…well, it was.

Today was beautiful.  24 degrees, and sunny with a nice breeze blowing.  Normally I’m not one to write about the weather but today was the best day of the year so far, until about an hour ago.  The clouds rolled in and the rain came down and down and down.  It has since stopped and the wind has died down, but the great temperature remains.

Today I went out and purchased some Lego for Myles.  I will hold it until Christmas time.  He loves the stuff and Toy’s ‘r Us had some sets at 40% off.  Even I can’t turn away from a deal like that!  I also cleaned the bathroom and have been working on a side job for a customer that is culminating this weekend.  It has been very time consuming, but also very profitable with the potential to generate both recurring revenue and additional business.

Speaking of generating revenue, can anyone tell me why MMA is not yet legalized in Ontario?  The minister in charge, Harinder Takhar, has not commented nor does he seem to be in any kind of a rush.  The Ontario Athletic Commissioner, Ken Hayashi (who incidentally attended UFC 97 in Montreal last weekend) merely has a tweak a few sentences within the Athletic Control Act to make the sport legal in this province.  As it stands now, Ontario is the only province that has not legalized mixed martial arts.  If you would like to encourage the powers that be to hurry up to make this change, they can be contacted at 866-668-4249 or e-mailed at infosbcs@ontario.ca.

Ironically, Premier Dalton McGuinty is looking for additional sources of income for the province.  Hey Dalton, here’s a big one right here!  Do you know that a UFC card could probably sell out the SkyDome?  70,000 people enjoying themselves, out spending hard earned dollars on the event itself, drinking, staying in hotels, spending money in the shops downtown.  Millions of dollars fettered into the provincial coffers by residents and tourists alike!  It’s not like we are talking about a high risk event.  In the almost twenty years that mixed martial arts has been a sport, there has only been one recorded death in North America.  There are hundreds of sports out there that carry a greater risk, all of which are legal in Ontario (oddly, pro wrestling comes to mind).

But I digress for the evening…we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.

UFC 97 is in the books, and I’m happy to say that I was live in person for the event.  I was at the previous event in Montreal, UFC 83, where Georges St. Pierre obliterated Matt Serra to reclaim his Welterweight Title.  This time, the title match pitted UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva vs. challenger Thales Leites.

Unfortunately, there were two disappointments to the evening.  The title fight was a complete clash of styles, which produced a very boring fight for the fans.  Anderson Silva, despite possessing a BJJ Black Belt under the Noguiera brothers, did not wish to engage Leites on the ground.  Leites is also a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt and that is clearly where he wanted the fight.

He kept dropping down to the guard position hoping Silva would get frustrated and follow him down.  However, the strategy did not work as Silva continually kicked at his legs and then let him up.  It was to Silva’s advantage to keep the fight standing as he is a Muay-Thai specialist, and the far better striker of the two.

Silva ended up taking the unanimous decision in one of the most boring fights that the UFC has put on.  Throughout the bout, alternating chants of “GSP!” and “Bullshit!” could be heard.  Unlike many who watched the fight, I do not blame the UFC or the fighters for putting on a slow fight.  Given their relative styles, and each wanting to impose their game, this is what was bound to happen.  Anderson Silva could have been more aggressive, but its hard to do with your opponent flopping down more than an Italian soccer player.  Leites, being the challenger and also wanting this fight on the ground, should have been more aggressive in going for the takedown.  He has nothing to lose!

The second disappointing fight was Ed Herman vs. David Loiseau.  I was really hoping that “The Crow” would have shown some flashes of his old self, but alas it was not to be.  He spent the majority of the fight turtled up on the ground and showed no ability to defend on the ground.  While I do not question his heart as he endured a fifteen minute beating, I question his skills.  I think it would be best for him to take about a year off and work on his takedowns and submission skill set.  By enhancing those with his already significant striking ability (the few hits that he did manage to get on Ed Herman hurt him), he would become a much more complete fighter.

The most entertaining fight of the night came when Chuck Liddell faced Mauricio “Shogun” Rua.  Unfortunately for the Iceman, Rua handed him another devastating loss by knocking him out in the first round.  Liddell is currently pondering retirement, and judging by the post-fight comments by Dana White he may be forced to do so.  Should this fight turn out to be his last, I’m proud to say I was there and would have loved to thank him for all the memories that he has provided.  He has sixteen wins in the Octagon, the most ever.  Most of these wins were by knockout as well.  Like him or hate him, Liddell always shows up to fight and his style virtually guarantees that any fight that he is in will be entertaining.  He is a sure-fire UFC Hall of Fame inductee.

On the opposite side of the Octagon, Shogun looks about as good as he has since his Pride days.  His takedowns were quick, his hands were fast, and his submission game was in good order as he attempted a calf slicer on Liddell that almost caught the Iceman.  I am thinking that his next fight may be a rematch with Forrest Griffin, as he is surely looking for some retribution.  Ultimately, however, there is no lack of challenges at light-heavyweight for Rua, as marquee names such as Franklin, Jackson, Evans, and Machida are all in the division.  A gatekeeper fight against Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine is also a possibility.

Another fight on the card included Jason “The Athlete” MacDonald vs. Nate “Rock” Quarry.  Quarry took this fight early in the first round after acquiring a dominant ground position on MacDonald and opening him up with vicious elbows.  The referee stopped the fight, likely due to the sheer amount of blood that was coming out of MacDonalds forehead.  While MacDonald was still intelligently defending himself, the fact is that the blood was in his eyes obscuring his vision, and there was still two minutes and thirty-three seconds left in the round.  It was a good stoppage.  If there was only thirty seconds left in the round, they likely would have let MacDonald continue.  In this instance it was a case of the referee preventing the fighter from sustaining unnecessary punishment that may end his career prematurely.

As an aside…it is stoppages such as this that showcase the difference between Mixed Martial Arts and Boxing.  Boxers, over the course of a fight, can absorb literally hundreds of punches and a referee will not intervene to save his career.  MMA is different.  If the fighter is not intelligently defending himself, or there is a risk of permanent injury, the fight will be stopped.

Cheik Kongo knocked out Antoni Hardonk with his heavy hands in the second round of their matchup.  Kongo is still learning the ground game but he is slowly getting better.  I would love to see a matchup between Kongo and current UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar.  It would be billed as King Kong vs. Honky Kong.  Two big boys with dynamite in their fists.  I think that Lesnar would win due to his superior ground and pound, but I would like to see how well his chin holds up after Kongo tagged it a couple of times.

In other fights, Mark Bocek impressed me with his first round submission of David Bielkheden.  It was a textbook rear naked choke, forcing Bielkheden to tap with only three seconds left in the first round.  “The Polish Experiment” Krzysztof Soszynski forced a tapout in the first round of his fight with Brian Stann by using his favorite hold, the Kimura armlock.  In the first fight of the evening, the judges awarded a unanimous decision win to Eliot Marshall over Vinny Magalhaes.  It was roundly criticized by the fans in attendence.  Personally, I’m not sure what fight the judges were watching.  Magalhaes controlled this fight, and was the aggressor throughout.  It is a shining example why fighters want to finish fights rather than put their fate in the hands of the judges.

Other winners included Denis Kang over Professor X (Xavier Foupa-Pokam), T.J. Grant via split decision over Ryo Chonan, Luis Cane over Steve Cantwell, and Sam Stout over Matt Wiman.

All in all it was a great event and I hope to return next year!

It’s in the books.  Quinton “Rampage” Jackson won a unanimous decision over The Dean of Mean, Keith Jardine.  Jackson dropped him a couple of times with his dynamite-loaded fists, but Jardine was resilient and kept popping back up.  This sets up a match between the champ, Rashad Evans, and Jackson.  The trash talking has already begun. 

Shane Carwin continued to roll as he dropped Gabriel Gonzanga in their heavyweight matchup.  Gonzaga actually had Carwin rocked, and on the ground where he could work his magic, but he could not get the job done.  I did not think Carwin looked especially dominating despite the early knockout, however.  He was tagged by Gonzage first, who is not a noted striker.

Knockout of the night had to go to Matt Hamill.  Hamill, who is deaf, dealt a crushing leg kick to the head of Mark Munoz.  Munoz crumpled like a wet paper bag and left the octagon in a neck brace.  Hamill is a wrestler who prior to being on The Ultimate Fighter has no striking experience.  He has really evolved as a fighter.

We had the UFC, the Super Bowl, and a LAN Party.  That’s a busy, fun weekend right there.

My roommate hosts LAN parties every six weeks or so.  Essentially, it’s an excuse for a bunch of guys (and the occasional female) to show up with their computers on a Friday night, stay awake non-stop until sometime Sunday morning, drink like fish, and obliterate one another over and over again within the context of their video game of choice.  Occasionally there are prizes, wings, breakfasts, pizza for dinner, and the unfortunate guy who has no choice but to worship the porcelain goddess.  Despite the fact that I very rarely play video games, I still enjoy everyone’s company.  I do not get much sleep, maybe about six hours between Friday and Sunday.  Everyone has a good time, except for the cranky neighbor, and it is good, clean fun with lots of swearing.

Most of our guests are fans of the UFC, and if can be timed we do it in conjunction with a pay-per-view.  This lan party (officially BTM 63) coincided with UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn II.  Needless to say, it was a pretty good PPV, with St. Pierre taking the fight handily.  Penn could not answer the call for round five, after sustaining almost fifteen minutes of brutal ground and pound (the first round was pretty even).  As fellow Canadians, nobody would bet on Penn.

I was rooting for St. Pierre as well, not only because he is a fellow Canadian, but the fact that BJ Penn came across as very arrogant during the pre-fight interviews.  I don’t know if it was fight hype, but he was accusing St. Pierre of having a weak heart, and criticizing his trainers.  Things like that do not go over very well in MMA due to the fact that most of the fighters are very respectful of one another, even if they do not like them.  BJ running his mouth off, or shooting from the hip, it is not professional and he should know better.  Oh well…I guess somebody has to be the heel.  It’s not professional wrestling, but it sells tickets.

The only knockout of the entire event was Lyoto Machida putting Thiago Silva to sleep with one second left in the first round.  Given Machida’s elusive fighting style (this was the first knockout of his fourteen fight career), nobody would have predicted that.  UFC 94 saw the first seven fights go to a decision.  It was a very well put together card and the fights were all very close.  From what I saw, the judges got the decisions right.  Getting back to Machida, this guy deserves a title shot.  The UFC is reluctant to do so because he is such a polar fighter.  You either love him or hate him.  People who want blood and guts will not like Machida’s fighting style because he is very elusive and technical.  His background is non traditional; it is Shotokan Karate.  Because of this, he distances himself farther away than a traditional mixed martial artist, and has a counterpunching style out of the pocket.  This makes him very difficult to close in on or hit.

Another fighter that impressed me was Jon Jones.  He’s very young, only 21, and he fought a big, tough guy in Stephan Bonnar and came out on top.  His style is very aggressive, but extremely unorthodox.  Rarely do you see fighters employing a mix of wrestling and taekwondo.  Spinning back fists, back kicks, and front suplexes are all in Mr. Jones’ repetoire.  And he has nothing but time.  He needs to work on his conditioning, as he tired during round two and allowed Bonnar to make a comeback of sorts, and his submission game.

Assuming you do not live in a closet, you know that Sunday was the Super Bowel.  Arizona vs. Pittsburgh.  The Steelers won, but the game was very close.  Arizona was leading with less than three minutes to play.  I was cheering for them, not because I have a favorite team, but I like the underdogs.  It’s nice when they win one.  Bruce Springsteen and The E Street Band played the halftime.  He did a good job, but I’m not into Springsteen.  I bet there are people out there who bought a Superbowl ticket just to see The Boss.

Of course, the biggest part of the Super Bowl (aside from the game) are the commercials.  Given that we are in Canada, we do not get to see the great commercials that they show in the United States, so I have to become a filthy downloader to get them.  I don’t care about the game, the entertainment is all in the ads! 

And that was the weekend that was.

Helio Gracie, the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, passed away yesterday at the ripe old age of 95.  Mr. Gracie was famous for two reasons.  As mentioned, he was the founder of the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and his two fights against Masahiko Kimura and Valdemar Santana.

Gracie’s fight with Kimura lasted thirteen minutes, where he sustained many throws by the larger man.  Kimura applied an Udegarami (now known as the Kimura lock) but Gracie would not tap.  As the rules state, Kimura had no choice but to break Helio’s arm.  Still, Gracie would not tap and Kimura broke it again.  Finally, Helio’s older brother Carlos threw in the towel.

Helio’s second fight was against his student Valdemar Santana.  He lost this fight as well, due to exhaustion, but to my knowledge it is the longest mixed martial arts fight in history, at three hours and forty five minutes.

Helio’s son Royler founded the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and his other son Royce won three of the first four tournaments (in the now dead tournament style, where you had to fight at least three times in a single night).

Without Helio, there would be no UFC, and no mixed martial arts.  A legend has passed.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  I certainly did.  The past few Christmas Days have been difficult, primarily due to health problems or a severe disruption of my sleep schedule (because you try so hard for everything to be perfect, yet just seem to run out of time).  This time, everything worked out and a great time was had by all.

For those in the Commonwealth, happy Boxing Day.  Traditionally, it is the biggest single shopping day up here in Canada, with retailers opening their doors as early as 5:00 am to let the stampeding herd of people through their doors.  Much like Black Friday in the United States, stores offer up deep discounts in the hope to motivate people to purchase.

Personally, I stay away from the big crowds.  I don’t buy too much in any event, as I lead a rather Spartan existence.  I do not have much use for novelties or decorations; as long as I have my technology, I am a happy camper.  In a complete contradiction of the first sentence of this paragraph, I did venture out to Wal-Mart to pickup some milk and juice, and I decided to browse through the store to see what kind of specials they were offering.  Near as I can figure, not too many.  They had some Blu-Ray discs moderately priced at $9.97, but they raised the prices on others!  Two examples would be the movies The Aviator and Pathfinder, which were priced at $16.97 two weeks ago, yet are now “on special” at $23.63 each.  Full Metal Jacket was the same way.  Wal-Mart is truly deserving of a post of its own, as they generate a lot of contoversy.  The trick is to stick to the products on sale in the main aisles.  Those are generally sold for little profit.  They make their money when you decide to venture down the aisles to upgrade your purchase.  The perception that you are getting the best price because you are shopping at Wal-Mart is just that, a perception.

Continuing on…

For those wondering, “A look at the economy…Part Two” is currently being researched, and will be posted soon.

UFC 92: The Ultimate 2008 takes place tomorrow.  On paper, this is arguably the best card that the UFC has put together since Dana White and the Fertita brothers purchased the company seven years ago.  I was always a big fan of the tournaments that were offered up by the early UFC’s, however due to the fact that the UFC has become regulated and gone mainstream, these are a thing of the past.  For those who are unaware, the UFC was conceived by Art Davie and the Gracie family as a method to determine what the best style of fighting is.  They brought in fighters of all shapes and sizes from all disciplines – wrestling, kung fu, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boxing and even made a few types up (like trapfighting and pitfighting).  Royce Gracie won the tournament three times out of the first four UFC’s, his only blemish being UFC 3.  Kimo gave him such a fight that he was unable to continue to the next round due to exhaustion.

The UFC could conceivably hold a tournament within a single weight class during a pay-per-view, but the logistics are difficult to handle because you do not know the length of the fights.  An eight man tournament would produce seven fights, which may run over the allotted pay per view time unless they booked four hours.  I think that the return on a tournament would be immense because it would generate millions of dollars and create a true number one contender in the weight class that they run it in (I would start with the 205 lb. division).  The fighter who won would have to fight three times, each fight lasting up to fifteen minutes.

I would also see the UFC introduce a women’s division.  For years I was not a proponent of such a division due to that lack of high-calibre female fighters.  Dana White has felt the same way, but now he is seeing the potential as the quality of the fighters have improved, and the women are now very marketable.  Specifically, I am thinking of Gina Carano, who is a fantastic fighter (when she can control her weight issues) and is gorgeous.  The UFC owns the WEC, which is a feeder organization and that is where they should start the women.  It can only raise the profile of the sport.

UFC 97 has been announced for April 18th, 2009 in Montreal.  The main event will be Thales Leites vs. Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Title.  I will break this fight down as we get closer to the event, which I hope to attend in person.  I was in Montreal at that time last year for UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II and I had an absolute blast.  I went alone, and thoroughly enjoyed every minute I in Montreal.  I hope to take a few extra days and see the city some more.  I did not do that last year, but I get a second chance this time around and I intend to make the most of it.

Back to UFC 92.  The card, like I said is fantastic.  Listed below are the fights:

Main Event: Forrest Griffin (Champion) vs. Rashad Evans (Challenger)
Co-Main Event: Antonio Rodrigo Noguiera (Champion) vs. Frank Mir (Challenger)
Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Wanderlei “The Axe Murderer” Silva
C.B. Dollaway vs. Mike Massenzio
Cheick Kongo vs. Mustapha Al-Turk
Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami
Antoni Hardonk vs. Mike Wessel
Matt Hamill vs. Reese Andy
Ryo Chonan vs. Brad Blackburn

Normally, I would break the fights down, and give my pick as to a winner, but tomorrow I’m just going to watch for the fun of it all, rather than analyse each fight critically.  One fight that is not on the main card that I would like to see is Dean Lister vs. Yushin Okami.  Hopefully, the UFC will broadcast it because I think that will be a fantastic fight.

In other sports news, at the World Junior Tournament, Team Canada absolutely hammered the Czech Republic 8-1.  The tournament is being held in Canada this year, and they are the defending champions.  The juniors are aiming for their fifth consecutive gold medal.  I enjoy watching this tournament more than I do the NHL, because it just seems like a better quality of hockey.  These kids are not multi-millionaires (yet), and are playing their hearts out.  I hope to have the opportunity to catch a few of the games.

The Doctor Who Christmas Special aired on BBC as well last night.  As with the series, the Christmas Special was very well done.  It is no secret that I have high praise for the BBC and Russell T. Davis when it comes to Doctor Who.  The 2008 Christmas Special does not introduce any new aliens, instead bringing back the Cybermen to the 1850′s.  They are under the control of a mad feminist and the Doctor must stop them from destroying London.  A nutty concept, but they made it work.

The big man took it…Brock Lesnar, in his fourth professional mixed martial arts fight, won the UFC Heavyweight Title from Randy Couture.  The last person to win the UFC Heavyweight Title in his fourth fight was none other than The Natural himself.  The fight itself was not terribly technical.  Lesnar wobbled Couture with a big right hand that knocked him down, then used those ham-hocks that he calls fists to pound on Randy’s head until the fight was stopped.

In other fight news, Demian Maia pulled out a slick submission win over Nate Quarry, and Kenny Florian did likewise to Joe Stevenson.  Both fights finished with rear-naked chokes.  Florian now gets to fight B.J. Penn for the Lightweight Title.  This will be a great fight, albeit with two fighters that I do not care much for.  While I respect their technical ability, both fighters are somewhat pompous in their behaviour outside the ring.  Especially B.J.

The UFC showed all nine fights on the Pay Per View, which I think is a record.  However, this card was unusual in that the five fights that were on the main card all ended fairly quickly.  It is a rarity but it does happen.

I am a big fan of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  The Ultimate Fighting Championship presents UFC 91 on November 15th.  Aside from the main event, there are a couple of interesting fights on this card that I will break down here, and offer my predictions on.

Fight #1: Randy “The Natural” Couture vs. Brock Lesnar

This fight is clearly a David vs. Goliath matchup, but also one of youth vs. experience.  In so saying that, styles make fights and Brock Lesnar represents the worst possible matchup for Randy Couture.  Couture typically has problems with big aggressive wrestlers (see his losses to Josh Barnett and Ricco Rodriguez).  In addition, due to a contract dispute, he has not fought in nearly sixteen months.

Lesnar’s weakness is that he is new to the MMA game.  He is a fantastic wrestler, but so is Couture.  Lesnar has been under the spotlight with respect to being in a big time main event (with the WWE at Wrestlemania), therefore I do not see him getting butterflies.  However, his overall skills are subject to scrutiny due to the fact that he is a rookie.

The old adage in the MMA world is to never bet against The Natural.  I think the old ring general will surprise many fans once again and take this fight via rear naked choke.  He will submit Lesnar despite having only two submission wins on his record, and doing the unexpected against this monster challenger.

Fight #2: Kenny “KenFlo” Florian vs. Joe “Daddy” Stevenson

This fight has the potential to be fight of the night.  Two lightweights squaring off to determine the number one contender for the lightweight title, currently held by B.J. Penn.  Aside from Florian needing a new nickname (KenFlo has to be the worst in the sport, bar none), his talent and the amount that he has grown as a fighter since he was on Season One of The Ultimate Fighter is undeniable.  Stevenson, also of The Ultimate Fighter fame (Season Two), is also an impressive fighter.

I believe that Stevenson has a better ground game than Florian.  He is able to transition from submission attempt to submission attempt fluidly.  The better overall game, however, goes to Florian.  He is more athletic, faster, and a better striker.  I also think that he will be able to counter Stevenson’s submission attempts.  I see KenFlo taking this fight via Unanimous Decision.

Fight #3: Nate “Rock” Quarry vs. Demian Maia

Nate Quarry has not fought in a year, not counting the debacle with Kalib Starnes.  That was not his fault, however.  This fight against the undefeated Demian Maia will be a true test for him.  Quarry is a big, strong guy with powerful punches.  Maia is the best pure Jiu-Jitsu practitioner in MMA today.  His three UFC wins have all been by tapout (choke).  I think that this fight will end with a choke, and Quarry tapping out.  Demian Maia is not a fighter that he wants to go to the ground with.  Quarry’s best chance to win this fight is to pressure Maia and test his chin.

As an aside, the fan in me would love to see Maia matched up with Ricardo Almeida.  What a fight that would be!

Other Fights

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Josh Hendricks
Jorge Gurgel vs. Aaron Riley
Dustin Hazelett vs. Tamdan McCrory
Jeremy Stephens vs. Rafael dos Anjos
Alvin Robinson vs. Mark Bocek
Matt Brown vs. Ryan Thomas