Chicks Heart Fights

My friends often tease me about my “type” of guy, meaning, I don’t have one. The guys I’ve had crushes on have no rhyme or reason - Jens Pulver, Gerald Harris, Mike Zadick, Roger Huerta… huh? Exactly.

Tonight’s fight between Forrest and Rampage is a fantastic illustration of my random tastes. I love them both, and they couldn’t be more different. Their fighting style, training, coaching, fan bases - the only thing they have in common is that they are both hilarious.

Forrest, who I’ve loved since his first fight on the Ultimate Fighter, is a country boy who has become well acclimated to the city. Watching his coaching style emerge was one of the more fun themes of this season’s TUF; he clearly brought out the best in his fighters. Forrest’s fans are the type of guys who go to the fanfest, the weigh-ins and get to the arena 45 minutes before the fight. They are… eager - and I totally identify with them. This explains some of the random booing towards Rampage during the weigh-ins. Forrest is self-deprecating, and a true student of his sport. I truly enjoy watching everyone of his interviews, fights, and videos of him kicking random internet geeks. For all of these reasons, I love him.

Rampage Jackson won my heart more recently. When Chuck Liddell was getting all the press before their fight, I had a funny feeling that Rampage, who I only knew from Youtube clips, was going to win and win big. I loved being right. His heavy hands, bad breath jokes and howling made me love him. His fans are more likely to sit at the pool all day, show up late to the fight but definitely be on time to the afterparty… another group I identify with. His fighters didn’t do all that well, but at the same time, he clearly forged a bond with his team. Not many other coaches have done that?

Can you think of two men more different, yet more likable? Me neither. I’m leaving for the bar soon, and I still can’t decide who I am going to cheer for. I guess I don’t need to decide. Hmmm, maybe this fight also illustrates my commitment issues.

I greatly apologize for not posting over the weekend. Right now, I am sitting in the Phoenix airport, eternally grateful for their free wi-fi. The schedule did not allow me as much time as I thought it would, but here is complete coverage from the Mat . The team that was made is very different from the team I thought we would have, but it’s a very good team. Here are my random observations from watching the Trials over the past few days.

• The rules stink. Plain old stink. They don’t reward the wrestler who pushes the pace and tries to create scoring opportunities. Even more egregiously, the rules reward luck. Coin flips decided far too many matches. What is wrong with letting wrestlers wrestle to decide the winner of a match? Isn’t that the point?
• Ben Askren is the first wrestling Olympian from the University of Missouri. I held back tears as the seconds ticked away in Ben’s second match, as I was a Tiger for a little bit of the pre-Brian Smith era. I can’t believe I’m going to get to watch one of my own in the Olympics.
• There was music played for the duration of the tournament, and the song choices were bizarre. With the exception of Rob Koll, who exactly gets pumped up to wrestle by listening to “Dancing Queen?” They also clearly did not vet the music before playing it. When I heard the beginning beats of “Closer,” by Nine Inch Nails, I myself nearly ran down to the announcer’s table to get the song turned off before Trent Reznor screamed “I wanna f### you like an animal!” Thankfully, someone else realized the error and turned that song off.
• The addition of Judo was fantastic. I learned more about a sport I had not seen before, and the Judo fans were clearly happy to be joined by the large wrestling contingent.
• Cary Kolat was one of my favorite wrestlers to watch. His return to the national scene has been a welcome one, and I hope he keeps at it.
• Someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but Sunday saw no wrestlers leave their shoes on the mat. Many wrestlers announced their retirement on Saturday, including, most shockingly in my opinion. Harry Lester. His loss to Jake Deicthler was a huge upset, and an amazing win for the 18 year old Deicthler, but I never would have guessed that this would be the last we would see of Lester. We will miss you, Harry!
• Is it me, or does T.C. Dantzler have a head wound in every match?
• One of the best moments of the weekend was when the 1980 Olympic team was honored. Regardless of the politics, it’s a shame that these men didn’t have a chance to take the mat that year. Granted, some of them had opportunities in other Games, but they were in the minority. Like many other fans, I appreciated having the opportunity to give them a round of applause.
• As usual, the wrestling world showed how we are a true family this weekend. I made new friends , reconnected with old ones, shared cabs with tons of random cauliflower-eared folk and was reminded why I love this sport so much.
• Two celebrities in the crowd: Dan Henderson and Ashton Kutcher
• Finally, as of today, Mike Zadick is FS 60 kg Trials champion. I have heard that he may receive a wildcard and get to compete in the Olympics. Keep your fingers crossed!

That’s all for now. I promise to have much, much more after I have had more than 45 minutes of sleep. It is so true that time has no meaning in Las Vegas!

All the hype surrounding Sunday night’s WEC fight is about Urijah Faber and Jens Pulver - deservedly so. However, you should tune in to see more than “the best fight EVER.” This card features two title defenses, MMA veteran Rob McCullough, and one of my favorite people on the planet, Mark Munoz.

Munoz, a national champion for the Oklahoma State Cowboys, makes his WEC debut on Sunday against Chuck Grigsby. Here are a few reasons why you should cheer for him when he enters the cage this Sunday:

1. He helped UC-Davis to their first national champion ever.

2. His face lights up and he pulls out pictures when you ask him about his family.

3. He is planning on finishing his Sports Psychology master’s thesis between fights . The subject? The rise of MMA.4. Urijah Faber talked him into trying MMA.

5. He is quite talented at turning lemons into lemonade.

6. He showed John Smith that he could be successful at 197 when Smith said he should drop down. (For the non-wrestling peeps here, John Smith is not the easiest guy to stand up to…)

7. Maybe this one is just for the ladies, but, he’s adorable!

Catch Mark this Sunday on the WEC on Versus . 

This Saturday, UFC 83’s fight will be played out in front of the largest live crowd ever to watch a UFC event. The Ultimate Fighting world will converge upon Montreal, the hometown of Georges St. Pierre. (A note from GSP’s Wikipedia entry-he once worked as a bouncer at a club called the Fuzzy Brossard. So there you go.) We will have lots of great accents on this evening, with GSP, Michael Bisping, and Matt Serra all representing their ‘hoods. Rich Franklin will of course be representing Ohio, but do Ohioans have an accent? Predictions and a roundup, after the jump.

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You’re our only hope! With the Olympics just a few months away - I heard something about a torch run - the US is down to one of our final shots at qualifying the 60 kg freestyle weight class. Every other weight class has already qualified, through the Pan-Ams, Worlds, or various other tournaments. However, Mike Zadick has the mission of qualifying 60 kg for the United States at a tournament in Switzerland next weekend.

Going into the tournament, Zadick already has a distraction. He was publicly warned by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency after he tested positive for a banned drug. The drug was prescribed by a doctor, but the proper paperwork was not filled out ahead of time, so he gets the slap on the wrist.

As for the tournament in Sweden Switzerland, he will have some tough competition. Iran, with a former World Champion in Sayed Mohammedi, and Cuba, with 2004 Olympic champion Yandro Quintana, have also not qualified at 60 kg. According to my sources-the guys who really know the international wrestling scene at the Wrestling Talk-this is a winnable tournament for Zadick. If he is wrestling like he did when he won a silver medal at the 2006 Worlds, we should be smooth sailing. If he wrestles like he did at the Chicago Cup (the last time I saw him wrestle,) we’re in trouble. Hopefully he is inspired by the dominant performance of his Hawkeyes just a few weeks ago, and the qualifying monkey will be off his back.

I love a good nickname, and many of my favorite other sports are weak on the nickname front. A-Rod? D-Lee? Sexy Rexy? Those are terrible. Today’s nicknames don’t hold a candle to Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown, Dick “Night Train” Lane, and my favorite, Sweetness.

This is true for every sport except mixed martial arts. Every fighter has a nickname, and some are downright fantastic. A few weeks ago, I decided to call the Ultimate Fighter’s Gerald Harris “The Hotness,” due to his tough fighting style, quickness, and yes, his looks. So, come on people, let’s make “the Hotness” happen. I don’t know if he already has an MMA nickname, and I frankly don’t care. Say it loud, say it proud: Gerald “the Hotness” Harris!

Thanks to Stardust for the fantastic graphics!

Starting out the broadcast, we see two wrestlers, Gerald Harris (the Hotness) and CB Dolloway. Both guys are confused by how many fighters are in the room. They break into applause when Dana White walks into the room.

Dana drops the f-bomb in the first 2 minutes. Fantastic! When Dana tells them that they are going to have to fight their way onto the show, according to Rampage: “I think some of them crapped their pants. I smelled it.” I’m going to love Rampage as a coach.

Forrest wants fighters that are uglier than him. That’s not hard, darling! Oh, excuse me. They immediately break into the fights. Sorry, but I am not going to blog everyone of these-I’ve just liveblogged for the past three hours.

Prince McLean vs. Mike Dolce: McLean has a Star of David tattoo, but crossed himself when he entered the Octagon. Interesting. We get to hear the commentary of Dana, Forrest and Rampage. Dolce KTFO McLean. Wowza. Rampage on Dolce: “Did you smell that guy? That probably helped in the knockout! The funk came through on the punch.”

John Clarke vs. Cale Yarborough: Clarke has cut 17 pounds to get here. Cale is a friend of Forrest’s, and he is coaching him. Yarborough outlasts Clarke.

Steve Byrnes vs. Amir Sadollah: This is a really evenly matched fight. Forrest and Rampage keep changing who they’re cheering for. Amir wins by an armbar, jumps on the octagon fence, and promptly falls off of it. That was the best part of the fight.

CB Dollaway vs. David Baggett: Go CB! CB throws some great knees, and Dana says that he is f***in’ good, and he wins right away by TKO.

Dante Rivera vs. John Wood: Dante wins by kimura against the cage. Rampage said that he has never seen a kimura like that before.

Nick Klein vs. Dave Mewborn: Mewborn is a friend of Forrest’s, but he may want to disown him after this fight. He tapped from a really weak triangle-Klein is your winner.

Paul Bradley vs. Reggie Orr: Yay-Bradley is an Iowa wrestler, and Forrest called it the most boring fight of the night. Bradley hasn’t changed much since college-he wins it, while stalling the entire time.

Jeremy May vs. Dave Roberts: Roberts is a good friend of Rampage’s, but he’s not doing much. May wins with an armlock. May then pisses off Rampage by running his mouth-this won’t end well.

This week is over, but they didn’t show all the fights-the rest are next week, and according to the announcer, one of the most brutal knockouts in the history of the UFC-good stuff!

This past weekend, Spike reran TUF6, a season filled with broken bones, “pooooosies,” crazy girlfriends/wives and one dominant fighter, Mac Danzig. The knock on last season is that all the preliminary fights were weak-J-Roc working on his deer in the headlights look, Dan Barrera standing over Ben Saunders instead of letting him up to continue striking, Blake Bowman falling, without any help, in a fight with Richie Hightower. Not all fights can be incredibly competitive, but the fighters on last season’s show were not the cream of the crop. Fight fans couldn’t help but ask: isn’t there someone better? I knew of many former wrestlers who had jumped into MMA-why weren’t they on the show?

This season, the team behind TUF clearly listened to the complaints. First of all, the fighters are coming in with credentials and experience. Four NCAA D-I wrestlers, including All-American C.B. Dolloway, are on the cast list put together by MMA Junkie. 18 cast members have at least five fights under their belt. Some have fought for the International Fight League, like Gerald Harris (who I may just nickname The Hotness, because that is exactly what he is). Two fighters, Dave Roberts and Steve Byrnes, even have UFC experience.

To further trim the fat from the TUF pool, 32 fighters were selected for the cast, but before they were even allowed to move into their house, they had to win a fight. Not only will this ensure that the cast members are there to become better fighters, this will also jam pack the first episode with 16 fights.

The best part of this show, though, will be the coaches. Both Forrest and Rampage will say anything at any time, and that will only lead to pure comedy gold. Can you imagine the Coach’s Challenge?

Mark Munoz, assistant coach at UC Davis, NCAA Champion for Oklahoma State, and all-around great guy, has signed with World Extreme Cagefighting. His first fight will be on June 1 at Arco Arena. Congratulations!     

Tags: Iowa · NCAA · cauliflower ear is hot · wrestling