In the latest installment of MMA: Inside the Cage, Casey and Cyrus discuss Hector Lombard’s UFC signing, the new beef between MFC and Bellator, and the ongoing Nick Diaz vs. NSAC saga, before presenting the week’s best batch of knockouts and an exclusive interview with the ever-charming Bas Rutten. Part 2 of the show is after the jump, which features an analysis of Invicta’s debut show plus the must-see slugfest between Kaitlin Young and Leslie Smith.
Check it out and support our good friends at MMA:ITC, who have managed to put together a consistently entertaining half-hour MMA show that isn’t based on a bunch of jerkoffs yelling at each other. If you dig it, follow ‘em on Facebook and Twitter.
So when he sat down alongside current WBA (super), WBC, and The Ring super middleweight champion Andre Ward on last night’s edition of Inside MMA, the inevitable question came up: who does he think are the top five best boxers in MMA?
Check out Freddie’s top five, along with his thoughts on GSP vs. A. Silva, after the jump.
Add this upcoming documentary to the pile of must-see soon-to-be-released MMA movies along with “Once I was a Champion” and “Fightville.”
“Fight Spirit Pride” looks back on former UFC featherweight contender Mark Hominick’s crossover period from Canadian MMA standout to popular Octagon veteran five years ago. Though it should have been one of the most exciting and happy times of his life, it was one of the most stressful and painful for Hominick as his father was also dying from cancer.
“This is a Documentary film about a UFC fighter’s struggle between being there for his dying father, and his career. This documentary is a very raw uncensored microscopic look into the life of a fighter; it has two deaths and two births.”
HDNet only had to use one of six degrees of separation when adding “That 70′s Show” actress Laura Prepon to the Inside MMA guest list this week alongside former UFC light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.
An avid MMA fan who is often seen on camera during pay-per-view events, Prepon is rumored to have dated former UFC and Bellator heartthrob Roger Huerta. Moving on.
In the segment above Fo-Griff and Donna take some reader questions about preparing for the apocalypse and who “The Red Dragon” would fight if she had to pick one of her former co-stars.
Directed by Bobby Razak, whom you may know as the man behind the amazing Tapout short film, The Future of MMA (that video is after the jump), The History of MMA takes a nostalgic look back at the highs and lows of the sport we love oh so much, and includes commentary from several legends of the sport, including Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and referee Big John McCarthy among others. And as luck would have it, Mr. Razak decided to drop the trailer yesterday. We would advise that you check it out.
As you can see, the film touches on many of MMA’s most infamous moments; John McCain’s labeling of the sport as “human cockfighting,” its evolution through Pancrase, and the moment Tito Ortiz decided he had what it took to roc da mic right, yeah. On a side note, we bet Tank Abbott is gonna be pissed when he finds out that his name and photo appear whilst Bas Rutten describes how the UFC used to bring in “big guys with no skill.”
Anyway, join us after the jump to check out The Future of MMA, as well as an up close and personal excerpt from The History of MMA featuring Fred Ettish, a fighter whom, after getting obliterated in his only professional mixed martial arts contest at UFC 2, came back to claim his first win in 2009. At age 53.
Rutten says that he previously advised his fellow Dutchmen at Golden Glory to avoid “Cigano” at all costs. Overeem punched (and kicked) his ticket to the title bout by tearing Brock Lesnar apart “piece by piece” at UFC 141. Despite that stellar performance, Bas doesn’t give Overeem much of a chance against the champ.
Bas Rutten spoke with longtime MMA reporter and color analyst Paul Lazenby earlier this week and when talk turned to the dispute between his fellow countrymen and longtime friends with Golden Glory and Alistair Overeem, “El Guapo” revealed a few interesting tidbits from conversations he had with both sides. They say that in any dispute there are two sides to the story and that the truth lays somewhere in the middle and being that he has relationships with both parties, Rutten’s view is a bipartisan one.
According to Bas, contrary to what Alistair is telling everyone, it was him and Not Golden Glory who are to blame for the situation and that the split came because Overeem has no loyalty to the people who were behind him through the good and bad times in his career.
(“Brock Hunt,” the latest piece of brilliance by notlookoutawhale. I don’t like muskmelon; put that in your little notebook.)
This week’s featured stories…
- Divine Inspiration: Interview Exclusive With UFC Middleweight Contender Chael Sonnen (MMA Mania)
“Let me ask you something: when you have a big project or plans for a big goal, do you let yourself get derailed by a whiny coworker that always finds an excuse to shovel work on someone else? NO! You do your work, you beat your obligations senseless, you shine like a pagan sun god, you make that whiny prat look foolish, you take their job, you laugh as they leave with a box of their effects, and you comfort their obviously unsatisfied wife by taking her out to dinner. I’m not cooling my heels just because Anderson’s are kicked up on the sofa.”
- Despite Large Audience Expectations, UFC on FOX Debut Will Be Money Loser for UFC (MMAFighting)
“It’s an investment in the company,” Dana White recently said. “In no way, shape or form do we come anywhere close to making our money back. You don’t go on free television and make your money. That’s just not how it works. We’re going to get smashed on this fight, but it’s an investment in the future of the business.”
- 15 Worst One-Sided Beatdowns Ever Witnessed in MMA (BleacherReport.com/MMA)
“Kazushi Sakuraba and Wanderlei Silva fought against one another on three separate occasions in fights that should have never happened. The Japanese great never made it to the final bell against the heavy-handed striker in Silva. In the end, Silva was always the victor at the expense of Sakuraba, who always left their outings a bludgeoned mess, resulting in some of the worst performances of his career.”
- Brock Lesnar: Alistair Overeem Is Unfortunate to Fight Me in His UFC Debut (Lowkick.Blitzcorner.com)
“For two years I had to lie to myself and all of my fans. I had to get up every morning and say, ‘you feel good today,’ and I didn’t. I had the surgery, it’s out of my life and I’m back and that’s a damn good feeling for me and it’s bad for everybody else.”
To paraphrase a bit of legendary cinema, Bas Rutten’s new TV show is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever seen. At no point in the rambling, incoherent episode was El Guapo even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone who tuned in is now dumber for having watched it. I award this show no points, and may God have mercy on Bas’s soul.
Former UFC heavyweight champion turned TV show host, Bas Rutten, has a new show out on Fuel TV titled Punk Payback, which is somewhat odd considering none of the law-breaking punks actually get their comeuppance like they do on Bully Beatdown. So that’s strike one, right there: blatant false advertising.
For those of you who heard about Bas Rutten’s new series launching on FUELTV and thought it was some sort of Bully Beatdownrip off, then this new teaser trailer should ease you worries. Described as a “comedic, street fight survival series,” Punk Paybackpremiers Nov 2nd and from what I gathered is entirely devoted to continuing the awesomeness that we have been devoid of since “El Guapo” released his series of self defense videos. It’s safe to say that nothing has made me want a 3D television more than the possibility of seeing Mr. Rutten kick some 17 year old kid in the balls.
Check out an extended preview of the show after the jump.
(Jon Jones buys his first new car — a $190,000 2012 Bentley. For more pics of the UFC light-heavyweight champ’s new ride, head to MMAConvert.)
Some selected highlights from our friends around the MMA blogosphere. Starting today, we’ll be giving you guys short previews of each article we link to. We vouch for this stuff, so click, okay?
- My First Fight: Kenny Florian (MMA Fighting)
“Looking back, it’s crazy. The way that I trained, the way I ate, it was terrible. It was so far from what I do now…Ignorance is bliss, I guess, even when I was fighting on The Ultimate Fighter, weighing in at a chubby 178 pounds for a [185-pound fight], it was all kind of like I was just too dumb to know better.”
- Culinary Workers Union Creates Anti-UFC Website (The Fight Nerd)
“Maintained by the Culinary Workers Union, Local 226, the website uses the acronym of UFC to stand for “Unfit For Children” instead of the “Ultimate Fighting Championship.” Dana White’s many rants are listed in detail on this page across a series of sub-categories, including “Obscenities,” “Slurs” which features many of the comments DFW directed at Loretta Hunt among others, “Cheap Shots” which focuses on remarks about random people involved in entertainment and sports, and “Other $#@%!!!” which documents rude comments that UFC fighters have said about others, including Chael Sonnen’s negative thoughts on Brazil.”
- Hired Hero: An Interview Exclusive With UFC 136 Fighter Brian Stann, Part Two (MMA Mania)
“The fact of the matter is, I don’t care who you are. If I hit you on the chin, there’s a good chance you’re going out. Anderson possesses that same ability. He’s only a man. I don’t put any fighter on a pedestal of being unbeatable. I train with guys like Jon Jones every day who is every bit as devastating.”
(Full video of yesterday’s UFC on FOX: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos press conference, via YouTube.com/UFC)
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…
- UFC 141: Brock Lesnar vs. Alistair Overeem Winner on Dec. 30 Earns Heavyweight Title Shot (MMA Mania)
- We Know You Want to Watch This Video of The Korean Zombie and Arianny Celeste on a Korean Game Show (MiddleEasy)
- Dana White: Dan Henderson Signed Exclusive UFC Contract, Unsure About Strikeforce Belt (5thRound)
According to Shawn Tompkins’ brother-in-law and longtime friend and fighter Sam Stout, the revered Ingersoll, Ontario-born trainer died from a heart attack.
Stout revealed the tragic news to the London Free Press on Tuesday.
“I don’t know what to say,” Stout said. “It’s not supposed to be happen to a healthy 37-year-old person. Who would think he had to get checked out for that?”
At first glance, Bas Rutten’s new show may seem kind of a strange concept, but when you think about it, it will likely be nothing but pure comedic gold.
Touted by the network as being “a comedic, street fighting survival series,” “Punk Payback” will feature 10 1/2-hour episodes of Bas doing what he does in his famous self-defense videos, which is explain how to get out of bad situations using your fists, knees, feet, elbows and whatever inanimate objects are at your disposal.
The public service announcement has been part of American culture for decades. Popularized by the perpetually foxy Nancy Reagan in the ’80s, the PSA has taught us everything from not smoking crack to not dumping a pot of boiling oil on your face, and a whole bunch of other not’s. It has also served as a way to punish celebrities and athletes who did something incredibly stupid and got caught.
MMA fighters eventually began to get roped into this as the popularity of the sport rose; some are good, while others should be avoided as much as strangers in pick-up trucks who offer to let you see their puppy. That is why today I present to you the top eight public service announcements featuring MMA fighters. Why? Because knowing is half the battle…
8. Randy Couture VS Crystal Meth
Just say no to drugs! Randy Couture enters the battle against Methamphetamines in this PSA, because when you think crystal meth, think Randy Couture. For a video that is meant to appear sad and claustrophobic, it comes off like an amateur snuff film and loses its impact with the soft-spoken UFC veteran.
Couture has done plenty of these ads, so don’t be surprised if he pops back up on this list. Am I saying he will for sure? No, but if I did, would you stop loving me? I can’t handle any more rejection…oh man, sinking back into that pit of despair. I need some meth. But if I do that, then Randy won’t love me either. Argh, what a vicious cycle! But seriously kids, don’t do drugs. If you feel yourself losing power to your addiction, go punch a hobo instead. It’s much more fulfilling, but don’t take my word for it.
Oh, and I lied. Randy does not appear again on this list. That was the crystal meth talking.
To hear Scott Coker tell it, the story of Strikeforce is one of a plucky little regional promotion battling its way out of the shadows into the national spotlight, then cashing in its chips at the height of its popularity. At least that seems to be the rhetorical strategy Coker employs in the above video on HDNet, as he makes his first significant public appearance since Zuffa, LLC. bought his company 10 days ago. Coker allows Bas Rutten to fire cartoonish questions at him for more than 15 minutes, all the while appearing dutifully optimistic about what his new employers plan to do with the MMA organization he built almost singlehandedly.
(“So, which one of you broads is the lucky lady?” PicProps: Esther Lin)
We never thought we’d say this, but Old Dad’s latest “My First Fight” piece with Frank Shamrock actually makes us look at the metal-mouthed Strikeforce color commentator in a whole new, halfway positive light. Say what you want about his broadcasting skills (oh, and we do, we do) but after reading this story on MMA Fighting.com it’s hard not to consider the man’s life on the whole an overwhelming and unlikely success story. As an added perk, you also find out why Shamrock’s nose looks so funny on TV. It’s because when he was 24 years old, Bas Rutten kicked him in the face.
We’ll get to that in a minute. First though, this gem: Within the first two graphs of the narrative, our man Fowlkes deftly tells us that Shamrock may have been the first and last person in the history of mankind to (fresh out of prison) find himself deciding between a career as a health care professional, a mixed martial arts fighter and a male stripper. Channeling his 1994 self, Shammy explains thusly: “I was going to be a physical therapist or an exotic dancer, or I was going to do this no-holds-barred fighting thing that Ken (Shamrock) was doing. And I didn’t know anything about any of them.”
A decade later we all know the path Shamrock chose, in the process likely saving the bachelorettes of the early Clinton years an incredibly awkward night they would remember forever …
(If it were any man other than Bas, he’d be getting a punch in the mouth.)
Undefeated in the past four years, at 13-1 Ryan Jimmo is one of Canada’s most promising MMA prospects.
The Big Deal is in the thick of training camp for a championship bout with fellow Canadian Dwayne Lewis at MFC 28 on February 25 in Edmonton Alberta and has offered to write about his preparations for the biggest fight of his career via a weekly training blog published every week leading up to the fight here at CagePotato.com.
With the opening bouts of the Strikeforce heavyweight tournament less than a month away, embattled grand prix participant Josh Barnett turned up on HDNet’s Inside MMA over the weekend, where he and Bas Rutten both just started saying stuff. Protest if you want, but it makes for great TV when nobody is around to check facts or rein in the insanity. Clearly, Barnett and Bas just want to bro down, have a couple of drinks and reminisce about how radical it used to be to be King of Pancrase, leaving poor Kenny Rice to try to bumble his way through some actual journalism.
Things reach a fever pitch of awesomeness at about the 3:40 mark, when Rice asks Barnett a serious question about his efforts (or lack thereof) to get relicensed in California. Barnett dismissively waves his hands and pretty much says he doesn’t give a damn, that he doesn’t need no pencil-pushing lawmakers to tell him when and where he throws down. All the while Bas just chuckles to himself and mumbles stuff like “Right! Yeah!” as if to say “You tell it, brother!” Seriously, these guys are two peas in a pod …
The latest edition of the web-based Alistair Overeem mini documentary opens with Marloes Coenen receiving a hero’s welcome as she returns home to Holland for the first time since she won the Strikeforce women’s 135-pound title.
"I’m very proud, first of all. I know how hard she worked. She’s very dedicated. I knew she had it in her because she’s really strong and she’s really technical," Alistair explains. "Overall I’m very proud. Our Marloes. Our Marloes Coenen."
Golden Glory seems to be one of the tightest knit teams in MMA. It’s nice to see them giving their teammates the support that they do.
The episode also sees "The Demolition Man" attend the Glory MMA and kickboxing event to support his GG mates and beating the shit out of training with a group of friends from across Europe.
(Joey Beltran predicts a slugfest against Matt Mitrione during the UFC 119 Spike TV Prelims, and explains the origin of his "Mexecutioner" nickname. Props: FightMagazine)
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…
– CSAC’s George Dodd Explains Why Chael Sonnen Was Allowed to Compete at UFC 117 (MMA Fighting)
– Chael Sonnen Plans To Appeal Drug Test + Jim Rome’s Take On Sonnen (MMA Convert)
– UFC 119: Frank Mir’s Last Run At Heavyweight Title? (Heavy.com/MMA)
– Dunham, Sherk Headed in Different Directions Leading Up to UFC 119 (Versus MMA Beat)
– This Is What Google Says About Your Favorite Fighter (MiddleEasy)
– Snowman’s Land: Jeff Monson Discusses Next Fight in Israel, Drop to Light-Heavyweight (LowKick)
– The Best Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante Highlight Reel Ever (MMA Scraps)
- Understanding Why Chael Sonnen Failed His UFC 117 Drug Test; a Procedural Look (Watch Kalib Run)
– Bas Rutten Comments on Steroid Use in Mixed Martial Arts (Five Ounces of Pain)
Assemblyman Bob Reilly is the man leading the charge against legalizing mixed martial arts in the state of New York, and tomorrow night on "Inside MMA," the sport’s most vocal critic explains his opposition in Part One of an exclusive two-part interview. "What attracts people to Ultimate Fighting unfortunately is the violence and violence is not good for our society," Reilly says. "The difference between mixed martial arts and every other sport is that in mixed martial arts the purpose is to damage your opponent." On tomorrow night’s episode Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten are joined on the panel this week by Randy and Ryan Couture and Bellator middleweight champion Hector Lombard, all who strongly disagree with Reilly’s statements.
If you watched that video of Bas Rutten beating up an entire cooking show, you may have thought to yourself, "My, I wish I had that handsome white t-shirt with the devil’s face and strange words at the top." (Come on, at least one of you must have thought that.) The shirt in question is known as the "Five Principles", one of the standout designs from Tokyo Five, an apparel company that specializes in jeans as well as custom tees for MMA fighters like Matt Serra and Gabriel Gonzaga. T5 was cool enough to hook us up with a few of those Five Principles shirts, which we’re going to give away to you, our beloved readers. Well, maybe not give away; you’ll have to work for them. Specifically, you’ll have to come up with hilarious captions to the photo after the jump…
As much as we were hoping that this Bas Rutten video thing was a 42-part series from Fight Magazine, they seem to have reached a zenith with this video. It’s titled "El Guapo Likes to Dance," after a song that Bas says he wrote. "Stairway to Heaven" it ain’t, but it’s catchy and the accompanying footage also proves that it’s true. Our prediction? You will mock this video at first and then go about your day thinking nothing of it. Then, about four hours from now when you’re doing the last of your frantic Christmas shopping at the dollar store, you’ll catch yourself singing it and bopping your head along with the beat. That’s when you’ll look up and see everyone watching you, horrified and yet transfixed.
For more of Rutten’s world, go here. After the jump, the Mike Goldberg highlight reel that tells you everything you need to know.
Fight Magazine has put out another video from their pleasant afternoon in the hills with Bas Rutten, and just like the last one, it makes for a gripping couple of minutes. This time Rutten talks about his career as a bouncer, and it turns out he was pretty much the real-life version of Dalton from "Roadhouse." Thanks to his people skills, he was able to avoid violence most of the time. But Rutten knows that you can only be nice until it’s time to not be nice, and then you have to smash somebody’s head against a slot machine.
Most of the time when people begin sentences with the phrase, "Funny story…" the one thing you can count on is that you’re about to hear a story that is only funny in the eyes of its teller. That is, except when the teller is Bas Rutten. When "El Guapo" begins sentences that way, what usually follows is a story about someone getting badly beat up, and usually that story will be oddly funny in a violently bizarre way.
For instance, in this case Rutten tells a tale about how he went from being a sickly kid who got picked on to a neighborhood terror who hunted down former bullies in order to give them their comeuppance. Then he and some friends are hanging out at a bar where a strange woman gets knocked unconscious into Rutten’s arms and, as it often does in these situations, hilarity ensues. You know, after somebody punched a woman. Don’t worry, I’m sure she was okay. Well, not okay, but you get the point.
Though he’s better-known these days as the barely coherent host of Inside MMA and part-time children’s fitness coach, Bas Rutten’s legendary run as a professional fighter ended in 22 consecutive fights without a loss. After knocking off such MMA pioneers as Frank Shamrock (twice), Maurice Smith (twice), and Guy Mezger during his five-year stint in Pancrase, Rutten joined the UFC where he won their vacant heavyweight title in his second Octagon appearance (a split decision over Kevin Randleman at UFC 20). But while preparing for his next fight, Rutten suffered serious injuries to his knee and biceps, and was forced to retire from the sport.
(Sudo vs. Damacio Page, Premium 2006 Dynamite!!, 12/31/06)
Genki Sudo’s brilliance didn’t end with his unforgettable ring entrances; he was also one of the most skilled submission specialists to ever heel-hook a fat guy. The Neo-Samurai was innovative even when it came to retirement: At the height of his popularity, following a first-round triangle-choke victory over Damacio Page at Premium 2006 Dynamite!!, Sudo announced to the shocked Tokyo Dome crowd that his days as a fighter were over. At that point, he’d won eight of his last nine matches — including victories over Mike Brown, Royler Gracie, and Hiroyuki Takaya — making him one of the only MMA fighters to ever retire in his prime. Sudo now spends his time as a wrestling coach, author, and J-pop star. You know, normal retiree stuff.
Props to Fightlinker for unearthing this absolutely amazing baby picture of Brock Lesnar, proving once and for all that Lesnar arrived in this world enormous, ornery, and ready to consume everything in his path. (Not pictured: The tiny pacifier tattoo on his chest.) Check out that Krang-esque head-shape; my God, his poor mother. More awesome pics of MMA fighters as youngsters after the jump…
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