StrikeForce Not Signing Alistair Overeem Kept Him From Defending Title

  It is now known that the reason Alistair Overeem did not defend his StrikeForce heavyweight championship was really due to no fault of his own. Overeem had won the belt and had no place to defend it because he was not under contract to StrikeForce.


  It seems that StrikeForce is to blame for the confusion because they gave Overeem a title shot, possibly thinking he was not going to win, and had no plan set up to keep him in StrikeForce in case he won the title. You would have thought StrikeForce should have had a "champion's clause" in place for situations like this, but it seems they have learned their lesson and now have such a clause in their contracts.Some have a problem with the clause, but it is in the promoters best interest to use them.


  Overeem will be competing in this years K-1 World GP, and when it is finally over, hopefully he will be defending his title at a StrikeForce event. I know Overeem has taken a lot of criticism for not defending his title in about 2 years from fans, fighters, and yours truly, me. I want to apologize personally  for jumping the gun and putting all the blame on Alistair. Hopefully, he will prove us all wrong by defending his title and showing us why he deserved to have it in the first place.

Gina Carano To Star in "KnockOut" The Movie

  It seems that MMA is crossing over again into the Hollywood scene. Movie director Steven Soderbergh is going to direct a spy thriller called "KnockOut", which will be starring MMA fighter Gina Carano. She is definitely a knockout when it comes to her beauty and her skills inside and outside of the cage. In her recent fight though, she suffered a loss to Chris Cyborg, who is now the woman's StrikeForce champion. Cyborg dominated Carano in this fight by finishing her off with a ground and pound TKO victory at the ending of the first round.

  This will not be Carano's first acting job. She has previously appeared in the documentary "Ring Girls" and on the television shows "Fight Girls" and "American Gladiators" (playing "Crush"). In the movie "KnockOut", Gina will be playing a girl from the wrong side of the tracks who is given a second chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. It is said that the movie should start shooting sometime in February 2010.


  Gina's name has been synonymous with womens MMA. Everyone has labeled her the "face of womens MMA" because her accomplishments have helped to further the progress and awareness of women in MMA. When she suffered the loss to Cyborg, some felt that womens MMA might suffer, but it showed that women fighters are capable of headlining a main event. I would have figured that Gina would have wanted to get back in the cage as soon as possible to make up for that loss on her record. I guess being as popular as she is, she is taking advantage of all the opportunities being thrown her way. Being a movie star is not a bad thing. I hope she does step back in the ring to show the haters that she is more than just something pretty to look at.

Bring Back Big John McCarthy to UFC

  There is a new subject that has been buzzing around Twitter lately, it's the movement to have Dana White bring Big John McCarthy back to the UFC. When it comes to top notch referees in MMA, McCarthy definitely fits the bill. McCarthy's following by fans is as big as any MMA fighter, he can be considered a superstar.

  The referees job in the cage is to protect the fighters, make sure the fight is kept fair, and to be another set of eyes for the judges scoring the fight. In some recent fights, there have been questionable calls and stoppages made by the referees. One of the fights that I saw at UFC 102 that should have been stopped immediately, was Leben vs Rosholt. Rosholt had Leben in a triangle arm choke and it clearly appeared that Leben was trying to tap out. Unfortunately, referee Yves Lavigne did not stop the fight immediately and Leben was choked unconscious with his body beginning to shake.


  The point being made is that when it comes to responsible officiating, there are only a few referees that get the job done properly, with McCarthy being one of them. Fighters need referees in the cage that are well trained and know "when to say when". If there are not more good referees like McCarthy employed in the UFC, it definitely could lead to a fighter being hurt permanently. There needs to be better training for MMA officiating crews so that each referee is trained the same and can better protect the fighters inside of the cage.

Rampage Jackson Off of UFC 107 Card

  It seems that the fight between Rampage Jackson and Rashad Evans, which was slated to be the main event on UFC 107, has been postponed. Rampage Jackson had received permission from Dana White and the UFC to reschedule this fight because of his movie role commitment. Jackson will be playing the role of "B.A.Baracus" in the movie "The A-Team". The movie is about a group of Iraq War veterans looking to clear their name with the U.S. military, who suspect the four men of committing a crime for which they were framed. The movie is scheduled to be released June 11, 2010.


  Obviously, this is a great opportunity for Rampage and the UFC because it draws more exposure to them and I am sure the UFC will be promoting this movie during payperviews. I understand Rampage's desire to pursue other goals besides fighting, but this is the second fight he has passed on. Rampage had a chance to fight Lyoto Machida for the light-heavyweight belt, but passed on that to host TUF 10 opposite Rashad Evans. Now, he has passed on a fight with Evans to take on this movie role.


  Most fighters would have jumped at the chance to take on Machida for the opportunity to win the light-heavyweight belt. All Rampage talked about was getting his belt back after he lost it to Forrest Griffin by decision. There were some people that believed Rampage was scared to fight Machida because of his awkard style. Rampage said he wanted to study Machida's style more and train hard for that fight and instead he chose to do TUF 10.


  Rampage needs to realize he is not getting any younger and there are young and up and coming fighters that can give him a run for his money, ex. Evans. In my opinion, I think Rampage has gotten away from what has gotten him to the dance. He has become a one dimensional fighter now, just relying on his punching power to stop opponents. If he does not get back to his old style, Evans could be the one to issue that "Black on Black crime" on him with a victory.

Ray Mercer Thinks MMA Fighters Are Scared To Fight Him

  Are MMA fighters ducking Ray Mercer? Let's be for real, Mercer in his prime was a dangerous boxer, but at 50 or so he is definitely no Couture. He was able to KO Tim Sylvia in about 10 seconds, but with Tim being over 300lbs and way out of any fighting shape, not a hard task to accomplish.

  Place Mercer in the cage with a Couture, Mir, or Lesnar, and you have just signed the death certificate of a 50 year old boxer. There is no way Mercer can compete with MMA fighters who take the sport seriously and come well prepared to do battle. On that night, any fighter stepping into the cage with Sylvia should have been able to put him on his ass.

  Nobody is afraid of fighting Mercer. There is just no point in fighting him. If you beat him, it does nothing to advance your career in MMA. By a lucky punch he catches you, losing to him will probably do more damage to your career, just ask Sylvia about that. Do everybody a favor Mercer and just appreciate the fights you do get in the smaller markets. Your boxing career has passed and MMA is to advanced for you to be competitive in.  

Is Matt Hughes Worth a Contract Extension?

  The UFC has resigned Matt Hughes to a multi-fight contract, but his next opponent has yet to be determined. I am still trying to figure out what the UFC was thinking or not thinking to give him a multi-fight deal.

  Hughes was dominated in two of his last three fights by George St.Pierre and Thiago Alves. Even though he got a unanimous decision win over Matt Serra, the fight was so close that it could have went the other way. In my opinion, Serra won that fight because most of Hughes strategy was to "lay and pray" on top of Serra. 

  Hughes has lost that edge that made him a top fighter and champion in his weight class. I'm not sure if his heart and desire are still in the sport of fighting or his skills have diminished as he is getting older. There are still many Hughes fans out there, but they are still hanging on to his accomplishments of the past. He was great when he was on top, but not anymore.

  Hughes does not have the selling power he once had and realistically cannot headline any UFC show anymore. There really is not a big interest in seeing Hughes "lay and pray" for three rounds and squeak out a decision in the end. If Hughes faces anybody better than Serra in the future, the outcome will be total domination again for his opponents.

  Hughes mentioned to Dana White that he is interested in hosting a hunting show on tv. Maybe it is time for Hughes to go out to pasture with the animals because his glory days are long behind him. He may be able to still compete, but definitely not on the level we as fans want to see him compete on. Who knows, maybe Hughes can get a transfusion from Randy Couture and pull off one of those great Couture vs. Noguiera fights and excite us fans one more time.

Sean Salmon Equals Dumb and Dumber

  MMA is trying to become worldwide recognized as a sport. You have naysayers who believe that MMA is no more than human cock fighting. Dana White and the UFC have made huge strides in expanding MMA to everybody possible and definitely seperating itself from the bad image of  boxing. In that I mean, the negativity that follows boxing, such as fights being fixed, people being paid off to rank fighters higher then they deserve, and the deaths in the ring that have happened so far.

  White has done a good job to present the public with a good image of MMA so far. Now, you have a fighter named Sean Salmon who openly admits to throwing a fight. How is that going to look on the public eyes and perception they already have against MMA? Somehow, I believe the kick Salmon received to the head from Rashad Evans in their fight not only knocked him the f$%* out, but it also scrambled something upstairs, called his brain. Even if it is true, that Salmon threw the fight on purpose so that he did not get injured and could return to train with the Wolfslair, why would you open your mouth about it to the media?

  Salmon has to be the dumbest fighter walking the MMA world or he did it on purpose to somehow bolster his non-existing fight career. I am not a fan or follower of Salmon, but from the fights I have seen of him, he is definitely no contender or threat to any fighter out there. If that is what the Wolfslair is training and producing, then maybe those fighters need to stay on that side of the ocean.

Nogueira: Answering the Critics

Nogueira: Answering the Critics

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Fighter's Excuses....Necessary or Pointless?

  "To be the man you have to beat the man". Fighters step into the ring or cage in order to see who is the better fighter on that night in question. Each fighter trains to the best of their ability to come out victorious on that night, hoping to prove they are the man because they beat the man to gain a win. In training for the fight, fighters suffer bruises and injuries during the process to make themselves better prepared to go to war for at least three rounds with each round lasting five minutes.

  On fight night, a fighter may never be 100 percent healthy for the fight, but they are ready to give 110 percent of themselves in that fight. Unfortunately, there has to be a winner and a loser no matter how good each fighter performs. As a fighter, you go into the fight with every intention to win, but sometimes it does not work that way. The commentator interviews the winner and then sometimes has a chance to get a quick thought from the loser on what went wrong. Now comes the crying, alibis, and what if's.

  Excuses are for losers because they are full of them. Real winners take the loss and use it as a motivational tool to do better next time. They look at the loss as an education on being better prepared. Real winners congratulate their opponent for showing up and putting on a great fight and pushing them to limits they may have never been pushed to. Real winners are eager to get right back in the gym and train harder to make sure the outcome of their next fight is in their favor. Losers tell stories of delusion and come up with all sorts of things that happened to them leading up to fight night. I had the flu, my wife kept yelling at me, the kids would not stop crying, my training partners did not show up. These excuses may have hurt their training methods, but then why go through with the fight if you were not ready and able to compete properly.

  You would have been better calling off the fight and get yourself together, then fighting lack luster and now finding it necessary to come up with excuses. Come to fight or stay home and let the real fighters have that chance to showcase their talents. No shame in losing to a better fighter on that night. The shame comes when you make excuses to the fans, your family, and most importantly yourself for your not being fully prepared to fight and give it your all.