Drew Fickett

(Let's remember the good times...)

Drew Fickett used to be the most entertaining drunk in MMA. But over the last year, his increasingly erratic behavior and 2-7 skid against fighters he should have been able to destroy have sent up red flags about his well-being. Saturday night, he hit his bottom. "The Master" was booked to face prolific submission victim Shannon Ritch at a Rage in the Cage event, and was barred from fighting because he showed up intoxicated. As Ritch explained on the UG:

Major props to CagePotato reader "Soorma" for passing along this circa-2001 clip of MMA crazyperson Drew Fickett getting called before the most testicle-crushing judge on television for a little misunderstanding involving golf balls being hit off the top of a car. Drew's airtight defense? Like all women, the plaintiff is simply infatuated with him. It seems that the conflict started when, at a graduation party for a University of Arizona student, Drew just had to be that asshole who showed up in an Arizona State hat. (Wow, can Judy hand out the death penalty in situations like this?) FYI, everything after the 6:06 mark is unrelated junk, and part 2 is unembeddable for some reason, but you can check out the conclusion here. Basically, Drew's cute girlfriend shows up as a character witness, Fickett loses the case — based on a single unreliable eyewitness, but whatever — and the U of A brats lift their noses at ASU. ("We don't associate with people like him...everyone I talk to says he's psycho.") THIS IS JUSTICE?

Former IFL welterweight champ Jay Hieron has reportedly verbally agreed to face Drew Fickett at the next Affliction event in Las Vegas on October 11. The real question is, will Fickett find some clever new way to screw it up? Fickett's manager, Alexander Oxendine, seems open to that possibility:

“We’re in discussion with a few organizations and Affliction is one of them,” said Oxendine. “They are at the top of our list. As far as Drew is concerned, he’s made a great turnaround with his life and training. He is ready to move forward.”

If you don't know, Fickett is the same guy who managed to get himself fired from MFC and booted off a Strikeforce card in one glorious weekend when he tried to breach his contract in the apparent hopes that no one would figure it out. They did, chaos ensued, and Fickett went on to lose via questionable stoppage in a Rage in the Cage event.

So now one of MMA's favorite troublemakers is being offered a spot in Affliction against one of the tougher welterweights outside of the UFC, and he's not sure if he wants to take it? Affliction should not only be at the top of his list, it should be the entire list. He should run down there and sign the contract in his own blood before they have a chance to change their minds. Let's hope this is just a negotiating ploy by his agent. If Fickett ends up turning this down to fight in some small show at a fairground somewhere, we'll know it's time for new management. No, not Mark Dion, either.

Drew Fickett vs. Richard Villes - Watch more free videos

Drew Ficket has fallen on hard times lately. I don't say that simply because he lost this weekend to Richard Villes via a TKO stoppage that he seems to think was completely unjustified. I say that because he lost to Richard Villes in Rage in the Cage, which is clearly no Strikeforce, nor is it MFC -- both organizations Fickett ran afoul of when he tried to violate his contract.

Just check the video to see what I mean. Note the "And 1 Mixtape Tour" vibe from the announcer, the woman (Villes girlfriend? wife? mom?) screaming throughout the entire fight, and the super slo-mo ring girl shot at the 4:39 mark. Someone rocked their high school AV club.

Fickett seemed to be in control of the fight until a failed shot that was followed by a good knee from Villes that was in turn followed by Fickett eating leather for the next thirty seconds. He's moving the whole time, looking fairly alert, but offering no offense or even much of an effective defense. When the referee finally moves in to stop it, he pops right up to his feet to complain. This is sort of like fouling someone in basketball and then immediately putting your hands up, as if to show that you couldn't possibly have done anything wrong. In other words, it never works.

Fickett doesn't look like he's too beat up afterwards, but if you lay on your back getting punched in the face for that long, you really can't be too surprised when the ref stops it. Especially if you've been in the game as long as Fickett.

Following up on yesterday's interview excerpt where he discussed Anderson Silva's problematic tools, James Irvin tells MSNBC.com that he's going to beat Silva in the clinch (!!!!!1!!). Shock the world, Sandman. (Props: MMA Mania)

Remember when Bruce Buffer was announcing the result of the Rampage/Forrest fight, and he was like "the winner, aaaaaand..." — like he was going to say "still champion" — and everyone, including Forrest Griffin, was like "OMFG Rampage won!"? In this RawVegas.tv clip, Griffin confronts Buffer about it, who admits to using the strange syntax intentionally to amp up the drama of the moment. And man is he pleased with himself.