Its been a while...

Its been a while since I blogged much of anything, but I am planning to get this up and going again very soon. Have a few thoughts and ideas running through my head on how to do an effective piece on something I am pasionate about.

Ben Askern on his way to a Bright Future

I was on my way back home today from a business trip out of town and was listening to Sirius Radio and they had an interview with Ben Askern on. I was blown away with the maturity and honesty that Ben exhibited and it made me even more excited for his mixed martial arts career. In his young career he already has won the Bellator welterweight tournament and holds a victory over highly regarded fighter Dan Hornbuckle in the finals of that tournament.

What was most impressive to me about Askern though was his opinions and approach to MMA. One of the most interesting faucets of the interview was Askern talking about how there has never really been a guy successfully put together Brazilian jiu jitsu and wrestling. This seems to be something that Askern is intent on making a reality for him. He recognizes areas where he can succeed where others have either not tried or have failed.

He was asked about getting back to training after taking a few weeks off for his honeymoon and if he would ease his way back into two a days and Askern replied that he has only known two a days since early in high school when it came to the gym. This is a guy who enjoys training and seems completely immersed in wrestling and mixed martial arts. He also seems to have the intelligence and brashness to be a star. When asked if he thought he took Dan Hornbuckle's will, Askern replied, "Absolutely". Many guys would side step that or try to sugarcoat it, but Askern simply spoke his mind. He then goes on to talk about wanting to fight Paul Daley because he doesn’t like him and it could also enhance his brand.

This guy impressed me on so many levels and has also impressed me in the cage. Moving forward someone who sees the weaknesses in their game and also recognizes their strengths can go a long way. Anyone who watched Ben Askern fight knew of the talent and ability that he possesses, but after hearing his interview I now believe in the man as well as his abilities. That’s a dangerous combination in this sport.

The Cage Clinch Must Be Fixed

As the 2nd round of Rashad vs Rampage finished, my thoughts were off of the hype and everything and onto how disappointed I was once again by the round getting derailed by two fighters clinching against the fence. This for all intensive purposes is a neutral position and I believe there is a need to shorten the time allowed to fighters in this position. In 15 or 20 seconds if a fighter has not engaged a takedown then they need to be separated. The fact that fighters are using this to control and win rounds is a major issue for me.

If Rampage had staved off 7 takedown attempts and gotten multiple breaks then you may view the round differently. It would also encourage fighters to separate and get a shot in if they are not going to take advantage of the position. That round against the cage sucked the life right out of the fight for me. Same thing happened with Couture vs Vera. This is something that can be fixed and they need to get on it quickly cause its hurting MMA.

Shogun-Machida: A Refreshing Main Event

Over the past two years we have seen an increasing amount of main eventers and mixed martial arts fighters as a whole began to try and be very tactical with their fights. I think last night we started to see the speed and fluidity of technicality and skill combined with a killer instinct. From the opening bell you could tell neither Shogun nor Machida planned for this fight to be controversial. Both went out there to win, and it showed with their styles. It was by far the most aggressive Machida we have seen, and while he did get caught, he didn't get caught because he was aggressive, but because another fighter was just as quick as he was.

Often times after a three or three and a half minute fight, I come away feeling disappointed. Last night I came away with so many different things from those three and a half minutes it was insane. The takedowns by Machida were really impressive, and his ability to duplicate his character from UFC Undisputed 2010 and constantly land in half guard impressed me even more (not because he was duplicating the video game, but because he was getting a takedown and immediately creating an advantageous position for himself). This is where the positives stopped for Machida on the ground. The escapes from Shogun from the bottom were so technical and beautiful it left me in awe. He took little to no damage and was back to his feet. I believe this along with the Tito Ortiz near triangle prove that Machida needs to spend extended time working on his top control to continue completing himself as a fighter.

Machida looked good on his feet and was willing to take what Shogun gave him. Unlike previous Lyoto fights though he would not sit back and wait. He would come forward much more as well. Now that I have sufficiently talked about Machida, Shogun was on a different level last night. He was back to being fluid as hell with his strikes and transitions. He was back to having a killer instinct and moving in for the kill. It was refreshing to see a guy that hit such a low when he lost to Griffin, and now was back to 2005 form, or in my opinion even better as he took out one of the best fighters in the world.

The whole event last night had me excited, and part of that was the lead-in to the main event. More fighters were out there putting it all on the line and trying to finish. While from a pure MMA standpoint the WEC PPV might have been better, but last night proved that the big fight can still give you a totally different opinion about an event. Last night’s main event capped off a great night of fights that I won't soon forget. On top of that, Shogun has countless intriguing matchups such as Rampage, Rashad, Lil Nog, and Anderson Silva. I don’t think we will run out of credible opponents anytime soon. That being said, while the opponents may be credible, I have little doubt that the Shogun we saw last night can run this division for a long time.

The Live Experience: My First Time

I am just over two weeks out from flying to St. Louis for the Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery card and thought I would talk a little about the live mixed martial arts experience. Over the next two weeks leading up to my trip to St. Louis I will be talking about my live experiences and then going to hopefully blog throughout my time in St. Louis to bring the live experience to you as I experience it.

I have been an mixed martial arts fan since the mid 1990's and that first trip to the video store that saw me rent the UFC's as they come out before finally convincing mom and dad that I had to order the PPV's or my life simply would not continue. Through college there were several events I was tempted to attend, but the situation never really lined up to make it work. By 2008 I was on my feet financially after graduating school in 2006 and it was only a matter of time before I saw the UFC live. I was going to Las Vegas for a bachelor party the weekend of UFC 84, and naturally I could not miss that opportunity.

I bought tickets for the BJ Penn headlined events and planned to take in as much of the UFC experience while also hanging out with my buddies who were not really into mixed martial arts. I was able to do two days in studio with Goze and Alton, who were sitting in for George Garcia and Frank Trigg on TAGG Radio. The two days were nothing short of a blast hanging out with those guys and getting to be on the radio show. I was amazed on Thursday night at MGM Grand that guys like Carlos Newton and Ricco Rodriguez were just walking around. These were some of the guys I grew up watching, just milling around the casino like anyone else.

Everything around the event was awesome, but the event itself was beyond anything I could imagine. Seeing guys like Wanderlei Silva, BJ Penn, and Lyoto Machida live was amazing. The whole atmosphere was unlike almost anything I had ever seen at a sporting event. Afterwards I hung around outside as guys like Big Nog, Evan Tanner, Joe Lauzon, and others hung around outside and took pictures with the fans. It was truly a unique experience I will never forget. I told myself though that I would not come to another event till that was the sole reason of my trip. That would happen again in Las Vegas for UFC 100, but that’s another story for another time.

I didn’t really get to meet a ton of fighters outside of Evan Tanner and a couple others because of being there with guys that were not mixed martial arts fans, but as soon as I left that event I knew that I had to find a way to another event as soon as possible. I think that’s the common thing you will find with anyone who has the UFC Las Vegas experience. It almost puts you on a high that takes a couple days to come down from. My next exposure to the UFC in person would be in Atlanta at UFC 88, and this is when I realized that not all UFC events are created equal.

GSP Should Not Coach Season 12 of TUF

Historically the Ultimate Fighter Series has taken fighters from good fighters to household names and pay per view draws. We have seen the likes of BJ Penn, Rich Franklin, and Rampage Jackson gain even more notoriety by going on the reality television show. There are currently two rumors out there regarding the twelfth installment of the cable television series. The first one has a newly signed Jake Shields headlining against GSP and the second scenario sees the winner of the Josh Koscheck vs. Paul Daley fight taking their spot opposite of current welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

While I think either opponent is credible for GSP at this point in his career, I fail to see what putting St. Pierre on my television set for 12 weeks is going to do in regards to the UFC bottom line. There are several reasons behind this and not just the obvious. The first one is the language barrier. GSP will need subtitles at many times during the broadcast and while Nog vs. Mir proved to be a pretty good draw, the reality is that since then Big Nog has failed to draw the PPV buys while headlining events. While you won’t immediately have this issue with GSP as he is one of the companies 3 or 4 largest draws, it likely means that you will gain very few new buys by putting him on the television show.

The second point that I see when I think about GSP being on season 12 of the Ultimate Fighter is it will lead to another extended period of time off for the champion. GSP has not fought more than twice a year since 2007. That means from 2008 through 2010 he will fight only 6 times. As I alluded to earlier, St. Pierre is one of the 3 or 4 biggest draws for the UFC in terms of PPV buy rates. What sense does it make keeping him on the shelf 9 months when he is healthy? I don’t believe that it makes any sense at all. He is in the prime of his career and failure to utilize him for three fights a year when possible is a horrible mistake.

My final point comes from what the UFC stands to gain by putting GSP on The Ultimate Fighter Season 12. I believe there is actually very little that they stand to gain. That being said I do believe Shields, Koscheck, and Daley can make legitimate strides from coaching on the series. Setting up Shields with the winner of Thiago Alves/Jon Fitch would make exponentially more sense in the term of creating draws in my opinion. GSP has fought in multiple main events, has had 3 hours (6 episodes) worth of UFC primetime hyping his fights and countless UFC Countdown shows. How many fans should they expect him to gain by coaching on the Ultimate Fighter? Even worse, what if he somehow leaves a negative impression (which I doubt) by doing the show? These are all scenarios that the UFC must consider before moving forward with this season.

At the end of the day it seems extremely odd to me that the UFC is choosing to go in this direction. It's almost as if they feel obligated to get him on the series because of his extended success in the organization. While many people know I am far from a GSP fan, which does not mean I don’t want to see the best fighters in the world fight consistently as possible. I hope the UFC decides to move in a different direction as they look at the business side of this decision. While I can’t imagine the decision having a negative impact on the UFC's bottom line, I can see it hurting the long term growth of additional PPV draws.

Snapping Reactions: UFC 112

I thought the show started out great with Munoz vs Grove. It was a back and forth start with Grove clearling coming in with a gameplan to counter the takedown defense. Grove then starts landing some shots and is able to get him in several chokes. I thought at times he might have been to aggressive with chokes that weren't likely to finish. Munoz once he gained top position in the 2nd round looked awesome.

Phil Davis has all the potential in the world and that choke he sunk in whats amazing. I was impressed with the takedown defense though early in the fight. I think Davis needs to continue to take fights and get experience.

I thought the Dos Anjos vs Etim was a great back and forth fight and was nothing short of a grappling clinic that the fans had to enjoy.

Hughes vs Gracie was neither interesting or enjoyable. I thought they were far to timid in the first two rounds, and the style match-up resulting in a very boring fight as Hughes just used leg kicks and eventually finished.

Congrats to Frankie Edgar. Edgar used his speed and activity on the way to winning the LW title. I am a huge BJ Penn fan and I could not help but be disappointed in his performance. I hope that he can regroup fix what was wrong and come back better then ever. Once again this was a five round fight made only interesting by figuring out how to score the rounds. Most observes had Edgar winning 48-47, but no one had 50-45. Many scored the bout for BJ. The fact that BJ is content to sick back and counter jab though is bad. He must become more aggressive, especially since he is likely headed back to 3 round fights.

The Anderson Silva vs Demian Maia fight was extremely boring and I hated it. Not going to waste words on a fighter that wasted my time today.