“Mir” being used as a verb in this case which means taking
down, mounting and utterly dominating (Cyberaxis)
The technical pyrotechnics were missing as we had expected but the fight very much lived to its spectacle billing for the 7:19 minutes the fighters traded leather. At about 2 minutes of the second round – Brock Lesnar, who had come within seconds of being “counted out” after a merciless pounding by Carwin – took Carwin down and then mounted him the way he did Frank Mir in UFC 100. After manhandling him a little he slipped an arm triangle choke on Carwin’s supine form and started to choke him. THIS was manly business - virtual killing in mundane time – boys need not apply. Fans and even Carwin himself didn’t realize the gravity of what was happening until the cinch tightened and an already spastic Carwin was struggling for dear breath. Reality check time. Carwin tapped out at 2:19 minutes of the second round.
Shane Carwin ascendantly overpowering in round one pummels Brock Lesnar into a cowering mess (priceless montage) before the reversal of fortune in round two where Lesnar turns the tables on the Carwin and chokes him into a stunning submission. File this one under virtual upset! The rematch is gonna be MONSTROUS – and Lesnar WILL NOT take any chances this time. (Photo – Eric Jamison – Associated Press)
MMA fans the world over erupted in belief and disbelief. Those on pacemakers were in clear danger of succumbing to what Terence McKenna called “death by astonishment.”
And probably take about as much. About 5 or 6 Minutes, which in MMA terms translates into one or two rounds. The likelihood of this going to the judges for a decision is almost nil.
The reason for this is the assymetric factors of strength and skill and all of the unknowns that will, without a doubt, impinge on the fight that is just over 3 hours away. Brock Lesnar’s recovery from his illness, the strategies and decisions that fighters end up making in the octagon, cognizant of Mike Tyson’s truism, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit in the face.” Luke Thomas of Bloody Elbow had it right when he opined:
The number of unknowns swirling in this bout is dizzying. Is Lesnar going to have ring rust? Is Carwin going to fold in the later rounds? Will Lesnar be able to take Carwin down enough? How will Lesnar respond when hit by Carwin? I’m not sure how to cook with these ingredients. I certainly believe Carwin is more than capable of stopping the fight at any time. If you’re picking him, you’ve got plenty of good reasons to do so. I’m going to lean ever so slightly to Lesnar, though. I just think he’s got the sort of gameplan to wear down Carwin. Over time he’ll compromise Carwin’s power, physically tire him and impose his game. Unless he gets KO’d. We’ll see what happens. Lesnar, TKO. Luke Thomas, Bloody Elbow) Continue reading →
Brock Lesnar may have nothing personal against Shane Carwin but that's not the way it's gonna look come Saturday night's UFC 116.
UFC 116 is close enough for people to channel Brock Lesnar’s process. If they do it right, the will come to the realization that come fight time, Brock Lesnar will try to make an example of Shane Carwin – not because he hates the man – but because figuratively he represents detractors and haters who, unlike Stuart Smalley, think he is not good enough, smart enough or doggone likable.
The strongest felt impulses of mice and men are put out there to be thwarted – but if Lesnar gets his way come Saturday night, he will put a memorable exclamation mark to the most anticipated fight in UFC since the emergence of American MMA from the backwaters of BJJ and vale tudo – and strut around the octagon like he has just pawned the UFC – which may not be that far away from the truth.
If there is a guy who has a key to Brock Lesnar’s psyche it has to be Randy Couture. Reason? His “I’m OK, You Are OK” approach to things; his matter-of-fact, aw-shucks approach to what he has and what other people have. Well, come to think of it, there isn’t a whole lot of people that Randy doesn’t have a key to. Nice guys tend to have that quality about them – so in a sense, this is a story about Randy Couture, the famed Captain America of mixed martial arts.
So what does this have to do with UFC 116? Well, as it turns out Randy Couture is one of the people Brock Lesnar has turned to for training help months/weeks ahead of his UFC fight with Colorado slugger Shane Carwin – which is quite impressive when you consider that this is the case of 290lb behemoth (Brock Lesnar) turning to a wiry 230lb grappler-turned-boxer for advice on how to demolish a proven slugger. At a the mental level, it is deep when you consider the chip Brock Lesnar tends to carry on his shoulder most of the time – the “up yours” attitude that has been his stock in trade since UFC 100.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for Randy because he paved the highway for the wrestler in the UFC …. The good thing about Randy is that he doesn’t carry a chip on his shoulder.” (Brock Lesnar)
Well, no shit Shylock – reference the last part of that quote. That, among other things – seems to the key to the “friendship” or what passes for it between Brock and Randy. We only wish Lesnar could learn something from that quote concerning the antipathy his own chip-on-the-shoulder persona generates amongst the masses and chattering classes. But that is a story for another day.
There, we said it. No hemming or hawing. No ambiguity. Lesnar may be king of the hill of the UFC heavyweight division but he is far from being king of Mixed Martial Arts – and by that we are talking the Randy Coutures or Fedor Emelianenkos of the world. Why? Well because he still needs to prove that he is more than a ground-and-pound hog who beyond collegiate wrestling relies too much on his size, weight and strength to smother his opponents and then pummel them into a bloody stain. One good Wanderlei-Silva-style-slugfest with knees and kicks thrown in for good measure would do it – with doin’ it having to do with equalizing this slop-sided equation; i.e. winning by sheer preponderance of size.
Will Brock Lesnar stand up and deliver at UFC 116 or will he revert to the tried and true; the old ground and pound? We would love for him to surprise us, but we are not holding our breath. Reason? We doubt that Lesnar can take a punch.
The first to crumble was the moral indignation which had protected him from the press-ly hordes like a ring of fire; the first intimation of vulnerability in a man who had never known such. Without the sense of implied moral authority and the right to be left alone, Tiger was as vulnerable as a man running down the street with a vigilante mob at his heels. The fire hydrant incident Thanksgiving of 2009 turned the tables on the reticent superstar. Tabloidry, which was already sniffing around, caught a whiff of scandal and vulnerability so strong they would not be dissuaded by anything. They began closing in like a pack of dingoes. The next thing to go was Tiger’s ability to posture or protest. His protective saber had lost its glow.
The cat was out of the bag for keeps and Tiger’s failure to realize that will be studied as a case of denial that led to more self-inflicted wounds. Tiger’s words and actions betrayed Michael Jackson-esque naivety and a misplaced belief in talismanic powers he no longer had. What had been common knowledge among insiders had breached the wall of public knowledge, but it needed Elin Nodergren’s outrage the way a flame needs an accelerant to burn out of control. Mea culpa by press statement did not serve Tiger well. The next step – a staged press conference coming about three months later, did little to reverse the damage.
The Apology, Friday February 19, 2010
N.B. Because the YouTube version of Woods apology has been rendered private, you are gonna have to use Google or “The apology” hyperlink below to get to the video.
The apology is pure theater with an unhealthy helping of the absurd. At this late hour, Tiger should have skipped it all together or given the press and the public something more genuine and believable. Something less scripted and awkward. The performance recalled Chris Brown and his video statement post Rihanna.
Tiger Woods should not have read that statement. The pauses between phrases and passages were pregnant with awkwardness instead of meaning. The closest Woods came to evoking genuine feeling was when he told the paparazzi to leave his mother, wife and kids alone.
Worlds Collide – (The world of sports, entertainment and corporate sponsorship) Tiger would not have needed today’s public apology had he been Joe Blow caught in flagrante delicto with the family nanny. No, the apology was made necessary by the fact that Tiger is a corporation within a corporation with all kinds of fat cat stakeholders.
The rule book is out there, but athletes, entertainers and musicians, with very few exceptions, still find out the hard way: to wit within the crucible of scandal or inquisition by a pesky press and hypocritical public. There is an unwritten contract out there, namely that you can get all fame and fortune you want as long as you pay the public/corporate piper by doing things that shame neither. There are exceptions though – a few loopholes for discerning playas. Call it the envelope of tolerance. The playa can get away with virtual murder as long as he doesn’t get too arrogant or sloppy or careless. Whatever he does should never appear to be daring the press and or the public to find out …. if they can. Rubbing things in the press’ or public’s face is never a good idea …. as Gary Hart quickly found out.
The Playa and the Edge: Tiger Woods was arrogant and churlish to begin with. That is the edge most playas need to maintain their mojo and “street” creds. He just got way too sloppy and arrogant in the end. And the result was public emasculation by corporate and public edict. The result was as awkward as it was stilted. Tiger might have as well been taking the oath of celibacy – and the boys in the barrio reacted as if someone had just kicked them in the you-know-what. No playa, self-styled or otherwise, lives on a public leash. (Tiger as virtual priest? Nah. That ain’t life – at least the way it’s lived out there. And therapy? Hell no. Sniff whatever you sneakin’ but stay the hell away from my freak on.)
Back at H.Q. and throughout the land: The mea culpa did not ring true, given what those-in-the-know know of Tiger and his M.O. The rationale for it was less than persuasive beyond the need to salvage a brand. Tiger’s brand and that of his sponsors. The audience was hand-picked and the disclosures were selective. Beyond a semblance of contrition (which seemed like an extreme case of playing outside the comfort zone), the news conference did not reveal anything beyond Tiger Woods’ parallel universes. The corporate and the private. Whether he manages to bring them together in the coming months remains to be seen.
Tiger Woods and Mom, a touching moment of genuineness at the end of an awkward scripted presentation evocative of memorable mea culpas from stodgy world of politics (Photo: Joe Skipper-Pool/Getty Images)
“The blind lead the blind,
Into pits full of snares,
The preacher and the drunkard
Together shout into the night” (J.W.)
Gloria Allred: The crazy-as-a-fox side of this theater of the absurd, had Gloria Allred in a crimson suit that appeared to be running colors, holding a gonzo news conference calculated to capitalize on the moment and get more publicity bang for the buck for her and her client-of-the-moment, Joslyn James, a former porn star that Tiger allegedly “dated” for three years. In a situation brimming such ironies that only someone with the chutzpah of Allred could brave it, she berated Tiger for lying to Ms. James and not apologizing to her by name. Intoned Allread: “Today was not an apology. It was a public relations stunt. It was a disgrace.”
Allred decried her client’s loss of income from porn on account of Tiger’s jealous tendencies. (Threat of a lawsuit? A hint to Tiger to settle with her out of court? Oi vei!)
It doesn’t take a crystal ball to tell that given the way Tiger’s saga has unfolded since Thanksgiving, there is very little hope for his marriage surviving this. We would like to be wrong for his kids’ sake, but we doubt it.
You can no more fabricate natural, lean mass than you pass it off as natural as in those infamous Foster Farms chicken commercials.
You can no more hide serious muscles than you can hide beauty that is more than skin-deep. The reason is simple: Muscles that are home grown on the range have a way of showing up in the Roman set of the jaw and veins and sinews of the neck and face like the resolute tip of an iceberg that hints at massivity beneath the waterline.
Some wise soul needs to tell this to the gym rats and pubescent muscle-heads who preen in “thongy” tank tops at 24 Hour Fitness, while all but kissing mirrors and playing with their be-hinds in that chintzy emporium of Do It Yourself fitness. Did I say Chintzy emporium of do it yourself fitness. I guess I did
I, for one, am sick and tired of the roid-fueled exhibitionism by poseurs who are destined to be as fat as they are buff when their roid-fueled enthusiasm flags and their bodies begin to shrink along with their nutsacks ….. because that is what meat-juice does when the pump dissipates.
With mimimal variations, gym clothes need to be worn like office attire. Less is more; with the “less” applying as much to skin, as the need to pose in front of mirrors.
I like my tees fat and baggy, especially in the arms for reasons already mentioned. The same applies to my pants for reasons that obviously cannot be discussed in polite company
With the addition of UFC stalwarts Antonio Nogueira, Tito Ortiz and Forrest Griffin to the undercard of the historic matchup between Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, UFC 106 is now shaping up to be more stacked than a corseted Dolly Parton in her glory days. Can you say Dana goes bongo?! Yes folks, for a change the UFC is pulling out all the stops and putting all its nutsacks in the same bag. The Antonio Nogueira/Luis Cane fight, originally the headliner for UFC 105, would have single-handedly been a worthy undercard of UFC 106, were it not for the return to the octagon of Tito “The Huntington Bad Boy” Ortiz.
So barring an act of God or Nature, the Mandalay Bay will, come November 18, 2009, be seeing one of the biggest fight in UFC history shored up by two great undercards: Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira who will be fighting Luis Cane and Tito Ortiz(16-6-1) who will be fighting Forrest Griffin (16-6-0). Griffin, who will be hunting for some kind of redemption after a disastrous, no make that humiliating showing against Anderson “The Spider” Silva in UFC 101. He suddenly replaced UFC hall of famer, Mark Coleman for reasons that are not quite clear.
UFC 106 couldn’t have come sooner, because the few match-ups following UFC 100 have been darn unremarkable. Filling gaps between major fights with lackluster cards does little for the sport and nothing for the fans. And talking about which, UFC 104 with Machida vs Rua will just be another celebrated back-room brawl between Brazilian goombahs. And if you want a good measure of just how unexciting this fight is, check the Google search results and rankings for the “Machida vs Rua” fight. It’s relatively underwhelming for a fight that is only 14 days away. This fight is falling through the cracks to some kind of mental dead zone for reasons elaborated in Why UFC 104 with Machida vs Jackson would have eclipsed UFC 100. (Tsk tsk! to Dan White for not sticking to the original Machida/Quinton Jackson commitment; the same he announced following UFC 98. The fight would have wowed the fans and made major bank for him and the Fertitta Brothers. And now in retrospect, diverting Quinton Jackson from the Machida-Jackson fight may have been a major boo-boo in light of what Jackson is now saying in the wake of his resignation from the UFC.)
The little Machida/Rua sideshow will only be notable if Machida cements his new-fangled fame as the New Karate Kid writ large. If he loses, oh well, so much for piss toddies, cat-paw strikes and the most nimble Ginger Rogers routine ever since that famous redhead, “pas de deuxed” backwards into history with Fred Astaire in tow. But we digress as usual.
Shane Carwin - A long, long shot at upsetting Brock Lesnar and winning the UFC Heavyweight belt in Las Vegas at UFC 106. What then would Lesnar do? Get a job?
Shane Carwin (11-0 MMA, 3-0 UFC) is a hulking cyborg who demolishes opponents with techno-tronic precision. In UFC 106 (now rescheduled as UFC 116) he is slated to face Brock Lesnar (4-1 MMA, 3-1 UFC) another certifiable cyborg who overwhelms his opponents with size, speed and ground and pound strength that make his opponents feel like sub-compacts in the jaws of a metal compactor. Which brings us to the significance of this fight – a pivotal sequel in the Brock Lesnar story. Note we are not saying anything about Shane Carwin at this point – because he is not gonna win this fight. Lesnar will. And not necessarily in spectacular fashion – but win The Brock will. (We will break down the rationale as the match approaches.) Those looking for an exciting fight will most probably be disappointed. Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin fights are thrilling in the same way that monster truck derbies are. Even the official Lesnar/Carwin promo video fails to rise up the pyrotechnic standard of UFC promo videos because there is little to work with for starters. You cannot manufacture technical brilliance like a video game programmer. Lesnar dusting off Mir on the ground looks like a carpenter trying to batten down a hatch. Brock Lesnar’s mystique has more to do with his freakish chops and Shane Carwin’s record, with the exception of Gabriel Gonzaga, has been built on fighters who have been less than stellar in heavyweight pugilism. His ground game has sometimes been as exciting as a psych orderly trying to strap down an unruly patient.
Brock "The Brock" Lesnar is a "fucker" who is used to getting his way. Anyone betting against this guy has either too much money on their hands or just clueless about Lesnar's "touchiness" about being belittled or made fun of. Yes, there is a big psyche angle to the Lesnar's drive to be "respected" - positively or negatively.
But with Brock Lesnar versus Shawn Carwin, UFC may be taking a practical step towards sensible match-ups in a situation that is crying for as a first step in the right direction by an organization that needs more rationality in the heavyweight division. Beyond this, it is the next biggest fight in a line-up of cards that have lacked real heft – the Lesnar-Mir showdown excepted with lots of reservations.
Me Ze Brock. Whaddya think? Brock Lesnar at UFC 100 weigh-in. The quest for respect, beneath that off kilter boorishness, is real.
Shane Carwin has the sangfroid of a Zen Master. On a personal level he is gonna be a winner going in and out of this fight, but that precludes the unified belt that he and Brock Lesnar are gonna be fighting for. Good guys don’t always finish first and this, unfortunately, is gonna apply to Shane in this case …. unless he gets lucky with that short right hand (as he did in the case of Gonzaga and Wellisch.) He may well get lucky because Lesnar may try to go toe to toe with Carwin in a winner-takes-it-all bang-fest – at least in the opening encounter. (We would be seriously surprised if Lesnar tried to shoot without exchanging some blows first. Reason? Every ground and pound hog longs to grow some stand-up hairs on their balls. )
So the first round will probably see two hulking heavyweights not renowned for boxing chops trying to go toe to toe like prize fighters of the World Boxing Association. Lesnar is not known for his knockout power probably because of lack of technique and precision, but he has been known to knock goombahs down like bowling pins. Such is the raw power of the former South Dakota farm boy.
“He’s a baby. Don’t kick him because he’ll get hurt. He’s a hell of a wrestler man, the guy can wrestle and he’s strong, but he can’t punch and he can’t get kicked. And he don’t know how to kick. He can only go straight forward.” (Loud-mouth, Tim Sylvia on ESPN Radio)
Anything can happen in a stand-up lollapalooza, including the knockout of Carwin by a lucky shot from Lesnar. And if anyone could test Lesnar’s chin at this point, it would have to be Carwin. The question is can Carwin overcome the 3-inch reach deficit and Lesnar’s own elusive antsyness to land the big one that will fell Brock the Giant (which would make Shane the Giant Killer)? It is possible but highly unlikely. Lesnar, who has never been really, really rocked on tape, is gonna be extra antsy and careful going into this one. (Watch Lesnar’s antsy footwork.) As a matter of fact the caution may be such that the two pachyderms will be roundly booed in the first round before finally deciding to lock trunks under crowd duress.
Both are strong, but Lesnar has the edge in the raw strength/power department. Even the size and muscularity differential is visually persuasive. Some fans/analysts even argue that Lesnar may be stronger in the upper body arena than Carwin. So the strength/power advantage, especially on the ground, goes to Lesnar …. hence our prediction and the trending odds.
The Odds, The Odds, The Odds!: The Bookers, the fans & the collective ear pressed flush against the ground
The odds are trending towards our prediction at about 68 to 32% for Lesnar. Love him or hate him, these are the numbers which may change with time, but we doubt that they will fluctuate by much. The moneyline odds are as follows:
Brock Lesnar -215 (This means that for every $215 you bet, you stand to win $1oo if Brock Lesnar wins. This makes Brock Lesnar the favorite. You are betting or risking more than you stand to win.)
Shane Carwin +175 (This means for every $100 you bet, you stand to win $175 if Carwin wins. This makes Carwin the underdog. You are betting or risking less than you stand to win. The catch is the likeliness of your guy winning though.)
You can convert any moneyline of the Lesnar/Carwin odds to the 68/32 % probability at the Money Line Converter here.
Beyond the booking halls, no substantive cross section of fans is giving this fight to Carwin overall. Trust the unbiased collective wisdom here and if you are gonna bet, don’t bet the family farm or wedding ring against Lesnar.
The Factors: Motivation
Brock Lesnar has way more to lose in this fight than Shane Carwin because of his higher profile, title and his decision to play the heel in an organization that has never celebrated such. If Shane loses, he falls back on his mining job and engineering degree. The same cannot be said of Lesnar. If Lesnar loses his heavyweight belt in UFC 106, he would have lost something even more precious than money; his sheen of invincibility and mantle of manifest destiny in the UFC. We at Cyberaxis seriously doubt that Lesnar would be content with being just another lumbering hack fighting in the heavyweight division after what he did at UFC 100: namely flipping everybody off. Psychologically this created a different dynamic between him and MMA fandom. This dynamic is why the home crowd effect, is for better or worse a big factor in the outcome of the games. The halting steps Lesnar took in his first fights were cemented in UFC 100. The newest boy on the MMA block had shown signs of wanting to court MMA. However with UFC 100, he slammed the door to that and became an unabashed heel with foam dripping out of his mouth. That was a momentous turn that some dismissed as a predetermined plot line. It was not. With proper guidance, Brock Lesnar could have blazed a different path in MMA – and one which could have been easier for him, mentally, emotionally, and perhaps financially in the long run.
The other reason Brock Lesnar has more to lose has to do with how or when he left pro wrestling. In case you have forgotten, Lesnar left WWE pro wrestling at a time he was poised to be the next big thing in McMahon’s stable. Did he get a pay cut? You bet. And for a pipe dream that was far from guaranteed. So when Lesnar takes to the octagon on November 11, (now July 3rd, 2010) he will be fighting for more than his reputation. Not so the behemoth from Boulder.
The Chin Factor
We know a little about the chin of Carwin because he got tested by someone who knows a little about knocking hombres out. (See the Carwin vs Gonzaga here.)
Not so much the Monster from Minnesota. Noone inside or outside the UFC has ever tested the chin of Brock Lesnar (at least as far as we know.) Noone with the right critical mass that is, because it takes a substantive amount of critical mass to breach Lesnar’s size, frenzied defence and 81″ reach – which is one of the things that stumped Randy Couture when they met in UFC 91. If anyone can do it this time, it would have to be Shane Carwin because he has the critical mass (262lbs to Brock Lesnar’s regulation 265lbs) even though Carwin’s reach, at 78″, falls 3 inches short of Lesnar’s. The reach advantage is not insurmountable for a guy who has the strength, critical mass and knockout chops of Shane Carwin. What this says is that when all other things are held fairly constant, size does indeed matter, and Shane does indeed have it. The question is; will he be able to penetrate Lesnar’s offensive and evasive defense? (Watch Lesnar’s antsy foot work and tell us if he is gonna be an easy target to hit – his size notwithstanding.)
Stay tuned for more thoughts as the fight draws near.
Enter The Dragon:The UFC coming of a Shotokan wunderkind named Lyoto Machida.
Until the Friday morning of June 5, 2009, the much anticipated Machida-Jackson matchup in UFC 104 had been sending out Jurassic Park tremors felt and seen even by little old ladies sipping tea in Bayou trailer parks. The reason for the techtonic “thump, thump, thump” heard around the world, had not been some Jurassic Park monster, but a Shotokan wunderkind named Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida. His showdown with Quinton Jackson for the UFC light heavyweight championship would have roiled the masses, and made Mir vs Lesnar look like an undercard of a three-month fight card …. if you get our drift.
This tantalizing scenario was a distinct possibility until that Friday morning when the equally earth-shaking announcement was made that the much anticipated fight would not happen. Reason? Well, nobody really knows the real reason except Quinton Jackson and Dana White. The story that is being fed the masses is that it was Quinton Jackson who made the final decision to nix the Machida-Jackson title fight in favor of fighting the loser of UFC 98. In other words he was chosing to fight a dethroned gadabout, Rashad Evans instead of the man who had handed him his head in UFC 98 which would stand him a chance of winning back his light heavyweight belt. Makes sense? No?
Well, don’t try too hard because very little makes sense here. The first problem has to do with Quinton Jackson himself who is less than convincing when he tries to tell the world why he is choosing to fight a loser. Locker room humor is no substitute for telling the truth:
Money? Settling a personal score? Jackson sounds like he is dissembling here. The best he stands to win from this is a bit of PPV chump change (if you buy his arguments) but this would really be coming at the expense of whatever credibility he has had as a fighter and career strategist. We believe Jackson when he says that he isn’t afraid of Machida but we also know that he knows he cannot beat Machida at this point in time – which could “splain” the business calculus that went into this. So the fans who are suspicious of his motives when he bobs, ducks and weaves around the question of dodging Machida, are not as crazy as he would like the world to believe. Jackson’s attempt to pooh pooh the fans’ skepticism just pits his shaky credibility against thousands of fans.
Despite the power and mofo swagga, did Jackson blink when faced with the prospect of an almost certain defeat at the hands of Lyoto Machida?
The truth may very well be that Jackson is trying to extend his 15 minutes of fame here; The same 15 minutes that would be eclipsed by a lopsided loss to Machida. Losses at certain junctures of a fighter’s life can create a tricky slippery slope. Just ask Chuck Liddell, or Wanderlei Silva for that matter. The damage can be perceptual, mental, financial or a deleterious combination of all of the three. Talking about which, watch Rashad Evans trying to dig himself out from the deep hole Machida left him in at UFC 98. Existing perceptions of him aside, Evans comes across in that video as a sympathetic, down to earth contender who is willing to shuck former octagon theatrics and eat crow where he deserves to eat crow; a situation which kind of takes the air out of Jackson’s contention that he is fighting Evans for “getting in his face” after his fight with Jardine.
Mauricio Rua will now take Jackson’s place in the Machida/Rua fight at UFC 104 in Los Angeles. This fight will just not pack as much of a media and emotional wallop as Machida/Jackson fight would have. The argument that Jackson’s grudge against Rashad Evans took precedence over winning back his light heavy-weight title is just plain hooey. Rashad, especially after Machida, doesn’t even have the makings of a worthy arch rival. Forget about that staged confrontation following UFC 92. It was tripe and bad acting straight from the cheesiest Vince McMahon playbook.
Message in a bottle: We will probably never know what went on behind the scenes to bring about the delay of the Machida/Jackson fight, but it certainly wasn’t good for MMA. While it may conceivably be good for the “green core” (read that dollars and cents), it certainly isn’t good for the “hard core” which is the spirit of MMA. This smacks too much of the decisions that brought about the inexplicable ascendance of Brock Lesnar to the top of the heavyweight division. Such decisions breed skepticism and make fans step back the way some boxing fans stepped back from Don King and company when the management and promotional jinks just got funkier and funkier. What this means in practical terms to UFC 104 for example, is that some fans who may have shelled out $45 for Pay Per View or flown to Los Angeles for the actual Machida/Jackson fight will either settle for seeing it in a local sports bar or read about it on the internet.
What this also portends for the more perceptive fans is that the UFC is a phenomenon that should be enjoyed from a safe tactical distance; which in practical termsmeans is not falling for every piece of hype and tripe of UFC. This way, they get to keep their wits about them, not to mention their money.
The fact of the matter is that UFC does not really need this crazy baggage … or taint. We hope the Fertitta brothers are reading this and someone talks to Dana White about keeping things on the up and up.
By way of background to an increasingly convoluted story, Lyoto Machida is the Shotokan specialist who punched out Rashad Evans in spectacular fashion at UFC 98 and set the MMA world a-flutter with talk of a new “Machida Era.” Hype or triumph? Read up on the buzz and decide for your self. And just to clear some people’s wilful cobwebs, it was Dana White himself who averred that Jackson would be the first to take a shot at Machida’s title. He accented to this at the post-UFC 98 press conference:
To be fair, he did not say where or when the fight would happen, but he did mention that it would coincide with the first defence of Machida’s title, which would make it UFC 104. Now given that admission, it stretches credibility to a breaking point that the final word on the fight would be left to someone as external to the management loop as Quinton Jackson.
Jackson is to Machida what Rua will never be: No man is invincible, but Machida looks impressive right about now. His last two wins have established him as an uber technician who combines speed with power and accuracy in ways that are unprecedented in MMA. (Check out “The Machida Era Begins” by Richard Hubbard at Nokaut)
After his impressive win over Evans, his seventh in the UFC, Machida is now set to face fellow compatriot Mauricio Rua whose aggressive stand-up is a clear foil to his counter-striking style. While from a technical standpoint, the fight has the potential of igniting jaw-dropping pyrotechnics, it just doesn’t pack the same wallop on an stylistic and iconographic level. While the outcome of a Machida-Jackson fight was a foregone conclusion, it still made for a more intriguing fight than Machida vs Rua will ever be. And the reason has to do with what Machida vs Jackson represented (The old vs the new with a tinge of the corn-fed vs the range-fed rivalry, if you get our drift.)
Jackson, a tough-as-nails Pride vet who brings a Tysonesque frenzy to the octagon would have been a perfect foil to Machida; a martial artist whose will o’ wisp elusiveness is only matched by his blinding speed. The two fighter’s physical stats are almost identical. However Machida’s speed and south-paw/back leaning style would have created serious problems for Jackson. Very few fighters have figured out how to deal with Machida’s extended “event horizon.” He creates it by a spring-loaded left foot that is always cocked on a hair trigger. The quick retraction of that foot upon devastating impact may be one of the secrets behind the Machida mojo. He retracts it to create tactical distance as well as regain balance in almost zero time. It is this very foot that took the air out of Evans before Machida moved in for the coup de grace. (That short video clip will be studied for years to come.)
Jackson’s problem would not only have been his vulnerability to kicks ( four of his seven losses have been due to knees and kicks), but his lack of speed in and outside of the clinch zone. Jackson would have been a conventional fighter in a fight that would have been anything but conventional. His 30 fights would have been nothing but an open book for Machida to study and dissect before stepping into the ring to blow his head off. Jackson would have been a sitting duck short of bringing something new to the octagon; a prospect which would have been as unlikely as his victory. Perhaps more than anything, Jackson’s bull-headedness would have stood to do him in quicker than Machida’s “fists of fury.”
UFC104 at the Staples Center in September 2009 down-graded to a shootout between fellow Brazilians Machida and Rua. This fight card, while good, will not lead to the PPV Lolapalooza that Jackson vs Machida would have garnered.
UFC 104 with Machida vs Jackson would have clearly overshadowed UFC 100 by a long shot. Pay Per View would have gone through the roof because of people clamoring to see how the newest kid on the block was gonna put a Shotokan kibosh on one of MMA’s toughest muthas. The dojo vs the mean streets. Brilliant!
Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar is gonna be big in its own right, but there is a relative limit to how big it can get because of what it represents; namely more of the same. Machida vs Jackson would have been different; the charge of the new light brigade versus the old …. and all on a tab and timetable that would have pleased MMA fans to no end. After the Brock Lesnar fandango, Dana White at least owed MMA fans that much.
The fair breeze blew,
The white foam flew,
The furrow followed free;
We were the first that ever burst
Into that silent sea.
Samuel Coleridge Taylor
(Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner)
Will to power: Serena comes back from a contentious one set deficit to win the 3rd round of the French Open 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 .
She almost wilted under the pressure of a less-than-honest opponent and a laggard of an umpire, not to mention breathing problems she experienced in the last set, but Serena being Serena reached deep within and found something with which to defeat a listless Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the 3rd round of the 2009 French Open. The bad call at 2-2 in the first set involved a shot that Serena fired straight at the Spaniard as she stood near the net after executing a nifty drop shot. The ball recotcheted off her arm as she recoiled defensively and shot past Serena for what appeared to be a winning return. The ostensible return and point was not valid, because the ball had come in touch with Martina Sanchez’s hand. The umpire, Emmanuel Joseph, who had ostensibly not seen the body contact gave the point to a strangely reticent Martinez Sanchez even as Serena protested. The fact that Serena had even apologized for hitting her opponent should have given the umpire pause for cause. Under the circumstance he should have gotten out of his chair and held a mini conference with the players. Worst case scenario? Joseph would have had to check Martinez Sanchez’s arm. There should have been some kind of mark there. (Serena does not hit like a girl.)
That bad call clearly fired Serena up while putting the umpire, Emmanuel Joseph, and her opponent on the defensive psychologically. Yes, such challenges have an effect on a mental level and umpires are not immune to it, especially the ones who may remember what happened to the lady umpire who gave Serena a series of bad line calls in a the quarter final of the 2005 U.S. Open. (The offending umpire got suspended for the rest of the tournament.) For your own information Emmanuel Joseph is the same umpire who so enraged another American player Andy Roddick at the Australian open in January of 2008 that Andy called him names.
“You’re an idiot,” yelled the inflamed Roddick before appending a caustic aside: “Stay in school, kids, or you’ll end up being an umpire.”
The Rub: Is there something about Serena that brings out a win-at-all-costs attitude in her opponents? Or on the other hand is there something about her celebrity and “will to power” that provokes some kind of power struggle with certain umpires?
Commentator Mary Carillo clearly felt bad for Serena in that first set. The ball had clearly hit Martinez Sanchez as several replays would show. Martinez Sanchez should have owned up to it, especially after the umpire had awarded her the point. She didn’t. And the umpire on his part, should have hauled his fat rump out of that chair and held conference with the players. He could have very well forced the issue by asking Sanchez if the ball had hit her? He did not. What gives here? Truth, fairness, or perhaps a lack of surreptitious vindictiveness on the part of a dime-a-dozen umpires who have it in for millionaire stars?
Excuse Our French: The Roland Garros fans could clearly go screw themselves in their un-perfumed derrieres. We are specifically talking about the ones who could be heard booing Serena as she tried to talk to the umpire about his wrong call. These fans don’t even deserve a second chance after the Justine Henin debacle in which she raised a hand just before a Serena serve. (Serena dumped the serve out, but a judge who had not seen the raised hand gave the point to Henin – who, on her part, did not own up to raising her hand just before the serve. The fans booed during the challenge. Screw ‘em!)
The History: The Williams sisters have a shady history when it comes to competing against each other in their long careers from Wimbledon in 2000 to Indian Wells in 2001, but this does not justify the bum rap they seem to be getting from umpires and crowds during questionable calls.
Wimbledon 2001 is remembered for Serena’s inexplicably lack-luster showing against her big sister and Indian Wells 2001 gave the family a big black eye when Venus withdrew from a much anticipated shootout with her sister, minutes before match time. She claimed injury as the cause but the fans would clearly have none of it. Days later, Serena would be booed all the way to the trophy ceremony. The sisters have not played Indian Wells ever since, but we are pretty sure they have learned their lessons from that and the preceding Wimbledon. Their parents have grown up in tandem with them as business managers and coaches. If bygones can’t be bygones, then some people are caught up in a state of arrested development, if not worse …. (Read “Why is racism and sexism against Venus and Serena Williams ignored in tennis?” by Lloyd Douglas) And the for the best lysis on the sister-sister rivalry, read Greg Couch’s FanHouse article “Sister Act Rules Wimbledon Again.”
The Post Game Interview: Those of us who had watched the game shenanigans that went on this morning were waiting for the post game interview. Winning the game from a 1-0 set deficit was certainly a good dose of poetic justice, but that was besides the point. Someone needed to call it like it is, and Serena did not disappoint:
Said Serena Williams:
“The ball did touch her 100% on her arm. The rules of tennis is when the ball hits your body, then it’s out of play. You lose a point automatically. So the ball hit her body, and therefore, she should have lost the point instead of cheating. I hit that ball rather hard. She knew that ball hit her.
“It was clearly my point, and it was like, no way. I would never do that. I’ve never done that. I’ve never sunk low, and I would never do that to anyone on this tour and I never have. I’ve always been a really clean player and a good player, and it doesn’t take that to win.
“I looked at her dead in the eye. I said, Why? Just be honest if the ball hit you or not. I mean, Hello. It totally hit her. She was just like – she wouldn’t even look at me. She looked down, and I just have no respect for anybody who can’t play a professional game and just be really professional out here. Because that’s all I’ve ever been was be extremely professional to anyone I’ve ever played.” (Serena Williams – Post Game Comments)
One of the reporters, as if to press the point, asked her if she was accusing her opponent of cheating to which Serena retorted, “What would you call it?”
To the Serena Williams detractors, like the Associated Press reporter, who routinely crawl out of the woodwork when the Williams sisters stand their ground, you don’t have much of a leg to stand on on this one. Serena showed amazing toughness in coming from behind to nullify a psychologically debilitating bad call by the umpire. She showed classy reserve in coming to the net and normally shaking the hand of an opponent who had just tried to rip her off. At the end of that bad day at the office she was fully entitled to call it like it is. In blasting Martinez Sanchez as a “cheat” she was also blasting the limp noodle umpire, Emmanuel Joseph, for not making the right calls. Martinez Sanchez deserved Serena’s salvo, and so did he.
Detractors, in an out of the press box, can call it whatever they want. We call it a shot across the bow. The fact that Martinez Sanchez, on top of denying the ball hit her, chooses to say as little as she can, and only when pressed at that, speaks volumes about this and her own mental processes.
“I just put my racket up (in defence) and the ball hit it,” says the 26-year-old Spaniard who is ranked 43rd in the world. “I don’t want to talk about this,” adding: “I put the racket, and the ball, it was in, so it goes point for me.” (Martinez Sanchez – Post Game Comments)
Saying of Serena’s comments, “I don’t like to comment about this. It’s a stupid comment”, just doesn’t cut it in our books. Where is the outrage of a person who has been wrongfully accused in all of this? There is nothing ambiguous or stupid about being called a cheat. Capische?
The opening seconds of the Liddell vs Jackson rematch on May 27, 2007 – saw the former Pride stalwart, Quinton Jackson relentlessly stalking the retreating UFC wunderkind, Chuck “the Iceman” Liddell. Perhaps the two fighters in the octagon knew what few others did; the sense of danger and superiority informed by knowledge and experience. This wasn’t the first time the twain had met.
Tale of the pic and stare-down that had the end written all over it: The Iceman, Chuck Liddel vs The Original Man, Quinton "Rampage" Jackson at UFC 71 weigh in.
To understand the drama of those opening moments, you have to go four years to 2003 when Quinton Jackson pummled Chuck into a writhing mess and nearly had his kidneys for dinner in Pride’sMiddleweight Grand Prix tournament of 2003. Dana White of the UFC had entered Chuck in the tournament as the official UFC representative in an attempt to snag the illusive Chuck Liddell-Wanderlei Silva fight. This was on the heels of Chuck’s loss to Randy Couture. (Chuck’s loss to Couture had slowed down his chase of the heavyweight title, which at that point was held by the churlish Tito Ortiz.) Quinton Jackson and Chuck Liddell were “unknown” to each other at that point and it showed. Their first face-off in the ring showed both as equally assertive and deferential. But all that was about to change in the short space of about two rounds because the second round saw Jackson giving Chuck perhaps the most excruciating beating of his career. Chuck’s corner had to quickly throw in the towel as he lay bloodied and withering under a barrage of heavy blows to the head and kidneys. I seriously doubt that Chuck ever forgot this beating.
So what unwitting fans may have been witnessing in those opening moments 0f UCF 71 was a manifestation of instant recall sparked by Quinton Jackson’s assertion of dominance.
In the animal kingdom such verities have distinct ordors that are neither forgott nor ignored. The edge of Jackson’s advance represented an event horizon that Chuck Liddel wanted nothing to do with. Jackson was the stalker and Chuck the “stalkee”. Fans soon realized that Chuck was onto something. Jackson was the man. No matter how irked they were by Chuck’s Ginger Baker routine (dancing backwards), they should have never pooh-poohed his instincts. Knowing who the hell owns your BE-hind is a sensibility that keeps people as much alive on Cell Block C as in the vaunted octagon.
Pre-match images of the fighters before the face-off had tripped my sixth sense right off cuff: Quinton Jackson was gonna kick Chuck’s butt. Jackson’s Rampage was “Original Man” to Chuck Liddell’s “Ice Man.” The clench of Jackson’s jaw portended ownership – even though I was a bit worried about the height and body-tone difference. Jackson looked a bit paunchy where Liddell was, well …. tall and lithe, his beer gut notwithstanding.
The pre-bout face-off and the stare, presented fans with a bit of commedia de farce. Jackson was scowling like a WWE wrestler while Liddell was kind of fidgeting with a half-sheepish smile. There was clearly a different dynamic going on here compared to Chuck and his other opponents like Tito for example. And this should have been the tip-off for most fans.
None Dare Call It Holyball: Play thing or quasi-religious artifact for sun-addled lunatics? The leathern orb made of calfskin and woven thread.
Airborne Love at the Beach: Now that looks positively godly – A pro volleyball spiker showcases the quintessence of (attack) form at the Beach Volleyball Classic at Weymouth Dorset in England. (Photo from http://www.livethenews.com)
Waiting for Godot in the sand: Serve receive form at the Beach Volleyball Classic at Weymouth Dorset in England (www.livethenews.com)
Digital cues and signs that smoke men’s minds: A pro volleyball player signals blocking intent to her serving partner. (Pic from http://www.livethenews.com)
Right from the top. Did we say TOP? Heh heh!Yes, I guess we did 
