The 12th season of the Ultimate Fighter kicks off with a Ultimate Fight Night held in Austin, Texas. Since this card is lead in to a later show the prelims start at 5 p.m. so I will forgo my picks for them and will focus on the main card only.

Jim Miller vs. Gleison Tibau – Skill wise Miller takes this easy, on paper he is the better striker and grappler. Unfortunately for him Tibau is a dread-naught of a lightweight who was still considered huge back at welterweight. While Miller has been bullyed by bigger wrestlers before (Maynard) he should be savvy enough to not make the same mistake twice. Either way he can’t look as tiny and helpless as Caol Uno did against Gleison.

Miller via UD

Cole Miller vs. Ross Pearson – Of the 3 lightweight bouts this contest has title implications for one of its fighters. The British striker Ross Pearson has not lost a fight in the UFC since winning his six figure contract on the Ultimate Fighter. Cole Millers is far from a chump and has a very good offensive guard game, yet he still gets into silly striking exchanges that cost him rounds and fights here and there. Expect to see another brilliant stand up display from Pearson and some unexpected wrestling from Cole when the heat gets turned up on him.

Pearson via UD

Efrain Escudero vs. Charles Oliveira – Props to Oliveira for stepping up on short notice, but he is in for a long night. Stunning submission of the night performance aside I see Escudero holding most of the advantageous in this fight. Granted Escudero is coming off his first defeat of his career via submission no less I still see this fight the same as the Duffe/Russow fight. Finishing a scrub on the undercard is all well and good but lets see how Oliveira does against a decent fighter before we start heaping more accolades upon the young Brazilian.

Escudero via TKO

Main Event

Nate Marquardt vs. Rousimar Palhares – The main event of the evening will crown a top contender amongst the middleweights in the UFC. Marquardt is a well rounded vet and Palhares is a muscular bjj player known and feared for his leg based submissions. All things considered this comes down to two factors: Who is the better wreslter & better conditioned athlete?

In Marquardt’s last fight he was soundly outwrestled by Chael Sonnen and Palhares is fresh of a suspension from holding on to his last submission a bit too long. Even from his last performance I will still give Nate the edge in grappling, while he isn’t a bjj ace he is a black belt and is defensively sound enough to stay out of trouble as evident in that he has never been submitted in the UFC. And while Palhares is strong as an ox, his small frame for the weight class (5′8) doesn’t lead one to believe that he can carry all that muscle mass through a 15 min war with one of the best 185′ers. If Rousimar doesn’t end this quick Nate is going to out work and damage him.

Marquardt via TKO

Been a busy week at work and life in general sorry for not posting as much.

With the final major mma event of the month of August was UFC 118 and regardless of the detractors it was one of the better events of the year in my opinion. Granted there wasn’t a knockout on the prelims or main card, the event still had high level fighters and a title match. There was also a freakshow with an over the hill boxer making his mma debut only to get submitted in the first round, more on that NEVER.

The card did have its low points with Kenny Florian, despite his lauded improved wrestling getting completely tooled by the undefeated Gray Maynard. Nate Diaz kept things interesting by volume punching Marcus Davis’s face into a living impressionist sculpture. Demian Maia put on a bjj clinic on Mario Miranda and in the main event the man from Tom’s River, New Jersey erased any doubt that he was the better fighter than previous champ BJ Penn by completely dominating him for 5 rounds.

From pillar to post, Frankie Edgar dissected Penn, putting in a way more convincing mixed martial arts performance. Be it out striking Penn on the feet to taking him down, landing shots and defending against one of the most dangerous and prodigious bjj practitioners in the sport, Edgar left as little doubt as you can without finishing.

And that is where things get tricky in regards to the public perception of Edgars first title defense. It wasn’t enough to beat a future hall of famer like Penn twice, Frankie had to finish him. A feat that requires way more effort, skill and athleticism than it does to merely mention it. We are still talking about BJ Penn here a guy who was so talented he could fight at higher weight classes and lost a decision to a 220 pound Lyoto Machida and has ONLY been finished by welterweight champions Matt Hughes and George St. Pierre. While Penn is obviously far from invincible them man isn’t the type of fighter who gets finished even by high level opponents from higher weight classes. And we are still talking about the same Frankie Edgar that some people still believe is a insanely talented featherweight who just refuses to cut weight.

Hopefully fans of the sport will grow accustomed to the notion that these high level fighters that we like seeing fight, got to where they are by not only winning but defending themselves and being easy fighters to finish.

The UFC is holding its first event in Boston the hometown of many of its fighter and UFC president Dana White. This card will feature a main event that is a championsip rematch between the new champ Frankie Edgar and former lightweight kingpin BJ Penn. This lightweight filled card will also feature a title eliminator fight between perennial lightweight contender Kenny Florian and the undefeated Grey Maynard.

Oh yeah and Randy Couture is fighting a veteran boxer in the twilight of his career in James Toney, now lets get to the picks. Main card and Spike prelims only.

Preliminary card (Spike TV)

Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger – Taking Creepy Joe, he has been put on too many radio shows and podcast for me to pick against him.

Lauzon via TKO

Andre Winner vs. Nik Lentz – Lentz may be a talented fighter but I can’t root for Carnival folk, Andre lives up to his name.

Winner via UD

Main card

Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda – Going with the underdog here, Miranda is a fellow bjj black belt who should be able to stay out of trouble on the ground and pick Maia apart in the stand up exchanges, watch out for leg kicks.

Miranda via UD

Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis – This will be Nicks second time fighting at 170, his welterweight debut had him crushing Rory Markham within the first round. Marcus Davis is a solid vet and scrappy gatekeeper but has a bad habit of getting sucked into brawls/foolish exchanges. I can see Nick using that weird but effective wacky waving inflatable arm flailing tube man style of boxing to confuse and wound Davis en route to victory.

Diaz via 209-oplatta

Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard – This will be a title eliminator between a well rounded veteran and an undefeated up and comer who is the only man to have a win over the current lightweight champ. That being said Florian’s speed and multifaceted arsenal should keep Maynard at bay. If The Bully decides to defer to his wrestling, Kenny’s guard and bjj prowess should turn the table in his favor.

Florian via Submission

Co Main Event

Randy Couture vs. James Toney – Last week on Inside MMA I actually had to search my cable boxes options/settings screen to get the closed captions up so I could understand what Toney was saying in an interview. Before I was able to locate them I stumbled onto the aspect ratio settings and realized with awe and horror that for the 6 months of having AT&T that I have been watching everything in 4:3 standard definition at 480.

I have since changed the settings to full 1080i HD, all thanks to James Toney and his mush mouth.

That being said this is a money fight nothing more or less, don’t be fooled by the ‘Boxing vs. MMA’ tagline.

The UFC, led by former boxer-turned-promoter Dana White, has flourished. “MMA is the king of the [expletive] right now,” Toney said, which is another reason he’s here. He’ll make an estimated $750,000 to $1 million Saturday. In boxing, “I can’t get no fights.”

To envision Toney as some kind of dangerous slugger with a record full of one punch knock outs would be a perversion of reality. The man is defensive wizard who relied on counter punches, accuracy/shot placement and solid combos to defeat (out point) opponents. Even at his natural weight class where he was a force to be reckoned with over a decade ago, he still allow hubris to get the best of him. This is from his first professional loss against an also prime Roy Jones Jr.

Pride comes before the fall.

Randy may not be the fighter he used to be but he is still not the guy you want to make your MMA debut against. Even though I would enjoy the aftermath of a Toney win (for the lulz), I have to go with the obvious pick.

Couture via Submissioon

Sorry for the late recap, been a busy week at work mma awesomeness aside. In my 2 years of actively watching & following this sport I have never experienced a fight as intense as the UFC 117 main event title fight between middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen. For the majority of mma fights you can tell who is the better fighter minutes into the first round. And as the fight progresses you may get to see if the opponent is either a slow starter, completely out of their leage, a victim of a bad style matchup or even injured.

Due to the many offensive options in mma and other factors like fatigue and overconfidence there is always a chance that a capable fighter can snatch victory out of the clutches of defeat (Duffe vs Russow). But rarely in high level mma do you see an elite fighter get put in the worst of positions:

Competing with a nagging injury that turns into a significant one.

Against an opponent whose offensive strength is your biggest defensive weakness.

Your title as champion and barring an unimpressive performance your job itself is on the line.

Anderson Silva faced all of these things, in Chael Sonnen who not only possessed the wrestling pedigree to give him fits, but also attacked with a reckless abandon devoid of the fear and trepidation most of Silvas previous opponents exhibited. For roughly 23 minutes Silva went from nigh invincible pound for pound demigod to a very flawed and human fighter who took a shellacking at the hands of a perceived gimme of a challenger in Sonnen. The previous 6 months of supposed delusional fight hype actually looked like legitimate threats, Cheal was clobbering the previously hard to hit champ, many times with a variety of strikes, from the devastating

to the desperate,

Mongolian Thunder Chops ftw

In the end it was all for naught with minutes left in the fight quite possibly the greatest comeback win in mma miraculously revealed itself in all its rapturous beauty.

The sub that sealed the greatest comeback in MMA.

Shattering loss aside, Sonnen is in the rare company of fighters who come off as winners even in defeat. He has also given the middleweight division the greatest gift of all: hope. Chael made the demi-god champion in Silva look like another mortal. In regards to a rematch I am going to have to say no to it, even though it would do gangbuster ppv sales. Chael has to win another fight and show some improved finishing skills, as he learned the hard way 5 rounds with Anderson Silva is too much time for him to find a way to finish.

The way I see it, if Anderson not only wins but finishes Sonnen again how does that look on his record years from now. I can already see future generations looking at his record and complaining about how he fought unworthy and flawed opponents and one guy back to back. Now if Sonnen manages to win the rematch, that would put them 1-1, does Silva get a rubber match? With the champ out until March 2011 it should be enough time for Chael to get another fight in. Preferably the winner of Okami vs Belfort a fight that needs to happen, you hear me Joe Silva.

The rest of the card was pretty entertaining, even the Fitch vs Alves rematch was entertaining near the end when it seemed Fitch was close to choking out the Brazilian. Alves survived to the bell losing to Fitch again, at least this time it was a UD instead of getting tko’d. Other highlights included Matt Hughes busting out a wrestling submissin (front headlock, Dave Schultz choke) Clay Guida improving his striking to the point were he is breaking jaws, but still using his scrappy top position grappling forcing his opponent to tap via injury. Heavyweight contenders Junior Dos Santos and Roy Nelson had an entertaining but one sided fight which got Junior his first decision win in the UFC and Nelson his first loss. Proving that a solid striking defense can preserve your conscience against the JDS express, if you don’t mind taking a beating in the process.

This was a card to remember and has set a high water mark for mma events in August and some would say the year. Only greedy fans like myself will hope that it will be outdone.

Thanks to my super hectic and disorganized life I will be posting this as the undercard is underway so I will refrain for making picks for one of the most stacked prelim cards the UFC has put on this year. Now onto the main card picks tonight’s event in Oakland, California.

RAFAEL DOS ANJOS VS. CLAY GUIDA – Taking The Carpenter against my better judgment, Dos Anjos is a slick BJJ player but I’m a sucker for Guidas super aggressive style even if he doesn’t have the actual firepower to back up his pace. Hopefully he was worked on his sub defense and checking leg kicks.

Guida- via Unanimous Decision

JUNIOR DOS SANTOS VS. ROY NELSON – Nelson has the grappling advantage but when I ran across this.

I realized that Nelson may have decent boxing but can be out struck by a faster boxer. JDS is a way faster boxer. Dos Santos is going to make the Arlovski KO look G rated.

Dos Santos – via Ultra Mega Combo

RICARDO ALMEIDA VS. MATT HUGHES – Hughes is a legend and a gamer but he will turn old overnight. Depending on how dominant the finish is welterweights may stop calling out Hughes to make a name for themselves.

Almeida - via sub

Mr. Ferttita is not happy with Alves

THIAGO ALVES VS. JON FITCH – The fight that the Combat Gods did not want to happen is finally upon us. The long awaited rematch between perennial top 5 welterweights Jon Fitch and Thiago Alves is going down tonight despite weigh in shenanigans on Alves’s part. This is a tough one to call since Thiago has been out of action for over a year and Fitch hasn’t shown any signs of improvement since their first fight in which Jon finished Alves with a 2nd round tko.

If anything Fitch has gotten more cautious over time (his last finish was in 2007) and still has to rely mainly on his stifling top game and wrestling to get the W. Alves on the other hand has improved his takedown defense and to complement his slashing stand up game. That being said, I can’t pick a guy whose been out of action for this long competing at the highest levels and unable to make weight.

Fitch – via UD

Middleweight Championship

CHAMP ANDERSON SILVA VS. CHAEL SONNEN – Remarkable fight hype and trash talk aside, Silva should take this. Sonnens media antics have so little to do with how this fight plays out in the cage, but leading up to everything to most people it totally does. With that talking point taken care of this is the brass tacks of the match up.

Sonnen undoubted has the wrestling to manhandle Silva, but thats as far as his bag of tricks will go (well maybe that and conditioning/cardio but you get the idea). With his rudimentary at best stand up and lackluster submission defense, Sonnen will be lucky to make it to the 4th frame. Silva has too many offensive and defensive options along with the ability to finish in both the stand up and off his back.

Silva – via The Dance of Destruction

And here are their stats, I can’t help but wonder how many of these lightweights are actually feather or bantamweights who couldn’t pass up the opportunity to get some prime time reality show exposure. The show begins on September 15, on Spike.

J.J. Ambrose
Fighting out of: Santa Clara, Calif.
Gym: American Kickboxing Academy
Record: 12-2
Age: 23

Paul Barrow
Fighting out of: Tampa, Fla.
Gym: Gracie Tampa
Record: 2-0
Age: 24

Jason Brenton
Fighting out of: Grand Junction, Colo.
Gym: Eighth Street Impact Boxing
Record: 6-0
Age: 23

Jonathan Brookins
Fighting out of: Orlando, Fla.
Gym: Gracie Barra Orlando
Record: 11-2
Age: 24

Mike Budnik
Fighting out of: Broken Arrow, Okla.
Gym: Triton
Record: 8-4
Age: 35

Alex Caceres
Fighting out of: Miami, Fla.
Gym: Young Tigers Foundation
Record: 4-2
Age: 21

Sako Chivitchian
Fighting out of: Glendale, Calif.
Gym: Gokor/Gene Le Bell/Hayastan MMA
Record: 5-0
Age: 26

Joseph Duffy
Fighting out of: Donegal, Ireland
Gym: Falcon Martial Arts
Record: 7-0
Age: 22

Pablo Garza
Fighting out of: Fargo, N.D.
Gym: Academy of Combat Arts
Record: 7-0
Age: 26

Toby Grear
Fighting out of: Los Angeles
Gym: True Warrior
Record: 7-4-1
Age: 30

Dan Head
Fighting out of: Sharpsville, Ind.
Gym: Indiana Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy
Record: 6-2
Age: 23

Michael Johnson
Fighting out of: Springfield, Mo.
Gym: Springfield Fight Club
Record: 8-4
Age: 24

Amir Khillah
Fighting out of: Kalamazoo, Mich.
Gym: Jeremy Horn’s Elite
Record: 6-4
Age: 30

Jeff Lentz
Fighting out of: Lanoka Harbor, N.J.
Gym: Kurt Pellegrino MMA Academy
Record: 6-1
Age: 21

Sevak Magakian
Fighting out of: Glendale, Calif.
Gym: Hayastan MMA/Main Event
Record: 8-3
Age: 24

Steve Magdaleno
Fighting out of: Torrance, Calif.
Gym: VMAT MMA Gym
Record: 5-1
Age: 28

Andy Main
Fighting out of: Boonton, N.J.
Gym: AMA Fight Club
Record: 4-1
Age: 21

Cody McKenzie
Fighting out of: Metaline, Wash.
Gym: Fancy Pants Fight Team
Record: 10-0
Age: 22

T.J. O’Brien
Fighting out of: Prole, Iowa
Gym: Round Kick MMA
Record: 13-3
Age: 23

Spencer Paige
Fighting out of: Watertown, N.Y.
Gym: Central New York MMA
Record: 5-2
Age: 24

Nam Phan
Fighting out of: Garden Grove, Calif.
Gym: Ma Du Academy
Record: 15-7
Age: 27

Mike Richman
Fighting out of: Rosemount, Minn.
Gym: Minnesota Fight Factory
Record: 8-0
Age: 24

Dane Sayers
Fighting out of: Fargo, N.D.
Gym: Academy of Combat Arts
Record: 7-1
Age: 22

Ariel Sexton
Fighting out of: San Jose, Calif.
Gym: Renzo Gracie Academy
Record: 6-3
Age: 28

Marc Stevens
Fighting out of: Lorraine, N.Y.
Gym: Team Balance/Relson Gracie Academy
Record: 12-5
Age: 24

Kyle Watson
Fighting out of: St. Louis
Gym: The Hit Squad
Record: 13-6-1
Age: 30

Ran Weathers
Fighting out of: Albquerque, N.M.
Gym: Greg Jackson’s MMA Academy
Record: 13-5
Age: 28

Aaron Wilkinson
Fighting out of: Manchester, England
Gym: Wolfslair MMA Academy
Record: 6-3
Age: 23

Sorry for the no show for the past couple of days, had to reattach pieces of my keyboard back together after my son tore a bunch off. Enough about me and my bellyaching how about some mma content.

This sunday will mark the UFC’s second appearance on the Versus network. The card will also feature the same headliner, light heavyweight phenom Jon ‘Bone’ Jones facing the UFC veteran and former IFC light heavyweight champion Vladimir Matyushenko. Tonights event takes place at the San Diego Sports Arena in California, the picks will be main card only.

vs.

Jon Jones vs. Vladimir Matyushenko – It’s hard not to pick against Bones, the man destroys his opponents even when he loses. Going up against him is a solid journeyman in The Janitor, other than his wrestling stifling Jones en route to a decision I see this fight ending in brutal fashion. Barring Matyushenko revealing a weakness or flaw in Jones’s game or a repeat of Jon’s performance against Hammil earlier this year, expect a stunning finish.

Bones – Via Hellbow TKO

Mark Munoz vs. Yushin Okami – This is a really intriguing fight with possible title implications for the winner. Both fighters are primarily bullying wrestlers, Okami has showcased a new found striking acumen in his last fight earning him a tko victory, in stark contrast to his usual unanimous decision winning ways. Munoz on the other hand is usually gets out struck in the stand up department and is more dependent on his wrestling to get his opponents to the ground where he unleashes his most dangerous offensive tool: his murderous ground and pound.

Even though I think Munoz is a pretty cool person, this is looking like a really rough fight for him. If Okami is able to stuff his takedowns and pick him apart with his upgraded pugilism, he may get his long awaited title shot.

Okami – via TKO

Google Images and comic book nerds with photoshop skills FTW

Jake ‘The Juggernaut’ Ellenberger vs. John ‘Doomsday’ Howard
This fight should take an awards bonus if it plays out as expected. Other than a slight edge in the wrestling department going to Ellenberger, these two brawlers will put on a display of destructive reckless abandon that should please everyone. As a fan of both fighters it will suck to see one of them get clobbered but hey, that’s the fight game. Jakes edge gives him options so I will go with The Juggenaut.

Ellenberger – via KO

Takanori Gomi vs. Tyson Griffin In a battle for lightweight relevancy expect to see Gomi throw everything but the kitchen sink at Griffin. But still getting stifled and stymied and losing a decision. Barring an inexplicable return to Pride era form, Tyson takes this easy. On a side note both fighters would be better off and more competitive at featherweight.

Griffin – via Unanimous Decision

Looks like there is some unfinished business between two of the main culprits from the Strikeforce: Nashville Brawl. The opening salvo came from Miller when he was interviewed by veteran combat sports commentator Michael ‘The Voice’ Schiavello.

Which prompted a response by Mr. 209 himself, UFC, Pride and Dream veteran and current Strikeforce welterweight champion Nick Diaz. Props to Middle Easy for the footage.

Middle Easy: Nick Diaz responds to Jason Miller.

From the Gif. wizards at the UG

Not one to let the other guy have the last word, Miller tweeted a succinct rebuttal to Diaz’s offer to fight but only at the 170 pound limit as opposed to the 185 lb middleweight max that Mayhem currently resides.

Regardless of what weight this fight is contested at (a 180 catch weight sounds fine to me) it needs to happen. Scott Cocker should be paying attention and giving his fighters props for hyping a match with out an advertising budget.

Been slacking hardcore recently, so I will just cluster bomb some of the more notable news in mma.

From MMA Junkie

Jon "Bones" Jones

Jon Jones: Heavyweight is an option.

Just four fights into his UFC run, many mixed martial arts fans are already calling for a light heavyweight title shot.

But as Jones prepares for a showdown with veteran grinder Vladimir Matyushenko (24-4 MMA, 5-2 UFC) at August’s UFC on Versus 2 event, the soon-to-be-23-year-old told the crew of ESPN’s “MMA Live” that he’s not necessarily just focused on a 205-pound title. “Bones” might eventually go up to heavyweight, too.

“This training camp has been really tough for me, actually,” Jones said on the most recent episode of “MMA Live.” “I got up to about 231 (pounds) for the first time, and I’ll be 23 on Monday. I feel as if I’m growing into a more adult body.

“Who knows what the future holds for me. I’m always training hard, and I’m going to start to focus more on weightlifting in my off-time. You heavyweights gotta watch out because you never know what’s going to happen.”

This may come as a shock to some but anybody who saw how young and huge Jones was when he made it into the UFC (6′4 & 21 years old) it wasn’t that much of a stretch to think he would outgrow the weight class he started in. If he continues to grow in skill and experience as well as size a move to heavyweight would be seen as a smart one for one of the most promising prospects to enter the sport in years.

From MMA Fighting,

A World Cup sans South America, for shame FEG 2.0

FEG Announces Partnership with PUJI Captital, Declares War With UFC

DREAM and K-1 promoter FEG announced Friday that it is entering a partnership with Shanghai-based investment bank PUJI Capital that could be worth 20 billion yen ($230 million).

K-1 President Sadaharu Tanikawa stressed that FEG had not been sold and in fact it will now be setting its sights much higher.

“This is a declaration of war against the WWE and UFC. From Asia, we will take the world,” Tanikawa stated.

Tanikawa admitted that expansion to American soil would be futile at this stage and under the watchful eye of K-1 creator Kazuyoshi Ishii, they will set their sights on the rest of the world.

“Mr. Ishii is completely supporting us. We won’t stand a chance in the American market so we will spread to the rest of the world.”

….

A call for a drastic change in Japanese MMA has been needed since the collapse of PRIDE, even Tanikawa admitted himself.

“When K-1 and PRIDE were competing against each other, 80% of the martial arts market was in Japan. It is now the opposite and Japan is only 20%. We were worried that Japan would be left behind if we let this continue, it is unacceptable. We needed to change our business model.”

“We’ve let Dana White get a lead on us. Before (Shinya) Aoki beats (Gilbert) Melendez, we must win as promoters.”

With last weeks Dream event we saw Shinya Aoki defend his belt and unofficial title as the best Japanese fighter currently competing in MMA. This victory could also been seen as a defeat or moot point considering how utterly ineffectual Aoki was in his fight against Strikeforce Lightweight Champ Gilbert Melendez. Dream also seemed to be in a transitional period from its revamped lighter weight clsasses to this weeks announcement, Fight Entertainment Group (FEG) may be making a case for long awaited fanboy fantasy of a vibrant high level mixed martial arts scene reminiscent of the PRIDE glory days.

Alternate Business Model Graphic. From Middleeasy.com

Wishful thinking aside this partnership will have to produce results first before this is taken seriously. Even if the declaration of war against two major organizations (WWE and UFC) was just a figure of speech. The sentiment of wanting to compete at the highest levels promotion wise is very palpable. Until this partnership produces compelling cards it will be seen as another sad story of investors looking to make a quick buck off of the illusory cash cow of mixed martial arts. Both White and McMahon giving a crap about this is unlikely but it wouldn’t be out of the realm of possibility if they did take this news into consideration.

At the end of the day when combat sports and sports entertainment organizations compete: The fans win.

From Bloody Elbow

Jake Shields is Officially signed to the UFC Unofficially…huh!?!?

It’s official. According to Graciefighter.com, the UFC has signed the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Jake Shields (25-4-1) to a contract. They also announced that the #3 ranked middleweight will drop back down to join the UFC welterweight shark tank:

Jake Shields will be debuting at the 170lbs weight division in the UFC. After careful consideration and consulting with UFC representatives it was determined Jake would be finally going back to his original fighting weight.

Jake’s opponent is one of the UFC’s top contenders and will be announced shortly.

Seeing as how there was the Aldo vs Faber photo op with Dana White led to Shields contract not being renegotiated and his belt being put up for an fantabulous 8 man middleweight tournamet that got derailed thanks to The Lone Star State not allowing combat sport tournaments. From MMA Fighting

Strikeforce officials would not comment on the proposed tournament last week, telling MMA Fighting only, “We aren’t doing a tournament there.”

But TDLR administrator Greg Alvarez confirmed to MMA Fighting on Saturday that Strikeforce wanted a one-night, bracket-style tournament for the Houston show, which will air live on Showtime. But Alvarez said that request was denied.

“They asked if it was possible and I told them that when Tough Man was outlawed, the state also did away with tournaments back in 2001,” Alvarez said.

Sec. 2052.254 of Texas’ Combative Sports Occupations Code specifically deals with tournaments. The code states: “An elimination tournament may not be conducted in this state.”

Which led to the subsequent title fight between Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza and Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight belt and Shields heading to the UFC.

And lastly, how about some Bobby Lashley news, eh?

From Bloody Elbow.

Bobby Lashley’s opponent at the upcoming Strikeforce show in Houston will be IFL and Rage in the Cage veteran Chad Griggs.

Not much to say here other than “Lashley better not pull out of this fight or risk the mma community completely writing him off”.

That should be enough binge blogging for the day. And now to enjoy a weekend without fights, if that is possible.

A refreshing and candid conversation between Ariel Helwani and Joe Rogan about his views on mixed martial arts and commentating. Say what you will about Rogans bias or errors he makes, but I wouldn’t trade him for some soulless automaton with no visible palpable love for the sport.

Rogan gets in the zone right before he gets called up to do some stand up, here is part 2 when he is finished and they pick up where they left off. If you enjoyed this you should probably check out Rogans weekly podcast and for Candadas gift to mma journalism Ariel Helwani head over to MMA Fighting for his articles and podcast.