MMA Legal Spot » UFC

Tribute to Evan Tanner

admin — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:01:26 +0000

It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I guess I’ve been on a bit of a break, nothing has really motivated me to write in the past month or so. But last week a post on bloodyelbow.com reminded me that its been about a year since Evan Tanner died. In addition to being one of my favorite fighters, Tanner seemed to be a true free-spirit and warrior. His Spike-TV blog was painfully honest and was great fun to follow. From his thoughts on fighting, to philosphies on life, Tanner was - if nothing else – a true original and a breath of fresh air. He was, in some senses, a prodigy – having taught himself jiu jitsu by watching instructional videos and earning two Texas high school state wrestling championships, despite the fact that he didn’t start wrestling until 10th grade. His blog ended eerily, with a description of his preparations for the trip into the desert that ended his life.

There are some really great tribute videos out there, some of which provide great footage of Tanner’s early fights in Pancrase. You can check them out at http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/9/4/1015328/remembering-evan-tanner-september.

UFC 100: Great Fights, Disappointing Performances

admin — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 01:20:21 +0000

Back at the end of May I posted an entry criticizing Thierry Sokoudjou’s failure to heed to ref’s commands at the Dream.9 show in Japan. Some hardcore fans would probably consider my concerns a bit of an overreaction to a relatively isolated incident (see the comments on that post for an example). Since then, there have been two additional incidents of fighters arguably crossing the line and - while not disobeying the ref’s commands – continuing to deliver punishment to a clearly unconscious opponent. One case was Gilbert Yvel’s KO of Pedro Rizzo at Ultimate Chaos, and Dan Henderson’s blasting of Michael Bisping last night at UFC 100. In both of these cases the extra blows were delivered before the referee stepped in, with the Yvel/Rizzo stoppage arguably coming a few punches too late. Yvel was almost apologetic in his post-fight interview after the Rizzo fight. He seemed to admit that he continued to deliver blows after he suspected Rizzo was out, but - as a professional fighter – felt that he had to continue until the ref stepped in (you can check out the interview at http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/6/27/928020/snapshot-of-the-day-ref-watches). On the other hand, Henderson (one of my favorite fighters) reportedly made no bones about smashing a cold-cocked Bisping (one of my least favorite fighters) to “shut him up.” http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/7/12/946473/ufc-100-dan-henderson-admits.

Neither Yvel or Henderson broke any rules or disobeyed the referees commands, but is their conduct good for the sport of MMA ? Do fighters have any responsibility to refrain from delivering extra damage to an opponent who is not merely dazed, but stiff-as-a-board, ass-out, KO’ed? This issue is fairly unique to MMA because the fights transition from stand-up striking situations to groundfighting (unlike boxing, or grappling sports that don’t involve striking). My opinion is hell yes they have a responsibility. Although I’m a bit more on the fence about the Yvel fight, the last shot by Hendo was clearly excessive. Yes, I know, you’ve got to keep fighting until the ref stops it – but “keep fighting” doesn’t mean throwing a superman forearm from hell on a guy who you know is out cold and could already be in trouble. And, yes, I agree Bisping needed to have his mouth shut, I just think the overhand right that turned the lights out did the trick.

No less a downer, Lesnar turned in a dominating performance indicating the start of a new era in the heavyweight division; then proceeded to make a total ass out of himself (and the UFC) by having a brain fart and reverting back to his WWE shtick. Again, I like Lesnar as a fighter – he’s a complete beast. But the post-fight antics and apology were, well, pretty pathetic. Basically, Lesnar’s excuse sounded something like “I don’t like to loose . . . Mir beat me last time . . . so I gave the crowd the finger, mocked Mir when he was still trying to recover, talked about climbing on top of my wife, and insulted a major sponsor.” Are you kidding me? Get a grip.

A weekend of great fights, but disappointing performances.

A Few Thoughts on UFC 98

admin — Tue, 26 May 2009 00:40:16 +0000

I’ve been on a bit of a pay-per-view hiatus. But I looked at the card for UFC 98 and decided it would be worth the $45 to see Frankie Edgar fight Sean Sherk, and the match-up between Rashad Evans and Lyoto Machida. As it turned out, those two fights alone were worth the money.

First, a big congrats to fellow Jersey-guy Frankie Edgar. Edgar put on a striking clinic against a very dangerous Sean Sherk. Edgar proved most of the commentators wrong, using superb head movement, fakes, takedown attempts, and multi-faceted striking to earn a 30-27 unanimous decision. Edgar has developed a great style, finding the perfect mix of elusiveness and aggression that is really fun to watch. Also, after getting blasted with a double-leg takedown in the middle of round 3, Edgar also showed great poise working off of his back within seconds, and taking no real damage along the way. Egdar also showed fantastic presence, when he worked a guillotine attempt in the closing seconds of the last round to seal the deal, instead of just letting the time expire. Great job Frankie!

As far as the Machida fight goes, like Joe Rogan said, I think we are seeing the start of a new era. Machida’s Shotokan karate has frustrated every UFC opponent he’s faced, and turned a very, very tough Rashad Evans off in the second round. It’s interesting to see some of the more traditional martial arts coming back into the MMA fold, as the practitioners round out their games to cover the wrestling and submission aspects. I think this will end up raising the caliber of striking in MMA. Machida is definitely a force to be reckoned with.

Good stuff!