Chicks Heart Fights

The Big Lead asks today - why isn’t anyone in the media talking about the high profile positive drug tests in the UFC? Sean Sherk and Royce Gracie are pretty big names - this gets no play? A Big Lead reader asks if it has anything to do with pending media deals between the UFC and ESPN. The worldwide leader has hardly had a whole lot of journalistic integrity lately - AFL Polo Day! - so limiting a coverage to land the UFC hardly seems out of their purview. However, I think the more likely culprit is that news stories have been tripping over themselves lately: Vick dogfighting, an NBA ref throwing games, Barry Bonds closing in quickly on a major record, plus the AFL playoffs, baseball season, the WNBA (you know they cover it. No snickering) golf, tennis… to quote Crash Davis: “We’re dealing with a lot of shit.” Yes, the UFC is a league that is exploding in popularity, but it’s still not definitely going to be covered.

Due to my annoying emails tip, the chicks over at Ladies… have named Forrest Griffin Mailbag Hottie of the Week.

And he is clearly well-deserving!

The dust-up over Sherk and Franca’s positive drug tests continues. In an open letter on his Web site, Josh Gross, executive editor of Sherdog (the top MMA Web site), calls out Dana White specifically, and the UFC more broadly, for not policing their own athletes’ drug use. He points out how Dana White is a well-known control freak, and usually doesn’t let any part of the business rest in anyone else’s hands. Why, then, does White let the onus of drug-testing lie on the state commissions? It’s a fair point. Some states’ commissions don’t require drug testing, so is Dana White staging competitions in those states to skirt the tests? Maybe that’s a bit of a conspiracy theory, but Dana is fanatical about making the UFC palatable to the masses. As Barry Bonds’ agent will surely tell you, a suspected drug problem does not help with your marketability. No tests = no positive tests = no problem!

Dana supposedly responded in a letter on the Underground Forum . (No confirmation on if it is White, but it sure seems like him, from the bad grammar to the malapropisms. It’s holier than THOU, sweetie, not holier than now.) He basically says that he is too busy to worry about this stuff, and that he can’t be responsible for what each fighter does in their training. He also makes a few personal attacks on Gross, and on Sherdog.

Welllll, Dana my love, yeah, you are a little bit responsible. You have a sport built on the backs of these fighters, so you do have to police what they have done to their bodies. You are in the unique position of preventing some of the problems that drugs have caused the MLB and the NFL. Step up now, and you’ll be a hero. Pass the buck, and you will lose control of the brand you have worked so hard to develop.

Ben Askren wrote an open letter to the Missouri faithful in appreciation for their support.

Hello everyone,

I would just like to say thank you for the outpouring of love you gave me during the ESPY process. Without the fans support I doubt I would have even been nominated for an ESPY.

I was very impressed with the amount of emails and phone calls I received of people telling me they voted for me. I appreciate it all. I know I didn’t win, but going to the ESPY’s was still one of the better experiences I have had in a long time.

Thanks again for you support. I hope to have your continuing support in my future endeavors.

Have a great day,
Ben

Personally, as a wrestling fan, and a Missouri fan, I have to say thank you to Ben. He sure has made the past four years fun. I also have to wonder-did Kevin Durant write a letter to thank his supporters?

The NCWA, the club wrestling governing body, has announced that they will start a women’s division for the 07-08 season. This is exciting news for fans and advocates of women’s wrestling. Of course, any new opportunities to compete will help the sport grow, but this will allow a place for women who have started wrestling in high school, but aren’t successful enough to earn a spot at a place like Cumberland or Missouri Valley. Wrestling will no longer be limited to the select few ladies who are at the top, much like it is for the men.The NCWA also has a bold plan to have 300 schools competing by the year 2012. (According to the press release, they not only have a bold Goal, they have a bold Vision. Their Goal and Vision are so bold that they break the Rules of Capitalizing Nouns.) With just over 5,000 girls wrestling in high school, it won’t be easy to make sure that that more than half of them continue wrestling in college, especially since club teams are usually self-governed and self-funded. With the Olympics next year, women’s wrestling is sure to enjoy another surge next year. (Yay Patricia Miranda!) The NCWA needs to make sure that they capitalize on that.

I know that most of the sporting world is talking about Tim Donaghy, the NBA ref who allegedly bet on NBA games, including some games that he worked. (Side note, my father has always maintained that all games in all sports are fixed. I hate it when they prove him right!) It is an upsetting story that threatens the foundation of the league.

For people who don’t care as much about the NBA, people like wrestling and UFC fans, Sherk testing positive for banned substances is equally upsetting. Sherk is the lightweight belt holder and after his last win over Hermes Franca (who also tested positive) it looked like he would stay at the top for a while. Sherk was found to have Nandrolone Metabolite in his blood, a blood doping agent that has also been used in racing horses. Sherk will now face a one-year suspension and a $2,500 fine. He made $28K for the last fight, so this fine will take away nearly 10% of his purse. Sherk plans to appeal the suspension.

According to the Baltimore Sun, Franca has admitted to taking drugs because he needed the money badly, and he was coming back from an ankle injury. “I made a decision during a difficult time in my training for the fight that I regret,” he said. Considering that he made $14K in the fight against Sherk, the fine, plus no fighting for a year, that decision will prove to be even more costly in the end.

These suspensions raise many questions: does the UFC have a drug problem? If so, since both of the offenders were lightweights, does the drug problem mostly exist in the lighter weights, or is it across the board? Will Sherk have to vacate his belt? Since Franca and Sherk fought each other, does it really matter?

Royce Gracie, a pioneer of MMA and proponent of Davids everywhere, tests positive for steroids. Jake Rosen of Sherdog has an excellent wrap-up of Gracie’s hypocrisy.

Two Olympians find new jobs: Sammie Henson top assistant at Cal Poly; Jamill Kelly named Manager of National Coaches Education Program for USAWrestling.

A time, date and station has been set for Rampage vs. Henderson: Saturday, September 8, 9 ET on Spike. This will be Spike’s first airing of a title bout. Also fighting that day will be Mirko Cro Cop and Cheick Kongo.

According to the Star-Bulletin, the UFC is in talks to host an outdoor event in Hawaii:

“I’m working on that right now as a matter of fact,” White said in an exclusive interview with the Star-Bulletin. “I’ve wanted to bring one there for a long time and now that we have acquired PRIDE, I think it’s the perfect time to do that big stadium because it would pull a lot of Americans and a lot of Japanese fans.”

I have three thoughts on this. One: with BJ Penn’s big win over Jens Pulver, and Joe Lauzon’s recent move to Hawaii to train with BJ, it would make sense to see BJ’s next big fight in the Aloha State. Since he will most likely move up a weight class, I’d like to see him take on Hughes again, or Matt Serra.

Two: the heat and humidity will play a part in an outdoor fight, so I’m looking forward to see how training camps will deal with this new aspect of an outdoor event. How will this also affect weight cutting?

My final thought: what better reason for a vacation in Hawaii than a UFC event?

I love the athleticism of MMA. I like that it combines wrestling, boxing, jiu-jitsu. Watching the sport grow since Dana White and friends took it over has been a great experience. I’m not going to lie, though. I also really like seeing the well-conditioned bodies of the athletes wearing very little clothes. Rampage Jackson’s shoulders, Josh Koscheck’s abs, Forrest Griffin’s deformed yet kinda hot arms-I love them all.

So, when choosing my favorite fighters, their skill, fighting style, and record mean most to me - but they’re not going to be my favorite if they fell off the ugly tree. And here they are:

Forrest Griffin

Forrest has been my fave since we met him on the first season of the Ultimate Fighter. I like his stand-up, and tenacity. His fights with Tito Ortiz and Stephan Bonnar were epic, and you gotta love a guy who needs to be punched in the face just once before he really gets going.

Jens Pulver

Yes, I’m aware that Jens was submitted by BJ Penn on June 23. I’m also aware that Jens’ career as a fighter is probably over. (At least I hope it is - I hope he’s not one of those fighters who feels the need to stage 812 comebacks, and keep fighting well past his prime. I’m looking at you Ken Shamrock!) Little Evil is responsible for helping build the sport, and his weight class. Pulver started in wrestling at Boise State, and did not forget his background when he brought Boise St. coach, and former USA wrestling team member Kirk White to help with his team on TUF. Jens was also part of one of the sweetest moments from any season of TUF:

Nate Diaz: Hey Jens, I’m, like glad you’re my coach, man.
Jens: Yeah, Diaz, I liked coaching you.

Sniff!

So yeah, those are my two favorites. I love many more of them: Randy Couture, Josh Koscheck, Rampage Jackson, Roger Huerta… the list goes on. I’m sure that I will write more about them as time goes on, and I explore writing on the series of tubes.

I like that I’m writing as if someone is actually reading this. Hysterical.

Ben Askren, the 174 lb. wrestler from Missouri, the two-time NCAA champion and Hodge Trophy winner, the four-time All-American, the funkmeister, was nominated for the Best Male College Athlete ESPY this year. He lost to Kevin Durant. Intermat’s Jason Bryant wrote an excellent article about why Askren should have won:

http://armchairgm.com/index.php?title=ESPY_Awards:_Why_Ben_Askren_should_win_best_Male_College_Athlete

Jason covered the important stuff - to me, the especially salient points are that Askren was Big 12 Male Athlete of the Year over Durant, and, at 174 lbs, he can bench press more than Durant, who weighs 220.

Now, I know that the ESPYs truly mean zilch. It’s just a chance for sports people to dress up, have parties, and ogle Taryne Mowatt and Danica Patrick in dresses. I get it. And since it’s a fan vote that decides, I guess I should just be happy that he was nominated and move on. But maybe that’s the problem that has caused the loss of more than 200 wrestling programs over the past 15 years, most recently Oregon and Eastern Illinois. As these programs have fallen off the map - Notre Dame, Washington, Kansas St., Clemson, Syracuse, Fresno St.-wrestling fans have protested, but your average sports fan has said tsk, tsk, and moved on. I might be putting too much in an award that means nothing, but as a fan of the sport since I was a little girl, I just wish that people would stop and take a look at the world’s oldest and greatest sport before moving on.