Barnett out of Fedor fight

Say it ain't so, Tom Atencio.

Just weeks before his showdown with the Fedor Emelianenko, the man widely recognized as the number one heavyweight in mixed martial arts, Josh Barnett was denied a license to fight for allegedly testing positive for a banned substance.

Now Affliction is scrambling to find a sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered on the alter of Emelianko.

Vitor Belfort and Bobby Lashley are rumored to have agreed to fight the Russian in principle. But neither come close to the talent, hype or danger that surrounded Josh Barnett.

So Fedor loses a chance to validate his number status in the ever-waning pool of talent outside of the UFC. And fans will miss out on seeing Emelianenko square up against his most competitive adversary since fighting CroCop in 2005.

And with Affliction's Trilogy card rumored to be their last, Fedor is running out of options if he is to remain a relevant fighter. People may still respect his accolades and pay to see him dismantle opponents, but fighting has-been UFC champions like Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovksi will no longer suffice with freaks like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin and Cain Valezquez smashing heads in the octagon.

Metro Article on Kenny Florian

From July 19

Florian on his way to Philly

UFC. When the bell rings for the first ever UFC event in Philadelphia, Kenny Florian will have the past on his mind.

Florian can still taste the blood from his first UFC title fight. His original bid for the 155-pound title was spoiled in a bloody, five-round contest against then-champion Sean Sherk in 2006. He’s determined not to let history repeat itself.

“Since the loss to Sherk I haven’t had any off season,” said Florian, who hails from Westwood, Mass. “I’ve just been training consistently, year-round. You have to be honest with yourself.”

Florian will headline the “UFC 101: Declaration” card at the Wachovia Center against champion B.J. Penn.

Penn is nicknamed “the prodigy” for his jiu-jitsu wizardry and elastic limbs.

“On fight night I’ll still respect his skills and what’s he’s accomplished, but I’ll disrespect his strategy,” Florian said.

Win or lose, there is no shortage of exciting fights for Florian after August. Many fans are clamoring for a rematch between Florian and Diego Sanchez, who defeated him in the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show in 2005.

But on August 8, Philly’s martial arts fans can look forward to a headline fight featuring two guys that know the sport well.

“I don’t consider myself a fighter,” Florian said. “I have always considered myself a martial artist.”

Weekend recollections

Last night I watched a story within a story—“American Splendor”. It is about Harvey Pekar, a filing clerk at a Veteran’s Hospital in Ohio who has recorded his rather ordinary life into an award-winning autobiographical comic series by the same name.

The film reinforced my need to write every day.The brain needs conditioning to perform with order and clarity.

Opposite of contemplative self-reflection on the spectrum of manliness, I watched UFC 100 on Saturday night.

My predictions were pretty spot on. Dan Henderson exposed Michael Bisping’s relative inexperience and knocked him out with a devastating lead cut kick-overhand right combo in the second round. (It was nearly identical to the striking technique Henderson’s former training partner Randy Couture had used to drop Tim Sylvia in the opening moments of their fight.) Georges Saint Pierre dominated a resilient Thiago Alves, despite pulling his groin in the third round. And Brock Lesnar smothered Frank Mir with his superior strength and wrestling. Then he rearranged Mir’s face with his fists.

Lesnar’s victory also confirmed some suspicions that have lingered in my mind ever since he made the transition into MMA.

Brock Lesnar is very easy to dislike.

Nearly pounding Mir’s skull through the links of the octagon cage like a human cheese grater was just the beginning of a frenzied testosterone and adrenaline-induced victory celebration for the former WWE star. Lesnar saluted the crowd with his middle fingers. He got in Mir’s face and taunted him as he recovered. Then Lesnar spit out his mouth piece and screamed something primitive into a camera man, slobbering from the mouth like a feral dog incensed by a fresh kill. During his post fight interview he encouraged the crowd to boo him more, and joked that he would drink a Coors Light because Budweiser, UFC’s biggest sponsor, refused to directly sponsor him.

“Hell, I may even get on top of my wife tonight,” Lesnar said. His wording seemed to imply that the act of “Sable-bombing” his wife, Rena Mero, is something of a rarity. It would seem that Lesnar’s true love is reserved for pushing his body to the limit in the gym, and then getting paid lots of money for it.

Perhaps Lesnar’s most charming remarks concerned his steamrolling of Frank Mir.

“Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass,” he said. “I pulled that sum’bitch out,”—the excitement in voice intensifying—“and I hit him over the head with it! Woo!”

The now-unified UFC champion, to which awards the spoils one of the most visible representatives in the largest weight class of the UFC, possesses not a not a single charismatic follicle of platinum hair on his head. Lesnar is like nightmarish embodiment of every bully archetype to ever torment small children. Stylized tattoos of skulls and a painfully conspicuous phallic-shaped sword (complete with brass knuckle hilt) adorn his hyperbolic physique. His arrogance and menacing looks are the stuff of Rocky movie villains. Lesnar will totally disrespect whoever stands across the cage from him and be the first to admit it. And it has reaped great rewards for him so far.

He reminds me of a younger Tito Ortiz, who in his prime, could back up his controversial antics with explosive performances in the cage. People will pay money to watch a man they hate get knocked senseless. And if villain like Lesnar can violently dispatch whatever heroes are sent his ways, people will grow to love him. Until they bring on Fedor…

UFC 100 Predictions

UFC 100
This is my first blog post, and my first Ultimate Fighting Championship prediction. In conversation it has always been easy for me to opine on a subject like UFC fights, but translating my calls into logical written arguments, like all strong writing, is perplexing. Just like anything else, I will improve with time and practice.

In other MMA news, I interviewed Kenny Florian last week. Florian is fighting B.J. Penn for the lightweight titleat UFC 101 in Philadelphia on August 8. We spoke about training, a possible rematch with Diego Sanchez, his thoughts on Philly Fight Factory’s Eddie Alvarez, and of course, his thoughts on his second title fight in August. It should be in the Metro sometime next week, and I’ll be sure to post the unedited interview on here afterward, so keep checking.


Frank Mir (12-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (3-1)

The rematch, once again, will be a classic battle of Mir’s technique against Lesnar’s brute force to unify the UFC heavyweight title. Their first fight over a year ago ended with Mir submitting Lesnar with a knee bar in the first round of the former WWE star's UFC debut. Lesnar rebounded by manhandling Heath Herring for three rounds to a unanimous decision. Then he knocked out Randy Couture in November to seize the heavyweight title. Brock Lesnar’s MMA skills in whole are still raw, but he is such a genetic freak that he has made improvement in just three fights that would take lesser fighters years to accomplish. He will not make the same mistakes in the rematch with Mir as he did in their first fight.

Mir’s striking game seems to have jumped to a new level. In Mir's most recent bout at UFC 92 in December, he became the first man to knock out former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Minotaruo Nogueira. Mir pressed the pace, used his footwork to penetrate and evade his opponent, and looked fresh the whole two rounds. But, unlike Nogueira, Mir will not be afforded an overly passive opponent to pick apart standing up in Lesnar. Brock will meet Mir with dangerous and determined intensity, look to dictate the pace and impose his hulking specimen. Should Mir take Lesnar outside of his comfort zone with superior boxing, Lesnar has core as an NCAA wrestler to take the fight downstairs. Mir will exhuast himself defending takedowns for five rounds, and given his base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it seems inevitable that the fight will see Mir on his back against Lesnar, the wrestler.

If Mir cannot catch Lesnar in a bone-breaking submission or sinking in a choke early in the fight, it is unlikely to happen at all. So Mir will have to meet Brock head on and refused to be bullied around the cage, even if it means swinging for the knockout and giving up a take down. Off his back, Mir must control his opponent's posture and stay offensive with sweeps, submission attempts and elbows from the bottom, or else the fight will be over as soon as Lesnar rains down a volley of his bludgeoning, machete-like hammer fists.


Experience could win the fight for Mir if he stays smart, calm, and opportunistic to capitalize on Lesnar’s technical mistakes that he is bound to make as the fight wears on, even into the later rounds against the larger, stronger fresher Lesnar, who may be ahead on the judges score card for his top control.

Still, Brock's improvement in just a few fights is frightening. I pick him to win via (t)ko.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Thiago Alves (16-3)

Canada’s golden boy engages the Brazilian pit bull (by way of American Top Team in Florida) for the welterweight battle. The wrestling advantage, as usual, belongs to GSP. He has tossed heralded grapplers Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch to the floor and made it seem easy in the past. Alves is no different.

GSP’s greatest weapon, perhaps, is his power to bewilder and drain the energy of his adversaries with his dizzying, punishing and relentless pace. (His “riddim”) World class in his wrestling and conditioning, and well rounded in his striking, jiu-jitsu, submission defense and clinch, GSP will overwhelm Thiago Alves, who has struggled against the clinch and takedown control of other wrestlers in the division like Jon Fitch’. GSP’s takedown prowess and unpredictable offense will be a nightmare for the Brazilian.

But his opponent is not to be discredited as a push over, either. Alves hits hard, appears the physical equal in size and strength. He’ll need to neutralize GSP’s top control if he is taken down by the champion. And he will need to let his hands and feet fly with careful timing and total disregard if he has any hopes of winning. He has some of the meanest leg kicks in the UFC—it will pay dividends if he can throw them unpredictably to wear down GSP’s sciatic nerve without, of course, leaving himself over to be taken down. Matt Serra proved that GSP can be knocked out. If Alves hits him with a power punch or a flying knee, like the one that tore Matt Hughes knee joint under the weight of his crumbling body, it will be lights out for the Canadian champ.

Still, I see GSP outclassing Alves in a hard-earned stoppage or decision.

Paulo Thiago (11-0) vs. Jon Fitch (18-3)
In his sophomore appearance in the octagon following a first round knock-out of Josh Koscheck, Paulo Thiago takes on another talented wrestler and durable Jon Fitch. Thiago’s unbeaten 11-fight winning streak is impressive, but only one of those wins is in the UFC. While Fitch's UFC record alone boasts of an eight-fight winning streak against foes like Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez and Chris Wilson. He should be able to absorb whatever Thiago throws at him and grind his opponent down for the victory.

Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Dan Henderson (24-7)
Quite simply, Bisping has performed adequately in the UFC and should have a promising future, but he has never faced an opponent of Henderson’s caliber. Hendo’s heavy hitting and Olympian-level wrestling will expose Bisping’s faults in a dominating show. Bisping got lucky by winning a controversial split decision against Matt Hamill, another Olympic wrestler with far less versatility and experience than Henderson. He was defeated by Rashad Evan’s takedown ability. Henderson also hits harder than anyone Bisping has faced before, having been in some memorable slug fests with Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Crocop” and Quinton Jackson. Henderson wins by knockout, I predict.

Yoshihiro Akiyama Versus Alan Belcher
With a few exceptions--specifically, Lyoto Machida—imports fight from the Japanese brand MMA organizations like PRIDE and K-1 have fallen pitifully short in the octagon. By that logic, Akiyama is in for an unforgiving welcome to the octagon against the scrappy Alan Belcher. If Belcher is smart he will capitalize on Akiyama’s inexperience fighting in a cage, bully him to the fence, clinch and dirty box, and throw elbows to slice him open for a stoppage.

Akiyama's judo experience will frustrate Belcher, who has been prone to fall victim to submissions in the past. Additionally, the former K-1 champion has honed his striking skills against some formidable kickboxing adversaries like Jerome LeBanner and Melvin Manhoef in the past. It may be the recipe to stop a gatekeeper like Belcher, but not enough for Akiyama to make a title run anytime soon.