.

Talking Points

You have Hermes Franca, who admitted to taking steroids, hoping that his honesty would cause the California State Athletic Commission board to reduce his suspension. Then you have heavyweight boxer James Toney, who denied everything. One was honest. One was in denial. One admitted to taking steroids. One admitted to nothing, even though he tested positive for a horse steroid. Guess who got his suspension reduced? If you guessed Hermes Franca, you are absolutely wrong. Both Arnold and Doyle in the articles I linked above, found the decision to be unbelievable. Since I wasn’t there, I didn’t get to see each man plead his case, but I’ve heard Toney on the radio many times and I wouldn’t necessarily say that he’s an influential speaker. And he’s usually very candid and honest, which is why people like listening him speak. But other than the board simply believing that his horse steroid failure was possibly a false positive, I’m not sure what they were thinking. His record and longevity as a boxer shouldn’t matter in this case at all.

As it is, Sean Sherk’s October hearing is all of a sudden even more interesting.

Rear Naked Ramblings – Paulo Filho’s US Debut

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News and notes from around the MMA world …

- Sam Caplan previews tonight’s IFL postseason semi-final match-ups and has predictions for all the fights.

- Todd Martin writes about the two top matches for Sunday’s WEC show and is excited specifically for the main event.

- Kevin Iole tells how Carlos Condit found the sport.

- More questions with Dana White including his thoughts on Sean Sherk’s steroid test failure.

- Coming to America starring Wanderlei Silva.

- Frank Shamrock looks for the next MMA Superstar.

Talking Points

I’m really excited for Sunday’s WEC event that is going to be shown live on the Versus network. Paulo Filho, who many believe is the top 185 pounder in the world, faces veteran Joe Doerksen. It is Filho’s US debut. Also, Carlos Condit puts his welterweight title on the line against Brock Larson in a match that was scheduled for earlier this year, but didn’t happen because of an injury to Condit. With UFC off until later this month, this gives the WEC a chance to get some eyeballs from thirsty MMA fans.

I wanted to point to one of Dana White’s comments in his interview with Ryan Hockensmith of ESPN The Magazine that I linked above.

White said:

I’ve known Sean Sherk for a long time. He’s a really good man. He trains hard and has worked hard to get where he’s at. You and me probably have six nanograms [of the steroid Nandrolone] in our system; he had 12. Other guys who’ve been busted for the same steroid have had over 50 nanograms in their system. What my experts tell me is, there’s no way that he would only have 12 in his system. I’m not his father. If he did it, he’ll have to face the consequences. People make mistakes. If your life was over every time you make a mistake, that’s pretty f—ing harsh. How many times do I have to tell people not to use steroids? It’s to the point where it’s just stupid.

White was answering a question about his personal feelings on Sean Sherk’s drug test failure. What really stood out to me was White’s explanation about how many nanograms of Nandrolone Sherk had in his system. If I’m not mistaken, White is incorrect that a normal person walks around with six nanograms in their system. I think a normal person walks around with two nanograms in their system. Maybe someone with freak-like genetics would have more. But even if his explanation was correct that a normal person did have six nanograms, didn’t Sherk test for twice as much as what White thought was normal? I’m not an expert in false positive research, but the numbers look a little hard to argue. Sherk will get his chance to argue his test at the California State Athletic Commission hearing on August 6th.

By the way, the person who White was referencing as having over fifty nanograms in his system was none other than Royce Gracie, who tested positive after the K-1 show in Los Angeles this past June.