Dana White has even said it, there really is nothing like experiencing a UFC event live. I was in attendance at UFC 110 in Sydney and let me tell you, it was crazy. The atmosphere was electric, of course it helped that it was the first time the UFC had come to Australia but boy did we all eat it up.
There was one thing missing though.
Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg.
These two really make a fight night something special. I cannot imagine watching a UFC event on television without these two calling the action, it just wouldn’t be the same. I know that some people criticize what the guys do but hey, no matter what profession you are in there is going to be someone, somewhere who wants to complain. For the most part I think that the knowledge, passion and humour that these guys bring to the table is awesome.
For anybody who has been to a UFC event you know that the big screens bring a lot to the experience, not everybody has the opportunity to get the best view from their seats so the screens often allow you to see what is happening up close in the ground game or the clinch. The atmosphere is like no other sporting event you would have been to (except maybe the Superbowl!) and MMA fans are some of the most passionate fans out there when it comes to their favourite fighter stepping into the cage.
Could you imagine having Joe Rogan and Mike Goldberg in your ear as you cheer for the fighters live? There would be nothing like it. Sure, not everybody would like it but I know that sometimes when I am sitting at the bar watching the fight on the big screen right in front of me I miss some pretty basic stuff that is only a few feet away from me and it really helps when Joe and Mike can point it out. This would just add to the live experience, and sure, as I have already said, it’s probably not for everyone but I know the vast majority of people would feel the same way, these two guys MAKE a fight night just as much as the fighters.
I know that if there was a choice to pay to use some kind of streaming earpiece in the arena at the live show, I would certainly shell out the cash for it. It may not be the most practical idea but can you imagine the live experience coupled with the play by play of Joe and Mike? Now that would be a winning combination for sure, I know the idea is probably a little unrealistic but hey, these guys make a pay per view all the more enjoyable.
MMA Tycoon
Saturday 25 June 2011
Sunday 19 June 2011
Contenders
The times are a-changing’!
Well, not exactly changing but I have a feeling that in the near future we are going to see some new champions in the UFC and these are the guys that could be the ones to take the gold.
Anderson Silva has defended his title eight times, UFC 134 will be his ninth title defence and I think that he should be able to get through Okami. I am not sure what happens next, there is a lot of talk about a Silva and GSP showdown and who knows, Silva may relinquish his championship to move on up to Light Heavyweight. I think that the next man to hold the gold will be Mark Munoz, he has shown a skill set that will be able to dominate inside the octagon and once he gets his shot he will be the one to hold the belt for quite some time.
If anybody has a chance to dethrone Cain Valasquez it’s Junior Dos Santos. We all saw what happened in that first round against Shane Carwin, can you imagine it all over again? Dos Santos is fast and his takedown defence just seems to be getting better and better. Surely he will continue training to ensure he can keep Cain on his feet. Cain has great stand up but JDS’ is just that little bit better. Cain has never lost in his career so that first loss has got to be rearing it’s ugly head. I think that JDS is going to be the dominant champion of 2012.
Jose Aldo really took the fight to Mark Hominick in Toronto and Kenny Florian did the same with Diego Nunes in Vancouver so naturally you would think these two would be colliding soon. Dana White said early on that should Florian win against Nunes he would be next in line for the title, who knows what is going to happen and whether these two face of next or whether Aldo steps into the cage with Mendes first. Ironically all four of Florian’s UFC losses were when it was all on the line, three unsuccessful attempts at securing a title and his first UFC loss being for the Ultimate Fighter Season One glory. I think that Florian will have learnt from his mistakes and his experience is what will get him a victory at one hundred and forty five pounds for his first UFC title. Kenny looked great against Nunes, I am sure he can replicate that against Aldo.
It’s going to be an interesting finish to the year, we still have six months and I think that JDS will be the first of these three to get his belt and the other two will follow in early 2012. I know for sure that all of those fights are fights I am going to want to watch.
And should they be successful in winning the gold, they are all champions I would cheer for.
Well, not exactly changing but I have a feeling that in the near future we are going to see some new champions in the UFC and these are the guys that could be the ones to take the gold.
Anderson Silva has defended his title eight times, UFC 134 will be his ninth title defence and I think that he should be able to get through Okami. I am not sure what happens next, there is a lot of talk about a Silva and GSP showdown and who knows, Silva may relinquish his championship to move on up to Light Heavyweight. I think that the next man to hold the gold will be Mark Munoz, he has shown a skill set that will be able to dominate inside the octagon and once he gets his shot he will be the one to hold the belt for quite some time.
If anybody has a chance to dethrone Cain Valasquez it’s Junior Dos Santos. We all saw what happened in that first round against Shane Carwin, can you imagine it all over again? Dos Santos is fast and his takedown defence just seems to be getting better and better. Surely he will continue training to ensure he can keep Cain on his feet. Cain has great stand up but JDS’ is just that little bit better. Cain has never lost in his career so that first loss has got to be rearing it’s ugly head. I think that JDS is going to be the dominant champion of 2012.
Jose Aldo really took the fight to Mark Hominick in Toronto and Kenny Florian did the same with Diego Nunes in Vancouver so naturally you would think these two would be colliding soon. Dana White said early on that should Florian win against Nunes he would be next in line for the title, who knows what is going to happen and whether these two face of next or whether Aldo steps into the cage with Mendes first. Ironically all four of Florian’s UFC losses were when it was all on the line, three unsuccessful attempts at securing a title and his first UFC loss being for the Ultimate Fighter Season One glory. I think that Florian will have learnt from his mistakes and his experience is what will get him a victory at one hundred and forty five pounds for his first UFC title. Kenny looked great against Nunes, I am sure he can replicate that against Aldo.
It’s going to be an interesting finish to the year, we still have six months and I think that JDS will be the first of these three to get his belt and the other two will follow in early 2012. I know for sure that all of those fights are fights I am going to want to watch.
And should they be successful in winning the gold, they are all champions I would cheer for.
Sunday 12 June 2011
Nice guys finish fights
Well kind of.
So I was sitting there waiting for UFC 131 to start and thinking, wow this is going to be a pretty sweet card when you look at it and I thought, three of the guys I think are going to win are also pretty nice guys and they are defiantly going to finish their fights.
I came up with a clever blog name that I thought would win me some needed internet points and I watched away. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t disappointed with the fights in any way and I certainly thought this was one hell of a card, I just wanted my blog name to tie in with the results.
Three of the nicest guys to grace Mixed Martial Arts fought last night and they all won and they were damn exciting to watch too.
So I was sitting there waiting for UFC 131 to start and thinking, wow this is going to be a pretty sweet card when you look at it and I thought, three of the guys I think are going to win are also pretty nice guys and they are defiantly going to finish their fights.
I came up with a clever blog name that I thought would win me some needed internet points and I watched away. Don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t disappointed with the fights in any way and I certainly thought this was one hell of a card, I just wanted my blog name to tie in with the results.
Three of the nicest guys to grace Mixed Martial Arts fought last night and they all won and they were damn exciting to watch too.
I was absolutely devastated when Kenny Florian (@kennyflorian) was booed after his win. I know that the Canadian’s are passionate about their hockey, I even went and made a clever twitter hash tag (#canadiansarepoliteunlessyoudontliketheirhockeyteam) to try and calm those folks down. It was just bad luck that Kenny is from Boston and chose to wear his Bruins jersey with pride. He was humble after his win and defiantly disappointed about being booed. Kenny is a pretty down to earth guy as well, he’s funny (as I have stated before) and has defiantly made the right choice to fight at 145. It’s a shame this fight was in Vancouver because if it were anywhere else I know that crowd would have cheered their asses off for what was an awesome debut in the Featherweight division. It’s title fight time for Ken-Flo in my opinion and this time around he’s taking it.
Cain Velasquez has a new challenger and he is one hell of a fight. Dos Santos (@junior_cigano) showed the world what he was all about during TUF and defiantly got some new fans from that mass exposure, he’s demeanour after a fight is classic. When he was standing there with his corner after his victory it reminded me of hanging out with friends, he looked happy and he really looked down to earth. His attitude is something all MMA fans can relate to, he’s a nice guy and he’s genuine. I can’t wait for him to step into the cage with Cain (who is equally pretty nice) because I know that the look on Junior’s face as Dana places that belt around his waist is going to be priceless. O título é seu Cigano! (for those who don’t want to use Google Translate that means “The title is yours Cigano!)
I will be honest straight up. I am new to the Mark Munoz (@mark_munoz) bandwagon, after watching Countdown to UFC I actually thought to myself, “wow” he is defiantly one of the nicest guys I have EVER seen promote a fight. His story is defiantly inspiring and he adds his name to the group of wrestlers who are rapidly starting to take over the UFC. Munoz helps coach top tier fighters with their wrestling but you wouldn’t be able to tell that by just taking a quick uneducated look at him. He smiled all throughout his weigh in and also throughout his Countdown to UFC interview and kind of made you enjoy watching him talk, he's going to be a star and could defiantly be the one to take the 185lbs title next.The nice guys came out on top this weekend in what was certainly a sensational night of fights.
Nice guys don’t finish last anymore, they go out there and they win fights.
Tuesday 7 June 2011
Books
I don’t really like to read.
Which is strange because I love to write.
However, this past week I found myself having to pass some time on a loooooooong bus ride from Toronto to New York City so I thought I would pick up a couple of books, and this got me thinking, a lot of MMA fans are probably like me and don’t like to read but could probably forget about their distain for books if the right MMA book came along.
I only read a couple of MMA books on my travel but it got me thinking about a few must read books for MMA fans.
The MMA Encyclopaedia is a big ass book but believe me it’s worth the read! I read it a few months ago and it was pretty interesting, sure some of the opinions in there are strictly those of the writer and they may be biased but it really does give you a wealth of information that you may or may not have already known. It has a lot of profiles on different fighters and even includes their win/loss records at the time of publishing as well as their notable wins and losses.
Chuck Liddell’s “Iceman” was the first fighter book I read. I read it a while ago and it really made me think about where Chuck has come from and what he has made for himself. It’s interesting to hear his thoughts on his first fights and also about what he did throughout high school with his training. He talks about his friendship with Dana White in detail and about where the UFC would likely be without The Ultimate Fighter. Chuck’s personal life is pretty intriguing and he really doesn’t shy away from anything which is great. Whether it’s going through the key fights of his career or recalling life growing up Chuck really makes you want to like him in this book.
It’s amazing to get an insight into the personal life of Brock Lesnar as he usually doesn’t let the public get into his private business. Brock Lesnar’s “Death Clutch” let’s you get to know Brock in a way that you never probably would have expected. He really leaves no stone unturned as he goes through his fallout with Vince McMahon and the WWE and also as he talks about his quest to win the NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship. It’s interesting hearing Brock’s thoughts on his MMA career and his battle with diverticulitis and what the meaning of his chest tattoo is. Defiantly a must read book, even if you don’t like the guy it’s interesting to see where he has come from and what he went through to get to his super stardom today.
I have been on a pretty big Tito campaign lately but after reading his book “This is gonna hurt” I have to say I am even more of a fan. The book delves right into his life and it’s pretty personal and it kind of makes you see things from a different light as it’s a life I never actually thought he would have lived. It really is inspirational and makes you think about what you could do with your own life. If a kid who was doing drugs and stealing could make something of his life why can’t you? Tito goes into parts of his life that most people would probably sugar coat and it really gives you a great personal outlook on the guy. He’s protective of what is important to him (family) and really is pretty smart about what he does with his money. If you are a hater turned fan I would recommend this book to you first because it will give you even more reasons to love the guy.
I am looking forward to getting into some more MMA books soon, my next long ass trip will be coming up in around August and if I can’t find any new books to read I would probably just read Tito’s and Brock’s again because they really are that good.
Which is strange because I love to write.
However, this past week I found myself having to pass some time on a loooooooong bus ride from Toronto to New York City so I thought I would pick up a couple of books, and this got me thinking, a lot of MMA fans are probably like me and don’t like to read but could probably forget about their distain for books if the right MMA book came along.
I only read a couple of MMA books on my travel but it got me thinking about a few must read books for MMA fans.
The MMA Encyclopaedia is a big ass book but believe me it’s worth the read! I read it a few months ago and it was pretty interesting, sure some of the opinions in there are strictly those of the writer and they may be biased but it really does give you a wealth of information that you may or may not have already known. It has a lot of profiles on different fighters and even includes their win/loss records at the time of publishing as well as their notable wins and losses.
Chuck Liddell’s “Iceman” was the first fighter book I read. I read it a while ago and it really made me think about where Chuck has come from and what he has made for himself. It’s interesting to hear his thoughts on his first fights and also about what he did throughout high school with his training. He talks about his friendship with Dana White in detail and about where the UFC would likely be without The Ultimate Fighter. Chuck’s personal life is pretty intriguing and he really doesn’t shy away from anything which is great. Whether it’s going through the key fights of his career or recalling life growing up Chuck really makes you want to like him in this book.
It’s amazing to get an insight into the personal life of Brock Lesnar as he usually doesn’t let the public get into his private business. Brock Lesnar’s “Death Clutch” let’s you get to know Brock in a way that you never probably would have expected. He really leaves no stone unturned as he goes through his fallout with Vince McMahon and the WWE and also as he talks about his quest to win the NCAA heavyweight wrestling championship. It’s interesting hearing Brock’s thoughts on his MMA career and his battle with diverticulitis and what the meaning of his chest tattoo is. Defiantly a must read book, even if you don’t like the guy it’s interesting to see where he has come from and what he went through to get to his super stardom today.
I have been on a pretty big Tito campaign lately but after reading his book “This is gonna hurt” I have to say I am even more of a fan. The book delves right into his life and it’s pretty personal and it kind of makes you see things from a different light as it’s a life I never actually thought he would have lived. It really is inspirational and makes you think about what you could do with your own life. If a kid who was doing drugs and stealing could make something of his life why can’t you? Tito goes into parts of his life that most people would probably sugar coat and it really gives you a great personal outlook on the guy. He’s protective of what is important to him (family) and really is pretty smart about what he does with his money. If you are a hater turned fan I would recommend this book to you first because it will give you even more reasons to love the guy.
I am looking forward to getting into some more MMA books soon, my next long ass trip will be coming up in around August and if I can’t find any new books to read I would probably just read Tito’s and Brock’s again because they really are that good.
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