Ramblings on UFC 84, Kimbo Slice, Tito Ortiz and more
Ramblings will be a semi-regular feature. Short quips, quick links, news tidbits, shameless self-promotion for an interview coming Thursday: it's all here. There's just a lot to get to this week with UFC 84 fallout and the biggest event in MMA history this Saturday.
UFC 84: The biggest thing I took away from UFC 84 was Wanderlei Silva holding Keith Jardine down by the throat and destroying him with right hands. That was eerily reminiscent of a fighter I used to follow who, incidentally, also went by the name Wanderlei Silva ... hmmm. I’d love to see him take down UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson again. That will take some time, though.
Wanderlei Silva: The Silva fight was the biggest thing to take away from Saturday's event because we all already knew B.J. Penn was a better fighter than Sean Sherk and that Machida was “elusive” enough to decision Ortiz.
Tito vs. the UFC: The weirdest thing to come from UFC 84 was the brouhaha in the news conference. Tito shows up, claims he is banned. UFC PR-types kick him out. Jenna Jameson makes him stay. Ortiz is allowed to talk for a few minutes before the news conference. That is immediately stopped. Media gets angry. Four uniformed cops come into the room. Ortiz is then allowed to stay for the news conference. I’ll have more on this next week, but definitely a weird situation. Even without being there myself, I have to say it’s completely ridiculous to involve the police officers like this. Maybe there’s more to it.
UFC 87: More news on UFC 87. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will be defending his title against Jon Fitch in the main event now, which should be a decent fight. Brock Lesnar will be facing Heath Herring, which is a much more compelling matchup than Mark Coleman.
EliteXC: EliteXC’s moment of truth comes this Saturday. If people don’t tune in, it could pretty much mean the end of the company. The entire MMA-world has a lot riding on this event as it will be the first exposure to MMA for a lot of casual sports fans. Kimbo Slice is getting a push in the mainstream media similar to Chuck Liddell’s before he lost to Rampage at UFC 71. The main difference is Kimbo’s wave of popularity will continue and he'll win because he’s fighting a member of the Washington Generals (well, actually James Thompson), whereas Liddell fought one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in mixed martial arts. More on this later in the week. In the meantime, an interesting article from Sherdog on whether or not Slice is ready for the spotlight.
Gus Johnson: Speaking of EliteXC’s big event Saturday, we will have an exclusive interview with CBS broadcaster Gus Johnson coming later this week. Some interesting stuff here, including what his dad said to him when he found out he was calling the event and his preparations for broadcasting the action.
Kimbo's opponent: Hey, that guy Kimbo Slice is fighting actually has opinions and stuff. I just hope he can get his glass jaw fixed in time for the fight.
The WEC: The WEC has a huge fight on Sunday night on Versus at 9 p.m., as Urijah Faber takes on Jens Pulver. That will be a tremendous fight. There’s nothing more that needs to be said on the event, so here’s a tremendous feature on Jens Pulver from CBS Sports' Gregg Doyel.
Comments
KIMBO IS GOD,THANK YOU VERY MUCH DORK
Posted by: MMA MAN | May 28, 2008 9:25 PM
Great take "MMA MAN." How fortuitous that your parents would name you MMA MAN and you would grow up to be an MMA fan?
I think we will have to agree to disagree, because I don't worship at the altar of Kimbo. That being said, he might as well be a God because there's no way he loses Saturday.
Of course, if it turns out after all that Kimbo Slice died for our sins, then I suppose I'll be the one that looks foolish.
Posted by: Mark Chalifoux | May 28, 2008 10:30 PM
Kimbo Slice is making a mockery of mixed martial arts as a sport, he a backyard brawler...period. He lacks any kind of skill needed to win a fight against an actual MMA fighter that has any kind of skillset...put him in the cage with someone who knows what they're doing and he will be destroyed...it's that simple. I think this entire Elite stunt will set our sport back two years...great job.
Posted by: Rich | May 29, 2008 11:00 AM
I don't know about that "KIMBO IS GOD" comment! But I have to admit, for a backyard brawler, the boy is good. I think he can hold his own against a skilled MMA fighter, not saying he would win but putting up a good fight. However, I think he would destroy Tyson. I wouldn't put money on it but would love to see it.
Posted by: B | May 29, 2008 1:23 PM
Kimbo isn't quite a "God", but he is skilled. Someone who has good standup defence and a desent ground game would most likely give Kimbo a real hard beating, but that being said, this imaginary person NEEDS a good standup defence or he will get knocked out. Look at Kimbos stance, head down shoulders and hands up! Shoot low or eat a fist!! We won't beable to tell the extent of Kimbos' true skills until he's tested on his back.
Posted by: Blacktom | May 29, 2008 2:35 PM
Com'on people. Elite XC just has to put Kimbo up against an established heavywieght. So what if he loses. At least then they would not be fleecing the public with B.S. fights. When Randy Couture is out of the UFC that fight would settle it all.
Posted by: theanvil | June 2, 2008 11:39 PM
I am going to say something that I am very hesitant to say, but people that I know and also train with that are in the mma industry are discussing, and that is that these fights look to be possibly fixed. When Thompson had ground control had Kimbo's arm and was going for the Kimura, and then released it for no reason!! Really? Why, he wasn't in trouble of being swept. If this is the case(being fixed) this is way worse than feeding Kimbo deadbeat fighters, and continuing his rise of being some great mma fighter. Say what you will about Dana White and lack of pay for some fighters, but no one, but no one gets a free meal ticket in the UFC, not Chuck Liddell, not anyone, and pay will come with time. Kimbo seems like a nice guy, but his ground skills are very sad. And Thompson gave the weakest elbows, and rabbit/hammer fist punches I have ever seen in a fight, this man is the size of a sherman tank and did nothing to advance his position on the ground or have dominating ground and pound. One last thing, who comes to a fight with his ear filled with fluid and not drained, who?!!! Very sad fight.
Posted by: BlackSunshine | June 4, 2008 11:57 AM