If I’m ever at a UFC and Chuck Liddell is sitting next to me, I hope he doesn’t have an issue with me watching him instead of the fights, because sometimes “The Iceman” gets so into the action that he looks like he thinks he’s back in there throwing bungalows.
Sure, getting amped up watching fights is nothing new for Chocolate Al, but for some reason it never loses its lustre.
Check out a couple more of his other most memorable “flashback” moments after the jump.
It’s amazing that the UFC marketing department can release what likely started off as an inter-office gag and it becomes more popular than the actual hype videos they release for the event, especially when you think it probably didn’t take their video editing team more than an hour to make it.
Well, this is it, folks — Gary Goodridge‘s last column for CagePotato. Big Daddy decided to blast through a bunch of questions lightning-round style, so if he still didn’t get to your question, 1) Learn to write better questions, and 2) Stay tuned for the start of Dan Severn‘s mailbag column on CagePotato, coming soon. Thanks so much to Gary for doing this for us; follow him on Facebook and Twitter, and visit bigdaddyfightteam.com.
‘danomite’ asks: Have you ever known anybody to work a fight or take a dive? You don’t have to name names, just wondering how much it happened, especially in Japan.
Yes that type of stuff happened all the time in Pride. There are some pretty famous examples that the old fans all talk about. Chances are if you think it’s shady, it might have been. Naoya Ogawa’s camp offered me money to throw the fight but I didn’t want to sacrifice my integrity for a buck.
‘ReX13′ asks: I always wondered what Gary’s first thought was after he killed Paul Herrera. Well, after the adrenaline damped down a bit. I was shocked like everybody. Since I practiced my counter-move the night before I was ready, but surprised it worked that easily. I didn’t have too much time to celebrate though since I had another fight coming right up.
Ladies and gentleman, the cage doors are now open.
In partnership with Shark Fights and Lionsgate, CagePotato is proud to announce the official launch of Proving Ground. More than just a contest, Proving Ground is a six-week quest to find a rising MMA star and follow his life and training as he approaches what could be a career-changing fight.
If you visit cagepotato.com/proving-ground, you’ll find our first batch of eight applicants; we invite you to watch their videos and get to know them. On August 15th, we’ll announce four finalists who we think best represent the CagePotato brand, featuring their bios and exclusive interviews/video blogs on the Proving Ground page. And with your help, we’ll select a single fighter out of those four — the “Proving Ground #1 Contender” — who will receive a three-fight contract with Shark Fights and make their debut at Shark Fights 19, September 10th in Independence, Missouri.
Last week news broke that UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva had signed a landmark sponsorship deal with Burger King, whose ownership group, 3G Capital, is an investment firm whose largest investors include Brazilian billionaires Jorge Paulo Lemann, Marcel Telles and Carlos Sicupira.
(Experts say it was this spot that got Anderson the deal with BK.)
Earlier this week week, Silva’s manager Ed Soares, who sold off his Sinister clothing line to Silverstar, TapouT and Hitman clothing ownership group Authentic Brands Group last year, announced that his client has also signed lucrative deals with both Nike and the Sport Club Corinthians Paulista soccer team.
“The Spider’s” fight shorts and walkout wear will be made by Nike and he will don a Corinthians jersey for his UFC 134 bout with Yushin Okami later this month. The club will also name their new stadium after the dominant 36-year-old Brazilian fighter.
(Coenen and Overeem were taken aback by the news, while Einemo was taken aback by the smell of that glove.)
Much like we would deny any affiliation with CP if we ever find ourselves at a Dana White dinner party, teammates of Alistair Overeem may soon start having to deny that they train with the recently released former Strikeforce heavyweight champion if they want to find lucrative work.
According to Golden Glory head trainer Martijn de Jong, Zuffa yesterday released a trio of The Demolition Man’s teammates. De Jong tweeted that former Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Marloes Coenen, Alistair’s brother Valentijn and his longtime training partner John Olav Einemo all received their walking papers Monday.
Keeping those words from the first collection in our hearts, we’ve assembled the second installment of moments in MMA that some of us (mostly the athletes involved) would like to forget. The rest of us, we want to see those moments saved forever, preferably in a graphic format that loops endlessly.
First, get your mind right with a fight video from the dark ages of MMA, when any human with a pair of pajamas and some Tae Kwon Do could try that crazy ultimate fightin’ stuff. It was 1998, and Travis Fulton had already had over sixty fights. His opponent was Jeremy Bullock, a skinny guy that probably really liked Bruce Lee movies. Make sure to watch Bullock’s interview, where he shares his keys to victory with everyone, including Fulton. Also watch the fight, where Fulton shares his love for a good pro wrestling-style chokeslam with everyone, including Bullock. (Reportedly, Bullock thinks Bruce Lee is a fucking asshole these days.)
Once you’re done with that piece of history, come on in and we’ll share more moments of infamy, awkwardness, stupidity, and shame. It’s Fail GIF time, kids; let’s party.
As always, big ups, props, and mad respec’ to the GIF masters and the websites that host them: Chris Bunch o’ Numbers, Uncle Justice, Damn Severn, Zombie Prophet, Caposa, UpstandingCitizens, MMA-Core, IronForgesIron, and MMATKO. If we forgot you, it’s not on purpose.
Following the UFC’s record-shattering first visit to Toronto in April, the promotion plans on heading back to Canada’s largest city by the year’s end. According to an ESPN report, UFC 140 will take place at Toronto’s Air Canada Centre on December 10th. No fights have been announced for the card yet, and since Georges St. Pierre is already booked to fight Nick Diaz on October 29th, the country’s biggest star almost certainly won’t be showing up for an encore performance.
That should help explain why the event is somewhat scaled down compared to UFC 129, which hosted over 55,000 fans at Toronto’s Rogers Centre. The capacity of the Air Canada Centre is about 20,000, meaning that a sellout would put the attendance on par with the UFC’s hugelysuccessful events at Montreal’s Bell Centre — still nothing to sneeze at.
(Fedor Emelianenko, immediately after his loss to Dan Henderson on Saturday night. Photo via Darren Shuster, PR Representative for Dragon Door/RKC)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. E-mail feedback@cagepotato.com for details on how your site can join the MMA Link Club…
- Dan Henderson Gets Caught on National Television Spanking Dat Ass at a Cardinals Game (MMA Mania)
- Herb Dean Defends Controversial Stoppage in Fedor Emelianenko vs. Dan Henderson Fight (5thRound)
- After Release from Prison, War Machine Looking for Fresh Start (MMA Fighting)
- Leonard Garcia out of UFC Live 5 With Injury; Jim Hettes to Replace Against Alex Caceres (Five Ounces of Pain)
- UFC’s Rich Franklin Discusses Career, Life and Fans Asking for His Underwear (BleacherReport.com/MMA)
- Photo Gallery: Vitor Belfort Prepares for UFC 133 Bout With Yoshihiro Akiyama (LowKick)
- Video: 20 of the Most ‘WTF?’ Moments in UFC History (MiddleEasy)
- A Conquistador Story: Looking Back on Jorge Rivera vs. Travis Lutter (MMA Convert)
- Dan Henderson’s Win Over Fedor Builds Momentum for TRT Usage/Acceptance (FightOpinion)
- Ben Askren on Season Five of Bellator, Nate Marquardt and Fight With Hector Lombard (TheFightNerd)
- Following Burger King Deal, Anderson Silva Inks Sponsorships With Nike and Brazilian Soccer Club (MMAPayout)
- What’s Next for ‘Fedor vs. Henderson’ Winners and Losers? (NBC Sports MMA)
(If Aleks hadn’t gone and contracted Hep C, they could have sorted things out the old fashioned way. – vid courtesy of YouTube/Sakuraba78)
When Russians fight, they don’t beat around the bush.
In an interview he did over the weekend with Valetudo.ru in which he responded to claims from Aleksander Emelianenko that his brother’s loss to Dan Henderson over the weekend was the fault of Fedor’s trainers, Sergei Kharitonov called Lil’ Emel “a drunken, diseased drug addict who wasn’t raised properly and who was a mistake.”
“When I read his interview I laughed out loud. Although he is 30 years old and that’s certainly not the reason for laughter. Firstly, for guys like Aleks I am not ‘Serezha’ but rather ‘Sergei Valeryevich.’ Secondly, it’s about time for him to learn how to compress thoughts and, above all, to think before he speaks. He didn’t get a proper upbringing, I guess, but I don’t want to go deeper in it – he doesn’t deserve so much honor. He is a great trash-talker, but real fighters prove their strength in the ring. Aleks is a drinker, he is always brawling. Normal men like me or Fedor would never drink to alcoholic mania and fight in the street. But I often hear about Aleks getting into scraps like this in different corners of our country,” he says. “He rampages, harasses the waitresses and other girls, lies, cries on every corner that he is a champion of the world and the strongest man on Earth. I guess, this is some kind of a drug effect.”
Chael Sonnen appeared on Sherdog and IBN Sports’ Fight Week and he had some interesting things to say about a number of topics, including his upcoming fight with Brian Stann, selling fights, smack talking and the allegations that his outspoken American Gangster persona is all an act.
Check out the meat and potatoes of this other instant classic Sonnen interview after the jump.
From last night’s Spike TV broadcast previewing UFC 133 on August 6th. Listening to Tito Ortiz retell the story of his redemptive victory over Ryan Bader, it’s hard not to view Ortiz as a sympathetic figure — the “good guy” in his matchup against Rashad Evans — especially since MMA fans still resent Evans for killing Chuck Liddell. Parts 2-4 of “Countdown to UFC 133″ are after the jump, running down the Vitor Belfort vs. Yoshihiro Akiyama co-main event, as well as the welterweight feature between Rory MacDonald and Mike Pyle. Check it out while it lasts…
Best of PRIDE host Kenda Perez has a new pictorial in Fight! Magazine, featuring a solid front-runner for ‘Hot MMA Chick Photo of the Year’. My goodness. Pick up the August 2011 issue of Fight! to see more, and follow Kenda’s life on Twitter. Another highlight from Kenda’s latest magazine shoot is after the jump…
(“I’ll have that technicality served with a nice chianti and some fava beans.”)
According to a report from London’s UK Mirror, Lee Murray and his co-accused in the 2006 Securitas depot heist could be headed back to court for a retrial and there’s a good chance that they could win this time around.
The reason for the latest development is that a forensics investigator in the case who allegedly collected DNA belonging to the accused from latex masks made for them by a local studio to wear as disguises in the robbery, has been found guilty of disposing of key evidence in another case. If the defendants’ lawyers can argue that there’s a reasonable doubt as to whether or not she could have done the same while collecting evidence for their cases, the charges against them could be dropped.
By law, the Kent Police were required to inform the lawyers of the gang jailed for the record-breaking estimated $85 million (USD) heist about their officer’s mistake and guilty finding.
(“What? I’m bulking. Don’t judge me. Most heavyweights have cans like this.”)
Unemployment can be one of the most stressful times in a person’s life. It can lead to depression, divorce and drug and/or alcohol dependancy. Ask most people who have lost their jobs at some point in their adult lives and they’ll tell you that it’s something they hope to never experience again.
For starters, most people don’t jump up two weight classes four weeks prior to their 41st birthday to knock out a fighter who was and still is considered by many to be the greatest heavyweight mixed martial artist who ever lived. Most people don’t pull off a feat like that four months after upsetting a tough young champion to take the Strikeforce light heavyweight belt. Most people don’t win every fight since October 2006, save a trio of title bouts. And most people don’t become concurrent champions in one organization in two weight classes.
It’s no surprise then that Henderson, whose stock has arguably never been higher, finds himself without a contract and it’s equally not surprising that he isn’t worried where he’ll next ply his trade.
Ok, Nation, today’s tech video is one of our favorites: a clip from Roy Dean’s White Belt Bible BJJ instructional. Called “White to Black – A Shift in Perspective”, the video illustrates the evolution of a BJJ player through a single, simple technique — the armbar.
Now based in Bend, Oregon, Dean is a long-time student of traditional martial arts, with black belts in judo, aikido, battojutsu, and jujutsu from his studies as an exchange student in Japan, as well as a black belt in BJJ under Joe Moreira and Roy Harris.
Chances are, the armbar was one of the first submissions you ever saw in MMA, and you had no idea why Royce Gracie was upside down underneath a guy — and the guy on top was tapping out with alacrity. Like the rear naked choke, we see the armbar so often that it can seem boring and pedestrian.
Watch this and fall in love with the armbar all over again.
If you watch MMA long enough, every fight, knockout, and submission begins to look familiar — which makes these classic bouts that much more special.
Wanderlei Silva Wins Via Choke vs. Bob Schrijber @ Pride Grand Prix 2000 Opening Round, 1/30/00
Though he has two other submission victories on his record due to strikes, Wanderlei Silva has only ended one fight in his 15-year career with a legit, bonafide submission hold. It went down during his third PRIDE appearance against renowned kickboxer Bob Schrijber, in a reserve bout for the 2000 PRIDE GP. After some standup brawling, Wandy secures a takedown, immediately lands in mount, and slugs “Dirty Bob” until the Dutchman is forced to roll. From there, Silva sets up a rear-naked choke — you can tell that grappling’s not really his strong-suit — and eventually gets the tap.
Tito Ortiz Fights Outside of the UFC vs. Jeremy Screeton @ West Coast NHB Championships 1, 12/8/98
After going 1-1 in his Octagon debut at UFC 13, Tito Ortiz took a tune-up fight at an NHB tournament in Los Angeles. The result was a fast, gnarly, PRIDE-style victory for the future superstar. Screeton shoots in on Ortiz, but the Huntington Beach Bad Boy uses his own formidable wrestling skills to reverse his opponent onto the mat. Two brutal knees to the head later, and Screeton was tapping out the morse code to “get me the fuck out of here.” Ortiz was invited back to the UFC the following month, and has never left. Seriously, we can’t get rid of this guy.
You like NickTheFace. We know you like NickTheFace. We like NickTheFace, too. So here’s something we can all like together: the latest hype video from one of the masters of hype video, reminding us all what we’re in for next month when Rampage takes on Jon Jones for the light heavyweight title at UFC 135.
Regardless of what your prediction is for this fight, studies indicate that this little clip will increase your excitement by about 30%. That may not sound like much, but we are told that 30% is a “measurable gain” that is “significant”. That comes from an “educated person” and their “college classes”. Gah. Don’t you just hate people that, like, know stuff?
Just a friendly reminder that Spike TV will be running the Countdown to UFC 133 show tonight at 11:00 pm ET. If you don’t have Spike and are in Canada, you can check it out tomorrow night at 8:00 pm ET on Sportsnet or you can have a look back here and I’m sure we’ll have other resources available for you to check out the show.
The card has undergone a lot of changes, which also force the UFC to reshoot portions of the preview episode, so hopefully it isn’t noticeable. The first time we catch them overdubbing the audio of Rashad talking about Phil Davis with a clip of him saying “Tito Ortiz,” we’re tuning out.
Check out a clip of Vitor Belfort doing some filming on the set of the show ahead of his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama Saturday night after the jump.
Hopefully everyone had a nice little Saturday. Maybe you went to Home Depot to pick out some wallpaper, or maybe you hit Bed Bath and Beyond with your significant other if you had enough time. Chances are you didn’t do anything too crazy like take your kids to skate with Tony Hawk and Shaun White or go to the Rage Against the Machine concert for your birthday.
(Oli Thompson, back when he used to lift heavy shit for a living. Photo via powershotsmag.com)
UFC 138‘s main event might be a little underwhelming, but there will be more than enough local talent to keep the Birmingham, England crowd engaged. In addition to well-known names like Paul Taylor, John Hathaway, Brad Pickett, and Terry Etim, there will be at least four U.K. fighters making their UFC debuts at the November 5th event. Here’s a quick rundown, with some videos after the jump…
Philip De Fries and Oli Thompson: The two heavyweight fight-finishers will be facing off against each other. De Fries is an undefeated BJJ specialist from Sunderland whose seven victories have all come by way of submission, with six in the first-round. Earlier this month, the 25-year-old choked out Stav Economou at an Ultimate Warrior Challenge event in Essex. Thompson is a former strongman competitor who won first place in the 2006 Britain’s Strongest Man tournament, and qualified for the 2008 World’s Strongest Man championships. As an MMA fighter, his 9-2 record includes five submissions and three KO/TKOs. He is the reigning heavyweight champion of the London-based Ultimate Challenge MMA promotion.
“Ashely Sonnen. I’m see you. I can see you right now. You’ve been talking your big mouths. You been talking a lot of stuffs.You talk a lot of respect for Brazil. You stay a lot of stuff like, ‘They pet the bus and they feed the carrot to the bus.’ That’s a very funny stuffs. But you say we don’t have a the Internet in Brazil. I think you’re wrong. I know I have Internet in Brazil. We have everything. I have a MySpace. I’m a new with the thing. Every kids have the MySpace. I have my job friends. I have Marco Ruas. I have Pedro. I have the Pedro. I have a de Pedro Rizzo. Those guys who clean the streets, he told me to put MySpace I don’t know how long ago it was. Maybe even three months ago he told me to put it. I download the music I call in Napster. You can’t tell me about the Internet.”
Chokes from the front headlock position: there are many. Names for chokes from the front headlock position: there are more. It’s enough to make you second-guess yourself while you’re at the bar in your Affliction shirt and you see a fighter shoot his arm under his opponent’s neck for a choke. Is it a Brabo? Is it a D’Arce? Gator roll, anaconda, neckties of various nationalities… how do you keep them straight?
By learning them, you big silly. Learn a little bit about the anaconda choke/gator roll vs the Brabo/D’arce choke by watching Jay Bell show a transition from the former to the latter. The difference is subtle, but you should be able to pick it up with a little instruction.
There, now you won’t look like such a douche at the bar when you’re trying to figure out which arm triangle choke variation you’re looking at.
Although changing into a CP shirt would have helped a lot. Just sayin’.
Although the music selection was interesting to say the least, this video by Machinemen effectively runs the gamut of emotion from the thrill of victory to the agony of defeat and everything in between and brings you along for the ride. Although not as technically dazzling as some of MM’s other work, “Marchin’ On” is just as effective at eliciting a response.
If you’re unfamiliar with his work, check out some of Machinemen’s other masterpieces, including his timely Fedor career retrospective short, after the jump.
Marriage, children and happiness have robbed us of Fedor the Unstoppable. There, someone needed to say it. PicProps: CombatLifestyle
In the aftermath of Saturday night Strikeforce show, the hot topic is Fedor Emelianenko’s plan for the future. Will he retire? Should he retire? When does God make these decisions about retirement, and can we get an invite to the press conference?
We here at CagePotato are willing to go out on this limb and say, “Geez, you guys, it looks way higher from up here than we thought.” We’ll also say that Fedor is not done yet, because advancing that opinion allows us the chance to write in some suggestions for Fedor’s next opponent, with varying degrees of likelihood.
Inside, we’ve selected a handful of fighters with history of challenging Fedor in some way, that we would be willing to watch take on the Russian Cyborg of Total Destruction. NoteL to keep things fair, everyone on the list is older than Fedor, except the first guy. But Fedor’s already signed on to fight that guy once…
Following her upset submission win over Marloes Coenen at Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Henderson, it’s clear that Miesha Tate is the hottest thing going in women’s MMA. While the “Face of Women’s MMA” title doesn’t mean a whole lot to the new 135-pound Strikeforce champion, she’s now the sport’s de facto female star, in light of Gina Carano and Cristiane “Cris Cyborg” Santos‘s long absences from the cage. So how far can Miesha Tate’s growing stardom take her? And can she help sustain interest in women’s MMA in the face of an uncertain future? Those are very important questions to consider as you gawk at the photo gallery after the jump…
UFC veteran and TUF 4 castmember Edwin Dewees was arrested on Thursday and taken to the Yavapai County Jail in Camp Verde, Arizona, after his twin two-year-old sons went missing for an afternoon and were found walking alone on a road. According to TheDailyCourier, the boys were picked up by police after a report was made about two small children spotted by themselves near Road 1 North and Cactus Wren:
The officer immediately found two 2-year-old boys, one wearing just a T-shirt, walking barefoot down Road 1 North, said Cmdr. Mark Garcia of the Chino Valley Police Department.
The officer took the children, who appeared unharmed, to the Chino Valley Police Department and called CPS, which took custody of the children, said Sgt. Vince Schaan of the Chino Valley Police Department.
For nearly two hours, officers tried to find the children’s home and their caretaker, but could not, Garcia said.
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