brashleyholland

<p>I gave Jones rounds 2, 4 and 5. </p><p> </p><p> The only round that definitively went either way was round five. Funnily that was the only round in which Gustafsson out-struck Jones!</p><p> </p><p> The first three round were all close, and you could even argue the fourth either way. All in all it was a close fight, and I don't think either fighter could complain about the decision going to their opponent. </p><p> </p><p> Did anyone see the incorrect stat summary going around facebook/forums? It showed that Gus had out-landed Jones by a fair bit. Loads of people jumped on it saying "The stats don't lie!" Then when it was revealed to be incorrect, the same folk were all "Stats don't tell the full story!". Ha! </p><p> </p><p> You've got to take it all with a pinch of salt really. Most MMA fans I come across don't know how to apply the scoring criteria properly anyway. Same goes for a lot of media and fighters as it happens <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/biggrin.png.929299b4c121f473b0026f3d6e74d189.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p><p> </p><p> Scoring/result aside, that was a hell of a fight. One of my favorite MMA fights of all time, I think.</p>

Some sites are saying that Bryan Cranston has been cast as Lex Luthor, which will be confirmed after the last episode of BB has aired. Apparently it's a 6 picture deal. Affleck is supposedly signed to make 16 'appearances' is Batman; in the Superman movie, Batman movies, Justice League movies and cameos in other DC character's films. There's also apparently interest in bringing Matt Damon in as Aquaman/Martian Manhunter.

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Adam Ryland" data-cite="Adam Ryland" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Brad, given how much of a bust he's been thus far, is there any chance of them cutting Overeem do you think? I'm thinking in terms of how much his drawing power has been hurt vs. how much money he's on.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> In a division where Dave Herman can rack up four losses and a drug bust before getting canned, I'd say we'll see Overeem at least once more :-D </p><p> </p><p> Seriously though, the fight with Browne was exactly what the UFC wanted for that show; two huge dudes wailing on each other and a spectacular KO to end it all. I think in that sense, Reem is value for money. Win or lose, it'll more likely than not be exciting and provide a great visual. I'm pretty sure his original big signing bonus has been paid out now, so it may be that they give him one more shot and re-evaluate from there. If he takes another loss, it'd be difficult to see him staying. If he wins, they'll probably be able to get him for a lot less money. </p><p> </p><p> It'll then be up to Overeem whether he fancies his chances on the kickboxing circuit again...the cast of characters out there now is a lot tougher than the WGP he went through a few years back though.</p>

<p>Well the UFC's debut on FS1 was about as good a night of fights as anyone could have hoped for. </p><p> </p><p> Chael submitting Shogun was a legitimate shocker. I honestly can't see where Rua goes from here. Everyone wanted a Rampage rematch, which is obviously off the cards now. The Nogueira fight still makes sense, I guess. I think this has signaled the end of him as a legitimate title challenger though. He's knee's are supposedly completely shot now - I'd be surprised if we get more than a handful of fights out of him before he calls it a day, or disappears into obscurity.</p><p> </p><p> Overeem once again threw a fight away out of complacency. When your chin isn't all that, and especially in the HW division, you can't just stand infront of a guy, no matter how much better you think you are or how badly you've hurt him. Silly sausage. He's going to be in a 'must-win' situation in every fight now. If he can string 3-4 wins together then he can get a title shot due to the nature of the division - but that's a big if. </p><p> </p><p> Pickett, once again, looked tough as nails in defeat. McDonald is a legit talent, and I'm looking forward to his next title bid. Pickett is now the de-facto gatekeeper at 135. </p><p> </p><p> My man McGregor looked sick as ever until his knee popped. The fact that he was able to switch it up completely and still boss the fight against a legit prospect in Hollway was very cool. </p><p> </p><p> Matt Brown - Wow. Surely he has to get a contender now? </p><p> </p><p> So many great fights. The UFC couldn't have asked for a better debut, IMO.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="ProphetX" data-cite="ProphetX" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div><p> Bellator really should have tried to put together a PPV earlier though. That way it would have helped deflect a lot of the contract dispute up front. But in the end both sides (except the UFC) win out.</p></div></blockquote><p> </p><p> They got it done as quickly as was humanly possible, believe me. The issue is that it costs a lot of money to put on a PPV, and it's almost guaranteed to either lose money, or make such a pittance that it won't be worth the trouble of putting on. </p><p> </p><p> As I said earlier on, this was purely a move to deal with the contract dispute - if Bellator had gone to court and lost, it would have opened up the floodgates for guys under contract with them to get out very easily. It took a lot to convince Viacom that putting on a money pit PPV would be the lesser of two evils. </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>People like Alvarez can expect to see that kind of verbiage in their contract, giving them more money come PPV time (and rightly so)</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> But here's the thing: Alvarez will likely not see a penny in PPV revenue from this fight. Here is the term from the UFC contract that Bellator matched. </p><p> </p><p> <strong>"A tiered share of pay-per-view revenue, starting at "$1 for each ‘buy' between 200,000 and 400,000 buys, $2 per buy between 400,000 and 600,000 buys, and $2.50 per buy over 600,000 buys."</strong></p><p><strong> </strong></p><p> </p><p> 200,000 buys for a Bellator PPV? They'll be incredibly lucky to get half of that, even with the UFC's recent decision to to counter program them. </p><p> </p><p> </p><blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>I'm still surprised UFC attempted to low ball Eddie though. I love Cung Le to death, he's my boy. But he earns something like 200k to 400k a fight and he's no where near the top of his division. Nor is he as storied a fighter as Wanderlei Silva or Hendo. Eddie would have been worth 100k coming into this IMO given the fact they knew they'd need to compete with another org for his services. And he's still a top ranked lightweight</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> The Le situation is an anomaly - he's not on a regular UFC contract. He's a special case for various reasons, mainly his popularity in certain markets that the UFC are trying to break into, and the fact that he'll pretty much sell out an arena in Cali. That's what they're paying for. </p><p> </p><p> They really weren't low balling Eddie with that deal. He was on a $250,000 signing bonus. These are paid in installments per fight on the deal. Lets assume it was a 5-fight deal - that's $50,000 off the bat. $140,000 if he wins his fight. Lets say the PPV does 500,000 buys. That's $600,000. So already, without any discretionary bonuses or awards, he's racked up $790,000. </p><p> </p><p> Lets say he loses and the PPV only does 200,000 buys. $320,000. </p><p> </p><p> Either way, it'd have been a massive pay rise.</p>

<p>A pal of mine has a podcast called Interesting People Talking Wrestling. As is probably reasonably clear by the title of the podcast, the show features interesting people (from many walks of life) talking about wresting. </p><p> </p><p> I popped up for episode 9 of the podcast. I'm an MMA guy, so this episode consisted of chat about the many MMA/Wrestling connections/crossovers over the years. </p><p> </p><p> You can check it out here: <a href="http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/07/9-brad-wharton-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/" rel="external nofollow">http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/07/9-brad-wharton-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/</a></p><p> </p><p> There are 10 episodes online so far, each featuring an 'interesting' person from some walk of like discussing their love for wrestling. Episode 10, for example, features a dude who is a huge wrestling fan who has been blind from 3 years old. <a href="http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/20/10-des-delgadillo-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/" rel="external nofollow">http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/20/10-des-delgadillo-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/</a></p><p> </p><p> Enjoy!</p>

<p>A pal of mine has a podcast called<strong> Interesting People Talking Wrestling</strong>. As is probably reasonably clear by the title of the podcast, the show features interesting people (from many walks of life) talking about wresting. </p><p> </p><p> I popped up for episode 9 of the podcast. I'm an MMA guy, so this episode consisted of chat about the many MMA/Wrestling connections/crossovers over the years. </p><p> </p><p> You can check it out here: <a href="http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/07/9-brad-wharton-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/" rel="external nofollow">http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/07/9-brad-wharton-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/</a></p><p> </p><p> There are 10 episodes online so far, each featuring an 'interesting' person from some walk of like discussing their love for wrestling. Episode 10, for example, features a dude who is a huge wrestling fan who has been blind from 3 years old. <a href="http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/20/10-des-delgadillo-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/" rel="external nofollow">http://martinhines.podbean.com/2013/06/20/10-des-delgadillo-interesting-people-talking-wrestling/</a></p>

<p>So Eddie Alvarez and Bellator came to an agreement. Eddie will rematch Chandler (Michael, not Bing) on the undercard of the Ortiz-Rampage PPV. </p><p> </p><p> The deal means that Eddie won't have to sit out potentially another year or two, wasting his prime and killing his value. On the downside, it's now highly unlikely that we'll ever see him in the UFC. </p><p> </p><p> It also doesn't bode well for seeing any Bellator champions make the jump to the UFC when their contracts come up. The UFC would have to make obscenely over valued offers that Bellator would be unwilling or unable to match. </p><p> </p><p> Bellator have invoked their 'title fight rematch clause' to make the Alvarez/Chandler rematch happen. Essentially it means they can bypass their 'rule' of a fighter having to win a tourney to get a title shot. They also came up with a ridiculously convoluted point system yesterday for keeping champions active if a tourney winner can't fight due to injury. </p><p> </p><p> Both the points system and the PPV were put together for Bellator to cover themselves in this and future legal cases.</p>

<p>I'm not sold on Newell at all. Obviously the fact that he's managed to overcome a disability to compete in a combat sport is incredible and very news/praise worthy. </p><p> </p><p> I know a few (good) fighters who've trained with him, and they all say the same thing. He has certain things that he's very good at (heel hooks/rear naked chokes), and not a lot else. He'll never be a complete striker, for obvious reasons. I'd also be concerned with his ability to properly defend himself against an above average striker, or someone who can hold him down and hit him. </p><p> </p><p> On the plus side, his inability to use certain submissions means he spends a who lot of time working on the ones he can. The guys I was talking to who trained with him (one of them is in the UFC, one easily could be) really sang his praises when it came to his 'go to' moves. </p><p> </p><p> Will he be able to hang in Bellator, the UFC, or even against decent guys in the WSOF though? I'm not sure. When you look past the disability, there's nothing there that really screams out 'great fighter', or even 'above average fighter'. Whether that's because of his physical limitations or not, again I'm not sure. </p><p> </p><p> His assertion that he was only going to fight 'ex-UFC' guys was ridiculous as well. Good luck fighting any ex-UFC guy that isn't over-the-hill enough to potentially get another shot, because no manager is going to let a client that's recently been cut from the UFC fight a dude with one arm on national television.</p>

Ahh, there are tons. Off the top of my head... Any Conor McGregor fight. Conor vs Buchinger was short and sweet, Coner vs Dave Hill was cool too. Ryan Roddy vs Wilson Reis, Jean N'Doye (remember that name) vs Liam James, Mohsn Bahari vs Piotr Ptasinski. Our Wales card on September 14th looks insane so far. Jim Alers defends his 145lb strap against Martin Svensson, and there is a one night bantamweight 4-man tourney featuring Martin McDonough, James Pennington, Brett Johns and David Haggstrom. All four are European top 10-ranked 135lbers. There's also UFC veteran Che Mills moving up to middleweight to take on Valentino Petrescu, who was on TUF: The Smashes, in a bout that has 'knock out' written all over it.

As an 'MMA guy' and a former huge wrestling fan, I've pretty much hated any attempt to mix the two (Brawl 4 All, what a great idea!) I guess it makes sense in Japan, where the line between MMA and wrestling has always been a little more blurred. But in the west, it makes no sense for MMA to exist in wrestling's version of reality. Wrestling is about suspension of disbelief; having MMA guys around just makes that harder. It's like a real police officer turning up in an episode of Breaking Bad and arresting the actor who plays Hank for impersonating a law enforcement official. Business wise, it makes sense for Viacom to promote it. They'll likely lose money on the Bellator PPV, so it's best to soften that blow as much as possible by trying to get a few buys from wrestling fans. The PPV itself is only happening due to a court case between Bellator and their former 155lb champion Eddie Alvarez (Bellator held 'matching rights' in their contract with him, and 'matched' a UFC contract offer that included a share of PPV buys). If you're not sold on the Rampage/Tito thing, you're in for some more bad news. Also fighting on that PPV will be Mo Lawal, who I understand has also showed up on TNA wrestling. Lawal was brought into Bellator and put in a talent-light 8-man tourney, but ended up getting knocked out by the unheralded Emanuel Newton. They then put Mo in an even talent-lighter 4-man tourney, which he won. He'll rematch Newton on the PPV. Bellator want to do Jackson vs Lawal next year, so expect a whole lot of both of them on TNA, hyping that fight.

Obviously I have a personal bias as I work for them, but I really would encourage MMA fans here to check out what Cage Warriors are doing at the moment. If you're in the US, all our events stream live and free on MMAJunkie (prelims on facebook), with a repeat airing the following Monday. You can also get all the broadcast fights on our YouTube channel pretty sharpish too. We've had a crazy year already, with seven events in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales and Dubai. In a couple of weeks we're off to Chechnya, to hold the country's first ever MMA card. Then we're back to Wales for a one night bantamweight tourney, followed by shows in London, Bahrain and Dagestan, with a couple more to confirm before our New Years Eve visit to Dublin. If you want high-level, well-matched MMA with great production values, look no further. The talent levels are going through the roof right now, and before long you'll be seeing plenty more CWFC champions following Conor McGregor into the UFC. Here's a link to the YouTube channel for all the fights, highlight reels and more: http://www.youtube.com/user/themmaclinic

This is a ridiculous, uninformed statement to make. What exactly are you basing this on? That fact that you *think* he could?

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="damonster" data-cite="damonster" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>He could still punch.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> If you break your foot that badly you pretty much lose all of your punching power. Punches (when thrown correctly) start at the feet. Think of it as a whiplash effect from your toes to your fist. You post, push-off, pivot your hips and *then* strike. </p><p> </p><p> A broken foot also ruins your footwork, so you can cut angles, close distance or move around to set up your strikes as you normally would.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="Active Jerichoholic" data-cite="Active Jerichoholic" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>Anderson's great and everything, but I'd be highly surprised if ANYONE moved up to fight Bones. The guy has the biggest unbeatable "aura" in MMA right now, and if Anderson had trouble with Chael and Weidman I don't see how he'd want to fight a bigger,longer,stronger more well rounded fighter than them. It'd be the most intriguing fight for Jones so far,so I do hope it happens...just don't see it happening is all.</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> Aura...great until you get punched in the face. Remember when that massive underdog knocked out Anderson Silva that time? Actually, haven't two of the very few guys to really put it on Jones been middleweights? </p><p> </p><p> "He lost to him, so he'd lose to him" - MMA Math - It doesn't work mate, you've got to take each fight on it's merits. Anderson's trouble with Chael and Weidman doesn't mean he struggles against Jones.</p>

<blockquote data-ipsquote="" class="ipsQuote" data-ipsquote-username="bigtplaystew" data-cite="bigtplaystew" data-ipsquote-contentapp="forums" data-ipsquote-contenttype="forums" data-ipsquote-contentid="26660" data-ipsquote-contentclass="forums_Topic"><div>explain this? Has anderson ducked anyone?</div></blockquote><p> </p><p> You're not going to see it on any MMA website, but it's fairly well known within the industry that some of the injury flair ups that Silva has had over the past few years have been 'dubious', and that he refused/stalled fights during contract negotiations. It's widely accepted that Silva's camps antics in this area lead to the UFC's current policy of flying fighters out to preferred doctors rather than accepting medical certificates from local docs. </p><p> </p><p> But that's not ducking fights, that's the guy at the top of the heap holding the UFC up for more money. </p><p> </p><p> I can't think of anyone Silva has ducked or avoided, fight wise. He's fought everyone at the top of the division. Guys like Bisping and Munoz fell at the final hurdle, Jacare is only now getting to the top of the heap...is there anyone else? </p><p> </p><p> I'm not counting Jones, as he's in a different division and Silva has no obligation to fight him.</p>

World War Z. Decidedly average.

<p>So Jim Carrey has refused to promote Kick Ass 2, stating that the Sandy Hook shooting left him unable to "...support that level of violence". </p><p> </p><p> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23027684" rel="external nofollow">http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23027684</a></p><p> </p><p> I wasn't aware of this previously myself, but it turns out that Ace Ventura is actually a gun control advocate. I'm never usually one to put on the tinfoil hat, but I wonder if The Mask has been pressured by any of the groups he's involved with to speak out against a movie that depicts violence on, by and between teenage characters? </p><p> </p><p> Shame really, by all accounts Lloyd Christmas is supposed to do a great job in Kick Ass 2 <img alt="" data-src="//content.invisioncic.com/g322608/emoticons/frown.png.e6b571745a30fe6a6f2e918994141a47.png" src="<___base_url___>/applications/core/interface/js/spacer.png" /></p>

UK peeps, Bellator have *finally* announced the worst-kept secret in UK MMA: They have a UK TV deal! They're on VIVA, and will be airing live as of the start of the Summer series. They're going to be doing one, possibly two shows over here next year (that's the plan as of right now anyway), presumably depending on how well the TV deal goes down for them. They recently signed Rob Sinclair, Paul Sass and Martin Stapleton. Jimmy Wallhead is no longer with them though, and Cage Warriors bought out Ronnie Mann's contract. They also scouted a number of UK prospects a few weeks ago. VIVA is a free to air channel, so basically if you have a TV, you have VIVA. It's a Viacom 'shop window' channel, so basically it shows old MTV/Comedy Central re-runs like South Park, Jackass etc.

So all indications are that Gus is out. Interesting thing to note - The press packs (email sent out/folder full of papers given at press check in) distributed today with the fight week schedule on had numerous Gus-related events. Could be that they just didn't change them, or that he's still doing media rounds for local press purposes (most likely). Could also be that the UFC are going to push this to the wire and get him re-checked on Friday, along with everyone else.

You're welcome to disagree, but that doesn't change the rules. A fighter is entitled to stay where he is until told otherwise. Simple as. I'm not saying that Awad was or wasn't done - the only person in a good enough position to make that call was the ref. That's not the issue here anyway. The ref should have called it at the bell, not waited (giving the fighter, and almost everyone watching, the impression that the round was over), then waved it off without communicating with the fighter.

Completely incorrect. He can lay there until he's called out for the next round if he wants, unless the ref instructs him otherwise... which he didn't. Troy should have waved it off at the bell if he was going by his "You're not saved by the bell" statement. Otherwise he should have communicated with the fighter, which he did not.

Some joker keeps trying to convince me that they're letting two birds have a go in the Octagon tomorrow night, lol. They'll be wanting the vote next!

Because Asian people are generally physically smaller in stature than say, Americans. By extension, so are their best athletes. Just like you don't see many great (or even good, hell, even average) Japanese/Chinese heavyweights.

Anyone read 'Happy'? Thoughts?