TITO ORTIZ vs. WANDERLEI SILVA

(The abridged version of the fight, which Ortiz won by unanimous decision.)

When it happened: 4/14/00, at UFC 25
When it should have happened: Spring 2003
Why: Ortiz vs. Silva was an entertaining scrap between two young contenders for the UFC’s vacant "middleweight" belt. If they met three years later, it would have been a superfight. By the end of 2002, Ortiz had defended his title five times — he’d lose it in September 2003 to Randy Couture — while Silva was PRIDE’s middleweight ruler, owning a 12-0-1 record in the promotion and two successful title defenses. With Ortiz at the end of his reign and Wandy near the middle of his, it would have been an ideal moment to establish bragging rights for one of MMA’s two leading organizations.
Prediction: Depends on where the fight was held. If Ortiz had home-field advantage, he’d probably still be able to grind out a decision win. In Japan, it would be Wanderlei via soccer-kick death.

DIEGO SANCHEZ vs. KENNY FLORIAN

(Click the image to go to the video. Sanchez def. Florian via TKO, 2:49 of round 1.)

When it happened: 4/9/05, at the Ultimate Fighter 1 Finale
When it should have happened: Sometime next year.
Why: Kenny Florian had enough talent and heart to make it to the finals of TUF 1 as a 185-pounder, but it was only a matter of time before he was squashed by another talented fighter who was more experienced and better suited to the weight; Diego Sanchez just happened to be that dude. This year, there was talk — hope, even — that Florian could upset BJ Penn at UFC 101, then have a high-stakes rematch against his old nemesis, who had followed him down to lightweight after an impressive run at 170. Unfortunately, Florian succumbed to Penn’s trademark mata leon, and Sanchez was booked to challenge Penn for the title in December. Still, as long as Florian keeps winning, he’ll claw his way back to the Nightmare — and this time, they’ll face each other as two of the best lightweights in the world.
Prediction: Sanchez outstrikes Florian to a decision in a far more competitive match than their first meeting.

Fighting for a living is a lot like teasing a really mean dog: you can’t do it forever without something bad happening to you.  Even the great ones get to a point where their drive becomes sluggish and their bellies are too full for them to stay hungry, and that’s usually when a particularly bad beating takes what remaining fire they have and douses it with the fury of a God pissing on your dreams.  It doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll quit right then, even if they should, but it does mean that they’ll never be the same again.  Here now, in chronological order, are the most notorious breaking points in MMA history.

IGOR ZINOVIEV vs. FRANK SHAMROCK at UFC 16, 3/13/98

It’s hard to say that Igor Zinoviev was really on his way to being a legend of the sport, because he got stopped almost before he really got started.  The former Soviet Army commando was one of the first fighters in the early days of MMA to beat a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt when he TKO’d Mario Sperry, and he took out Enson Inoue the next year.  All this came after years of fighting underground brawls in Brooklyn warehouses following the fall of the Soviet Union, so his toughness was never in question.

When he joined the UFC the future was, as they say, wide open.  Then he came up against Frank Shamrock, who wasted no time in scooping him up and slamming him down so viciously that it shattered his collarbone and knocked him out cold.  It was Zinoviev’s first career loss, and he would never fight again after that.  We’re not saying the devastating finish served as the catalyst for Shamrock’s out of control ego over the next 10+ years, but we’re not saying it helped, either.

As a white skinhead, it’s no surprise that Homer Simpson would be into MMA. What’s surprising is that The Simpsons will be devoting an entire episode to the sport this Sunday (8/7c). Is it a desperate attempt by the 21-year-old series to generate interest among young males, most of whom moved on to Family Guy a long time ago? Quite possibly! But hey, score another one for the mainstream acceptance of cage-fighting. TV.com has the synopsis of this Sunday’s episode, which is titled "The Great Wife Hope":

Believe it or not, that’s exactly how Lina Kvokov got booked to fight Kim Couture last year. No word yet if the promoter will be a thinly-veiled Dana White-parody, but FiveOuncesofPain hears that Dancing With the Stars‘s Chuck Liddell will make a cameo in the episode, hopefully to tell Marge that she’s an killjoy idiot who should find something else to protest, before having sex with her in a nightclub bathroom.

So do any of you still watch this show? Is Maggie talking yet? Did Burns and Smithers ever consummate their relationship?

…because without costumes and choreographed dance routines, it’s just two guys beating the hell out of each other. Booooooring!

(Future UFC champion/part-time Michael Jackson impersonator Anderson Silva won’t stop ’til he gets enough at PRIDE 22.)

("Keaton always said, ‘I don’t believe in God, but I’m afraid of him.’ Well I believe in God, and the only thing that scares me is Diego Sanchez.")

(Belfort vs. Matt Lindland @ Affliction: Day of Reckoning, 1/24/09. Fight starts at the 0:59 mark.)

In honor of Vitor Belfort‘s return to the UFC this Saturday, here are nine of the Phenom’s greatest knockouts. Folks, this is how you throw hands. Keep your chin down, Rich…

(Belfort vs. Terry Martin @ Affliction: Banned, 7/19/08.)

(Props: Hywel Teague; hint)

(Props: Mouastarz209; hint)

Yesterday we took a look at some classic MMA moments recreated in MS Paint, and suffice it to say, Potato Nation was inspired. Thanks to everyone who e-mailed us drawings of their own, many of which made us laugh our asses off. Our two favorites are above, and a few more are after the jump. Yes, you’re all eligible for free t-shirts.

(Props: ShoSports via BloodyElbow)

Yes, Gina Carano is training her ass off for her upcoming fight against Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos. In the above video, heartless strength and conditioning coach Norm Turner puts MMA’s golden girl through the ringer, pushing her dangerously close to the point of vomiting/calling for her mommy. Is Cyborg training this hard? Or is she just choking reporters, throwing around her husband, and relying on her genetic advantages to see her through? Whatever the case, workouts like these are ensuring that Carano will be ready for anything…

(Sure he’ll fight again.  But he just got the "Wings" DVD box set and, well, you know how it is once you get sucked into a series.)

Hasn’t it just been that kind of week, fight fans?  As soon as something good or interesting or at least newsworthy seems like it might happen, the goddamn facts come swooping in to ruin all the fun.

Wanderlei Silva’s manager tells Fighters Only that they haven’t even discussed the possibility of fighting Michael Bisping at UFC 105, and suggests that even if they had their answer probably would have been no.  Apparently Silva wants to wait until February before he fights again so he can “take time off to heal his body and mind.”  Plus he’s got this gym to worry about and some vague “business affairs” (just say you’re not investing in puppy mills and we’ll believe you) to attend to.   A lot of stuff on his plate, in other words.

So there it is, another rumor destroyed, another dream deferred.  Oh well.

Before we get started, let me just point out that MMABay.co.uk has an accuracy rate of about .500 when it comes to breaking news — which is great if you’re batting cleanup, and not so great if you’re an MMA news site. So take the validity of this rumor as somewhere between "Kimo Leopoldo is dead" and "Josh Barnett is innocent." Anyway:

All fighters made weight today in Cologne, Germany, for tomorrow’s UFC 99 event — though things got off to a tense start for the undercard fighters. During the heavyweight faceoff between Stefan Struve and Denis Stojnic, the much-taller Struve leaned in to rest his forehead on Stojnic’s face, and the much-fatter Stojnic shoved him off; Dana White had to jump in to separate them. Then it happened again in the very next staredown, as Paul Kelly pushed his forehead against Roli Delgado‘s, and the Crazy Cuban angrily pushed Tellys off of him. The meeting between Dan Hardy and Marcus Davis was disappointingly cordial. The numbers are after the jump…

If you missed Part 1, click here.

The Kazushi Sakuraba Era: April ‘99 – March ‘01

Despite the country’s rich martial arts history, Japan didn’t have an MMA star to call its own until the arrival of a brilliant submission artist who would eventually be known as The Gracie Hunter. Kazushi Sakuraba originally toiled as a professional wrestler in the early ‘90s, picking up catch wrestling from Billy Robinson. As a publicity stunt for their employers at Kingdom Pro Wrestling, Sakuraba and Yoji Anjoh entered the four-man heavyweight tournament at UFC Japan, and despite being severely outweighed, Sakuraba was the last man standing.

Sakuraba immediately found success in the PRIDE organization, scoring submission wins over Vernon White and Carlos Newton (in one of the greatest MMA grappling exhibitions of all time, by the way), but it was his upset decision win over Vitor Belfort at PRIDE 5 that established him as Japan’s official fighting hero. Saku represented all that was great about the Japanese fighting mentality — he was smaller than most of his opponents, but smarter and more inventive, not to mention absolutely fearless. Following the Belfort fight, Sakuraba would go on to win eight of his next nine PRIDE bouts, including victories over Royler Gracie, Royce Gracie (in a 90-minute battle of attrition at the 2000 Open Weight GP), Renzo Gracie, and Ryan Gracie. Though other Brazilian fighters like Wanderlei Silva and Ricardo Arona would later avenge their country’s reputation in brutal fashion, Sakuraba’s colorful personality and inspiring in-ring performances have made him one of the true legends of the sport.

(It’s a bad day to be a focus mitt.  Photo courtesy of our friends at Fight! Magazine.)

I met Wanderlei Silva for an interview in his new gym in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago, and to my surprise he showed up only a half-hour late.  He was sporting one hell of a black eye from a recent training session, but despite his busy schedule the always-gregarious Wanderlei was kind enough to give me a little of his time to talk about his upcoming bout with Rich Franklin at UFC 99 on Saturday, his thoughts on the rivalry and proposed bet with former friend Anderson Silva, as well as what he thinks about Dana White threatening to “pull the trigger” on him like he did to Chuck Liddell.  Enjoy.

CagePotato.com: Thanks for talking with me Wanderlei.  Looks like you have a pretty nice shiner there.

Yes, I was training with one of my partners here the other day and, you know, the fight is never like the training but I try to train like the fight.  The last two movements he hit me in each of my eyes.  It was the last few seconds even, and now I have this.  He got me and time was up before I could get him, but next week…(laughs)

What do you think of Rich Franklin as a fighter?

He’s a very professional guy.  Every guy who comes to fight me, they are going to train hard and train more.  This is real.  Because of this I know I need to train more too.   I train every day, two or three times a day.  So I will be ready too.

And what do you think of him training with Anderson Silva before his fight with you?

Props to MMA Fanhouse for turning us on to the new-ish feature on Wanderlei Silva’s YouTube channel called "Old School Video Series," in which the Axe Murderer tells the stories behind his early fights in Brazil before showing us the classic carnage. It’s kind of like a vale tudo version of VH1 Storytellers. Above is the first installment, in which a 20-year-old Wanderlei Silva enters his first eight-man tournament to earn money for his new daughter, and leaves with a broken hand, a broken nose, no prize money whatsoever — and his first knockout victory. After the jump: Wandy’s second fight against Marcelao Barbosa ends abruptly due to shoulder-injury, but at least he actually gets paid for it. By the way, if anybody can explain the weird sound effect that comes at the 2:18-2:19 mark of that vid, please, by all means. (Is it possible that he has his large intestine miked up?)

In this CageWriter video from an Ultimate Fighter media day held yesterday in Las Vegas, UFC prez Dana White gives a few more details about the signing of Kimbo Slice and his future with the organization. Notably, Dana repeats his assertion that Kimbo’s TUF contract will be the same as everybody else’s, but adds that it will be "a lot fucking different" if he actually wins the show. He refutes the theory that Kimbo will be protected in any way in the matchups or saved for the later episodes, and says that theoretically he could be picked first to fight. Also, Icey Mike is one of the smartest guys he’s met in this business, apparently.

After the jump: Quinton Jackson says he doesn’t trust his temper around Rashad Evans and hopes he can get through TUF 10 without going to jail. Plus, day 2 of Dana White’s WEC 41 blog, in which DW tries to get predictions on the Faber/Brown match from some of his fighters — like many casual MMA fans, Wanderlei Silva and Rampage aren’t even aware that it’s happening — then Dana tries one of those soul handshakes with Rashad and calls him "homey."

(Be sure to click the "HQ" button for higher quality.)

With my girlfriend and dog out of town this weekend, I found myself with a lot of time on my hands. So, I decided to eff around with iMovie and put together the above highlight reel of Kazushi Sakuraba‘s most brutal beatings. (Has there ever been a fighter whose victories were so beautiful and whose defeats were so ugly?) I’m no Genghis Con, and most of the footage was taken from low-quality YouTube clips to begin with, but let me know what you think, and if you have any Sakuraba fans in your life, please pass it along.

(BG)

(Props: MMA Mania)

Rivalry is the over-arching theme in this in-depth video preview for UFC 99 (Cologne, Germany; June 13th). First we have Rich Franklin vs. Wanderlei Silva, with much being made of Franklin’s decision to train with Wandy’s anti-BFF, Anderson Silva. Ace considers the Axe Murderer to be just as dangerous now as he was in PRIDE, and looks forward to a stand-up war. Wanderlei just wants to get past Franklin so he can settle up with Anderson once and for all.

In a card that’s moderately stacked with names like Mirko Cro Cop, Cain Velasquez, Cheick Kongo, and Caol Uno, it’s suprising that Marcus Davis vs. Dan Hardy is being treated like the co-main event here. But these two got beef. Hardy thinks Davis is a fake Irishman, and Davis thinks Hardy is a douchebag with a stupid red mohawk. Will their combined hatred produce a Fight of the Night?

After the jump: Some vintage California Kid from December 2005, in honor of his rematch with Mike Brown being just nine days away…

Shawn Tompkins talks training, future stars – Watch more Funny Videos

I stopped in to Xtreme Couture while I was in Las Vegas last week and in addition to hearing Jan Nortje get yelled at I also got to sit down for a talk with renowned trainer Shawn Tompkins, which I captured in all its low quality glory on my Flip Mino camera.  Here’s a few minutes from our conversation where we discussed Wanderlei Silva and Brazilian time, why Mark Coleman’s always broke, and who Tompkins has really been impressed by in the gym lately.  The answer to that last question might surprise you.  I know it shocked the hell out of me.

(In the lobby of the MGM Grand, going mostly unnoticed.)

I’m not going to lie to you, Potato Nation.  There isn’t a whole lot of enthusiasm for this weekend’s UFC 98 event here in Las Vegas.   Maybe that’s not quite right.  Maybe it’s that there’s just not much awareness.  As great a presence as the UFC always has in Sin City, this week the reaction to the upcoming event from locals and tourists seems lukewarm at best.  But that doesn’t mean that MMA culture in general isn’t a pervasive force all around us.

(‘You put mouth and money in same place, yes?’)

Either Wanderlei Silva desperately wants to hurt former friend/current bitter rival Anderson Silva any way he can, or else he’s really regretting that adjustable rate mortgage he agreed to, because “The Axe Murderer” is now trying to convince the UFC middleweight champ to put a little money down on his boy Rich Franklin at UFC 99.  And by a little money, we mean roughly the median annual household income in the United States.  

“If Anderson believes in Franklin so much, bet $50,000 and let’s see who takes the money,” Wanderlei told Fighters Only recently.  This sounds like a great idea.  We only hope Anderson Silva thinks so.

(Props: MMA Mania)

If you were an MMA fan four years ago, you can probably imagine what your reaction would have been had someone, preferably Scott Bakula from “Quantum Leap,” gone back in time to show you this poster for UFC 99.  For one thing, you would have been blown away that the UFC even made it to UFC 99, and that they hadn’t yet transitioned to an all-robot fighting organization.  Then there’s the shock of seeing Pride bad-ass Wanderlei Silva in the Octagon to face UFC middleweight champ Rich Franklin, and in Germany for fuck’s sake. 

Basically, your head would have exploded right then and there, all over Scott Bakula, which is why time travel is dangerous to begin with and should probably be avoided until we are responsible enough to not use it for stuff like showing fight posters to people.

Now think about how you view this poster in the present day.  It’s still a credible fight, and still interesting, though for entirely different reasons.  Let’s just say no one’s head is in any danger of exploding here, with the possible exception of Wanderlei.  And if you weren’t an MMA fan back in 2005 and you don’t really get what I’m going on about here, allow me to derisively say, noob!

(Screw UFC Undisputed, Punch Out! is coming back, possibly with "The Wire’s" Sen. Clay Davis as Doc.  Now that’s good news.)

Xtreme Couture trainer Shawn Tompkins is done working with Wanderlei Silva.  He says they’re still friends, but told RawVegas.tv that he just couldn’t put up with “Brazilian time” any longer.  For those of you who may not be familiar with this phenomenon, Brazilian time is roughly forty-five minutes to an hour behind regular time.  More if an impromptu samba session breaks out.  Undeterred by the loss of Tompkins as a trainer, Silva is looking to hook up with former WEC middleweight champ Paulo Filho.  When you absolutely have to find someone weirder and less dependable than you, it’s hard to do much better than Paulo.

In other news…

(Props: these guys, who should really look into a less obnoxious watermark for their photos. Just saying.)

Well, Anderson Silva is officially dead to Wanderlei Silva now.  Here he is training Rich Franklin, who will fight “The Axe Murderer” at UFC 99 in Germany, and also presumably whispering to him about where to find the secret Brazilian “off-switch” to put Wanderlei’s lights out.  Hint: it’s located somewhere in the chin region.  In the past Brazilians have often balked at the idea of training a foreigner to fight one of their countrymen, but Anderson is like Bruce Lee: he teaches whoever wants to learn.  Especially if that person is about to fight someone he’s not particularly fond of at the moment.

(Brothers don’t shake hands. Brothers gotta hug.)

As much as Anderson Silva used to enjoy kicking the absolute dogshit out of Rich Franklin, it was clear that the Spider respected the hell out of Ace. After his UFC 82 title fight against Dan Henderson, Silva told the Columbus crowd something along the lines of "it feels good to win, but there’s only one true middleweight champion, and that’s Rich Franklin," which struck me as both incredibly humble, and kind of insulting to Dan Henderson, who was standing right next to him at the time. So I guess this recent blurb from the Dayton Daily News shouldn’t be all that surprising:

(When he told her it was time to retire and give up the game for good, a tearful Paris Hilton told Dana: "But I am the game!" Only then did he fully understand the devils of fame and the ransom they demand. True story.)

- UFC president Dana White talked with Inside Fighting about the disappointing main event at UFC 97, and he also reiterated his commitment to keeping Chuck Liddell firmly in retirement, saying, “Believe me, it will be a fucking war if he tries not to retire, believe me.”  When pressed on other rapidly aging fighters who might need to be nudged into retirement, White admitted that Wanderlei Silva and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira “are right there too and yes, I will pull the trigger on them too.”  Dear God, he’s not going to kill them, is he?!

- A crazy rumor on the information superhighway says that Fedor Emelianenko and Shinya Aoki will square off against each other in a special grappling match at the “Deep M-1 Challenge 3rd Edition” in Japan on April 29th.  I’ll pause a moment and let that one sink in.  If true this would be completely insane, but to deny that we would totally want to see it would be to deny the very curiosity of the spirit that makes us human, and we aren’t about to do that.

(Props: MMA Opinion)

Is there any fighter who more closely resembles the animal for which he is nicknamed than Thiago "The Pitbull" Alves?  Just looking at his face makes me want to lock the door and call Animal Control.  He says in this video that he’s been working out at Wanderlei Silva’s new gym/daycare center in Las Vegas, and plans to return there the week before his title fight with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 100 to get his weight right.  Alves has had some weight issues in the past, and with a title fight he won’t get that extra pound allowance so he’d better be on point.  Something tells me that screwing up a title fight at UFC 100 would be a murderable offense in Dana White’s eyes.

Raw Vegas went by Xtreme Couture to talk with Kim Couture about her upcoming bout.  Am I the only one not buying it at all when she claims to be blissfully unaware of the criticism that suggests she’s only getting these opportunities because of who she’s married to?  Even if she doesn’t "go on the computer," the idea must have occurred to her that it’s not solely her 1-1 pro record that’s landing her on Strikeforce cards.  Whatever you think of Couture though, it’s nice to see a woman fighter slam "Cyborg" Santos’ woman trouble excuse.  It just doesn’t have the same force when we do it, for some reason.

After the jump, American Top Team boxing coach Howard Davis Jr. takes it to the gloves and shows us the hand speed.

(Via RawVegas.tv)

Well, this is far less awkward than Wanderlei Silva’s advertisement/guided tour of his own gym, because this time around we have a native English speaker to help us make sense of what the hell’s happening.  Dave Farra is also crafty enough to use the tour of the facility as a ruse to ask Silva the hard questions, like, does he think GSP cheated?  ("He dominate the fight, he don’t need this, no?")  Does he want another shot at “Rampage” Jackson?  ("Of course.")  ‘Sup with the playground?  ("The kids need to have fun too, you know?")

I’m satisfied with those answers.  Although I am surprised to hear that Silva had a six-month training camp before the Jackson fight.  On one hand, that can’t be a good idea.  On the other hand, if only you could put Silva’s work ethic in B.J. Penn‘s body.

After the jump, Dana White talks more about the death of TapouT’s “Mask” and explains why the news hit Chuck Liddell especially hard.

Wanderlei Silva seems to think so. While discussing his 195-pound catchweight bout against Rich Franklin that will headline UFC 99 (June 13th; Cologne, Germany), he told MMA Junkie the following:

You know what they call mixed martial artists who walk around at 210 pounds? Middleweights. Some of the UFC’s top 185′ers, including Anderson Silva and Nate Marquardt (as well as Rich Franklin before he left the middleweight division), reportedly weigh in the 215-220 range between fights. Wanderlei Silva’s "situation" is that he’s smaller than most light-heavyweights, and cutting weight sucks. That’s pretty much it.

At this point, installing more weight classes in the UFC wouldn’t do anything besides dilute the talent pool, and a super-middleweight class would only be useful in providing Wanderlei Silva with another venue to fight for a championship belt — because it didn’t work out for him in the light-heavyweight division, and Anderson Silva owns the middleweight class, so that’s not really an option either. It kind of sounds like Wandy is already psyching himself out for the eventual cut to 185. If he loses to Franklin in June, he may decide that it’s not even worth it.

Dana White’s UFC 96 video blog, ep. 2 – Watch more free videos

In this edition of the UFC 96 video blog, Dana White and the rest of the traveling circus dazzle Deutschland in their promo tour for UFC 99 this summer.  ‘But wait a minute,’ you’re saying to yourself, ‘isn’t this video blog supposed to be about hyping this weekend’s event on an entirely different continent?’  To which Dana White would respond: “Fuck yourself, it’s only Wednesday you pussy.”

Highlights of this episode include a touching conversation between White and Wanderlei Silva, who displays the ability to laugh at himself and his Borat-like grasp of the English language, as well as a trip to a weirdo German talk show with a moving stage, and of course an obligatory shot at Tito Ortiz.  In other words, a good time is had by all.

After the jump, a strange, quick knockout from an amateur MMA bout in Scotland.  Dude’s going to need an ice pack when he wakes up.

(Sometimes Wanderlei uses Lil’ Wanderlei to say things he can’t, such as ‘I’m sorry,’ and ‘I love you,’ and ‘What’s this catchweight shit about?’)

UFC.com today officially announced Rich Franklin/Wanderlei Silva as the main event for UFC 99 in Cologne, Germany on UFC 99, which has been dubbed “The Comeback.”  Yes, they already used that one for a season of “The Ultimate Fighter,” but so what?  It’s Germany.  They’re too busy screwing around with soccer and modernist architecture to know what’s happening on American TV.

As previously rumored, the bout will take place at a catchweight of 195 pounds, which is kind of odd since both Franklin and Silva last fought at 205 pounds.  But it only seems to make no sense because you haven’t heard Dana White’s explanation yet:

“Everyone knows Rich moved up to light heavyweight a couple of fights ago while Wanderlei is planning on fighting at 185lbs from now on, but this fight is too exciting a match not to happen and both these guys deserve a ton of credit for taking this fight at 195lbs.”

(Courtesy of youtube.com/UFC.)

Between his exceptionally bright red shirt, his constant nut-slapping, and his lap dance for ring girl Logan Stanton, Quinton Jackson is the true star of this game-day edition of the Danavlog. Rampage is in good spirits throughout, and his March 7th battle against Keith Jardine seems to be the furthest thing from his mind. Other important points from this episode: Dana bought that instant snow just to mess with Lorenzo Fertitta, Diego Sanchez‘s hand isn’t broken, and GSP makes a very accurate observation about the way his training partner Nate Marquardt finished off Wilson Gouveia ("It looks like he took this move from a video game").

Below: The accents in this video are as thick as they come, but if you’re a fan of Demian Maia, you might be interested in this look at his training with Wanderlei Silva and strength/conditioning coach Rafael Alejarra.

(Props: WandFightTeam via MMA Mania)