As you may or may not know, Americans are freaking out about the state of the economy right now. Something about gas prices and houses and the value of the dollar, I don’t really pay attention. I leave most of my financial planning to this really nice homeless guy I met a while back. We just diversified my portfolio to include both kinds of vodka: flavored and unflavored. Things are looking up.

Jerry Magee of the San Diego Union-Tribune (via MMA Payout) has an interesting article linking the rough economic times with a booming combat sports environment. Just as boxing thrived during the Great Depression, he says, MMA is experiencing a similar boost these days:

In periods when Americans are up against it, they crave distractions. Boxing and MMA are among them, as Armando Garcia is aware. At Pechanga, Garcia, executive officer of the California Athletic Commission, said he was rummaging around his Sacramento office and he came across a report for the fiscal year 1925 that showed the commission’s revenues for that year (from licensing fees and the commission’s share of gates) had come to just more than $100,000.

In 2004-2005, the commission’s revenues, according to Garcia, totaled $441,000. For 2005-2006, Garcia’s first in office, they reached $1.1 million. They hit $1.6 by the next reporting date. For the fiscal year just concluding, they are at $2.136 million, with boxing and MMA each having generated more than a half-million at the gates.

It’s an interesting theory. Quoting statistics on live event gates doesn’t necessarily prove it, especially since MMA has only recently come into its own as a mainstream sport with widespread appeal and acceptance, but it’s still worth thinking about. Magee’s thesis about hard times leading to a strong desire for distractions makes you wonder, what does he think Americans are doing when times are good? Staying home and staring at their bank statements?

(Props: MMA Scraps)

We could probably have a long debate about what the high point of this video from Fox News is. Is it the appearance of Stone Cold Steve Austin? The rare spoken English from Fedor Emelianenko? Instead, I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s the “Deal or No Deal” girls giggling at the phrase ‘ground-and-pound’, and here’s why:

From where I was sitting in one of the arena’s many press sections, I was within earshot of a couple obnoxious drunk guys wearing Affliction t-shirts (weird, I know). Every time a scantily-clad woman walked by they took it upon themselves to shout “titties!” Because this was an MMA event in southern California — which means even more fake boobs and halter tops than normal — they got plenty of opportunities.

The reactions from the women fell into one of three categories: 1) they ignored it, 2) they smiled, waved, or, in one case, even blew the idiots a kiss ala the UFC Octagon girls, or 3) became visibly upset.

The third reaction came from one of the “Deal or No Deal” girls, who walked by them flaunting her stuff until the inevitable “titties!” remark. She didn’t care for it. She expressed this by glaring at them and making an indignant face that seemed to suggest, ‘I don’t have to take this, I’m on “Deal or No Deal” for Christ’s sake!’ It’s cultural intersections like this that make live MMA events worth all the trouble.

(“Truth” serum?)

A source tells Cage Potato that Keith Jardine will be the next opponent for Brandon Vera following his decision win over Reese Andy this past Saturday. The match seems to indicate that Vera’s stay in the light heavyweight division may be longer than he might have liked.

Jardine needs a victory after his TKO loss to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 84, and going against the once-highly touted heavyweight prospect Vera gives him a golden opportunity to get back in the running for the UFC’s light heavyweight title.

There’s no word yet on exactly when the fight will take place, but we’ll bring you more as the story develops.

Maybe you’ve forgotten all about this, but Elite XC’s second live event on CBS is this Saturday, headlined by the Scott Smith-Robbie Lawler rematch. While that’s a bout worth getting excited about, the rest of the card really makes you wonder whether we won’t see a tremendous drop-off in ratings and whether CBS won’t rethink this crazy MMA experiment as a result.

It’s not just that the card lacks the mainstream star-power of the first one, though that is indeed the case. It’s also that there are precious few meaningful, competitive matches. Just take a look at the line-up and the betting odds and you’ll see what I mean:

Scott Smith (+180) vs. Robbie Lawler (-220)
Thomas Denny (+450) vs. Nick Diaz (-600)
Nick Thompson (+320) vs. Jake Shields (-400)
Christiane Cyborg (+125) vs. Shayna Baszler (-155)
Justin Eilers (+400) vs. Antonio Silva (-550)
Travis Galbraith (+275) vs. Rafael Feijao (-345)
Brian Caraway (+140) vs. Wilson Reis (-170)

Randy Couture told Fox Sports that he’s expecting a ruling to be handed down this week in the Texas court where his UFC contract is being examined. Will he be free and clear in October, when the no-compete clause ends? Or will the two fights left on his contract and the “champions clause” hold up? We just don’t know, and even if we did know, there’s still the business of appeals to wade through after the ruling. But there is some indication that Couture’s attitude towards his former employers may have softened:

Couture said his status probably won’t be finalized even after the ruling because appeals are expected from the losing party. But Couture said he ultimately expects to face Emelianenko, the renowned Russian fighter who scored a 36-second submission victory over Tim Sylvia in the main event of Saturday night’s Affliction pay-per-view show in Anaheim.

“When, where and with what promotion — we don’t know,” said Couture, who exchanged challenges with Emelianenko after the Affliction show. “It could happen in UFC. We just don’t know. I want it to happen. Fedor wants it to happen. In some way, shape or form, we’re going to make it happen.”

Is this a subtle olive branch from “The Natural”? Could he be trying to tell the UFC that if they can still give him the Fedor fight, all is forgiven?

(You call that dancing? That ain’t dancing. From Combat Lifestyle‘s post-fight coverage.)

Some people never learn. Some people also pee their pants on purpose. Often, these are the same people. According to Steve Cofield, Jesse Taylor may have screwed up his second chance in the UFC. No, not just because he lost to CB Dollaway on Saturday night (though that probably didn’t help).

Taylor spoke with the media last Thursday and had some choice words for Quinton Jackson and his psychotic episode last week, “What goes around, comes around, I guess.” Taylor wasn’t happy with the fact that Jackson told UFC President Dana White that he didn’t want someone like Taylor representing the company.

Apparently, Taylor said these things before finding out that “Rampage” was being held for mental evaluation, and he later backtracked and said he “felt bad for the guy”. It may be too little, too late. Word has it that the UFC is pissed, and not just about his negative comments toward “Rampage”:

(Courtesy of MMA-Core.com)

In case you’re wondering what a TKO via eye poke really looks like, here’s a close-up view from the Anthony Johnson-Kevin Burns debacle that you can watch again and again. Notice how, after the poke and the ensuing uppercut, the left hand that Burns comes back around with also has the fingers extended outward in poke-ready mode. I would suggest refining his punching technique, but it did result in him getting the win. As my grandfather used to say, if it ain’t broke, why not poke?

In other UFC Fight Night news, check out the below video of the post-fight press conference. Skip to 6:45 to hear Dana White give his take on Affliction and their fighters. Then he goes ahead and bashes the IFL one more time, mostly out of habit.

(Looks like Jesse Taylor picked the wrong week to quit drinking. Photo courtesy of UFC.com.)

The UFC’s always fluctuating end-of-night bonuses totaled $25,000 apiece for Saturday’s “Silva vs. Irvin” event. The four lucky men who left the Palms one-fortieth of a million dollars richer are…

Knockout of the Night: Rory Markham for his skull-crushing head-kick KO of Brodie Farber.
Submission of the Night: CB Dollaway for his “Peruvian Necktie” choke of fellow TUF 7 castmember Jesse Taylor.
Fight of the Night: Frankie Edgar and Hermes Franca for their three-round tussle that Edgar took unanimously thanks to his takedowns and GnP.

The must-see Markham/Farber knockout is below, and the Dollaway/Taylor scrap is after the jump — and we threw in Cain Velasquez’s beatdown of Jake O’Brien for good measure. (If you find a working link for Edgar/Franca, please post it in the comments section.) Serious props to MMA TKO.

Videos removed by request…

This is officially an MMA catch phrase now. Thanks, Andrei Arlovski (via MMA Rated). Whether you knew what you were saying or not, you have indeed given us a wonderful gift. Even Josh Barnett’s saying it. He’s also talking about how much he loves British metal band Bolt Thrower, which he likens to “being surrounded by an army of guitars and having your skull crushed.” Sweet.

In the lead-up to Affliction’s Andrei Arlovski-Ben Rothwell fight I’ve heard the same question from MMA fans and analysts again and again: how much of a difference will Freddie Roach make for Andrei Arlovski? For those of you unfamiliar with Roach, he’s a former pro boxer and world-renowned boxing trainer who has recently begun working with Arlovski and who will corner “The Pitbull” on Saturday night. Naturally, it’s got to be a help to have someone like that working with you on your striking, but is it really the difference-maker many people think it is?

In order to get on board with that thinking you have to go along with two basic assumptions: 1) MMA fighters are generally far behind boxers in their technical striking ability, and 2) what a boxing trainer knows about striking is relevant and translatable for an MMA fight.

The first point is mostly valid. Because boxers only use their fists and only fight using a limited array of options, they’re probably going to be better at using them, if for no other reason than the fact that they can afford to spend more time on it. Just like a decathlete can do a lot of things well, he still can’t throw a discus better than the guys who do nothing else.

But it’s the transition to the second point that gets me. Boxing is a different sport. Some of the conventional wisdom in boxing — even basic fundamentals regarding stance, hand positioning, and defense — don’t necessarily work for MMA because of the threat of takedowns, kicks and knees, and the size difference in the gloves. So why is it necessarily so great to be coached by a boxing trainer?

(Ladies go crazy for a sharp-dressed man, courtesy of Combat Lifestyle.)

One thing I’m going to miss with Gary Shaw backing into the shadows at Pro Elite is the name-calling and childish back-and-forth between he and Dana White. It was just so entertaining, what a shame to see it go. But the Dana White-Tom Atencio rivalry could be the next best thing. Sure, Atencio doesn’t wear a track suit, but he does have a wardrobe that appears to consist entirely of Affliction t-shirts, which is almost as good. Plus now he’s taking pages out of the Dana White playbook:

For the money-conscious cable-ready consumer, the difference between watching a free UFC show and paying $39.95 to watch Affliction might be a no-contest.

Affliction appeared to land one last counterpunch, however, making a deal to broadcast its card on closed-circuit television at Gold Coast casino, which is directly across from the Palms on Flamingo Road.

“It’s just another opportunity to watch our fight,” Atencio said.

Granted, it’s more of a symbolic gesture and not quite on par with scheduling an event on the same night as your competitor, but you have to love how Atencio — like White — plays dumb about it. The L.A. Times article actually has quite a few fun nuggets, most notably quotes from White where he plays the role of grizzled veteran MMA promoter:

(Tim really needs to stop taking advice from German teenagers about how to look cool and pick up chicks.)

We’re approaching a monumental weekend for MMA fans. One great advantage is the opportunity to throw away even more money betting on it. And here you thought you couldn’t go bankrupt just by staying home this weekend. With so many fights, we’ll just focus on the interesting ones, though interesting could mean a lot of different things when it comes to gambling.

For odds on the big fights, Bodog has you covered. For undercard action, check out Bookmaker. Don’t forget our always helpful MMA Betting For ‘Tards if you need to brush up.

Fedor Emelianenko (-400) vs. Tim Sylvia (+275)

It’s no surprise to see Fedor as the favorite here. Even amid rumors that he may be injured, he’s still Fedor. But if you’re of the opinion that Sylvia has just the right skill set to dethrone him, this line is about as good as you can hope for. Crazier things have happened (the Hindenburg explosion, that was pretty crazy, right?), and small action could still yield big results. You just don’t want to make Tim Sylvia your only hope for winning your girlfriend’s engagement ring back from that creepy guy who fleeced you on the Matt Hughes-Thiago Alves fight. You know the guy. He operates out of the Super 8. Doesn’t matter what city you live in.

Anderson Silva (-500) vs. James Irvin (+350)

Now here’s where you find out just what kind of a degenerate gambler you are. You don’t really believe that James Irvin is going to win — honestly, you don’t — but if you manage to talk yourself into it you must really be addicted to that rush.

Simply put, even with these odds Irvin is a worse bet than Sylvia. Sylvia’s size advantage might actually mean something, plus Fedor may or may not be injured/rusty. Silva is none of those things. That’s the story the odds are telling, and it’s the plain truth. Get it through your head and then move on.

Andrei Arlovski (-275) vs. Ben Rothwell (+215)

When the Affliction: Banned media tour came to the Trump Towers in New York City, it was hard to say who the fans were lined up to see. With so many international MMA stars on one stage, it was a toss-up. But by the time they left there was no question who had stolen the show and cemented himself in the minds of all those present. As soon as Josh Barnett took the microphone in hand, it was almost a foregone conclusion.

Now the talented heavyweight and star pro wrestler in Japan talks to Cage Potato about his career in the U.S. and abroad, about his upcoming fight against Pedro Rizzo, and much more.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me, Josh. Pedro Rizzo seems like an interesting opponent for you right now. What have you been doing to get ready for him?

Same thing I always do, training really hard in all aspects of mixed martial arts. I’ve got some really good sparring partners, like Babalu, Jamie Fletcher, and Ben Jones, who are in here every day, helping me out. I’ve also been working with a couple of boxing coaches, too, just to help work on some of the standup aspects because I wouldn’t mind knocking [Rizzo] out. So a guy named Oscar Muniz and Marvin Cooke have been helping me, and it’s just a pretty steady training camp.

Are you worried that if you go in there planning on standing and striking with him that you won’t use your grappling, where you seem to have the edge?

There’s no reason to worry. There’s no place for worry or doubt in anything that you do in the fight. I know I can fight smart. I’m going to go out there and see what’s available. I’m not going to force any particular game plan on to the fight. But I will make things go my way. There’s no worries, no concerns.

Affliction has mentioned having the winner of your fight face the winner of the Fedor-Sylvia fight at their next event. Do you think that’s really going to happen, and are you going to be paying close attention to all the other heavyweight fights on the card, just in case?

Just when you thought things had settled down, TMZ.com is reporting that former UFC light heavyweight champ Quinton “Rampage” Jackson has been picked up by police. Again. It’s just getting ridiculous now:

Sources say last night an Irvine police car was waved down by people near the place Rampage was staying who said he was acting weird. This, of course, following the insane chase the day before in which the UFC fighter hit several cars in his monster truck and was arrested at gunpoint.

We’re told Irvine cops saw Rampage, deemed him a danger to himself and others, and took him to a hospital for observation.

Cops won’t officially confirm if it’s a psychiatric hold.

This is getting weird. Dana White told radio host Steve Cofield that he was in Southern California dealing with the situation, but apparently even he was unable to keep Rampage under wraps. He did make this cryptic statement about the situation though:

Randy Couture’s “memoirs” are out, co-written by Sherdog’s Loretta Hunt. “Becoming the Natural” is sure to be an instant classic in the ‘sports books written by someone else in the first-person voice of the famous person’ genre, which we love. If you’re interested in getting your copy signed, Couture is beginning a book tour on July 21 and will be hitting the following sporadic spots:

- Monday, July 21st – NYC / Virgin Megastore Times Square (6:00 PM)
- Tuesday, July 22nd – NYC / Borders Wall Street (12:30 PM) AND Bookends in Ridgewood, NJ (6:00)
- Thursday, July 24th – San Diego / Camp Pendleton (6:00 PM)
- Monday, July 28th – LA / Virgin Megastore Hollywood & Highland (7:00 PM)
- Tuesday, July 29th – Torrance, CA / Borders (7:00 PM)
- Wednesday, July 30th – Long Beach CA / B&N (7:00 PM)
- Thursday, July 31st – Las Vegas / B&N (7:00 PM)
- Monday, August 4th – Chicago / Borders in Schaumberg (7:30 PM)
- Tuesday, August 5th – Cincinnati / Joseph-Beth Booksellers (7:00 PM)

Amazon describes it as “the remarkable story of one of the world’s most gifted and dedicated athletes — a born fighter whose skill and showmanship have helped to lift mixed martial arts out of the shadows and into the mainstream.”

They also say he wins fights with “the seemingly effortless ease with which lesser mortals eat or breathe.” Hyperbole, it seems, is the book synopsis writer’s best friend.

(Dude, Fedor, it clearly says “Do Not Touch”.)

Let’s not kid ourselves, MMA fans. Whatever you think of Tim Sylvia, whatever opinion you may have formed based on reading about him in Matt Hughes’ autobiography or seeing him on “Blind Date”, the fact remains that he’s a legitimate top heavyweight. He’s big, he’s strong, his overall game has improved dramatically over the last few years, and while he may not always look great doing it, he knows how to win.

So let’s not pretend that this fight on Saturday is a cakewalk for Fedor Emelianenko. Sylvia is a dangerous opponent for anyone, regardless of where they stand in the heavyweight rankings. But we also can’t pretend that Affliction would look at a Sylvia victory the same way they would a Fedor one.

Let’s start with the obvious reason. The biggest fight on the horizon for Affliction right now is Fedor-Couture. There are roadblocks aplenty at the moment, but that doesn’t mean it can’t happen or that it wouldn’t be a difference-maker in their long term viability. But if Sylvia comes out on top, that match instantly loses a lot of its appeal. Gone is Fedor’s aura of invincibility, his mystique, his innate talent for making any fight seem like history in the making.

But that’s not even the biggest problem. If Fedor loses, that means Sylvia wins. That means you’re stuck with him. Then what?

Jesse Taylor is responsible for several firsts in Ultimate Fighter history. He’s the first fighter to voluntarily pee his pants for entertainment on the show, as well as the first to fight his way into the finals only to be kicked off for a drunken rampage after the show finished filming.

Now Taylor’s poised to get his shot in the UFC against CB Dollaway on July 19th. In this exclusive interview he talks to CagePotato about finally getting his shot at the big time and trying to learn from his mistakes to make the most of his second chance.

CagePotato.com: When did you find out that you were going to get a shot in the UFC on this July 19 card? Where you already in shape and ready for a fight, or did it come as a surprise to you?

Jesse Taylor: I was just staying active, and you have to remember the show ended back in March, so after training so long and fighting so much it was a big layoff. Ever since it ended I was trying to get back in, but I found out just recently, just about three and a half weeks ago that I was back in. I was just so pumped up, so happy that I felt like sure, let’s go, I’ll fight anybody.

Do you think it was the UFC’s need to put this card together on short notice that made them call you so soon?

I think it was a combination of things. I think that show definitely helped. But I had this spotlight on me anyway because I was the guy who won every one of his fights and then I got this horrible punishment. I definitely wanted the fight, and I think people were interested in, you know, what could have happened with Jesse Taylor, so next thing I know I’m back in the UFC.

Do you think they would have called you so soon if it wasn’t for this event?

I think they would have definitely called me again, I just think it would have been a little bit longer.

Looking back on it now, what do you make of the punishment Dana White handed down to you? Was it too harsh, in your opinion?

CagePotato reader “Facey” put together this highlight video featuring MMA’s biggest stars showing little regard for the health of their opponents. From Wanderlei Silva knocking Sakuraba and Jardine dead, to Yves Edwards’s ninja-kick KO of Josh Thomson, to Chuck Liddell beating down Tito Ortiz, to “the Randleplex” — it’s pretty much the only knockout compilation you’ll ever need. If you dig it, let him know in the comments section below or at its original home on Break.com

Break got a cease and desist letter for this one! So here’s another just as good knockout comp from Facey, that for now is living comfortably on YouTube. Enjoy.

Paul “Semtex” Daley is as talented a fighter as he is mercurial a personality, so it should be no surprise that he manages to court some controversy even while he can’t decide whether he wants to retire or fight. The British welterweight has oscillated between the two in recent months, but came back to easily dispatch Bojan Kosednar in Cage Warriors this weekend.

Apparently, Pro Elite (which has a contract with Daley) was unhappy about the situation and tried to get Daley to agree to a fight on Elite XC’s July 26 show in Stockton, Ca. The problem is that Daley says they offered him a fight with Rory Markham, the ex-IFL slugger who is fighting on the UFC’s July 19 show. Confused yet? Good. Let’s see if Daley can sort it out for us:

“They [Pro Elite] did offer me a fight on the July 26th card against Rory Markham, who we all know has signed with the UFC, so I thought it was a ploy to stop me fighting on Cage Warriors. I felt that if I had accepted the fight, they would have just cancelled on me.”

“A lot of other guys had fought twice in the same month for two different promotions, a non-Pro Elite and then a Pro Elite event – I said look, I’ll fight July 12th and I’ll fight July 26th, not a problem. I feel confident in this fight and all being well I would get out uninjured and with a victory and I’d fly straight to America. They didn’t want to hear any of that.”

“If I had been Nick Diaz, it wouldn’t have been a problem. The guy smokes weed, starts riots on TV, doesn’t make weight, fights whoever the fuck he wants, and there’s no problem there. It’s a bit of a piss-take really.”

Oh man, he just said something about Nick Diaz that could accurately be described as negative. That’s the MMA equivalent of saying “Beetlejuice” three times. You just know Diaz is going to pop up out of nowhere with a semi-intelligible response any minute now.

(Belfort working with striking guru Shawn Tompkins at Xtreme Couture.)

Xtreme Couture helped Wanderlei Silva get back in the win column, so maybe they can help Vitor Belfort get back to the days when he was unironically referred to as “The Phenom” and the UFC pre-fight information graphic described him as having “no known weaknesses.”

Okay, so that was a long time ago and the sport has changed since then, but Belfort’s working with Xtreme Couture for his fight against Terry Martin at Affliction: Banned and it may be just what he needs to become relevant again. As he told MMA Weekly, it’s a different ballgame over there in Vegas:

“I think the mentality of Xtreme Couture is wonderful. It’s a great facility, a great group of sparring partners, good trainers. I really enjoy it. Everybody is equal over here. Coach Tompkins is wonderful. I’m having a great time with him and other coaches over here too. I think it’s the perfect environment for a fighter. It’s been a pleasure. I’ve developed my skills and I’m ready to go. I’m really enjoying it and being ready for my next fight.”

[...]

“We need people who stick together,” he stated. “We can fight against each other, but we’re friends. We’re all on the same page. We’re fighting for the same reason. We’re trying to put food on the table at home. There is going to be some time when we get together like a union.

Get together like a union, eh? That all sounds great, until the UFC hires the Pinkertons to come in with their billy clubs and blackjacks to break the whole thing up.

But whatever gets Belfort back to form, I’m all for it. Beating Terry Martin probably won’t be enough to hail his second coming, though you have to start somewhere. Those of us who remember Vitor at his best can hardly wait.

Bless his heart, Denis Kang does his best in this MMA Rated interview not to bash Dream for dropping him from the Dream.5 fight card on July 21. It seems like they didn’t have a great reason for taking him off the event, nor did they have an explanation for why he only recently found out about it, but Kang’s trying to stay positive, which we like.

Where it starts to seem like he’s struggling, though, is where he justifies the problems Dream is experiencing by pointing out that all organizations have problems, even The Vatican. Comparing an MMA organization to the Vatican in an attempt to make yourself feel better about how they’re jerking you around is the last refuge of a very frustrated fighter. I think Samuel Johnson said that.

MMA Payout reports that Affliction: Banned will air on a delayed basis on Bravo TV in the UK. The show is set to air on Sunday July 20 at 9 pm, which means that if you live in the UK and don’t want the results spoiled for you it’s probably best to avoid the internet all together as American-based sites like this one will naturally just assume that anyone who wanted to see the show already has by then. But hey, at least you’re getting in on the action.

Not to be outdone by an Affliction-related announcement, the UFC also has news. Remember the Tim Credeur-Cale Yarbrough fight that was originally scheduled for the TUF 7 Finale but got scrapped when Credeur tested positive for prescription Adderall? It’s back on now, set for the UFC’s July 19 show. Cause why the hell not?

- MMA’s most stereotypical fan located? (MySpace)

- Great Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira mini-documentary (MMA Scraps)

- Anderson Silva is a hungry ninja (Sherdog forums)

- Tito Ortiz takes the phrase ‘playing grab-ass’ literally (Combat Lifestyle)

- Affliction ticket sales not too far behind UFC 86 (MMA Payout)

- No more dancing girls for Elite XC on CBS? (Fight Ticker)

- Matt Brown to fight Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 88 (MMA Mania)

- Man with no nose kidnaps insane woman, local news reporter baffled/amused. (Holy Taco)

- The world’s most expensive six-pack of beer. (Wall Street Fighter)

Two very different stories emerge in these two very different Phil Baroni videos. The only thing they even have in common (besides the presence of Phil Baroni) is that in both clips we get glimpses of the story that Baroni is telling himself in order to make his life seem more livable. In the above video from MMA Rated the story is that he’s been in the wrong weight class all these years and that’s what’s been holding him back. In the one below (props to Fightlinker for digging it up), the story is that he was one of the best fighters in Pride and one of the top middleweights in the UFC for two years, despite the fact that he is poor (though he’s still a rawkstah).

What’s weird is that the second video, which is an older one but also one that offers a far more honest take, makes him seem almost likable. I know it sounds crazy, but just take a look and see for yourself.

(Shaw offers a financial advice seminar urging fans to invest in track suits.)

On yesterday’s Elite XC conference call Pro Elite Chairman Doug DeLuca was confronted with the inevitable ‘have you guys fired Gary Shaw yet?’ questions that we all knew were coming. You may recall that rumors of Shaw’s demise within the company have been floating around for some time, despite his son Jared’s best efforts to convince people otherwise. DeLuca offered this fairly oblique description of what’s happening with the elder Shaw:

Question: Doug, what is Gary Shaw’s status with this company? Is July 26 the last show he has with EliteXC?

DeLuca: I was waiting for one of those questions and the opportunity to set the record straight. Gary is still very involved with ProElite. Gary and our team from day one at ProElite basically took MMA at our company from ground zero to a huge network success. So, Gary’s got a lot to be proud of in the MMA world. In the process of doing it, as you can imagine, Gary being from the East Coast and we being a West Coast company, took a lot of time from Gary. He was traveling non?stop. It took a toll on his boxing business, which is very successful and it took a toll on his family. To some degree, it took a toll on his health. We collectively made the decision that Gary was going to back off a little bit, kind of take a little bit of a relaxed role as far as being involved front and center, which is a good thing for all those three things, for his health, for his boxing business, and for his family. But Gary is still very much involved and I still talk to him almost every day. He’s still there. Gary’s interest still lies in EliteXC and ProElite, making it a top organization in the world. That’s the status with Gary.

Interesting. So they collectively made the decision that he would fade out of view and not be heard from in interviews or seen on camera. You know, for his health and stuff. So then, what does he actually do for Elite XC these days?

UFC fighters constantly reference matchmaker Joe Silva when talking about the future of their careers, and yet we usually hear so little about the man who decides so much. Somehow Florida Today caught up with him recently to find out what he’s looking for and what it’s like to choose the guys who fight on MMA’s biggest stage:

“I’m looking for a well-rounded athletic fighter, but the most important thing to me is record,” said Joe Silva, the UFC’s vice president of talent relations. “It’s very frustrating in my job. I don’t look for victims. I pride myself in making competitive matchups.”

“I don’t care what happens in the gym. Lots of people do well in the gym. Going in the cage is a completely different thing, so I want to know how many fights do you have and who did you fight.”

“Did he beat up a bunch of guys who, this was their first fight? Or did he beat up a bunch of guys who had multiple fights and this much experience?”

“(In early MMA) if you had somebody who didn’t understand jiu-jitsu, you could beat them without being much of an athlete. Nowadays, everybody knows. There’s no secret techniques. People know, and they cross-train. Being an athlete quite often is what makes the difference.”

So you’re telling me that in modern MMA I have to not only know my stuff, but also be a great athlete? In other words, it’s like every other major professional sport. So basically I’ve got no chance, is what you’re saying. Well that’s just great.

Of course, we could always take issue with what Silva says are his criteria for choosing fighters and then ask how he decided that Rob Yundt, who had beaten a bunch of nobodies in Alaska, should debut in the UFC against Ricardo Almeida, but we won’t do that. Because even we have to admit that most of the time Silva does a hell of a job.

You can add Tim Sylvia’s name to the list of MMA fighters who were displeased with the decision in UFC 86′s Forrest Griffin-”Rampage” Jackson title fight. In a new interview with the Baltimore Sun’s MMA blog Sylvia calls for MMA judges to be certified every year in order to justify their privileged position at cageside:

MMA Stomping Grounds: If you could change anything about the sport, what would it be?

Sylvia: There’s a couple things. I would like to see knees and foot stomps allowed on the ground and I would like to see all the judges go to classes and get certified and have to re-certify every year. Just like fighters have to apply for licenses. I think judges have to take classes and know more about MMA. You can’t just have boxing refs judge doing MMA. It’s not working and fighters are getting screwed because of it.

[...]

MMA Stomping Grounds: What did you think about the decision in the Forrest Griffin-Quinton Jackson fight? Did you think Griffin won?

Sylvia: No, I didn’t. I love Forrest, he’s a great guy and they are both good friends of mine, but that’s why I was talking about judges. I really believe Forrest won round two and I believe he won five, and Quinton dominated the first round — maybe a 10-8 round — and won rounds three and four 10-9, but judges just weren’t educated enough in MMA.

Certification is an interesting concept. I’d love to see what Big Tim would come up with as a test for MMA judges to take. I’m guessing it would look something like this:

The Xtreme Fighting Association (XFA) recently announced the signing of Xtreme Couture trainer Shawn Tompkins to a three-fight deal in their K-1 style organization, and while there was initially no word on an opponent we all assumed it would be someone xtreme, like maybe one of those skateboarders from the Mountain Dew commercials. Now MMATraining.com is reporting that Tompkins’ first opponent may be none other than Ken Shamrock:

“I just signed a 3 fight deal with XFA, which is a K-1 kickboxing promotion in Las Vegas. I’ll be doing my first fight September 26th. Between September, December and February. They are looking at my first fight being Ken Shamrock”.

As much as those who train under him love to talk about Tompkins as some kind of Yoda of the fight game, his brief foray into MMA was, shall we say, unsuccessful. Perhaps returning to his roots as a kickboxer is a good idea.

Of course, embarking on a new career as a kickboxer is probably not a good idea for Shamrock, but that never stopped him before. Perhaps Tompkins will have to make an xample out of him. See what I’ve done there? I’m going to go cry now.

(‘I’m fighting who, now? You sure?’)

Remember when Nick Diaz and KJ Noons (along with KJ Noons’ dad) got into it after the last Elite XC event in Hawaii and it all seemed like a staged confrontation designed to build up a rematch between them for the July 26 show on CBS? And then remember how Elite XC announced that the event would be in Stockton, Ca., Diaz’s hometown, but instead of Noons, Diaz would be fighting Thomas “Wildman” Denny? Remember how weird and completely counter-intuitive that seemed?

Yeah, well, apparently Denny couldn’t believe it either. As he told MMA Rated, it just doesn’t make a whole lot of sense:

I was really surprised. I kinda think everybody agreed with that, you know the little thing that happened, the little eruption afterwards or whatever. Nick is a showman. I don’t know if you know; he means it all the time. But he comes off as kind of a jackass and a lot of people don’t think he has a lot of class in the sport, and that little eruption that happened afterwards and flipping people off and whatever, I thought, “Man, yeah, they’ll definitely book that”. But I guess Noons wants some time off and wants to take the fight serious, where Nick wants to fight as much as he can.

Good work, Elite XC. Even your fighters are baffled by your decisions.

Denny is doing his part to turn up the heat in advance of his bout with Diaz though, and he didn’t stop at calling Diaz “kind of a jackass.” No, he’s just getting started.

(Photo courtesy of Sherdog)

Juanito Ibarro is mad. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s trainer told Sherdog that his fighter “was robbed” on Saturday night. He even plans to protest the decision — one of those great and entirely symbolic acts on par with kicking dirt on the umpire’s shoes or voting for a third party presidential candidate.

At the heart of Ibarra’s complaints, it seems, are two points: 1) the first round should have belonged to Jackson on every judge’s scorecard, perhaps even as a 10-8 round, since the most significant action of the round was a knockdown from his right uppercut, and 2) you have to beat the champion.

On the first point, Ibarra has something of a case. Calling it 10-8 for Jackson is a stretch, but knocking Griffin down in a round that saw no other major action should be enough to win the opening frame. On the second point, well, this is where it begins to get tricky.

The conventional wisdom in the fight game says that you can’t win the title with a close decision. You have to go out and really take it away from the champion, either by finishing him or absolutely dominating him. Griffin didn’t do that. Whether you think the decision was the right one or not, the fight was certainly very close. But should the title change hands via razor-thin decision?