The Happy Hour Episode 32: Slightly retarded
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
Things have been getting a bit crazy around here, so here’s a crazy show for you … possibly the oddest episode since the Lost episode. We attack a whole bunch of random topics such as Marius Zaromskis signing with Strikeforce, Roxy fighing on this weekend’s Fedor vs Rogers card, Kimbo Slice vs Houston Alexander, and the lack of both Machida and Anderson from the UFC’s year end show. Just be prepared for an epic amount of absolute nonsense mixed in. One happy hour long!
The Happy Hour is our weekly show for members that donate to the Fightlinker cause, otherwise known as sitting around doing as little as possible eating discount ham and playing Battlefield 1942. If you’d like to help out with this dream of being semi-paid to talk shit about people who do stuff, click here!
He was winning until he lost…
Tuesday, October 20th, 2009Check this out: promising Russian up and comer Alexander Shlemenko (who was 26-3 before this weekend with his only losses coming from Jacare and Pele twice) beats the shit out of UFC washout Jordan Radev for the entire fight until a wild left hook (the only punch Radev seems to know) floors him. The fight is worth it just to see how on Shlemenko is right up until the final 2 seconds where he’s knocked out. Keep yer hands up, kids! Even when you’re winning.
(via Fanhouse)
Kimbo Slice vs Houston Alexander under consideration
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
Kimbo Slice vs Houston Alexander was a rumor a week ago, but now that several reputable sites have confirmed that the UFC is discussing it, it’s more than a rumor. But it’s still not set in stone that it’ll actually happen. We need a new word to cover situations like this. How about trumors? Eh, sounds kinda like something you’d need to get surgically removed if you had one, but I guess it fits well. The latest trumor details:
A slugfest between Kimbo Slice and Houston Alexander is looking like a strong possibility for UFC 107.
A source close to the situation advised FiveOuncesofPain.com today that although no bout agreements have been sent, at least one of the fighters has been formally approached about the possibility of the bout.
With Anderson Silva dicking the UFC around for it’s year end Ultimate Ultimate show, perhaps the UFC might wanna slide Kimbo’s appearance back to January. You know, give him a few more months to learn how to not suck, make up for the fact that there’s no title fight, and so on and so on. UFC 107 is already looking not too shabby … the press release they sent out actually got me pretty chuffed about the show, and take a look at the card as it stands:
* Champ B.J. Penn vs. Diego Sanchez (for lightweight title)
* Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida
* Cheick Kongo vs. Frank Mir
* Thiago Alves vs. Paulo Thiago
* Paul Buentello vs. Todd Duffee
* Alan Belcher vs. Wilson Gouveia
* Kevin Burns vs. T.J. Grant
* Ricardo Funch vs. Johny Hendricks
Now compare that to how UFC 108 looks right now without Anderson Silva:
* Rashad Evans vs. Thiago Silva
* Junior Dos Santos vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
* Joe Lauzon vs. Sam Stout
* Dan Lauzon vs. Cole Miller
Anyways, I don’t wanna write a dumb “Dis is how I wuld run UFC” post. But I just wanted to point out that unless the UFC is planning on renaming UFC 107 as it’s annual Ultimate Ultimate event, they might want to give UFC 108 some TLC. Give it Kimbo. Sign Dan Henderson and have him fight someone … Nate Marquardt isn’t a bad idea (unless you’re asking Dan). Oh, and pray Lyoto Machida is less of a dick about defending his belt than Anderson Silva. Because without a title shot on the card, this event is gonna look pretty weak.
Twittermania
Wednesday, September 16th, 2009The SF Examiner has a great growing list of twitter addresses related to the UFC and Strikeforce. It’s updated regularly as more people get sucked into it, so if you’re into this kind of stuff I’d bookmark the page. Here’s what they’ve got so far…
From the UFC:
Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Arianny Celeste, Rich Franklin, Mike Swick, Joe Lauzon, Rachelle Leah, Dana White, Rampage Jackson, Shane Carwin, Nate Marquardt, Brendan Schaub, Logan Stanton, Gabriel Gonzaga, Dan Henderson, Joe Rogan, Kenny Florian, Jon Fitch, Urijah Faber, Frank Trigg, Razor Rob McCullough, Randy Couture, Rashad Evans, Matt Brown, Eliot Marshall, Paul Buentello, Efrain Escudero, Ryan Bader, Houston Alexander, Aaron Simpson, Alan Belcher, Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, Reed Harris, Ken Pavia, Bruce Buffer, Georges St.Pierre, Marcus Davis, Denis Kang, Tim Credeur, Cub Swanson, Forrest Griffin
From Strikeforce:
Official Strikeforce Twitter, Brett Rogers, Daniel Cormier, Frank Shamrock, Gina Carano, Miesha Tate, Kim Couture, Tim Kennedy, Tito Jones, Josh “The Punk” Thomson, Benji Radach, Dave Camarillo, Luke Rockhold, Fabricio Werdum, Stephen Quadros
UFC 102 predictions
Saturday, August 29th, 2009
Chris Leben vs. Jake Rosholt
I don’t know how to feel about this fight. On one hand, Chris Leben is going to get back in the win column; on the other, it’ll be at the expense of a green, still raw fighter. Leben is going to win early however he wants. It’s such a shame that a guy like with potential has been rushed into such big fights with so little experience. The “trial by fire” method isn’t for everyone, and that’s exactly how Jake Rosholt is being treated. I also wonder how many wrestlers will look at Team Takedown, see how little success they’ll have had in MMA and decide not to try it out themselves. Could Chris Leben keep an entire generation of competitors from entering the sport? I dunno, but he’ll at least keep Jake from entering the winner’s circle tonight.
Brandon Vera vs. Krzysztof Soszynski
I’m still a Brandon Vera fan despite all of the hiccups he’s had in his career. People make it out like he fell from grace when he took his leave of absence in 2006, but he was never really on the pedestal people had him on in the first place. Loss to Sylvia? Everyone lost to Sylvia back then. Loss to Werdum? That’s on Mirgliotta. Fights with Jardine and Andy? Those guys match-up stylistically for 99% of people. Yeah, Vera set some lofty expectations for his career at Fight Night 2, but people should just back off and let him get sorted out before the failure label gets permanently affixed. Krzysztof is the perfect kind of opponent to see if Vera can really hang or not. But since I’m never going to get the image of Ben Rothewell smashing on him out of my head, I’m gonna say Vera takes a TKO sometime in the second - could possibly be underwhelming or an addition to the Filipino’s highlight reel.
Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia
Who has a coin? Demian Maia is a grappling monster that has TKOed guys with chokes (”technical submission” my ass), while Marquardt has been on a tear for the last two years pulling off small-package guillotines, piledrivers and Mortal Kombat 3 dial-a-combos. lYou know how people use the “puncher’s chance” expression to describe how a stiker could win? Well, Demian Maia has a grappler’s chance ™. And I believe that’s all he has; Maia has made it very clear that he prefers to throw no strikes because he wants to bring more respect to BJJ. DUMB. Marquardt is the best fighter Demian will have faced yet. As good as Quarry, Herman and MacDonald are, they are not on the top 99th percentile like Nate is. I believe Marquardt will punch from the outside while avoiding any and all grappling. He eventually beats Maia down enough to warrant a mercy stoppage late in the third round.
Keith Jardine vs. Thiago Silva
For being a typical Chute Boxe brawler, Thiago Silva can’t take what he gives. James Irvin was putting him in his place during their fight and Machida slaughtered him when he moved forward. Thiago is also a guy who got put on too early. Someone tell me why he was ever top ten again? Because he beat Houston Alexander and almost got KOed by Antoino Mednes? *face palm* He’s just another Helio Dipp to me. Keith Jardine is the kind of guy who you can never get a feel for because he’s so awkward. You’re not even safe if you can somehow find a groove because he’ll change stances and throw off the timing again. His fighting style is like the T-1000, the way it keeps altering to throw you off. Liddell, Rampage, Forrest, Vera, Goiveia and Bonnar all couldn’t find a way to strategically fight the guy; a sloppy, non-technical banger like Silva won’t find a range for his hands, let alone a home for them. His only chance is to bull rush Jardine. If your gameplan is to do the Bart Simpson “I’m gonna swing my arms around, and if you just happen to be in the way…” offense, you don’t have much of a chance.
Randy Couture vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
Maybe this fight doesn’t have the sheen it did seven years ago, but at least we get it. Randy Couture is an old dude who could kill you with his bare hands and Noguirea is a guy who can be KOed by looking at someone’s hands. It’s not a good sign if a newbie sees both of these guys and has to ask which one is 46 years old. Randy - despite all of his virtues - must have made a deal with Malebolgia to stave off the aging process. (Seriously, Randy could be the Jack Lalane of MMA one day.) In any case, I see this going horribly for the former PRIDE champion right off the bat. Randy drops him with his first punch, like he did to Sylvia, and gets top position from there. I expect Nog to struggle off of his back and hit no sweps or any offense whatsoever. This is gonna look very similar to Randy vs. Gonzaga, and the ol’ man is gonna earn himself one more “can he do it?” fight with Lesnar in 2010.
The Weekly Rundown
Sunday, August 16th, 2009
The last week in mixed martial arts was filled with women’s championships, firings/re-hirings/re-firnings, new hirings and card changes. If you just arrived from the year 2029 A.D., Fightlinker is here to keep you in the loop.
First line of UFC toys revealed
Monday, June 29th, 2009
It seems like forever ago that the UFC announced they’d be selling action figures, but the release date has been slowly creeping closer and now we have official confirmation on the first wave of toys, dubbed “Wave 0″:
We are very proud of this exclusive wave 0 product line and you will only find it at Wal-Mart and Toys R Us! The exclusive series will hit retail shelves in late September / early October, but make sure to check early and often because the first 100 of each figure will be uniquely stickered and inserted into random case packs!
Don’t ask me how Houston Alexander made it into the mix. I guess it’s so parents can accidentally pick up the lamest toy for their kids like mine did with the Star Wars toys. All I fucking wanted was a stormtrooper or Han Solo figurine (and perhaps a Princess Leia bikini doll for him to boink), but instead I got Admiral Ackbar and an obese X-Wing pilot. Now you can relive my disappointment with your own kids by proudly presenting them with a Kendall Grove figurine. Or (sadly enough, damn ignorant kids) the Miguel Torres one.
Kongo’s ground game is less shitty than it appeared at UFC 99
Sunday, June 14th, 2009
Poor Cheick Kongo. The monkey on his back since he arrived in the UFC has been his ground game (or lack thereof). And after the wrestling-based drubbing Cain Velasquez gave him today in Germany, he’s going to be hearing a lot more about how his ground game sucks. And yeah, Kongo’s ground game isn’t great. But it’s not as terrible as everyone is making it out to be.
Our first glimpse of Kongo’s shitty matwork came back in 2006 against Carmelo Marrero, who utilized some really basic lay n pray skills to take Kongo down and keep him there for the majority of the fight. It was obvious to anyone with half a brain that Kongo needed help on the ground - or at least help staying off the ground.
Then early last year Kongo faced off with Heath Herring and surprised everyone by turning the fight into wrestlemania. Herring, being the gigantic idiot that he is, kept trying to turn the fight into a striking battle but the giant Frenchman would have none of it. He had a new toy he wanted to try out, and that was that. Kongo ended up losing the fight via split decision, but you had to be impressed at the step up he took with his ground game. Or shocked that he would ditch his striking in favor of his grappling. I was both.
Again: Cheick Congo’s ground game is not great. It will always be his weak spot. But it’s not so terrible that you can group him in with other one dimensional fighters like Houston Alexander or Drew McFedries. There are some guys out there who are just going to make you look foolish. Cain Velasquez is one of these guys - he’s just really, really, really fucking good at wrestling. He wasn’t wearing a singlet in all his Countdown photos because they looked good on him, after all. So before you shit on Cheick’s ground game, keep in mind who he was facing. Although you’re more than welcome to poo all over him for trying to shoot on Velasquez in the second and third round after it was obvious his striking was the only path to victory. That was just … wow.
