Matt Hughes Knows What Time It Is
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 3:00 p.m. ET: Yahoo’s Maggie Hendricks has made one of the great eBay archaeological finds of our era: a a bootleg Matt Hughes wall clock that will be inscribed with the winning bidder’s name of choice.
Roger Gracie to Strikeforce?
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 2:30 p.m. ET: Sports Illustrated pitbull terrier Josh Gross reports that Roger Gracie is close to signing a multi-fight contract with Strikeforce.
This is news worth repeating. Gracie is a heavyweight prospect with world-class grappling skills, a marketable name, and an unblemished record. (Granted, he’s only had two fights, but still.) Strikeforce’s interest means his talent won’t be squandered in a series of ridiculous, brain-bankrupt bouts in Japan, which had already started when he was matched against middleweight Yuki Kondo last year.
Robert Drysdale, who knows a little bit about jiu-jitsu, told the Fightworks Podcast last year that it isn’t just Gracie’s technical ability -- which has won him countless world championships -- that should concern people.
“He is also incredibly strong. I don’t know if you guys saw this in the finals of 2007 but he ripped my gi. He just ripped my sleeve apart. That was a brand new gi that I had never worn before! That’s not normal! That’s not normal, I don’t care what people say. I have never seen that happen in my life. When he did that I was like, ‘Holy s---!’”
Solid endorsement. Scott Coker, CEO of Strikeforce, says his intention is for Gracie to cut his teeth in their Challengers series of feeder shows on Showtime.
Bellator Sends Menne, Knabjian to Hospital
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 2:00 p.m. ET: From the I-don’t-have-anything-condescending-to-say-about-this dept: Bellator welterweights Dave Menne and Kevin Knabjian stopped by Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago, Ill., Tuesday to visit pediatric patients, sign autographs and delicately pat little heads asking for “Iceman.”
It’s actually an encouraging sign of MMA’s evolving tolerance level in the mainstream that a children’s hospital PR director -- a conservative demographic if there ever was one -- didn’t see any issue with booking prizefighters. (Not that Menne is a ticking time bomb of rage: (he’s usually pretty sleepy, actually.)
Both Menne and Knabjian are expected to compete at Bellator VII Friday in Chicago. Menne in the semifinals of the welterweight tournament vs. Omar de la Cruz and Knabjian is coming in against Jacob Volkmann.
“Cro Cop” Out of Repair Shop, Eager to Fracture a Skull or Two
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. ET: No doubt still upset over a monotone UFC stint in 2007, once-dreaded kickboxer Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic has announced via his website that he’s returned to semi-active duty following surgery to repair a dodgy knee. Apparently, delivering horrific beatings tends to stress the joints.
Filipovic is only 34: providing he stays healthy, that’s a generous amount of time to be an effective heavyweight fighter. And if he can’t mount another title run, there are some immensely entertaining fights with Gilbert Yvel, Ben Rothwell or Jose Canseco floating out there.
We’ve got weeks of Canseco material left, folks. Suck it up.
Week of White: The UFC President as Media Catnip
By Jake Rossen (jrossen@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 6:05 a.m. ET: Not to get too meta, but Dana White’s media exposure is a curious phenomenon in and of itself. He’s graced at least a dozen magazine covers since the UFC hit a crescendo beginning in 2005; his radio and TV appearances often exceed the frequency of the fighters he promotes.
Why is White such a lightning rod for attention? In today’s Web addendum: three reasons the UFC chair gets more exposure than George Hamilton.
One: He’s contentious.
White has bemoaned the media for dwelling on the negatives across all genres -- not just sports --but neglects to acknowledge that the melodrama is often of his own creation.
Ask (some might say “bait”) White on a certain topic, and he’ll spit more venom than that snake pit in “Raiders.” Tito Ortiz? $@#@!* Tito. (I’m paraphrasing.) Select journalists? $#@!& them, too. (Again, a rough summation.)
There’s no diplomacy in White’s world. For media outlets looking for that inflammatory response, White is as reliable as a peanut allergy.
Two: He’s not a Fat Guy.
Not to paint fight promoters with too broad a brush, but most of them look like they get involuntarily ejected from the buffet line on a daily basis. The fact that White doesn’t have the proportions of a yam works in his favor. Men’s fitness magazines have adopted him as the avatar for boardroom bulk. That someone can be in shape and not brain dead is apparently quite a hook.
Three: He’s a quote machine.
Canned-ham answers are hot death for journalists: there’s nothing that induces unconsciousness more quickly than a subject boring readers with disingenuous, PR-glossed babble.
White’s transcripts read like Sam Kinison monologues, blunt-force verbal violence that appears unrehearsed and devoid of any saccharine coating.
Journalist: Dana, your thoughts on Affliction?
White: [Insert climatic head-explosion scene from “Scanners.”]
White is many things, not all of them agreeable: a boring interview he is not.
Fame and Headaches
By Greg Savage (greg@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 5:20 a.m. ET: With the fame and notoriety that come with being one of the world’s top mixed martial artists comes some headaches.
Just ask Urijah Faber, the former WEC featherweight champion, who is currently training for a rematch with the man who took his belt away seven months ago. He has a date with Mike Thomas Brown in less than a month, but it seems a certain Internet-pot stirrer has set his sights on Faber and he feels the former 145-pound top dog is ducking him.
“This guy was quite the character man,” said Faber of his myspace.com battle with Manny Reyes Jr. “Mandy Reyes Jr., I guess Hermes Franca knocked him out for a dollar because he was talking so much crap, I don’t know what his deal is man, he’s insulting my mom, calling me a cracker white boy, this, that and the other thing … and I just basically sent back, ‘Yeah, have your manager get you in the WEC and we’ll fight.”
According to Faber, Reyes didn’t take kindly to his offer and retorted that he was an “Internet sensation,” and “the baddest hardcore fighter on the planet,” and that “The California Kid” was afraid to take him on.
Faber eventually stopped responding to the messages and insults because he says Reyes is a “moron” who could not move beyond insults. Though he was reluctant to give Reyes any play, Faber did leave him with a few words of warning.
“Don’t make me sick Hermes on you, that’s my boy, so I will pay him a dollar to knock you out again.”
Atencio Outtakes
By Loretta Hunt (lhunt@sherdog.com)Wednesday, 3:20 a.m. ET: When you conduct an interview, you always stand the chance of running over. I’m notorious for my lengthy interviews, but that’s where the trusty blog comes in. Here are some of my outtakes with from my tête-à -tête with Affliction VP Tom Atencio, who recently threw his hat into the ring as a fighter. Is it possible to pull off one of the most anticipated events this year and sneak in a fight yourself? Atencio is certainly going to try.
On fighting and promoting at the same time:
Sherdog.com: What if Dana White suddenly decided he was going to be a fighter. Do you think people would question him spending his time on those pursuits when he’s supposed to be promoting?
Tom Atencio: Yeah, absolutely, and I think they’re going to be people that support me and say, ‘Good job, Tom. It’s awesome that you’re fighting. Now you can see exactly what these fighters go through.’ Well, yeah, I do. That’s why I’ve tried to be fair to these guys because I have fought before. No matter what you do, you’re always going to have both sides. There’s going to be fighters that are selfish and greedy. There’s going to be fighters that are awesome and work well with you, but [fighting] puts me in a position where I can empathize, at worst, with the guys that are willing to work with me and bend a little.
Continue Reading » Atencio Outtakes
Foster Talks Baker Beatdown
By Mike Fridley (mike@sherdog.com)Brian Foster exclusive interview.
I was sitting cageside for the Shine Fights debut in Columbus, when I told a gentlemen sitting behind me that Kyle Baker is the real deal.
“This fight won’t go two minutes,” I said. “This Baker kid is amazing.”
“Oh yeah?” answered the old man.
About 59 seconds later as Kyle Baker was starring at the Big Dipper through closed eyes, Brian Foster pumped his fist in victory after demolishing one of MMA’s more enjoyable welterweight prospects in less than a minute with methodical brutality.
Surely I’ll never run into that fan again, but that doesn’t make the crow I was forced to chew on taste any better, trust me.
Check the blog all day for more entries.