Sep/100
Ward, Vega and Oleinik move on in Bellator tourneys
Bellator's third season chugged along, making a stop in Kansas City on Thursday night for women's, bantamweight and heavyweight tournament bouts. Lisa Ward earned a spot in the semifinals of Bellator's women tournament with unanimous decision over Aisling Daly. She won all three round on all three judges cards. Ward took Daly down early in the first round, and controlled the fight throughout the round. Ward used her positioning to rain down punches at every opportunity. This pattern continued throughout the rest of the fight, with Ward using her wrestling skills to control Daly's every move. With that win, Ward joins Megumi Fujii, Zoila Frausto and Jessica Aguilar in the semifinals of the Bellator tournament. Vega takes out Tims Jose Vega moved on in the Bellator bantameight tournament with a unanimous decision win over Danny Tims, with the judges seeing it 29-28, 30-27, 29-28 for Vega. Their fight featured non-stop action. Tims knocked Vega down early in the first round, but couldn't keep Vega down. Vega reversed position, and controlled and inflicted damage on Tims. Any time Tims looked like he could gain an advantage, Vega would use his wrestling to take it away.Vega is the first fighter to make the Bellator bantamweight semifinals. Oleinik survives bloody battle Alexey Oleinik took the final spot in the heavyweight tournament with a split decision win over Mike Hayes. Oleinik took the bloody decision 29-28, 28-29, 29-28.Oleinik spent much of the fight on his back, but controlled Hayes' wrists and caused damage from the bottom. However, he wasn't able to finish off Hayes. This task became more difficult after Hayes sustained a cut on his eyelid in the third round. Oleinik will likely face Neil Grove in the semifinals, while Cole Konrad will fight Damian Grabowski.In a non-tournament bout, Steve Carl somehow lasted a through a tight Tyler Stinson triangle choke to win by a technical submission. After getting out of triangle, Carl sunk in a guillotine that choke Stinson unconscious at 2:30 of the first round. This bout was non-tournament, but Carl likely earned himself a spot in Bellator's next welterweight tournament with the win.
Sep/100
Leo Heinert part
Once you get through the painfully long intro, this Leo Heinert part is pretty good.
Sep/100
Does James Toney look like he’s in shape for UFC 118?
James Toney has been fighting the battle of the bulge for most of his time at heavyweight in boxing. He's simply a bad body guy. So how much do you read into the latest photos featuring Toney going through his MMA conditioning? He faced 47-year-old Randy Couture next weekend at UFC 118. When he weighed between 234 and 237 pounds for some of his 2006 and 2007 fights, his cardio was shaky at best. Toney, 41, fought down at 217 1/2 in his last boxing match. He looks to be around that number with less than two weeks before he makes his MMA debut.
Sep/100
UFC 118 Predictions
by Michael David Smith
The UFC is in Massachusetts for the first time Saturday night, bringing to town a great battle for the lightweight title between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn, and one of the strangest fights the promotion has ever booked with Hall of Famer Randy Couture facing past-his-prime boxing champion James Toney. We've got predictions below.
What: UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2
When: The non-televised undercard starts at 7 PM ET Saturday, the Spike TV card starts at 9 and the pay-per-view broadcast starts at 10.
Where: TD Garden, Boston Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Dirtsurfing
Motorsports
Sep/100
Thailand sport climbing: can you help?
Since an old friend told me about his climbing trips to Thailand it’s been one of my boxes-to-tick. Climbing by the beach and then relaxing in the blue seas sounds too good to be true. I’m about to find out - I’ve decided to do it later this year…
Photo kindly shared by HalonaCoast on Flickr
I’m [...]
ChristianHosoi
CJHobgood
CliffordAdoptante
CoreyBohan
CoryLopez
Sep/100
Diaz vs. Noons on for Strikeforce in San Jose in October
Strikeforce confirmed Wednesday that Nick Diaz will return to the cage on Oct. 9 in San Jose to defend his Strikeforce welterweight title against an old foe, K.J. Noons. They will headline a card that will also feature a title scrap between Sarah Kaufman and Marloes Coenen, and a bout between American Kickboxing Academy standout Luke Rockhold and Matt Lindland. The Diaz vs. Noons matchup is puzzling. Though the two have bad blood, started in their Elite XC days, Noons is a lightweight. He beat Jorge Gurgel at lightweight last weekend, was Elite XC's lightweight champ, and has never fought at welterweight for Strikeforce. Of course, Strikeforce gave Brett Rogers a title shot after he lost to Fedor Emelianenko, so logic may not be its first course of action in matchmaking. That doesn't mean that there isn't plenty to get excited about on this card. Coenen will be fighting for the first time since she was TKOed by Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos, and Kaufman offers an interesting matchup. Rockhold is an exciting young fighter, and Lindland will be a good test. Even the Diaz/Noons bout has potential if Noons can add to his size between now and Oct. 9.
Sep/100
Northside When..?
I stopped by Northside today and it looks like they haven't done much with the park accept put a fence and guard house up and sweep away the gravel. The bank to bank gap still isn't finished so I wonder if there is some drama going on with the park. I've been told the park will open in September, but that could mean the first or last day of September.
Sep/100
Alex Fiedler Jart Welcome Video
Mark Frolich helps out with Alex Fiedler's welcome video for Jart.
Sep/100
MAKE NO!SE
MAKE NO!SE is a new lifestyle multimedia series highlighting DC area creatives. The first photos and video covers the collaboration with DJ 2-Tone Jones and DC Shoes.
Skysurfing
Skateboarding
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Sep/100
Diaz cuts Davis then submits him at UFC 118
Fighting in front of a hostile crowd, Nate Diaz submitted hometown fighter Marcus Davis with a guillotine at 4:02 in the third round of their bout at UFC 118 in Boston on Saturday night. Diaz taunted Davis, and Davis answered it with a series of punches that briefly knocked Diaz to the ground. Diaz survived the exchange, and though Davis won the exchange, he sustained a cut just below his left eye brow. The two continued tight stand-up as the round went on. Davis' eye bled profusely throughout the round.Davis' eye was checked between rounds, and the doctor let the fight continue.In the second round, Davis continued boxing as well as he could with buckets of blood in his eye. Diaz kept his distance, using his reach advantage to stay far away from Davis' dangerous punches. Near the end of the round, Davis took Diaz down but was immediately reverse.Between rounds, Davis' eye was shown on the big screen and caused a large groan at the TD Garden. The cut continued to bleed, and Davis eye was nearly swollen shut.Diaz continued to batter Davis' face in the third and final round, and took him down with 90 seconds left in the fight. Diaz sunk in a guillotine that was so tight, it put Davis to sleep. Referee Yves Levigne saw that Davis was out and called the fight over with less than a minute to go.This is Diaz's second win at welterweight, but he said he still wants to move back down to lightweight. "I want to fight back at 155 with guys like Gray Maynard. They think they're hot shots," Diaz said after the fight.Diaz's last loss was in January to Maynard.
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
MattHoffman
MikeJones
MikeValley
Sep/100
Watch Pat Barry try to break a punching machine with a kick
UFC heavyweight Pat Barry may have has lost his last bout by submission to Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, but that doesn't mean he can't still kick your face off. He showed off his kicking prowess at the UFC Fan Expo in Boston this weekend, kicking the snot out of a punching machine at the Cage Potato booth. Like the guy at a carnival spending cash to impress his girlfriend, Barry could not walk away from the game. Kudos to Cage Potato for having such a fun game, but the music could have improved. Kelly Clarkson? Really?
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
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BASEjumping
Sep/100
Strikeforce Houston: Jacare Beats Tim Kennedy
by Michael David SmithRonaldo "Jacare" Souza fought Tim Kennedy for five tough rounds Saturday at Strikeforce Houston, walking away with a unanimous decision victory that made him the new Strikeforce middleweight champion.
"I'm stoked that I won and I'm the champion," Jacare said through his translator after the fight.
The Strikeforce middleweight belt was on the line because it was relinquished by former champion Jake Shields, who left the promotion to sign with the UFC. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Sep/100
Boxers like Arreola worried about Toney hurting the sport’s rep
The mixed martial arts world is salivating over seeing James Toney enter the Octagon this weekend at UFC 118. Finally a boxer has backed up his smack talk about MMA and putting his skills on the line against Randy Couture. Why are fans excited? Because most of them expect Toney to get destroyed and potentially embarrassed. That possibility has many boxers worried. "Of course, I got his back regardless. But I kind of feel like it's kind of disrespectful man," said heavyweight boxing contender Chris Arreola. "Let's just say he doesn't succeed, and (then) every MMA person is going to be like 'see, he couldn't cut it.' Every guy who loves MMA, they're going to be saying that boxing ain't nothing compared to MMA."Boxers Victor Ortiz, Shane Mosley, Ricardo Mayorga and promoter Gary Shaw are featured in the video from FightHubtv.com. They don't sound too confident in Toney's chances. David Haye and Bernard Hopkins have the same worries as well. Much like Toney's trainer Dan Goossen, Arreola is annoyed that Randy Couture won't be reciprocating and entering a boxing ring. "Let's
do the same, why don't you bring Brock Lesnar in the boxing ring with
myself or any of the klitschko brothers? Bring Brock Lesnar into boxing,
let's see what happens to him," said Arreola. "He'll get knocked the
[expletive] out. It's two different beasts."It's that thinking, and it is accurate, that makes the whole "boxing versus MMA" promotional angle a bit of a farce. But as most of the boxing people tracked down by Marcos Villegas said, you never know what can happen with the four-ounce gloves.
Sep/100
UFC 118 Press Conference Video
by Michael David SmithUFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, former champion B.J. Penn, UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and former boxing champion James Toney will all meet the press, joined by UFC President Dana White, at Wednesday's UFC 118 pre-fight press conference. And if you can't be there in person in Boston, you can watch it right here at MMAFighting.com.
The star of the show is likely to be Toney, who will draw plenty of mainstream media attention and talk plenty of trash about Couture. It's going to be easy to forget that Edgar-Penn 2 is actually the main event.
The UFC 118 pre-fight press conference begins Wednesday at 3PM ET and the video is below. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Sep/100
Media watch: Boston treats UFC the way all cities should
There's no city in the country that's into its baseball team more than Boston. The Red Sox take center stage from March-September and then it's time for the New England Patriots. Between excellent sports-radio stations and powerhouse newspapers, Boston is huge on its sports. If you're without a calendar, it's August, there's roughly 30 games left in the MLB season and the Pats are two weeks away from the season opener. So it wouldn't have surprised anyone if UFC 118 got little coverage this week. Instead, the town's media has embraced the event like no other city in the U.S. has in the past. Both the Boston Herald and Boston Globe have had multiple staffers writing stories since early in the week. And even WEEI, one of the top-five sports-radio stations in the country, has devoted ample time to UFC guests and the event. It's a great step forward for MMA. So if Boston can do it, with all that's going on in town, what was the issue in the past with Portland, San Francisco/Oakland, San Diego, Cincinnati, Columbus, Atlanta and Nashville? During those UFC stops, the promotion was fortunate to get an advance newspaper story on the Friday before the event and most of the sports-radio stations half-assed UFC fighter interviews, if they chose to put someone on at all.The real egg is on the face of the most recent host cities San Diego and the Bay Area. UFC president Dana White flipped out before UFC 117 earlier this month. He exploded on Twitter over a reported run-in that his public relations people had with the San Francisco Chronicle. The paper chose to completely ignore the event. White's diatribe and the Chronicle's decision to pass on the event sparked a spirited discussion on sportsjournalists.com, where most of the participants sided with the newspaper and said MMA was still a fringe sport. The Chronicle's decision and the way the event was covered in San Diego reflect an odd shift for MMA. The West Coast was really where the sport got its initial push, but now it seems like the media outlets are hesitant to take the coverage to the next level. Meanwhile, when the UFC has gone east, cities like Boston and Philadelphia have been all over it. Why is that? Yahoo! Sports' Kevin Iole, a longtime veteran of the newspaper business, disagrees with newspaper editors who refuse to take MMA seriously and says it's just a matter a time before the policy changes.
Sep/100
Denver Shop Trailer #2
Plenty of gnarly stuff going on in the new Denver Shop trailer.
JeremyMcGrath
JoshSanders
JustinHoman
KellyClark
KellySlater
Sep/100
UFC 118: Demian Maia Beats Mario Miranda
by Michael David SmithDemian Maia returned to the Octagon for the first time since being humiliated by Anderson Silva in April, defeating Mario Miranda by unanimous decision at UFC 118.
It wasn't a pretty fight, but it was a fight that Maia won handily, winning all three rounds on all three judges' cards.
Early in the fight Maia took Miranda to the ground and proceeded to methodically advance his position and get Miranda's back. Maia is one of the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners in the world, and it seemed just a matter of time before Maia would win by submission. But Miranda did a nice job of wriggling free and standing back up after a couple minutes of Maia controlling him. The rest of the round was fought standing up without either fighter doing much damage, but Maia clearly won the round because he controlled the action on the ground.
More: Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda Live Blog | UFC 118 Results | UFC 118 Pictures
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Sep/100
UFC 118 blowout: Couture takes Toney to MMA school
It was even worse than we thought. James Toney called out mixed martial arts and begged for a fight, but what he showed in the Octagon could barely be called a fight. The out-of-shape boxing legend came out with his left hand at his side and was very stationary. He was a sitting duck for UFC veteran and Olympic-level wrestler Randy Couture, who scored a takedown just 11 seconds into the fight. Toney was helpless on the mat, where Couture moved to a dominant mount position and eventually slapped on an arm-triangle choke to finish the fight in just over three minutes. "I think, in reality, if he's only been training nine months, it's a real short order to pick up everything," said Couture (19-10). "I give real credit to James. He took the risk. All us MMA guys love boxing. Hopefully there's a whole bunch of boxers who will love MMA."By the reaction of the fans at the TD Garden in Boston, MMA diehards don't like boxers. As Couture was mauling Toney on the canvas, a chant of "UFC, UFC" filled the arena. It was a pretty embarrassing display by Toney. It was almost as if he didn't drill at all on what to do if he was taken down. Frankly, the weigh-in was a sign of things to come when Toney weigh-in a career-high 237 pounds. He was nearly 20 pounds lighter for his last boxing match in Sept. of 2009. Couture did whatever he wanted from the top and it was clear Toney hadn't learned any technique to try and extricate himself from the position. According to Compustrike, Couture landed 38 strikes to just six for Toney.Couture, speaking during the postfight interview with UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, said he saw this coming. "No surprises. This is exactly what we trained to do. I worked on that arm triangle for over a year."That's when Couture's grappling coach, Neil Melanson, walked over to his fighter and gave him a black belt suggesting that he'd just earned it.Toney was gracious in defeat and surprisingly said that he wasn't done with MMA."He just caught me. He caught me sleeping. I'll be back. I ain't gonna quit," said Toney, as he was booed by the Boston faithful. "My ground game's alright. He fought a great fight. Randy Couture’s a great fighter."Toney was a great boxer, piling up 72 wins against just six losses, but he's far from his prime. It's next to impossible for a boxer to cross over to MMA without at least a few years of training in all elements of the sport. And that probably only applies for a guy still in his boxing prime.
Sep/100
UFC 118 blowout: Couture takes Toney to MMA school
It was even worse than we thought. James Toney called out mixed martial arts and begged for a fight, but what he showed in the Octagon could barely be called a fight. The out-of-shape boxing legend came out with his left hand at his side and was very stationary. He was a sitting duck for UFC veteran and Olympic-level wrestler Randy Couture, who scored a takedown just 11 seconds into the fight. Toney was helpless on the mat, where Couture moved to a dominant mount position and eventually slapped on an arm-triangle choke to finish the fight in just over three minutes. "I think, in reality, if he's only been training nine months, it's a real short order to pick up everything," said Couture (19-10). "I give real credit to James. He took the risk. All us MMA guys love boxing. Hopefully there's a whole bunch of boxers who will love MMA."By the reaction of the fans at the TD Garden in Boston, MMA diehards don't like boxers. As Couture was mauling Toney on the canvas, a chant of "UFC, UFC" filled the arena. It was a pretty embarrassing display by Toney. It was almost as if he didn't drill at all on what to do if he was taken down. Frankly, the weigh-in was a sign of things to come when Toney weigh-in a career-high 237 pounds. He was nearly 20 pounds lighter for his last boxing match in Sept. of 2009. Couture did whatever he wanted from the top and it was clear Toney hadn't learned any technique to try and extricate himself from the position. According to Compustrike, Couture landed 38 strikes to just six for Toney.Couture, speaking during the postfight interview with UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, said he saw this coming. "No surprises. This is exactly what we trained to do. I worked on that arm triangle for over a year."That's when Couture's grappling coach, Neil Melanson, walked over to his fighter and gave him a black belt suggesting that he'd just earned it.Toney was gracious in defeat and surprisingly said that he wasn't done with MMA."He just caught me. He caught me sleeping. I'll be back. I ain't gonna quit," said Toney, as he was booed by the Boston faithful. "My ground game's alright. He fought a great fight. Randy Couture’s a great fighter."Toney was a great boxer, piling up 72 wins against just six losses, but he's far from his prime. It's next to impossible for a boxer to cross over to MMA without at least a few years of training in all elements of the sport. And that probably only applies for a guy still in his boxing prime.
Sep/100
Ramondetta, Street League, Donovan, Kincade, Brook, and Sheffey Videos
Peter Ramondetta talks Street League with C1rca, DC has a Street League qualifier video. Buttery Ass Donovan just got a job at Hubba. There's plenty of sick skating and dodgy filming in Logan Kincade #48. Photographer Joe Brook gives Crailtap a mini top five. Sean Sheffey gets Free Lunch.
Sep/100
Strikeforce Houston weigh-in: Shredded Kennedy could be on verge of big things
Strikeforce
has put together another dynamite card tomorrow night on Showtime. The
televised portion of the event is filled with some of the best young
fighters in the game. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal is already regarded as a
top 10 light heavyweight and he's six professional fights into his
career. Lawal defends his title against the very dangerous Rafael
"Feijao" Cavalcante. Another great wrestler, Tim Kennedy gets his shot
at stardom in a middleweight title fight against world champion jiu-tisu
ace Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Kennedy, 30, had a little delay in arriving
at this level. As a member of the Army's Special Forces he was away
from fighting for most of 2004-2006. A winner of four straight fights
(all finishes), Kennedy is ready to make up for lost time. "No
one has really gotten to see everything that I have to offer yet.
Combined my (Showtime) fighting time is like nine minutes or something,"
Kennedy (12-2) told Heavy.com. "All three of (my Strikeforce) fights
were very similar. All three of those guys were weak off their back.
Now a guy like Jacare, who is actually dangerous (off his back), I’m
going to
knock him out because I know he can’t take me down."Jacare (12-2) has only been stopped twice in his career. Kennedy says Souza has a few weaknesses he can exploit. "He’s a juggernaut when he’s got top position, and he’s
not terrible at anything, but his stand-up’s not great," said Kennedy. "His clinch isn’t great.
His wrestling is good, but it’s not great. I think he’s soft when he’s on his back,"It's
also a big night for Bobby Lashley. The former WWE star needs a win
over Chad Griggs and then there are some big fights on the horizon.
Lashley (5-0) dwarfed his opponent at the weigh-in. Strikeforce: Houston weigh-in (Courtesy MMA Junkie):Showtime (10 p.m. ET)
Muhammed Lawal (203.75) v. Rafael Cavalcante
(203.5)Tim Kennedy (185) v. Ronaldo Souza (184.75)Jorge Gurgel (154.75) v. K.J. Noons (156.25)Chad Griggs (228.5) v. Bobby Lashley (246)Non-televised
Daniel Cormier (249) v. Jason Riley (256.5)Andre Galvao (170.75) v. Jorge Patino (170.8)Rocky Long (146.25) v. Vinicius Magalhaes (144.5)Kier Gooch (155.25) v. Adam Schindler (155.5)Jose Santibanez (154.25) v. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25)Humberto DeLeon (127) v. Chad Robichaux (131)Chad Cook (205) v. Arteneus Young (204)
JeremyMcGrath
JoshSanders
JustinHoman
KellyClark
KellySlater
Sep/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
Sep/100
UFC 118: Gray Maynard Beats Kenny Florian
by Michael David SmithGray Maynard became the UFC's No. 1 lightweight contender Saturday at UFC 118, but he wasn't very exciting in the process.
Maynard beat Kenny Florian by unanimous decision, staying undefeated in his professional MMA career and controlling the fight with a wrestling style that is brutally effective but not particularly entertaining to the fans.
"I'd love to come back here and have you guys cheer for me some time," Maynard said as the fans booed him at the end of a fairly boring fight.
More: Gray Maynard vs. Kenny Florian Live Blog | UFC 118 Results | UFC 118 Pictures
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Sep/100
‘Jacare’ wins Strikeforce middleweight belt with decision over Kennedy
In the fight that decided the winner of the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza won a unanimous decision over Tim Kennedy, with the judges cards reading 49-46, 48-47, 48-47. Jacare, known as one of the world's best in jiu-jitsu, kept the first round standing, landing effective strikes in the first round. Kennedy counterpunched, but Jacare had an answer for every offensive move that Kennedy made. That continued into the second round. Jacare wore down Kennedy, though Kennedy did stuff Jacare's takedown attempt.In the third round, Jacare opened up a cut over Kennedy's left eye with a big right hand. Not long after his face started bleeding, Kennedy took Jacare down, but surprisingly, Jacare did not want to stay there. He got out from under Kennedy and brought the fight back to its feet for the rest of the round.In the fourth, Kennedy seemed to land more punches, but they did not cause much damage. With about a minute and a half left in the fourth round, Kennedy landed an indavertent blow to Jacare's groin. Jacare was given time to recover, with while Kennedy's eye continued to bleed. The fight was delayed longer because of a problem with the fight clock. Kennedy's striking improved in the final round, but in the last 30 seconds of the round, Jacare landed two flush strikes that wobbled Kennedy. Kennedy answered with a takedownm bringing Jacare to the ground for a millisecond before Jacare leapt to his feet. After the decision was announced, Kennedy was confused and upset with the call from the judges. "The best grappler in the world couldn't get me down, and I took him down a few times," Kennedy said. "I've said it before. I don't like judges. I won't be here again." The fight was as close as prognosticators expected, but Jacare's striking was effective throughout the match. The grappling expert showed that he is just as comfortable on his feet as he is on the ground, and because of that, he is the newly crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ.
DarrenShapiro
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Sep/100
UFC 118: B.J. Penn revitalized … again
B.J. Penn doesn't come from your traditional pugilist background. He didn't grow up on the hard streets of some urban area. Nor is he mad at the world, or keeping himself out of jail. Penn had a pretty good upbringing in Hilo, Hawaii (how bad could it possibly be, right?) and when his fighting career ends, he's got a good safety net to fall into. He's a smart guy who was at the forefront, as far as fighters go, of marketing himself on the internet. As he readies for UFC 118 this weekend, he's putting forth an old theme -- "the focused/hungry B.J. Penn". Each time he loses a fight Penn talks about reinventing himself. "The loss to Frankie actually made me step back and realize I want to fight as much as I can. (After this fight, if healthy) I want to fight next month, next week," Penn said during last week's UFC 118 teleconference. "I don't know if I feel my biological clock ticking or what ... I want to fight as much as possible." Penn is just 31 years old, but it sounds like he looks back on his 20's with some regret. He spent a lot of time arguing about contracts and taking long breaks between fights. "I've kind of spaced my career out over the 10 years," said Penn (15-6, 11-5 UFC). "I kinda want to make a push to really be a true fighter. I've had a good training camp and I've kinda figured out how to keep myself heatlhy through multiple training camps." Over the last few years, we've been down this path several times. Penn spoke about a renewed hunger and that he was more focused after losses to Georges St. Pierre and Matt Hughes. Now his win-loss record is serving as motivation. "When I first started fighting. I thought I was God's gift to fighting. I thought I'd go 100-0 with 100 knockouts. I sit back, I look at my record and I can't believe that I have six losses," said Penn. He considers the UFC 112 loss to Edgar a blessing. "If I won that fight I would've changed nothing in my game and I would've set myself up to fall even harder in the future," said Penn. "Everytime that you get a loss you take a different path and you get back on the right journey of why you started this thing in the first place."Penn not only lost his UFC lightweight title but it was the first time he'd fallen in fight 155 pounds since 2002. It was such a big upset that he's been installed as a minus-450 favorite to regain his belt. He's not buying into the hype. "People are putting Frankie in as the underdog. I feel like I'm the underdog. I'm the guy that doesn't want this sport to pass him by," said Penn. "And I want to stay at the forefront of this whole thing. I'm working night and day to keep tweaking these little areas, to keep up with these young kids."Let's hope this is the final time that Penn needs to motivate himself to be at his best. When right, he's a top five pound-for-pound fighter. If he stays in good condition and keeps improving, he'll probably get his belt back and have a 4-5 year run in front of him as the best 155er in the world. But it's up to Penn now to cement his legacy as one of the best ever.
RodneyMullen
RossPowers
RyanSheckler
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Sep/100
Three Stars: Showtime, Feijao and a dancing machine
With WEC 50 and Strikeforce: Houston in the books, Cagewriter takes a look at the fighters who stood out.No. 1 star -- Anthony Pettis: "Showtime" earned his shot at the WEC lightweight title with an amazing win over Shane Roller. Pettis and Roller fought a back and forth bout for more than 14 minutes. Then Pettis locked on a triangle choke, earning him his third win in a row. No. 2 star -- Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante: At Strikeforce: Houston, Feijao dethroned "King Mo" with a third-round TKO. Cavalcante won with the same powerful striking that had earned him the title shot. He used knees as an antidote to Lawal's takedowns, and will now get to defend the belt that Lawal couldn't. No. 3 star -- Dominick Cruz: In his first title defense, Cruz showed excellent movement, avoiding Benavidez's strikes while darting in to land strikes of his own. The five-round fight didn't slow him down, either. Next up? Scott Jorgensen, also a big winner at WEC 50.Honorable mention -- Daniel Cormier: Four weeks, three fights, two continents, one result. As we wrote last week, Cormier fought in his third fight in a month on Saturday, but you didn't see any wear and tear on the two-time Olympian. He ran through Jason Riley in 62 seconds, and is now free to sit on his couch and play video games. Honorable mention -- Chad Griggs: The full-time firefighter with
mutton chops wasn't supposed to beat former professional wrestling star
Bobby Lashley, but that's exactly what he did. He used an uppercut to
first cut Lashley under the eye, then to set up the hammerfists that
TKOed Lashley. Dishonorable mention -- Texas State Athletic Commission: The state commission that oversaw Strikeforce:Houston did an abysmal job. Referee Jon Schorle stood up Bobby Lashley and Chad Griggs at a questionable time in the fight. He also hesitated in stopping the KJ Noons/Jorge Gurgel fight, looking as if he was going to step in, but then stopping. He then failed to recognize the illegal knee that Noons threw. To add to the troubles with refereeing, the state commission's timekeeper had troubles with the clock during the Jacare/Kennedy bout. The UFC and Bellator both have events in early September in the Lone Star state. Hopefully, they'll get their act together by then.Who were your stars from WEC 50 and Strikeforce: Houston?
Sep/100
Strikeforce Houston: KJ Noons Knocks Out Jorge Gurgel
by Michael David Smith
KJ Noons knocked out Jorge Gurgel in the second round of Saturday night's Strikeforce Houston card with the help of two illegal strikes, one a left hook at the end of the first round and one an illegal knee on the ground as the referee was starting to stop the fight in the second. The referee awarded the fight to Noons by knockout even though it easily could have gone to Gurgel by disqualification.
At the end of the first round, Noons floored Gurgel with a huge left hook an instant after the bell rang, and Gurgel was wobbly as he tried to get back to his corner. The punch clearly landed after the round had ended, and the referee easily could have disqualified Noons, or at least taken a point away. Instead, the referee did nothing.
More Coverage: KJ Noons vs. Jorge Gurgel Live Blog | Strikeforce: Houston Results
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Bouldering Burbage photos
Finally a little sun! Yesterday I went climbing in Burbage (specifically Burbage south boulders) in the Peak District near Sheffield. I’m really glad I’ve got these boulders within 15 minutes of my home.
Although in a climbing wall / gym I’m happy on 6a/6b the techniques on grit boulders are a different world: lots of smearing [...]
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
RossPowers
Aug/100
UFC 118 Predictions
by Michael David Smith
The UFC is in Massachusetts for the first time Saturday night, bringing to town a great battle for the lightweight title between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn, and one of the strangest fights the promotion has ever booked with Hall of Famer Randy Couture facing past-his-prime boxing champion James Toney. We've got predictions below.
What: UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2
When: The non-televised undercard starts at 7 PM ET Saturday, the Spike TV card starts at 9 and the pay-per-view broadcast starts at 10.
Where: TD Garden, Boston Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Mostly Turned Five on Sunday
I always for get MostlySkateboarding's birthday, but I noticed today that the blog turned five years old on Sunday. Thanks to everybody who looks at the blog, makes comments, and especially to everyone who makes skate videos for me to post. Number by Alexander Crispin.
Aug/100
Anzac Monday 2010
KennyBartram
LayneBeachley
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
Aug/100
Sengoku 14: Jorge Santiago Beats Kazuo Misaki in a Classic
by Michael David SmithIn a classic battle for the Sengoku middleweight title, Jorge Santiago and Kazuo Misaki went toe-to-toe for 24 and a half minutes Sunday in Tokyo before Misaki's corner threw in the towel with just 30 seconds left in the fight, handing Santiago a victory in a bout he was on the verge of losing by decision.
"I proved to everybody here what a champ is made of," Santiago said afterward. "This is the way a champion fights. This is the way I always want to fight." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
UFC 118: Joe Lauzon Dominates Gabe Ruediger
by Michael David SmithJoe Lauzon put on a brilliant showing Saturday night in front of his hometown fans in Boston, absolutely destroying Gabe Ruediger and winning by first-round submission at UFC 118.
"I'm so glad I could fight here in Boston," Lauzon said afterward. "This is a dream come true."
More: Joe Lauzon vs. Gabe Ruediger Live Blog | UFC 118 Results | UFC 118 Pictures
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Kobi Graham – Incident at Cape Solander
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
RossPowers
Aug/100
Roller coaster of fights: The ups and downs of Kenny Florian
Kenny Florian will fight Gray Maynard in his hometown of Boston this weekend. The winner will get a shot at the UFC lightweight title. If it's Florian, it will be his third bite at the title apple. For someone with so much success, Florian has faced some ups and downs. Hill: Dana White was at a fight in Massachusetts to scout Drew Fickett. Though Fickett won, his opponent, Florian, caught White's eye. Florian was casted in a new reality show where the winner would get a contract with the UFC.Valley: On the much-touted season finale of the first season of that reality show, "The Ultimate Fighter," Florian was man handled by Diego Sanchez, losing in a first-round TKO.Hill: Florian rebounded from the Sanchez loss with three wins, all stoppages: a TKO of Alex Karalexis, and submissions of Kit Cope and Sam Stout. That earned Florian a shot at Sean Sherk and the vacant lightweight title. Valley: That first title shot didn't work out so well. At UFC 68, Sherk didn't let Florian's elbows bother him and controlled Florian for a unanimous decision. Hill: After losing that first title shot, Florian had to climb back up the lightweight ladder. That started with wins over Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson and Din Thomas -- all submissions. Bigger Hill: Florian headlined UFC Fight Night 13 in a bout with fellow Bostonian, Joe Lauzon. Florian avoided Lauzon's submission attempts with deadly elbows, winning by TKO. He followed that up with a decision at UFC 87 over the UFC's hottest lightweight prospect, Roger Huerta.Not exactly fighting but still a hill: Florian filled in for as a commentator for Frank Mir at WEC 41 to rave reviews, which opened the door for Florian to do more broadcast work for ESPN, the UFC and the WEC. Mountain: Florian was promised another title shot if he got through Joe Stevenson. He gets what he wants after submitting Stevenson in the first round at UFC 91. After the fight, he calls out UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn with the now-famous, "I want B.J.'s belt!"Valley: Headed into UFC 101 and his second title shot, Florian was flying high. Unfortunately, Penn brought him back to earth with a beating that ended with a rear naked choke in the fourth round. Hill: Rear naked chokes over Takanori Gomi and Clay Guida helped bring Florian closer to a title shot, and to the fight with Maynard.What do you think this weekend will be for Florian, a hill or valley?
RossPowers
RyanSheckler
ScottBirley
ShaneBeschen
ShawnMurray
Aug/100
Be careful what you wish for: Njokuani’s WEC future on life support
At the start of 2010, he was one of the hottest prospects in the WEC's lightweight division. Coming off three straight nasty TKO wins, Anthony Njokuani looked like he was on the quick path to a WEC lightweight title shot. He got schooled by Shane Roller's wrestling in April, and last night at WEC 50, he got destroyed at his own game by Maciej Jewtuszko.In defense of Njokuani, Herb Dean stopped the fight pretty quickly (1:57 mark -- 1:35 into the fight). The 30-year-old had 15 fights under his belt. Didn't he deserve a few extra seconds to try and recover? Once Dean stopped it, Njokuani stood up immediately. What's done is done, but now Njokuani needs to go back to the drawing board. Fightlinker was happy to see Njokuani lose, pointing to the nasty Tweet he sent out after his loss to Roller. Njokuani asked for someone stand with him. He got his wish and a loss that moves him dangerously close to the unemployment line.
EilssaSteamer
EricKoston
ErikRuck
ErinJackson
FabioladaSilva
Aug/100
UFC 118 blowout: Couture takes Toney to MMA school
It was even worse than we thought. James Toney called out mixed martial arts and begged for a fight, but what he showed in the Octagon could barely be called a fight. The out-of-shape boxing legend came out with his left hand at his side and was very stationary. He was a sitting duck for UFC veteran and Olympic-level wrestler Randy Couture, who scored a takedown just 11 seconds into the fight. Toney was helpless on the mat, where Couture moved to a dominant mount position and eventually slapped on an arm-triangle choke to finish the fight in just over three minutes. "I think, in reality, if he's only been training nine months, it's a real short order to pick up everything," said Couture (19-10). "I give real credit to James. He took the risk. All us MMA guys love boxing. Hopefully there's a whole bunch of boxers who will love MMA."By the reaction of the fans at the TD Garden in Boston, MMA diehards don't like boxers. As Couture was mauling Toney on the canvas, a chant of "UFC, UFC" filled the arena. It was a pretty embarrassing display by Toney. It was almost as if he didn't drill at all on what to do if he was taken down. Frankly, the weigh-in was a sign of things to come when Toney weigh-in a career-high 237 pounds. He was nearly 20 pounds lighter for his last boxing match in Sept. of 2009. Couture did whatever he wanted from the top and it was clear Toney hadn't learned any technique to try and extricate himself from the position. According to Compustrike, Couture landed 38 strikes to just six for Toney.Couture, speaking during the postfight interview with UFC color analyst Joe Rogan, said he saw this coming. "No surprises. This is exactly what we trained to do. I worked on that arm triangle for over a year."That's when Couture's grappling coach, Neil Melanson, walked over to his fighter and gave him a black belt suggesting that he'd just earned it.Toney was gracious in defeat and surprisingly said that he wasn't done with MMA."He just caught me. He caught me sleeping. I'll be back. I ain't gonna quit," said Toney, as he was booed by the Boston faithful. "My ground game's alright. He fought a great fight. Randy Couture’s a great fighter."Toney was a great boxer, piling up 72 wins against just six losses, but he's far from his prime. It's next to impossible for a boxer to cross over to MMA without at least a few years of training in all elements of the sport. And that probably only applies for a guy still in his boxing prime.
ErinJackson
FabioladaSilva
FroggySoven
GeoffRowley
GerryNunn
Aug/100
Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?
Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing?
Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition!
Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras.
This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]
DarrenShapiro
DaveMirra
DeanRandazzo
DennisMcCoy
DougParsons
Aug/100
Mountain and Olson Art Show with Escapist
This Friday, September 3rd, Escapist is hosting an art show featuring the work of Lance Mountain and Steve Olson. It all kicks off at 6 PM at Escapist; rumor has it that Mountain and Olson will be doing some skating in KC as well.
Aug/100
Lashley must get by Griggs to land high-profile fight
Scott Coker certainly wants to see Chad Griggs engage in a good fight against Bobby Lashley. But Coker must be thinking, "don't get too froggy Mr. Griggs." After all, he's taken Lashley, a big free-agent signee back in early 2009, along a slow path with the destination hopefully being some mega-money fights for the former pro wrestling star. The payoff for Strikeforce could come in the form of Lashley against another former WWE star Dave Batista or one of the big boys on top of the promotion's heavyweight division. The tough part for Lashley is avoiding looking ahead of the little known Griggs. "The hardest thing about him (Griggs) is I don't know much about the guy at all," said Lashley. "It's another opponent. He has a very impressive record. It's going to pose a good challenge for me coming back from the long break."Lashley (5-0) last fought in January making quick work of Wes Sims. Some MMA fans and bloggers have been frustrated by the slow path Lashley's taken. Coker and Lashley seem happy with where he's at. From the Las Vegas Sun: "I always said to myself, 'what is Bobby going to look like in 18 months?'" Coker said. "With his athletic ability and wrestling, the sky is the limit. "One guy he has to get through is Chad. That's got to be the first thing that's on the top of his mind. As you all know, (Strikeforce) has a few of the top heavyweights in the world, and Bobby will fit right in there."And now Lashley is talking about moving into Strikeforce's top five. He's gotten a jolt of confidence from working with UFC title contender Cain Velasquez and fellow Strikeforce heavyweight prospect at the well-regarded American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. "Cain is probably the best heavyweight there is right now," Lashley said. "You've got to be ready training with him. The guy has got great conditioning and it's been good mixing it up with him and [...] Cormier."We've had some great practice sessions, and I know my conditioning is not going to be a factor."That's good to hear. Because much like another thickly muscled fighter Shane Carwin, there have been questions about Lashley's cardio if fights go into the second and third rounds. Lashley has only been to the second round one time in five fights.What's next? Should Strikeforce push a Lashley-Batista promotion just to cash in? Or at age 34, should Lashley be more concerned with furthering his legitimate MMA career?
Aug/100
Lentz takes slow-paced fight against Winner at UFC 118
The Boston crowd didn't like this one. And the television audience watching on Spike probably couldn't have enjoyed it much either. Using a plodding style Nik Lentz isn't broke the spirit of Andre Winner halfway through the fight and was able to pull the upset on the runner-up from Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter". Lentz took a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, for his third win in the UFC.Lentz (20-3-2, 3-1 UFC) had zero interest in trading punches and kicks with Winner, who is one of the faster strikers in the lightweight division. His goal the entire fight was to score the takedown. He wasn't very successful until the final round but he was able to control Winner by clinching with him against the cage. In the third, Winner (11-4, 2-2 UFC) finally hit the deck and had trouble getting up. Lentz scored the mount with a minute left in the fight but didn't do much with it. Asking where the rest of the details are? There was much beyond that to describe. Non-televised results: Mike Pierce def. Amilcar Alves via submission (cross-body armbar) - Round 3, 3:11.Greg Soto def. Nick Osipczak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).Dan Miller def. John Salter via submission (anaconda choke) - Round 2, 1:53.
Rockclimbing
Bouldering
Canyoning
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Aug/100
Leo Heinert part
Once you get through the painfully long intro, this Leo Heinert part is pretty good.
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
Wingsuitflying
BASEjumping
Aug/100
Strikeforce Houston: Chad Griggs Stuns Bobby Lashley
by Michael David SmithFormer WWE star Bobby Lashley lost as a mixed martial artist for the first time Saturday at Strikeforce Houston, as a little-known opponent named Chad Griggs gave Lashley a tough fight and forced Lashley to quit after the second round.
It was a major upset and a major disappointment for Strikeforce, which hoped to establish Lashley as a star in its heavyweight division. Lashley has been exposed as a big, tough-looking guy who can talk a good game but isn't much of an MMA fighter. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Iceclimbing
Rockclimbing
Bouldering
Canyoning
Freesoloclimbing
Aug/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
Aug/100
Heading into second decade of MMA, B.J. Penn wants more fights
When B.J. Penn steps in the cage to fight Frankie Edgar on Saturday night, it will be the 23rd time he's fought in a pro fight. He knows that he can't fight forever, so the "Prodigy" is starting to look at how to enjoy his life as a fighter while he can. If he gets through Edgar and wins the lightweight belt back, Penn wants to fight as often as he can. From MMAjunkie.com: "When I get past Frankie Edgar, I want to fight everybody," he said. "I'll fight the No. 1 contender all the way to the No. 15 contender. If no one's ready and they need more time to prepare for me, Dana, give me a welterweight fight. I don't care. "I just want to fight. I can't do this forever."At 31 years old, this is a smart move. He not only needs to fight -- and make money -- while he can, but fighting all-comers is also a way for him to cement his legacy. There is no doubt that Penn will be remembered as a pioneer of the UFC and an incredibly dominant champion. Jamming in as many fights as possible as his career nears its end will make Penn beloved.
Aug/100
Fedor and M-1 calling out Overeem
It's the fight Strikeforce has wanted to book for a while. Alistair Overeem has called out Fedor Emelianenko but been rebuffed at every turn. He's gone as far as ripping Fedor's management, suggesting it didn't want to put its fighter in harm's way. Well, either Fedor is tired of the talk or M-1 Global realized that the guy many considered the best heavyweight in MMA needs a big win to restore his reputation. Fedor told mixfight.ru that he wanted a rematch against Fabricio Werdum. If that doesn't happen, he'd like Overeem by the end of the year."Absolutely, I would like a rematch with Werdum. But as he was recently operated on , then as soon as this fight is unlikely to happen," said Fedor. "This year, in November/December, I would prefer to meet in a cage with Alistair Overeem." M-1 just sent out a release echoing those wishes.Conversations have been taking place behind closed doors between M-1 Global and Strikeforce for some time and injuries, timing and differences of opinion have been roadblocks to putting Overeem and Emelianenko together. "M-1 Global wants to make this fight happen," says M-1’s Director of Operations, Evgeni Kogan. "As a global mixed martial arts company committed to driving the evolution of the sport and showcasing match-ups that the fans deserve to see, we want to make this bout a reality in 2010."There's been doubts in the past whether Fedor was really in full control of his career. Sounds like he is now. "This is an important match for me and something that I personally want to happen," says Fedor. "There have been conversations about putting this match-up together in the past and now is the time to begin making this bout possible." In late June, Fedor (32-2) lost for the first time in 10 years when he was upset by Werdum. Werdum could be considered Strikeforce's No. 1 heavyweight, but it's Overeem who holds the promotion's heavyweight title belt. We called it shortly after the fight, Showtime and Strikeforce needed to make the best fight possible for Fedor, in his last match under contract. Some said Werdum and Overeem should match up. That was nonsense. The promotion needs to make maximum dollars in what could be Fedor's final fight with the promotion, and the bout even casual fans want to see is Fedor versus Overeem. While this fight is speculative, Strikeforce did announce Wednesday that K.J. Noons will turn around quickly, move up to 170 pounds and challenge Nick Diaz for his Strikeforce welterweight title on Oct. 9. Diaz has been a floating up to 180 pounds for fights over the last 18 months. Now he gets a chance to avenge his 2007 upset loss against Noons. The cries for a Diaz-Jason "Mayhem" Miller fight fell on deaf ears. That fight might make for some great trash talk, but frankly Miller is better served worrying about the middleweight title mix. A rematch against Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, the new Strikeforce 185 champion, is a natural as well. Miller lost to Jacare in 2008 and the rematch in 2009 was declared a no-contest when Souza suffered a nasty cut because an illegal kick by Mayhem.
Sandboarding
Windsurf
Kitesurfing
Riverboarding
Riversurfing
Aug/100
Lentz takes slow-paced fight against Winner at UFC 118
The Boston crowd didn't like this one. And the television audience watching on Spike probably couldn't have enjoyed it much either. Using a plodding style Nik Lentz isn't broke the spirit of Andre Winner halfway through the fight and was able to pull the upset on the runner-up from Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter". Lentz took a unanimous decision, 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28, for his third win in the UFC.Lentz (20-3-2, 3-1 UFC) had zero interest in trading punches and kicks with Winner, who is one of the faster strikers in the lightweight division. His goal the entire fight was to score the takedown. He wasn't very successful until the final round but he was able to control Winner by clinching with him against the cage. In the third, Winner (11-4, 2-2 UFC) finally hit the deck and had trouble getting up. Lentz scored the mount with a minute left in the fight but didn't do much with it. Asking where the rest of the details are? There was much beyond that to describe. Non-televised results: Mike Pierce def. Amilcar Alves via submission (cross-body armbar) - Round 3, 3:11.Greg Soto def. Nick Osipczak via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28).Dan Miller def. John Salter via submission (anaconda choke) - Round 2, 1:53.
Aug/100
A few random flicks from the street league.
Straight off a plane today to the Jobbing.com arena to check out some heavy shredding at the Street League. If the qualifiers gave any indication, shit is gonna get real wacky tomorrow. These guys are good. Heres a few images I saw today.
Read More
Aug/100
Nuge Mag Minute! Duffel Mag Minute!
Sorry for the use of two exclamation points, but we're really psyched on dropping the Nuge and Duffel Mag Minute this monday. And yes, it's really good.
Aug/100
A few random flicks from the street league.
Straight off a plane today to the Jobbing.com arena to check out some heavy shredding at the Street League. If the qualifiers gave any indication, shit is gonna get real wacky tomorrow. These guys are good. Heres a few images I saw today.
Read More
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
Wingsuitflying
Aug/100
Jorgensen wins decision in thriller at WEC 50
Scott Jorgensen is known for bringing exciting fights, and his bout with Brad Pickett at WEC 50 was no different. Jorgensen won the decision, 30-27 on all three judges' cards. Jorgensen and Pickett went back and forth in striking in the first round. Jorgensen took Pickett down, but then was nearly caught in a guillotine. Jorgensen showed good defense in getting out. Action never slowed as both fighters took shot after shot from each other. Amazingly, this pace continued as the fight moved to the second round. Jorgensen sent Pickett's mouthpiece flying with one shot, and Pickett immediately picked it up, put it back in his mouth and kept fighting.Both fighters looked bruised and battered by the third round, but they continued to throw down. Jorgensen answered every Pickett punch with a counter-punch, and every submission attempt with perfect defense. Jorgensen was also able to take Pickett down, possibly pushing him ahead on the judges' scorecards.With that win, Jorgensen likely earned himself a bantamweight title shot, with wins over Pickett, Antonio Banuelos, Chad George and Takeya Mizugaki.
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
MattHoffman
MikeJones
MikeValley
Aug/100
First time climbing at Froggatt Edge
I’ve only just got chance to post about last week’s trip to Froggatt Edge. Friends tell me that a crisp spring morning is better for climbing grit but if you ask me sunshine is the way forward. I headed to Froggatt Edge (just south of Sheffield) with a few friends for my first ascents on [...]
Aug/100
Leo Heinert part
Once you get through the painfully long intro, this Leo Heinert part is pretty good.
Aug/100
UFC 118 Predictions
by Michael David Smith
The UFC is in Massachusetts for the first time Saturday night, bringing to town a great battle for the lightweight title between Frankie Edgar and B.J. Penn, and one of the strangest fights the promotion has ever booked with Hall of Famer Randy Couture facing past-his-prime boxing champion James Toney. We've got predictions below.
What: UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2
When: The non-televised undercard starts at 7 PM ET Saturday, the Spike TV card starts at 9 and the pay-per-view broadcast starts at 10.
Where: TD Garden, Boston Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Nuge Mag Minute! Duffel Mag Minute!
Sorry for the use of two exclamation points, but we're really psyched on dropping the Nuge and Duffel Mag Minute this monday. And yes, it's really good.
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
Aug/100
Free clips for Chris Sharma ?King Lines? climbing video?
Interested in downloading high-quality clips of Chris Sharma climbing?
Today I checked out the website for Chris Sharma’s King Lines movie - and there’s a new addition!
Early versions of the DVD didn’t feature all of the extras properly, so the website features downloadable clips from the extras.
This won’t replace the need to buy the DVD, but [...]
Aug/100
WEC 50: Benavidez not sure if Cruz is motivated anymore
Joe Benavidez thinks that Dominick Cruz has accomplished his goal of becoming a WEC champion and now the rest is gravy. Cruz thinks Benavidez is insane. We'll find out Wednesday night as the two square off in a rematch, this time with the hardware on the line, in the main event at WEC 50 in Las Vegas at the Palms (Versus 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT). "I feel like he's almost hanging on to something," Benavidez [told the Las Vegas Sun]. "He beat me. He's got nothing to prove. He's thinking, 'God, I've got to fight this guy again.'" Cruz thinks that's ridiculous. "I think he can keep that thought to himself, because he's crazy," said Cruz. [...] "I'm as motivated as I've ever been in my entire life. [...]"Just because I have the belt, that changes people's outlook on you, period," Cruz said. "But do they have respect for me as a fighter yet? Probably not. But I don't care. I'll go prove it."Benavidez is also feeling comfortable because he's already faced Cruz. The 25-year-old Cruz is tall for the 135-pound weight class and comes at his opponents with a herky-jerky style. Benavidez has trouble in the first fight losing a unanimous decision. This time he's ready. "That's why I have a great advantage," Benavidez said. "I've been in there and seen what he does. I've felt what he does. And I think I did fine."Benavidez does respect Cruz's cardio and style. "It's just different," Benavidez said. "No one in MMA fights like that or moves like that. That's a big part of his success. Someone gets in the ring with him and says, 'I've never seen anything like this.'" WEC 50 betting odds (Courtesy Venetian/Lagasse Stadium Sports Book)Official betting selections in boldDominick Cruz (-250) vs. Joe Benavidez (+200)Cub Swanson (+240) vs. Chad Mendes (-320)Brad Pickett (+250) vs. Scott Jorgensen (-330)Anthony Njokuani (-450) vs. Maciej Jewtuuszko (+325)Anthony Pettis (+180) vs. Shane Roller (-220)Zach Micklewright (+210) vs. Bart Palaszewski (-270)Mackens Semerzier (+170) vs. Javier Vasquez (-200)Dave Jansen (-115) vs. Ricardo Lamas (-115)Bryan Caraway (+130) vs. Fredson Paixao (-160)Dustin Poirier (+150) vs. Danny Castillo (-180)The heaviest action has come on Roller, Njokuani and Lamas. Roller was only minus-140 early in the week. The action has been completely one-sided on Njokuani, who jumped from minus-220. Lamas has gone from a slight underdog to a pick'em.
Aug/100
Wavves “Post Acid” Music Video
Today is the world premier of the Wavves "Post Acid" music video directed by Patrick O'dell. Filmed by 2Headedhorse (Ted Newsome & company). Kevin "Spanky" Long stars as the alien. We shot this video in and around a 2 block radius of our office.
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Aug/100
Canadians react to MMA’s passage in Ontario
On Saturday, Canadian MMA fans heard some good news. The sport was legalized in Ontario, with events starting in 2011.The UFC brass rejoiced. President Dana White Tweeted his thanks to the Ontario premier Dalton McGuinty, while VP of Regulatory Affairs Marc Ratner Tweeted that, "We're excited."They have good reason to be excited. Ontario's capital of Toronto is the largest city in Canada, a haven for MMA fans. Shows in Montreal and Vancouver have sold out quickly, and the UFC is eager to try for another sellout at the Rogers Centre, a large arena in Toronto. White and Ratner aren't alone in their excitement. Sportsnet's Joe Ferraro, an Ontario native who has long covered MMA, was emotional over the prospect of finally getting to see his sport in his hometown.As I write this article, I am experiencing a heightened sensation that sees my eyesight as blurry and my veins pumping with adrenaline while I smile from ear to ear. I knew this day would come but I never anticipated the emotional rush. Many of my close friends, colleagues, peers and family members are calling this my own personal victory, comparing to having my hand raised in a title fight. UFC veteran and Canadian Jason MacDonald worries that though MMA in Toronto won't be enough to move the sport forward considering that Vancouver shut the doors to MMA after UFC 115.That’s great news, but I must say I’m not sure it’s as huge as everybody thought it would be. Toronto’s the biggest city in Canada and it opens the doors to having a UFC event in Toronto, and it’s great to have another MMA event in Canada. But the door appears to have been slammed shut on MMA in Vancouver so as one door is opened, another closes.Jeff Joslin, a former fighter, is looking beyond Toronto. He wants to bring MMA to his hometown of Hamilton. From thespec.com:"I have family and friends who have never seen me fight," he said."I've never had the chance to be a hometown fighter ... maybe now I can be part of bringing a fight to Hamilton."Not everyone in Canada is thrilled. A doctors group in British Columbia has called for a ban of the sport, though one writer points out the problems with such a ban. From The Province: The doctors' concern for the health of the fighters -- presumably their motivation in calling for the ban -- is reasonable. After all, they're doctors.But their call for a ban is illogical. Many sports kill and maim their participants in much greater numbers than MMA, which has lost just two fighters in its history. Compare that with the hundreds of race-car drivers or football players who have died while competing and the dozens of boxers, skiers, jockeys and soccer and hockey players who've perished. And that's not counting serious injuries. By the BCMA's logic, shouldn't those sports also be banned? MMA fighters, like athletes in other risky sports, accept the risks they are taking.MMA is already an incredibly popular sport in Canada. Welcome to the fray, Ontario.
Aug/100
Mostly Turned Five on Sunday
I always for get MostlySkateboarding's birthday, but I noticed today that the blog turned five years old on Sunday. Thanks to everybody who looks at the blog, makes comments, and especially to everyone who makes skate videos for me to post. Number by Alexander Crispin.
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
MattHoffman
MikeJones
Aug/100
Oleinik, Vega, Ward Advance in Bellator Tournaments
by Michael David SmithAlexey Oleinik, Jose Vega and Lisa Ward all won to advance to the semifinals of their respective Bellator Fighting Championships Season 3 tournaments Thursday night at Bellator 26 in Kansas City.
In a bloody mess of a fight in the heavyweight tournament, Oleinik and Mike Hayes slugged it out for 15 minutes. It wasn't an easy fight to score, and could have gone either way, but two judges scored it 29-28 Oleinik while one scored it 29-28 Hayes. It's a good thing for Bellator that Oleinik got the decision, as Hayes had a nasty cut on his right eye that likely would have prevented him from moving on to the semifinals.
As it is, Oleinik will face Neil Grove in one semifinal fight, while Cole Konrad will face Damian Grabowski in the other heavyweight tournament semifinal. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Thailand sport climbing: can you help?
Since an old friend told me about his climbing trips to Thailand it’s been one of my boxes-to-tick. Climbing by the beach and then relaxing in the blue seas sounds too good to be true. I’m about to find out - I’ve decided to do it later this year…
Photo kindly shared by HalonaCoast on Flickr
I’m [...]
Skysurfing
Skateboarding
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Aug/100
Create-a-Caption: ‘I am a golden god’
Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza soaked in the ambience (and smoke) at Strikeforce: Houston before he beat Tim Kennedy for the Strikeforce middleweight belt. Look at the rest of All Elbows' gallery from the fights, take a shot at a caption in the comments, and try not to inhale. Read on for winners of last week's Create-a-Caption. First place: It says here that you're going to marry someone with a mysterious past. -- Rob RSecond place: I'm about to show you the most deadliest finger submission in the world, taught to me by my mentor and hero Steven Seagal. -- JeremyThird place: "Hmmm... I charge $100 for manicure. You like? no?" -- Jutte
JustinHoman
KellyClark
KellySlater
KennyBartram
LayneBeachley
Aug/100
The more you climb, the better you?ll climb
I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company.
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
Aug/100
Florian thinks Maynard’s wrestling won’t be enough to beat him
A title shot is on the line when Kenny Florian and Gray Maynard lock horns at UFC 118. UFC president Dana White confirmed that yesterday. The winner will get the victor from the B.J. Penn-Frank Edgar. This is a heck of an opportunity for Maynard, who enters the cage for just the 10th time in his career. Maynard has added to game over the years but he's still a wrestler by trade. The last time we saw Kenny Florian face an elite former college wrestler, he basically spent the entire time on his back against Sean Sherk. But that was almost four years ago and Florian is a much more well-rounded fighter now. Who's helped Florian shore up the holes in his wrestling game recently? UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre. "I don't think you can get a better (training) partner at this point (to work on your wrestling). George really is at the top of his game. His wrestling is second to none," said Florian co-trainer Firas Zahabi, who is also the trainer for GSP (1:45 mark). "He's never competed as a wrestler, not very much (but) his wrestling, don't be mistaken, it's the best. Nobody's watched GSP train more than I have and I've seen him go with top level wrestlers and I'll tell you, he has taken everyone he's ever wrestled or sparred with down repeatedly."While on ProMMARadio (1:02:30 mark), Florian raved about how much St. Pierre has helped him with his grappling. "I consider him the best wrestler in mixed martial arts," said Florian (Audio clip). "He's about 200 pounds right now, very quick, very strong. I've been training with him for the last three fights. I know I'll be ready. Georges has helped me so much with my wrestling and overall game that I feel like this is the best point to meet a guy like Gray Maynard." The transformation from solid jiu-jitsu and striking artist to a complete fighter hasn't happened overnight for Florian. "Beating a guy like Gray or stopping his wrestling in one training camp is not going to happen. That's the reality of it. So I've been working on it for a long time now," said Florian (14-4, 11-3 UFC). "I've also been working a lot with John Cholish, who wrestled over at Cornell, he was an All-American there. I've been bringing a lot of guys in." This fight could come down to Maynard's work with boxing coach Gil Martinez. If Maynard (9-0, 7-0 UFC) can't score the takedown then he'll need to outstrike Florian. That won't be easy. After working heavily over the last few years with boxing coach Peter Welch, Florian is a good volume puncher, who's broken down several opponents on the feet before getting them down and finishing fights via submission.
Aug/100
C1rca, Stereo, Dorking, and Gold Videos
Sierra Fellers talks about his biggest and best while skating Stoner Park. Adrian Adrid and Tony Karr get busy at the Lafayette Carl's JR plaza for Stereo. Clint Walker and Randy Ploesser dorking around in Barcelona. Kellen James has a new commercial for Gold Wheels.
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
Aug/100
Toney laying it on thick as UFC 118 approaches
There's confidence, trash talk and fight hype and then there's what James Toney does. Toney is pulling out all the big guns for his MMA debut at UFC 118. The heavyweight boxer sounds like he's got Floyd Mayweather's career behind him. Toney (72-6, 44 KOs) told Heavy.com that he's the undisputed heavyweight boxing king, he's a banger and the knockout king. That's all great but let's pitch this fight against Randy Couture based on some facts. Toney is far from the undisputed heavyweight boxing king. Just because you've moved over to the MMA world doesn't mean you can outright fib about your boxing career. It is true that the Klitschkos have avoided Toney. But can you blame them. It's certainly not out of fear. There's simply nothing to gain and those fights wouldn't sell. Toney was at the end of his rope in boxing before he started harassing UFC president Dana White to allow him into the Octagon. Part of that was also because of his conditioning. It's hard to sell an out-of-shape 235-pound Toney as a legitimate boxer. Toney is also a tough sell because he's not a power puncher. He can call himself the knockout king but fact is until he knocked out the unknown Matthew Greer in his last boxing match, he hadn't scored a knockout since late 2003.This isn't meant to rip Toney because his move to MMA has been a blessing. He's gotten a chance to introduce himself to a whole new audience. Not enough MMA fighters understand how to hype a fight. And yes, Toney may be a little over the top but he does know the basic concepts of the fight game. The fight itself is important but so is promoting the sport before the brawl goes down. The match does present some intrigue but hopefully people don't buy into Toney's hype too much and come away disappointed if he gets dumped on his head and loses in 60 seconds.
FabioladaSilva
FroggySoven
GeoffRowley
GerryNunn
JasonMurphy
Aug/100
WEC 50: Anthony Pettis Submits Shane Roller
by Michael David SmithAnthony Pettis put on the best performance of his promising MMA career Wednesday night at WEC 50, dominating Roller for more than 14 minutes before finally getting him to tap out with just nine seconds remaining in the third round, earning a submission win and likely a World Extreme Cagefighting lightweight title shot.
Early in the fight the 23-year-old Pettis showed serious improvement in his takedown defense, keeping the fight standing against a good wrestler in Roller. He also showed off some creative striking, employing a variety of kicks that had Roller frustrated. As the fight wore on Pettis also showed a more sophisticated ground game than he had in the past, and the way he finished the fight was a thing of beauty, escaping from a guillotine choke and then catching Roller in the triangle that made Roller tap at the 4:51 mark of the third.
More Coverage: WEC 50 Results | WEC 50 Fighter Salaries | Latest WEC News
Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
LayneBeachley
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
Aug/100
Griggs TKOs former pro wrestler Lashley at Strikeforce: Houston
Former pro wrestler Bobby Lashley was handed his first MMA defeat on Saturday to kick off the Strikeforce: Houston card. Chad Griggs won by TKO at 5:00 in the second round. Lashley took Griggs down and worked good, old-fashioned ground and pound from the beginning of the first round, and controlled Griggs for much of the round. On one of the Lashley takedown attempts, Griggs landed an uppercut that opened a large cut underneath Lashley's left eye.Lashley didn't let the gusher of a cut bother him early in the second round as moved into full mount, raining down blows on Griggs. He continued in this position for much of the round, pushing and dominating Griggs until referee Jon Schorle stood the two up, which was an odd decision. As Lashley's eye bled, referee Jon Schorle brought in the doctor to look at Lashley's eye. The doctor let the fight continue with less than a minute left in the round.As Lashley shot in for a takedown, Griggs delivered another powerful uppercut, directly to Lashley's cut. Griggs followed that up with punch after punch until the bell rang. At that point, Griggs headed back to his corner, but a beaten, dazed and bloody Lashley had trouble getting to his feet. The referee stopped the fight, calling the TKO for Griggs. Up until this fight, Lashley had five wins. Only one of those bouts, a decision over Jason Guida, made it past the first round. This time, the cut and the pace of the fight was too much. Fanhouse's Ariel Helwani reported that Lashley was taken from the Toyota Center in a stretcher.
Snowboarding
Sandboarding
Windsurf
Kitesurfing
Riverboarding
Aug/100
Florian says Maynard is a boring fighter and too cocky
Kenny Florian's been there before. The UFC lightweight lost a title fight very early in his career against Sean Sherk and then ripped off six straight wins. Maybe he was a little hard-headed for his next shot against B.J. Penn. Florian stuck with a flawed gameplan and lost in the fourth round via rear-naked choke. He now knows it's important to stay grounded and he thinks Gray Maynard had better follow the same advice. "I definitely sense a sort of cockiness. A different attitude than what he's shown in the past," Florian said of his opponent at UFC 118 (0:22 mark). "I've been there too. We fall victim to it. I think he's overlooking me. I think he's already looking towards the title. He's definitely on the cocky side."At just 9-0 in MMA, Florian wonders where Maynard's cockiness is coming from. He also wants to see how Maynard deals with adversity. "Gray's never encountered that type of pressure. He's never never
encountered when someone's kind of beating down on him," Florian told Larry Pepe from ProMMA Radio (2:57 mark) "He's always been
the aggressor. He's always been the bully. It's easy to have fights
like that when you're winning the fight the whole time. How is he going
to respond when he's getting beaten down?" Maynard's never really been beaten down but he was frustrated to no end in his last fight against Nate Diaz. Diaz's incessant chatter in the Octagon took Maynard out of his game. If that screwed with Maynard's head, what happens if he's actually losing the fight? "How's he going to respond
when he's hurt and he's hurt again and he's hurt again," said Florian. "And he's losing
every minute of every round. What's that gonna feel like for him?" Maynard has been a lot more outspoken in the lead up to this fight. Part of that is the realization that guys like Dan Hardy, Paul Daley and even Diaz moved up the ladder a lot faster by self-promoting more heavily. Florian doesn't see that it's just a ploy by Maynard to push the fight and his image. He's been insulted by Maynard saying that he can beat Florian in every aspect of MMA. "If he doesn't respect my skills, he's gonna be in trouble," said Florian. He suggested Maynard will be full of excuses if he loses the fight. "It's gonna be one of those things where (Maynard says), 'I don't understand what happened or Kenny got lucky. Or I made a mistake and I'll be back and better than ever before.' I don't get that. It's created a lot of motivation for me."Florian doesn't talk a lot of trash but he decided to fire back at Maynard a little (6:10 mark). "I don't think he's the most exciting fighter," Florian said of Maynard. "I don't jump up and down when there's a Gray Maynard fight going on, but I do respect his skills."This is a huge fight in the lightweight division. The winner has a good shot at meeting the winner of Frank Edgar-B.J. Penn. From a promotional standpoint, you'd have to think the UFC would love to see Maynard victory.Check out Pepe's entire interview with Florian here.
Aug/100
MMA Marketplace: Is James Toney really wearing that shirt?
It takes a special kind of narcissism to wear a shirt with a picture of yourself on it. Luckily for MMA fans, James Toney is exactly that kind of narcissist. Just look at that thing. Not only is Toney wearing a shirt with a picture of himself on it, but check out his likeness on the shirt. His gloves say "MMA" while his body looks slightly more svelte than in recent pictures of the boxer-turned-mixed martial artist. Even with all that, the most ridiculous aspect of the shirt is the price. If you want it, you'll have to cough up $49.98 for it.
Aug/100
MMA Marketplace: Is James Toney really wearing that shirt?
It takes a special kind of narcissism to wear a shirt with a picture of yourself on it. Luckily for MMA fans, James Toney is exactly that kind of narcissist. Just look at that thing. Not only is Toney wearing a shirt with a picture of himself on it, but check out his likeness on the shirt. His gloves say "MMA" while his body looks slightly more svelte than in recent pictures of the boxer-turned-mixed martial artist. Even with all that, the most ridiculous aspect of the shirt is the price. If you want it, you'll have to cough up $49.98 for it.
Aug/100
The more you climb, the better you?ll climb
I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company.
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
Aug/100
Machotaildrop in LA
Machotaildrop is premiering in LA on Tuesday August 31st at the Downtown Theater at 4:40 PM as part of the LA Skate Film Festival.
Aug/100
Friday Morning 25 September 2009
Aug/100
Mendes wrestles his way to WEC 50 win over Swanson
Chad Mendes was a Division I NCAA finalist in wrestling, and he showed off those skills in his bout with Cub Swanson. Mendes won the decision, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. In the first round, Mendes utilized his wrestling background, landing an early punch before taking Swanson down. Referee Josh Rosenthal wasn't satisfied with Mendes' progress, so he stood the fighters up. Swanson nailed Mendes with a kick, and Mendes took him down again. Before the round ended, Mendes took Swanson down one more time after Swanson tried an unsuccessful flying knee. The second and third rounds followed the same script, with Mendes avoiding Swanson's increasing flurry of kicks with takedowns. Swanson seemed more comfortable in the second round, doing a better job of getting out from underneath Mendes. However, any time Swanson was able to build a rhythm on his feet, Mendes took him back to the ground. "I'm a wrestler, and feel most comfortable on the ground," Mendes said after the fight. "I'm still working on my standup." Mendes, who trains with Urijah Faber's Alpha Male team in Sacramento, notched his eighth win since starting MMA. His wrestling is impressive, but Mendes will need to grow more in his standup games as he moves up the WEC featherweight ladder.
Aug/100
Dan Hornbuckle Beats Brad Blackburn at Bellator 25
by Michael David SmithCHICAGO -- Stepping back into the cage for the first time since losing in last season's Bellator welterweight tournament final, Dan Hornbuckle put on a good show and beat Brad Blackburn by unanimous decision at Bellator 25.
The fight started explosively, with Hornbuckle slamming Blackburn to the ground, Blackburn attempting to submit Hornbuckle with a guillotine choke, Hornbuckle slipping out and getting back up, and then Blackburn leveling Hornbuckle with a hard punch. That set the tone for a good back-and-forth battle, one that contained 15 minutes of action and not a minute of boredom. As he usually does, Hornbuckle (who improved to 22-3) delivered both a win and an exciting fight. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
EilssaSteamer
EricKoston
ErikRuck
ErinJackson
FabioladaSilva
Aug/100
Askren, Woodley and Co. show Tiger-style wrestling at home in MMA
Though there is no official feeder program for MMA, college wrestling has produced a steady stream of top-notch fighters. Oklahoma State University, Arizona State University and the Ohio State University have a reputation for putting out some of the best fighters in the country.Looking at recent success both in MMA and wrestling, it looks as if the next wave of fighters will come from the University of Missouri.Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley and Michael Chandler are some of MMA's most exciting prospects. 2009 NCAA Division I heavyweight champ Mark Ellis is training with American Kickboxing Academy. J.P. Reese, a 2004 grad, recently won his MMA debut."After J.P. won his fight, he texted me and said, 'Missouri Tigers, still undefeated,'" Askren told Cagewriter in a recent interview.Askren is 6-0, and recently won the Bellator welterweight tournament. As one of Strikeforce's top up-and-coming welterweights, Woodley has seven wins. Chandler is 3-0, and turned heads with his win in less than a minute at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery in St. Louis. After success at Mizzou, Ellis didn't have much trouble deciding to make the jump to MMA. His last wrestling match was in March, and just hours after he earned All-American status, he said that he intended to fight. "I enjoy it. I'm a fan. I think I can be successful at it," Ellis told Cagewriter. "The motivation factor is also that there's money involved. Not that it's the only thing that's important, but if all else fails, there's something to be chasing." After becoming Missouri's first wrestling champion, Askren didn't start fighting quite so quickly. First, he chased Olympic glory, and competed for the U.S. in Beijing in freestyle wrestling. Now, he is going after Bellator's welterweight title. The only thing standing between him and the belt is Bellator's welterweight champion, Lyman Good. Askren expects to face Good sometime in October.Missouri wrestling was a doormat for much of the '90s, until current head coach Brian Smith was hired. He brought in Woodley and Reese, who helped build a foundation for a good program. Askren and Ellis (and Ben's younger brother, Max) followed, and became the school's first champions. Askren says that his wrestling base is what helps him every day as a fighter. "Obviously, all of us are very successful wrestlers, and probably going to be successful mixed martial artists because we're hard working, and we've got a good base." Ellis, who is not yet signed to a promotion, believes that the way he wrestled at Mizzou will help when he first steps foot in a cage. "The way we wrestled, get after it, score points, that offensive type of wrestling." The type of wrestling that will keep the Tigers undefeated. (Editor's note: Yes, I went to Missouri.)
TajBurrow
TaraHamilton
TaraLlanes
TommyClowers
TommyGuerrero
Aug/100
Thailand sport climbing: can you help?
Since an old friend told me about his climbing trips to Thailand it’s been one of my boxes-to-tick. Climbing by the beach and then relaxing in the blue seas sounds too good to be true. I’m about to find out - I’ve decided to do it later this year…
Photo kindly shared by HalonaCoast on Flickr
I’m [...]
Aug/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
Aug/100
Flow Trash Promo Part II
The same dudes that brought you Boondoggle have another promo for their upcoming Flow Trash. The line-up is set, as shown in the video, and the release date is too: December 2010.
ErinJackson
FabioladaSilva
FroggySoven
GeoffRowley
GerryNunn
Aug/100
UFC 118 not sold out yet; White surprised
MMA is on the rise, but it's not free from the affects of a lousy economy. UFC finally landing in Boston is a huge coup for the sport, but even a city hungry for fighting hasn't opened its wallets without some hesitation. Dan Duggan from the Boston Herald reports that UFC 118 needs a late push to sellout: Tickets went on sale June 25 and as of last weekend about 11,000 tickets had been sold. The Garden’s capacity for the event will be 15,500. UFC president Dana White, a Boston-native is surprised: "I was shocked that we didn’t sell out,” White told the Herald Monday. "Everybody is telling me that things are rough back there." [...]"We think it’s going to sell out," White said. "I think we’re like a couple thousand away from it. But when we get down to a thousand, we consider that a sell out. We’ll do that from walkup (sales)."White is happy with the way the event has been marketed. "Everything is great," White said. "The fight card, the lead-up and now going there is all good stuff."He's probably got good reason to be confident that the card will sell out. The Boston media showed up in force Wednesday to cover the UFC 118 prefight press conference. Papers like the Herald and Boston Globe still have muscle in New England.
Aug/100
Mostly Turned Five on Sunday
I always for get MostlySkateboarding's birthday, but I noticed today that the blog turned five years old on Sunday. Thanks to everybody who looks at the blog, makes comments, and especially to everyone who makes skate videos for me to post. Number by Alexander Crispin.
Iceclimbing
Rockclimbing
Bouldering
Canyoning
Freesoloclimbing
Aug/100
…a couple more from last week
KennyBartram
LayneBeachley
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
Aug/100
Stand Up For Skateparks
The next Stand Up For Skateparks benefit will be held at the Green Acres estate in Beverly Hills on October 17th with Jane's Addiction headlining. Click through to read the full press release.
Read More
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
Wingsuitflying
Aug/100
Noons destroys Gurgel but did he land several illegal shots?
Jorge Gurgel has had a bad habit of striking with strikers. A brilliant jiu-jitsu practitioner, he hadn't suffered devastating consequences until tonight. Gurgel played K.J. Noons' game and almost had his head knocked off. In the first three minutes of the fight, Gurgel was tagged by 20-of-44 shots. It only got worse from there. Noons nearly knocked out Gurgel with a left hook at the end of the first. Then at the start of the second, he finished it quickly when landed a nasty combination with straight right followed by a left hook. Referee Kerry Hatley stopped the fight at 0:19 of the second giving Noons the victory but it wasn't without controversy. Once Noons dropped Gurgel, he looked to Hatley to save Gurgel. The ref hesitated so Noons unloaded with three more lefts on the helpless Gurgel. Then as the overmatched official listlessly moved in to stop the fight, Noons delivered a right knee. One problem, Gurgel was still on the ground. The blow was clearly illegal. Showtime color voice Mauro Ranallo screeched in protest. Texas officials apparently decided the knee was legal or simply didn't see it. When Showtime's Gus Johnson entered the cage he probed Noons with four questions but shied away from asking him about the illegal blow (pictured). "Jorge is great opponent," said Noons (9-1). "He was staying away from my hands trying to get me into his gameplan but I have that killer instinct."There was also a question on the left hook that nearly knocked out Gurgel (13-7) at the end of the first. Showtime never showed a replay with sound. It appeared that the punch landed as the bell sounded. Ranallo and others thought it may have come just after the bell. In all, Noons landed 41-of-80 strikes while Gurgel was just 21-of-67. Clearly, Noons landed the heavier shots. Gurgel was bleeding around both eyes and his nose. He could barely stand at the end of the fight. Noons' face was unmarked.
KennyBartram
LayneBeachley
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
Aug/100
Strikeforce Houston weigh-in: Shredded Kennedy could be on verge of big things
Strikeforce
has put together another dynamite card tomorrow night on Showtime. The
televised portion of the event is filled with some of the best young
fighters in the game. Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal is already regarded as a
top 10 light heavyweight and he's six professional fights into his
career. Lawal defends his title against the very dangerous Rafael
"Feijao" Cavalcante. Another great wrestler, Tim Kennedy gets his shot
at stardom in a middleweight title fight against world champion jiu-tisu
ace Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza. Kennedy, 30, had a little delay in arriving
at this level. As a member of the Army's Special Forces he was away
from fighting for most of 2004-2006. A winner of four straight fights
(all finishes), Kennedy is ready to make up for lost time. "No
one has really gotten to see everything that I have to offer yet.
Combined my (Showtime) fighting time is like nine minutes or something,"
Kennedy (12-2) told Heavy.com. "All three of (my Strikeforce) fights
were very similar. All three of those guys were weak off their back.
Now a guy like Jacare, who is actually dangerous (off his back), I’m
going to
knock him out because I know he can’t take me down."Jacare (12-2) has only been stopped twice in his career. Kennedy says Souza has a few weaknesses he can exploit. "He’s a juggernaut when he’s got top position, and he’s
not terrible at anything, but his stand-up’s not great," said Kennedy. "His clinch isn’t great.
His wrestling is good, but it’s not great. I think he’s soft when he’s on his back,"It's
also a big night for Bobby Lashley. The former WWE star needs a win
over Chad Griggs and then there are some big fights on the horizon.
Lashley (5-0) dwarfed his opponent at the weigh-in. Strikeforce: Houston weigh-in (Courtesy MMA Junkie):Showtime (10 p.m. ET)
Muhammed Lawal (203.75) v. Rafael Cavalcante
(203.5)Tim Kennedy (185) v. Ronaldo Souza (184.75)Jorge Gurgel (154.75) v. K.J. Noons (156.25)Chad Griggs (228.5) v. Bobby Lashley (246)Non-televised
Daniel Cormier (249) v. Jason Riley (256.5)Andre Galvao (170.75) v. Jorge Patino (170.8)Rocky Long (146.25) v. Vinicius Magalhaes (144.5)Kier Gooch (155.25) v. Adam Schindler (155.5)Jose Santibanez (154.25) v. Reynaldo Trujillo (155.25)Humberto DeLeon (127) v. Chad Robichaux (131)Chad Cook (205) v. Arteneus Young (204)
ParksBonifay
PeterMel
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
Aug/100
Check out this old-school B.J. Penn knockout
James Toney's neverending stream of trash talk can obscure the fact that the UFC lightweight belt is being contested at UFC 118. B.J. Penn has a golden opportunity to immediately try to win back the championship he lost to Frankie Edgar at UFC 112. To get ready for that bout, jump into the DeLorean and head back to June 29, 2001 for UFC 32. In just his second MMA bout, Penn threw a vicious knee to take out Din Thomas in the first round.
DaveMirra
DeanRandazzo
DennisMcCoy
DougParsons
EilssaSteamer
Aug/100
Grabowski, Konrad Advance in Bellator Heavyweight Tournament
by Michael David SmithCHICAGO -- Damian Grabowski and Cole Konrad won Thursday night at Bellator 25 to advance to the semifinals of Bellator's Season 3 heavyweight tournament.
Grabowski, an undefeated Polish fighter making his U.S. debut, at times looked like he had a size and strength deficit against his big and -- let's face it -- fat opponent, Scott Barrett. But he ultimately proved to have too well-rounded a game for Barrett to handle, and he easily won a unanimous decision, 30-27 on all three judges' cards. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
AlaiKids Throwaway
Global Skateboarding has a throwaway friends montage from their really good video, AlaiKids.
Aug/100
Rob Welsh at The Armory
Rob Welsh will be at the Armory this Saturday, August 28th for the launch of his Pleasure Goods collabo.
TajBurrow
TaraHamilton
TaraLlanes
TommyClowers
TommyGuerrero
Aug/100
Tate takes first Strikeforce women’s tourney
She certainly had the marketability and wins to earn a rematch against the champ Sarah Kaufmann but Miesha Tate wasn't just handed a shot at the Strikeforce 135-pound women's title. Strikeforce chose a different route for the northern California-based fighter. They made her the centerpiece of a one-night, four-women tournament. It was all or nothing, and she came up big. Tate got two wins, including a hard-fought grapplefest against the very dangerous Hitomi Akano to earn her shot at Kaufman at Strikeforce Challengers 10 in Phoenix. Marloes Coenen get the first shot against Kaufman sometime in the fall. "My submission defense is one of my strong points. (Akano) was the one I wanted to fight the most
in the tournament," said the proud Tate. "Sarah you're amazing. I can't wait to fight you again."Kaufman can defend her title successfully against Coenen, it'll be Tate's second chance at the Canadian. The 23-year-old Tate lost a decision to Kaufman last October.
"It’s a dream come true. I came here on a
mission and I accomplished my goal," said Tate.She could've very easily missed out on her shot. The tournament required Tate (11-2) to fight twice in one night. That's a format that has a long history in Japan but most U.S. commissions are hesitant to allow fighters to fight twice in one night. Arizona was game but one change was made. The rounds were shortened from five minutes to three minutes and the first round of the tournament, the fights were only two rounds. It was done to minimize damage but it also made it risky in the opening round for the favorites Tate and Akano. Tate met the inexperienced Maiju Kujala. A native of Finland, Kujala (4-2) was tough to take down and at times landed the better shots on the feet. Tate escaped with a decision win and didn't take much damage. Akano (16-8) had to work much harder in her match against Carina Damm. The fight hit the deck early and often, and Damm was the physically stronger fighter. The "Girl Fight Monster" scored the takedowns but had trouble controlling the bigger Brazilian. But Akano's technique was brilliant as she often used Damm's strength against her. In the middle of the second round, Damm had top control but got reversed by Akano, who locked on a modified triangle and got the win via armbar at the 1:48 mark."I just used Carina's strength into my reversal technique," said Akano, through her interpreter Shu Hirata. "I went with her flow and got her into the
armbar. When I fight Miesha, I will submit her."Akano, 36, was very dangerous in the final but was a little too small for Tate. Tate scored takedowns in all three rounds and quickly took control of her back. She worked for chokes in the second and third rounds but Akano's submission defense was very solid.
Aug/100
First time climbing at Froggatt Edge
I’ve only just got chance to post about last week’s trip to Froggatt Edge. Friends tell me that a crisp spring morning is better for climbing grit but if you ask me sunshine is the way forward. I headed to Froggatt Edge (just south of Sheffield) with a few friends for my first ascents on [...]
ParksBonifay
PeterMel
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
Aug/100
Horwich pulls upset on Leites at ‘War on the Mainland’
Bas Rutten nailed it from the get-go. The former MMA star and color analyst on tonight's "War on the Mainland" broadcast said Matt Horwich is like a wet suit and that Thales Leites' conditioning would be tested. Rutten said Horwich has an iron chin and endless stamina. In an excellent grappling match, Leites held a slight edge through three rounds but when they came out for the fourth, Horwich was clearly the fresher fighter. "The Fighting Hippie" scored an easy takedown and immediately got Leites' back. He quickly converted it to a deep rear-naked choke. Leites tapped giving Horwich the PWP middleweight title at 0:44 of the fourth round. "The gameplan was to go in with better faith than any fight," Horwich told Rutten in the ring. "And
keep coming back better and evolving mentally, physically and spiritually. This is the biggest win of my life."In a sport filled with wacky characters, Horwich (pictured on the right) may be the most unique. He's speaks of his religious faith often and says that he's into quantum physics. How did he learn such a complicated subject? On the internet, of course. "It's a beautiful multiverse," said Horwich, who is fighting's version of Crispin Glover/George McFly. "It's another
day surfing the infinitely accelerated current of creativity. Thank god for
everything."It was the first time anyone had submitted Leites in 21 pro fights.
Horwich (24-13-1) also got his career back on track. He had been on the
wrong end of five decisions in his last six fights. That said, the win was far from a fluke. If you play Horwich's game, you're in for a rough night. Leites, a ground specialist, was having his way on the feet but for some reason chose to pull guard on several occasions. Those situations and even the ones where Leites had top control wore on him. In the third round, Horwich showed how tough he was when he refused to tap during a 55 second stint caught in an arm-triangle choke. Rutten pointed out that Leites may be in trouble if didn't finish the fight, pointing to lactic acid build up in Leites' arms. Lopez wins light heavyweight title with big knees Tony Lopez has been a big hit on the smaller fight circuit but he's never gotten a chance at high level fighters. As a late replacement, he did tonight and took out former UFC fighter Jason Lambert. Lopez, using a big six inch height advantage, landed a huge left knee to change the fight. Lambert hit the deck, got smashed by two more punches and Lopez walked away as his opponent was face down in the ropes. Lopez (19-4) picks up the PWP light heavyweight title at 1:49 of round two. The 6-foot-4 Lopez was called in this week and had to lose 26 pounds to make the 205 limit. The guy doesn't look pretty but he's now won 17-of-19 fights.
Aug/100
Rob Welsh at The Armory
Rob Welsh will be at the Armory this Saturday, August 28th for the launch of his Pleasure Goods collabo.
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
Wingsuitflying
Aug/100
Etnies, Zero, Plan B, and Mega Ramp Videos
Etnies gives Escapist a shop shout out. Zero demos at Subsect. Plan B has the last five years of Colin McKay vert progression. Wodward West just opened their Mega ramp and Shred or Die has the footage.
Read More
Aug/100
No Clip But Clips
No skate clip today, but the Mostly Skateboarding twitter feed is always going off and I started a tumblr blog last week with skate and non-skate stuff I think looks cool.
ChristianHosoi
CJHobgood
CliffordAdoptante
CoreyBohan
CoryLopez
Aug/100
C-a-C: This corner guy may just have real future as a fighter
One week he's staging an improbable comeback to defend his middleweight belt, the next week he's wrapping a fighter's hands at the Fight for Wrestling in Bakersfield. Such is the life for Anderson Silva, the UFC middleweight champ who recently lost his spot atop the Yahoo! Sports MMA pound-for-pound rankings. Caption the picture in the comments section and read on for winners from last week's create-a-caption winner. First place: Little does Joe Silva know Clay is really a sparkly vampire, preparing to make him join the ranks.-- Autin TollisonSecond place: It would make me the happiest caveman on the planet if you'll be my bride -- TThird place: Wow! Jon Cryer! I am your biggest fan! Sorry, for being so sweaty. -- Mike
Aug/100
‘Jacare’ wins Strikeforce middleweight belt with decision over Kennedy
In the fight that decided the winner of the vacant Strikeforce middleweight belt, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza won a unanimous decision over Tim Kennedy, with the judges cards reading 49-46, 48-47, 48-47. Jacare, known as one of the world's best in jiu-jitsu, kept the first round standing, landing effective strikes in the first round. Kennedy counterpunched, but Jacare had an answer for every offensive move that Kennedy made. That continued into the second round. Jacare wore down Kennedy, though Kennedy did stuff Jacare's takedown attempt.In the third round, Jacare opened up a cut over Kennedy's left eye with a big right hand. Not long after his face started bleeding, Kennedy took Jacare down, but surprisingly, Jacare did not want to stay there. He got out from under Kennedy and brought the fight back to its feet for the rest of the round.In the fourth, Kennedy seemed to land more punches, but they did not cause much damage. With about a minute and a half left in the fourth round, Kennedy landed an indavertent blow to Jacare's groin. Jacare was given time to recover, with while Kennedy's eye continued to bleed. The fight was delayed longer because of a problem with the fight clock. Kennedy's striking improved in the final round, but in the last 30 seconds of the round, Jacare landed two flush strikes that wobbled Kennedy. Kennedy answered with a takedownm bringing Jacare to the ground for a millisecond before Jacare leapt to his feet. After the decision was announced, Kennedy was confused and upset with the call from the judges. "The best grappler in the world couldn't get me down, and I took him down a few times," Kennedy said. "I've said it before. I don't like judges. I won't be here again." The fight was as close as prognosticators expected, but Jacare's striking was effective throughout the match. The grappling expert showed that he is just as comfortable on his feet as he is on the ground, and because of that, he is the newly crowned Strikeforce middleweight champ.
Aug/100
Three Stars: Showtime, Feijao and a dancing machine
With WEC 50 and Strikeforce: Houston in the books, Cagewriter takes a look at the fighters who stood out.No. 1 star -- Anthony Pettis: "Showtime" earned his shot at the WEC lightweight title with an amazing win over Shane Roller. Pettis and Roller fought a back and forth bout for more than 14 minutes. Then Pettis locked on a triangle choke, earning him his third win in a row. No. 2 star -- Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante: At Strikeforce: Houston, Feijao dethroned "King Mo" with a third-round TKO. Cavalcante won with the same powerful striking that had earned him the title shot. He used knees as an antidote to Lawal's takedowns, and will now get to defend the belt that Lawal couldn't. No. 3 star -- Dominick Cruz: In his first title defense, Cruz showed excellent movement, avoiding Benavidez's strikes while darting in to land strikes of his own. The five-round fight didn't slow him down, either. Next up? Scott Jorgensen, also a big winner at WEC 50.Honorable mention -- Daniel Cormier: Four weeks, three fights, two continents, one result. As we wrote last week, Cormier fought in his third fight in a month on Saturday, but you didn't see any wear and tear on the two-time Olympian. He ran through Jason Riley in 62 seconds, and is now free to sit on his couch and play video games. Honorable mention -- Chad Griggs: The full-time firefighter with
mutton chops wasn't supposed to beat former professional wrestling star
Bobby Lashley, but that's exactly what he did. He used an uppercut to
first cut Lashley under the eye, then to set up the hammerfists that
TKOed Lashley. Dishonorable mention -- Texas State Athletic Commission: The state commission that oversaw Strikeforce:Houston did an abysmal job. Referee Jon Schorle stood up Bobby Lashley and Chad Griggs at a questionable time in the fight. He also hesitated in stopping the KJ Noons/Jorge Gurgel fight, looking as if he was going to step in, but then stopping. He then failed to recognize the illegal knee that Noons threw. To add to the troubles with refereeing, the state commission's timekeeper had troubles with the clock during the Jacare/Kennedy bout. The UFC and Bellator both have events in early September in the Lone Star state. Hopefully, they'll get their act together by then.Who were your stars from WEC 50 and Strikeforce: Houston?
CoryLopez
DamienHobgood
DanPastor
DaneReynolds
DanielWatkins
Aug/100
WEC 50 main event: Cruz keeps his title in a tight decision
He may get mocked on for being "The Decisionator" but no one can deny the fact that Dominick Cruz is a tough riddle to solve. Joe Benavidez got a second chance, this time with the WEC's bantamweight title on the line, and just fell short of avenging his loss from their first meeting. He crushed Cruz's nose and opened a cut over his left eye but the champion was able to take a split decision, 49-46, 48-47 and 47-48, to retain his belt in the main event at WEC 50 in Las Vegas. "Joseph Benavidez is a great competitor," Cruz told the WEC's Craig Hummer. "He didn’t fall into the trash talk. He was a very honorable fighter."Cruz, who won his seventh straight fight (five by decision), was booed by many of the fans in attendance. When asked where he stands in the world rankings, the 25-year-old was undaunted and said he absolutely belongs near the top."I rank amongst the best in the world," said Cruz (15-1, 6-1 WEC). "There’s not a doubt
in my mind." The kid's got a chip on his shoulder and it works to motivate him. Scott Jorgensen, who beat Brad Pickett earlier in the night, is likely to get the next bantamweight title shot against Cruz.Adalaide Byrd was the judge who scored the fight four rounds to one for Cruz. Lester Griffin gave the first three rounds to Cruz while Doc Hamilton gave Cruz the final three to Benavidez. Cagewriter had it 3-2 for Benavidez. From the start of the fight, Cruz employed his trademark dancing and darting style. Benavidez seemed to have it solved in the first two rounds by using a southpaw stance. He landed some solid kicks on Cruz's lead leg and also used a counter right hook when Cruz attempted kicks. That said, the judges all liked what Cruz did early."I
just concentrated on staying hard to hit," said Cruz. "I don't look too bad, I suppose" In the middle of the fourth, while in the clinch, Cruz actually suffered a broken nose on a big Benavidez knee. It opened up a cut on the bridge of his nose which spurted blood for the next two minutes. Update: Cruz's trainer Eric Del Fierro said Cruz did NOT suffer a broken nose. Update II: FightMetric backed up the two judges who chose Cruz. The service says Cruz outlanded Benavidez 103-58 and also won the takedown battle 5-0. Update III: A reminder that fight stats are tabulated by humans and can also be subjective, Compustrike numbers back up the fact that this was a very close fight. Total Strikes: Cruz 86-of-233, Benavidez 69-of-235. Interesting to note, Benavidez landed just 4-of-5 strikes in the fourth and was taken down twice, but won the round on 2-of-3 cards. Things slowed down in the fifth round. Both fighters went for broke but missed on most of their strikes. Benavidez (12-2, 4-2 WEC) landed enough shots to take the round.
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Parachuting
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Wingsuitflying
Aug/100
Mendes wrestles his way to WEC 50 win over Swanson
Chad Mendes was a Division I NCAA finalist in wrestling, and he showed off those skills in his bout with Cub Swanson. Mendes won the decision, 30-27, 29-28, 29-28. In the first round, Mendes utilized his wrestling background, landing an early punch before taking Swanson down. Referee Josh Rosenthal wasn't satisfied with Mendes' progress, so he stood the fighters up. Swanson nailed Mendes with a kick, and Mendes took him down again. Before the round ended, Mendes took Swanson down one more time after Swanson tried an unsuccessful flying knee. The second and third rounds followed the same script, with Mendes avoiding Swanson's increasing flurry of kicks with takedowns. Swanson seemed more comfortable in the second round, doing a better job of getting out from underneath Mendes. However, any time Swanson was able to build a rhythm on his feet, Mendes took him back to the ground. "I'm a wrestler, and feel most comfortable on the ground," Mendes said after the fight. "I'm still working on my standup." Mendes, who trains with Urijah Faber's Alpha Male team in Sacramento, notched his eighth win since starting MMA. His wrestling is impressive, but Mendes will need to grow more in his standup games as he moves up the WEC featherweight ladder.
Aug/100
Northside When..?
I stopped by Northside today and it looks like they haven't done much with the park accept put a fence and guard house up and sweep away the gravel. The bank to bank gap still isn't finished so I wonder if there is some drama going on with the park. I've been told the park will open in September, but that could mean the first or last day of September.
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
Aug/100
UFC 117’s Three Stars: Silva, Sonnen and Struve
The first UFC pay-per-view event in more than a month had no shortage of impressive performances. No. 1 star -- Anderson Silva: If you needed any reminder why MMA is an amazing sport, Silva gave it to you. A football team is unlikely to come back and win when down four touchdowns at the two-minute warning. Ditto a basketball team down 40 points, or a baseball team down 12 runs. But in MMA, the judges' score cards can be rendered moot with a single triangle choke.Silva showed not only the greatness of MMA but the nature of a champion. He withstood a Chael Sonnen beating for 4 1/2 rounds but was still able to come back and win. Quite simply, he figured out a way to win. That's a quality found in the greatest champions, regardless of sport.No. 2 star -- Chael Sonnen: Obviously, the man who delivered the beating for most of the main event deserves kudos, as well. Sonnen used wrestling and ground and pound to relentlessly pummel Silva. Sonnen made Silva look human, a feat that few other fighters have been able to accomplish.No. 3 star -- Stefan Struve: On a jam-packed card, it was hard to pick out the final star, but Struve showed his mettle with a second-round KO of Christian Morecraft. Struve was battered and beaten from the first round. With a mangled lip and a bloody face, Struve came back to deliver two punishing strikes to take Morecraft out. Honorable mention -- Wrestling: Yes, the world's oldest and greatest sport had a starring role at UFC 117. Matt Hughes used an old-school wrestling technique to beat Ricardo Almeida. Jon Fitch used wrestling to take down Thiago Alves again and again. Phil Davis, Clay Guida and even Sonnen used wrestling to get the job done -- almost done in the case of Sonnen. Dishonorable mention -- Thiago Alves: First, he blew weight. Then, he was dominated by Jon Fitch in a unanimous-decision loss. Alves looked sluggish and tired, only managing a few fits of offense near the end of the second and third rounds. Who are your stars from UFC 117?
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Parachuting
Bungeejumping
Wingsuitflying
Aug/100
The more you climb, the better you?ll climb
I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company.
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
Aug/100
Quiksilver Europe Skate In Visión Montage
Quiksilver Europe puts together a sick montage from their Skate In Visión photo contest.
Aug/100
Sylvia bullies his way to a knockout win over Buentello
Tim Sylvia is one the biggest heavyweights in the world and he's playing to that strength more than ever. The two-time former UFC heavyweight champ walks around in excess of 300 pounds and brought a lot bulk to the ring against Paul Buentello. "The Headhunter" got suckered into playing Sylvia's game, got roughed up in the corners and was eventually floored by a big uppercut. Buentello was out of it when he hit the deck and referee John McCarthy jumped in to stop things at 4:57 of the second round. Sylvia (27-6) picks up the PWP heavyweight title in the main event of "War on the Mainland" in Irvine, Ca.We knew Paul had faster hands than I did so we wanted to play big man, get a hold of him, wear him down and tire him out over the first two rounds." said Sylvia. "Then take control in the third, fourth and fifth."It didn't take that long because Buentello played right into Sylvia's hands. He clearly had a speed advantage with his hands but he kept backing himself onto the ropes where the 6-foot-8 Sylvia eventually clinched and move it into a corner. Buentello's camp asked Sylvia (pictured on the right with current UFC champ Brock Lesnar) to cut down to 275 pounds. They probably should've pushed for the standard heavyweight limit of 265 because by the time Sylvia rehydrated, ate and stepped into the ring, he looked to have at least 40 pounds on the 251-pound Buentello. Once things got to the corners, Sylvia put all his weight on his smaller opponent. He blasted away with knees, big elbows and effective uppercuts. At the end of the first round, Buentello had a cut on his nose and welt under his left eye. When he stayed on the move and in the center of the ring, Buentello (28-13) had his moments in the second. He was able to land some effective jabs and more than held his own when both fighters traded in open space. He just couldn't keep it up and killed his chances by backing up."Paul's got fast hands. I had to keep him on the end of my
reach. Kick him, get him on the inside then blast some elbows and
knees. Make it wear on him," said Sylvia. Sylvia had questions about Buentello's conditioning so he wanted to work the clinch game in close quarters in the corners. "Paul coming at 250? We know his fight
shape is usually 235," said Sylvia. "Even though he had double-underhooks, I had my
chin on his shoulder to wear him down."
Sylvia was also effective with some hard leg kicks. "I saw him wince on the last low kick," said Sylvia. "Once you take the legs out from under them, you start kicking them high." After fast, embarrassing losses to both Ray Mercer and Fedor Emelianenko, this makes it three straight wins for Sylvia. During the postfight discussion in the ring, Sylvia was told that sometime down the road he'll defend his new belt against fellow UFC veteran Pedro Rizzo. It's also likely that he improved his chances of getting a fight soon with a bigger organization like DREAM or Strikeforce.
Aug/100
Cormier on verge of fighting for third time in four weeks
What have you done this month? Strikeforce heavyweight and two-time Olympian Daniel Cormier has fought on two continents, won two championship belts, prepared for his third bout and moved into a new apartment. As he gets ready for the third bout, he laughed at the idea that he was crazy. "Not crazy because of the way the first two went," Cormier told Cagewriter. "If I had gotten all cut up, then maybe. But these first two fights were a combined six and a half minutes. People keep asking if I've lost my mind, but we wrestled 2-3 times a week in college, and not easy wrestling matches. I've been trained to do this over the course of my wrestling career." Cormier won the XMMA heavyweight championship in Australia on July 31 with a TKO of Lucas Brown. Two weeks later, he earned the King of the Cage belt with a quick TKO of Tony Johnson, Jr. This weekend, he'll face Jason Riley on the undercard of the Strikeforce: Houston card, a bout that will be aired online. At King of the Cage bout, referee Cecil People made waves after an odd statement before Cormier's fight. When the two fighters came forward for pre-fight instructions, Peoples called the KOTC belt "the most prestigious in the world," an overreach at best.Cormier says that he didn't hear what Peoples said at the time, and was surprised when he heard it after the fight. The normally talkative Cormier had trouble putting words to his reaction."I read comments the afterwards, and what do you say about that? I didn't hear it. What do you say? Maggie, have you ever heard me at a loss for words? Maybe he believes that. It's his opinion."He has no trouble speaking when answering the question of whether or not he will fight his friend and the Strikeforce light heavyweight champ, Mo Lawal. Though Lawal said he's willing to fight at heavyweight, Cormier will not fight his friend."It won't happen. Mo and I wrestled a lot. You can't talk, you can't communicate. What people don't realize is that our relationship spans a decade. It's more than MMA. When he transferred to OSU, Mo was my guy. He's family to me, and I'd never take food out of his mouth. That's what happens when you fight, and I'd never try to hurt him."But before he gets to that discussion, he has a fight to focus on, and then a new home to hang out in. He spent the weekend in-between fights moving into a San Jose apartment with American Kickboxing Academy teammate Luke Rockhold, though he did cave in and decide to hire movers.Now, Cormier is looking forward to winning his bout and relaxing in that new place."Hopefully, I can get one more win and then I'll be 5-0 in a year. After this, I'm looking forward to taking a few days to just relax. Most people say they want to go to the beach, or go on vacation. I just want to lay on my couch and play video games."He won't have to look far for reminders of his success. Cormier said that the two belts are on his entertainment center, next to the X-Box.
Aug/100
Atlanta Hates Us March Montage
Atlanta Hates Us has a nice black & white montage from the much cooler month of March.
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
RobMachado
RodneyMullen
Aug/100
LurkerVision Maloof OC Part 2
We got more pros talking about the first pros they ever met from pro LurkerVisionary Animal Chan, there's good skating as well.
Aug/100
WEC 50: Faber says Cruz is a dope and disrespectul
There is no more polite dude in MMA than Urijah Faber. The former WEC champ has certainly done enough during his illustrious career to be a pompous jerk if he wanted. He could talk lots of trash, but it's hard to recall Faber really smashing someone. Then there's Dominick Cruz. The current bantamweight champ rubs Faber the wrong way, and he has no problem expressing his feelings about Cruz (2:33 mark). "There aren't many people I don't like out there," Faber told Larry Pepe of Pro MMA Radio. "For lack of a better way to describe him, he just seems like kind of a dope."Faber pointed to a UFC magazine piece on Cruz, where he talked about his reckless ways as a teen. Cruz told the mag that he got booted from his home for throwing parties at his mother's apartment. "What kind of sob story is that dude? He's throwing parties when he's 19 when his mom leaves town so then she kicked him out and he had to be off on his own," said Faber. "I don't know man, he just rubs me the wrong way. The way he was disrespectul when we first fought and just the way he carries himself."Faber's teammate and friend Joe Benavidez takes a run at Cruz's title belt next week at WEC 50. Mark it down, if Benavidez falls short, Faber will probably get a shot at Cruz down the road.
Aug/100
…a couple more from last week
Sandboarding
Windsurf
Kitesurfing
Riverboarding
Riversurfing
Aug/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
Aug/100
WEC 50 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
by Michael David SmithWhen the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez is over, the action at WEC 50 won't be completely finished: Following the event comes the post-fight press conference, which you can watch here at MMAFighting.com.
Hear the fighters talk about their fights, see whose faces bear the scars of battling inside the cage, and find out who won the Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses by watching the WEC 50 post-fight press conference, which will be available here shortly after midnight Eastern. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
AndyMacDonald
AsherNolan
BamMargera
BikerSherlock
BobBurnquist
Aug/100
AlaiKids Throwaway
Global Skateboarding has a throwaway friends montage from their really good video, AlaiKids.
Aug/100
Slam City Summer Rat Signal
Slam City Skates has a new Rat Signal a few pages into their Summer 2010 look book.
RossPowers
RyanSheckler
ScottBirley
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ShawnMurray
Aug/100
Pulver can’t stop losing streak, falls in 67 seconds
The rough times continued tonight for former UFC lightweight champ Jens Pulver. Known for his knockout power, Pulver simply can't catch up the new breed of well-rounded fighters. 'Lil' Evil' got beat on the feet and was once again submitted. Diego Garijo, in just his fifth career fight, finished things via guillotine choke at 1:07 of the first round at "War on the Mainland" in Irvine. Ca. Pulver (22-14-1) has now lost six straight fights. There was nothing to be embarrassed about with losses to guys like Leonard Garcia, Josh Grispi, Javier Vasquez and Urijah Faber but this one is tough to swallow. Garijo (5-1) came out with no fear of standing toe-to-toe with Pulver. He landed a straight left that floored Pulver and immediately worked for the finishing choke.
Aug/100
WEC 50 main event: Cruz keeps his title in a tight decision
He may get mocked on for being "The Decisionator" but no one can deny the fact that Dominick Cruz is a tough riddle to solve. Joe Benavidez got a second chance, this time with the WEC's bantamweight title on the line, and just fell short of avenging his loss from their first meeting. He crushed Cruz's nose and opened a cut over his left eye but the champion was able to take a split decision, 49-46, 48-47 and 47-48, to retain his belt in the main event at WEC 50 in Las Vegas. "Joseph Benavidez is a great competitor," Cruz told the WEC's Craig Hummer. "He didn’t fall into the trash talk. He was a very honorable fighter."Cruz, who won his seventh straight fight (five by decision), was booed by many of the fans in attendance. When asked where he stands in the world rankings, the 25-year-old was undaunted and said he absolutely belongs near the top."I rank amongst the best in the world," said Cruz (15-1, 6-1 WEC). "There’s not a doubt
in my mind." The kid's got a chip on his shoulder and it works to motivate him. Scott Jorgensen, who beat Brad Pickett earlier in the night, is likely to get the next bantamweight title shot against Cruz.Adalaide Byrd was the judge who scored the fight four rounds to one for Cruz. Lester Griffin gave the first three rounds to Cruz while Doc Hamilton gave Cruz the final three to Benavidez. Cagewriter had it 3-2 for Benavidez. From the start of the fight, Cruz employed his trademark dancing and darting style. Benavidez seemed to have it solved in the first two rounds by using a southpaw stance. He landed some solid kicks on Cruz's lead leg and also used a counter right hook when Cruz attempted kicks. That said, the judges all liked what Cruz did early."I
just concentrated on staying hard to hit," said Cruz. "I don't look too bad, I suppose" In the middle of the fourth, while in the clinch, Cruz actually suffered a broken nose on a big Benavidez knee. It opened up a cut on the bridge of his nose which spurted blood for the next two minutes. Update: Cruz's trainer Eric Del Fierro said Cruz did NOT suffer a broken nose. Update II: FightMetric backed up the two judges who chose Cruz. The service says Cruz outlanded Benavidez 103-58 and also won the takedown battle 5-0. Update III: A reminder that fight stats are tabulated by humans and can also be subjective, Compustrike numbers back up the fact that this was a very close fight. Total Strikes: Cruz 86-of-233, Benavidez 69-of-235. Interesting to note, Benavidez landed just 4-of-5 strikes in the fourth and was taken down twice, but won the round on 2-of-3 cards. Things slowed down in the fifth round. Both fighters went for broke but missed on most of their strikes. Benavidez (12-2, 4-2 WEC) landed enough shots to take the round.
Aug/100
Checkout: Brian Uhlig & Taylor Grose
Savannah Skates has a check out with Brian Uhlig and Taylor Grose
Aug/100
‘Huerta the hero’ story getting a bit cloudy
TMZ loves the UFC. And it especially loves it for the potential that mixed martial artists may lose their cool, act like an animal and brawl in public. It hasn't happened yet but you can bet the site is "covering" the UFC for just that reason. In March, TMZ got a small break when former UFC fighter Jon Koppenhaver went off the deep end getting into a bar fight and being dragged away in a spit hood. It got plenty of mileage from Tito Ortiz's alleged assault on his wife Jenna Jameson in April. Now it's running with Roger Huerta's role in brawl outside an Austin bar.Using a grainy video as evidence TMZ reported:Twenty-seven-year-old Huerta — who was once featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated — was in front of a bar in Austin around 2 AM on Saturday morning ... when some other people began fighting. Roger was near the scuffle ... when he saw one of the men involved punch a female who was standing near the ruckus. Once Huerta sees the woman collapse to the ground — he instantly tries to confront the attacker saying, "You just punched a [expletive] girl." Chaos ensues and people scramble after the fighters, blocking the camera — but seconds later ... a shirtless Huerta can be seen finishing his attack on the other man ... who is sprawled out on the street. People rush in to aid the bloody man on the ground — who eventually gets off the pavement — as Huerta walks away from the battle ground. TMZ even got a comment on the brawl from Huerta's former boss UFC president Dana White. Dana tells TMZ, "In no way do I condone street fighting, but when a guy puts his hands on a woman he deserves to be knocked the [expletive] out. Good for Roger."Cage Potato broke down the video and says it appears that TMZ altered the footage.Here's a digitally enhanced (to improve clarity) version. The photo on the left is a screen capture we grabbed from the video. The one on the right is a still frame used by TMZ which appears to have been altered to add a tribal tattoo to match the one that adorns Huerta's left shoulder. He also seems to be wearing an unbuttoned long sleeved shirt that is flowing back behind him. They call the whole story from TMZ irresponsible:I find it amazing that TMZ, who also have a daily television show and undoubtedly have access to far superior video editing equipment than my Macbook Pro, were unable to clean up the video quality of the stomp allegedly administered by Huerta, yet they pulled these clean screen captures from the beginning of the video to perhaps misleadingly make readers believe it was Roger who put his foot down on the guy's head, when it is unclear exactly who is the assaulter in the video. Legit or not, other national news services are running with the story. CBS News posted a story Thursday afternoon, "Roger Huerta Street Fight: Video Apparently Shows UFC Fighter in Brawl".As you can see, the former UFC star is referred to as a UFC fighter. Although in the first two paragraphs, he's called an ex-UFC fighter.Apparently Huerta isn't angry. In fact, he's embracing the whole thing. He sounded proud of what went down."I just don’t think that it's right to hit a woman. Period," Huerta told TMZ."I approached the man calmly and said, 'Do you know what you just did? You just knocked out this girl.' But Huerta claims the other guy responded, "[Expletive] you, [expletive] these bitches, I'll knock out any [expletive] bitch that I wanna [expletive] knock out, I’ll knock your [expletive] bitch ass out." Huerta added, "... and as he's saying this, he's taking off his shirt ... and at that point I was like, alright.' I got the better of him and I left," Huerta said. The 27-year-old explained, "If that was my mom, if that was my sister, my spouse, anyone … I would’ve wanted someone to step in and do something about it." Don't be shocked if the fighter makes his way onto the gossip/crime blotter interview circuit soon. This seems like a story Greta Van Susteren, Nancy Grace, Rick Sanchez or Jane Velez-Mitchell would be all over. Huerta left the UFC in 2009. He's gone 1-1 with his new promotion Bellator.
Skysurfing
Skateboarding
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Aug/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
Aug/100
WEC 50 Post-Fight Press Conference Video
by Michael David SmithWhen the bantamweight title fight between Dominick Cruz and Joseph Benavidez is over, the action at WEC 50 won't be completely finished: Following the event comes the post-fight press conference, which you can watch here at MMAFighting.com.
Hear the fighters talk about their fights, see whose faces bear the scars of battling inside the cage, and find out who won the Fight of the Night, Knockout of the Night and Submission of the Night bonuses by watching the WEC 50 post-fight press conference, which will be available here shortly after midnight Eastern. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
JustinHoman
KellyClark
KellySlater
KennyBartram
LayneBeachley
Aug/100
The more you climb, the better you?ll climb
I have had a few days away from climbing - in fact, my last session was 3 weekends ago at Froggatt - and so I got back to the gym this week. My local gym has an auto-belay setup so I was able to do some indoor routes without company.
And I struggled! Struggled to get [...]
Aug/100
Rollercoaster of fights: The ups and downs of Alves’ career
Thiago Alves will fight Jon Fitch this Saturday, and the winner will likely get the next shot at the UFC welterweight belt. For someone who has been as successful as Alves, he has faced many peaks and valleys.Valley: Alves started his UFC career off with a bang but not a good one for him. At Ultimate Fight Night 2 in October 2005, Alves lost to Spencer Fisher by rear-naked choke. It wasn't a memorable debut. Peak: After beating Ansar Chalangov by TKO at UFC 56, Alves won again at UFC 59. He beat Derrick Noble by the same method at UFC 59. Both fights were first-round stoppage.Valley: The Alves train was derailed at Ultimate Fight Night 5. Fitch, his opponent for this weekend, TKO'd Alves in the second round. Peak: Alves rebounded from the Fitch loss with a decision win over John Alessio and then a punishing knee KO of Tony DeSouza at UFC 66.Valley: Whoops! Alves tested positive for a banned diuretic at UFC 66. He was suspended eight months and fined $5,500. Peak: Alves returned to the cage in September 2007 and started off with TKOs of Kuniyoshi Hironaka and Chris Lytle. That led to a Ultimate Fight Night matchup with Karo Parisyan, where Alves overwhelmed his opponent at the beginning of the second round, winning by TKO.Peak with a touch of valley thrown in: Those wins earned Alves a shot at Matt Hughes, the former welterweight champ. Before their bout at UFC 85 in England, Alves couldn't make weight. The two fought at a catchweight of 174 pounds, and Alves won Knockout of the Night after taking Hughes out with a flying knee on June 7, 2008.Valley: A win over Josh Koscheck at UFC 90 earned Alves a shot at GSP and the welterweight title at UFC 100 during the summer of 2009. That didn't go so well. GSP outwrestled and overwhelmed Alves, controlling him throughout the match.Valley: Days before he was set to rematch Jon Fitch at UFC 111 in March of this year, Alves was not cleared to fight by New Jersey officials. He found out he had a small brain issue that had to be corrected with surgery.So here we are, days before Alves and Fitch are finally set to fight at UFC 117. What do you think this weekend will be for Alves? A peak, like when he TKO'd so many fighters, or a valley, like when he last lost to Fitch?
Aug/100
Friday Morning 25 September 2009
Iceclimbing
Rockclimbing
Bouldering
Canyoning
Freesoloclimbing
Aug/100
Mid North Coast NSW – January 2010
Skateboarding
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Dirtsurfing
Aug/100
LA Skate Film Festival-August 31st and September 1st
Just got done judging the Documentary entries of the LA Skate Film Festival. There were some amazing films, some very moving and some funny.
Check out their Event Schedule and try to make it to LA. You won't be dissappointed.
ParksBonifay
PeterMel
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
Aug/100
Sonnen gets a call from Armstrong, then mocked on Jim Rome Show
He's fighting the best mixed martial artist in the world in just over two days, does Chael Sonnen really need to deal with drama unfolding about his Lance Armstrong comments? Of course not, and now he's only making it worse by engaging in some sort of game/elaborate hoax. We pointed Wednesday night that Sonnen told Fanhouse he never made the comments and never spoke with the interviewer Larry Pepe. Thursday, Jim Rome picked up on the story and booked Sonnen for an interview. After a lengthy discussion about the fight against Anderson Silva, Rome then pressed Sonnen on his Armstrong comments. Sonnen again stated that he didn't make the comments and that it wasn't him on the show. Sonnen said he also got a call from Armstrong. "He said 'I heard your interview, what are you saying about me?' He broke the story for me. And I didn't even think it was him. I've talked to him on the phone a couple of times," said Sonnen. "He blindsided me. I assure you, Jim, you will not find any footage of any such interview." Then Rome played the audio and Sonnen denied it again. Watch Kalib Run has a nice recap of the aftermath as Rome mocked Sonnen and spun it into the topic of "worst lies ever." Rome states that it's incredulous that he would deny that it was him. Rome states that if it was an impersonator, they spent 45 minutes doing an interview posing as Sonnen. Rome wonders what Dana White thinks of this "fight hype" as it's gone over the line and Dana is a "no BS guy". Because he likes Sonnen and the middleweight has saved the promotion for UFC 117, we're guessing White won't rip into the fighter but he did come off as foolish on national radio. Some MMA bloggers are saying we're playing right into Sonnen's hand. He's turning the tables on the media. Josh Gross thinks it's gone beyond that. It's not anything that damages the reputation of the sport, but it certainly knocks Sonnen down a peg. That said, maybe this final bit of controversy will bring in more pay-per-view buys which was the ultimate goal of the barrage of trash talk in the first place.
TrevorHanson
WesBrisco
ZaneSchwenk Snowboarding
Sandboarding
Aug/100
MMA Top 10 Welterweights: Jon Fitch Stuck at No. 2
by Michael David SmithIf there was any doubt that Jon Fitch is the second-best welterweight in the world, he erased that doubt on Saturday night. By thoroughly dominating Thiago Alves at UFC 117, Fitch firmly established himself as MMA's best welterweight not named Georges St. Pierre.
Unfortunately for Fitch, he was beaten so badly by St. Pierre in their previous fight that there aren't a lot of fans clamoring for a rematch. And if St. Pierre loses to Josh Koscheck in December, it's an open question whether Fitch will even accept a title fight if it's offered to him, since he and Koscheck are friends and training partners.
And so while UFC President Dana White has said Fitch earned the No. 1 contender position with his victory, I'm not so sure that Fitch's next fight will be for the title. I think it's more likely that we're going to see Fitch put into the Octagon with someone else (maybe the Jake Shields-Martin Kampmann winner) as he continues his role as the welterweight division's permanent gatekeeper. Fitch is a great fighter, but I view him less as a No. 1 contender than as a guy who's stuck at No. 2.
Find out how I rank the rest of the welterweight division below. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Bellator opens season three with impressive wins from Fujii, Lombard
Bellator's third season kicked off in Hollywood, Fla., on Thursday night with action in the women's and heavyweight tournaments, as well as a non-title bout for the middleweight champ.Arguably the world's best female fighter, Megumi Fujii won with a second-round submission. Carla Esparza took the fight on short notice and hung with Fujji for most of the first round, matching Fujii punch-for-punch. Fujii grabbed a toe hold late in the first round, but could not finish. She did not take as long in the second round, using her smooth grappling to grab an armbar out of nowhere. Esparza was forced to tap at 0:57, giving Fujii the bout.That not only moves "Mega-Megu" onto the semifinal round of Bellator's 115-pound female tournament, but it also gives her an unprecedented 21st straight victory.Jessica Aguilar, who still has not told her mother that she's a fighter, came away with a win and a spot in the semifinals. Aguilar used outstanding grappling to control Lynn Alvarez, finishing her off with an arm-triangle at 4:01 in the first round.In the first fight of the Bellator heavyweight tournament, Neil Grove TKOed Eddie Sanchez in just 1:32. Grove knocked Sanchez down early and beat on his head. Twice, Sanchez fruitlessly tried for armbars, but Grove easily maneuvered out and returned to his feet to beat on Sanchez more. With his left eye swollen nearly shut, Sanchez had trouble returning to his feet. The referee asked if Sanchez could continue. When Sanchez asked for a minute, the referee stopped the fight.Middleweight champion Hector Lombard took on Whisper Goodman, a former NFL running back, in a non-title fight. It would not have mattered if the bout was scheduled to go five rounds, as Lombard knocked out Goodman in 38 seconds. Lombard came out swinging and overwhelmed his opponent, throwing a final right that took Goodman out.After the bout, Lombard inexplicably called out heavyweight Josh Barnett, who was at the fights to corner Fujii. "I don't care how much weight you are," said Lombard, an Olympic judo player for Cuba. "Josh Barnett, come over." In other Bellator news, the promotion announced that the next bout for champion Eddie Alvarez would not be taking on Pat Curran, the lightweight tourney champ, as planned. Curran sustained an injury, so Roger Huerta will be stepping in for a non-title bout in October.
Rockclimbing
Bouldering
Canyoning
Freesoloclimbing
Free-fall
Aug/100
Faber shows off acting skills in awesome K-Swiss spot
Eastbound and Down isn't for everybody but if you're not a hypersensitive politically correct troll, it's damn funny. Kenny Powers is classic in this super NSFW pitch to K-Swiss. One of his schemes is to wear his kicks as an MMA fighter against the former WEC champ Urijah Faber. We're not so sure this video will air on ESPN, Comedy Central and MTV outlets, but the campaign is real. K-Swiss has brought the character on board to push it's "Tubes" line. The mulleted phys-ed teacher will be featured along with Faber, San Francisco 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis and New Orleans Saints' TE Jeremy Shockey.Glenn Cole, from the ad agency 72andSunny says: "When you have four of the most intense pro athletes in the world--and that's including Kenny Powers--you can tell a story about performance technology in a way that young guys care about." David Nichols, executive VP of K-Swiss explains the Powers' approach: "We wanted to deliver unfiltered straight talk about how awesome TUBES are. Who better to do that than Kenny Powers? This approach is attention grabbing – progressive, creative and playful, which is our marketing mantra." There's even a Kenny Powers/K-Swiss Facebook app! Tip via Cage Potato
Aug/100
Good guy alert: Forrest Griffin to donate book proceeds to charity
In addition to being the former UFC light heavyweight champ, Forrest Griffin is an author. His first book, "Got Fight?", made the New York Times bestseller list. Now, with his second book, "Be Ready When the [expletive] Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse," he is not keeping any of the proceeds. From theultimatefighter.com via Cage Potato: "Even if they get nothing out of [the book], I hold myself free from harm, because I donated every penny that I make from this book to charity. I didn't keep any money from the book at all to help you survive the apocalypse. That's how much I care about you the reader. There’s a couple of different [charities the money will go to]: Fisher House, Three Square, a food bank in Las Vegas, our church, and then a couple more personal ones. The guy Big John, in the book, he passed away, and he’s got a five-year-old son, and he’s got a trust set up, so some of it’s for that as well. I kept no money from the book. It didn’t go to charities like the 'Forrest Griffin Needs a New Car Foundation." He probably doesn't need a car because he got one as a bonus for coaching "The Ultimate Fighter," but that's not the point. Giving away every bit of cash earned on a book is a good deed, and for that, we say nicely done, Forrest.
Aug/100
New P-Rod Site from Nike
Paul Rodriguez teams up with Nas for the new commercial for the Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4 shoe and apparel collection. See the new commercial, new shoe, new gear, and more photos and videos on the Zoom Paul Rodriguez 4 mini-site.
Aug/100
Askren, Woodley and Co. show Tiger-style wrestling at home in MMA
Though there is no official feeder program for MMA, college wrestling has produced a steady stream of top-notch fighters. Oklahoma State University, Arizona State University and the Ohio State University have a reputation for putting out some of the best fighters in the country.Looking at recent success both in MMA and wrestling, it looks as if the next wave of fighters will come from the University of Missouri.Ben Askren, Tyron Woodley and Michael Chandler are some of MMA's most exciting prospects. 2009 NCAA Division I heavyweight champ Mark Ellis is training with American Kickboxing Academy. J.P. Reese, a 2004 grad, recently won his MMA debut."After J.P. won his fight, he texted me and said, 'Missouri Tigers, still undefeated,'" Askren told Cagewriter in a recent interview.Askren is 6-0, and recently won the Bellator welterweight tournament. As one of Strikeforce's top up-and-coming welterweights, Woodley has seven wins. Chandler is 3-0, and turned heads with his win in less than a minute at Strikeforce: Heavy Artillery in St. Louis. After success at Mizzou, Ellis didn't have much trouble deciding to make the jump to MMA. His last wrestling match was in March, and just hours after he earned All-American status, he said that he intended to fight. "I enjoy it. I'm a fan. I think I can be successful at it," Ellis told Cagewriter. "The motivation factor is also that there's money involved. Not that it's the only thing that's important, but if all else fails, there's something to be chasing." After becoming Missouri's first wrestling champion, Askren didn't start fighting quite so quickly. First, he chased Olympic glory, and competed for the U.S. in Beijing in freestyle wrestling. Now, he is going after Bellator's welterweight title. The only thing standing between him and the belt is Bellator's welterweight champion, Lyman Good. Askren expects to face Good sometime in October.Missouri wrestling was a doormat for much of the '90s, until current head coach Brian Smith was hired. He brought in Woodley and Reese, who helped build a foundation for a good program. Askren and Ellis (and Ben's younger brother, Max) followed, and became the school's first champions. Askren says that his wrestling base is what helps him every day as a fighter. "Obviously, all of us are very successful wrestlers, and probably going to be successful mixed martial artists because we're hard working, and we've got a good base." Ellis, who is not yet signed to a promotion, believes that the way he wrestled at Mizzou will help when he first steps foot in a cage. "The way we wrestled, get after it, score points, that offensive type of wrestling." The type of wrestling that will keep the Tigers undefeated. (Editor's note: Yes, I went to Missouri.)
Aug/100
Guida wrecks Dos Anjos’ jaw in win at UFC 117
Clay Guida's game may not possess anything outstanding but if you're not in there to fight 15 long, hard minutes don't bother showing up. Putting on an impressive kicking display in the first round, Rafael Dos Anjos looked like he was going to cruise to a win. But things were derailed by Guida's non-stop pace. Dos Anjos suffered a jaw injury along the way and when Guida got into a position where he could crank on his face, the Brazilian tapped out at 1:51 of the third round.By making Dos Anjos chase him around the ring, Guida changed the fight in the second round. Dos Anjos got a little frustrated and swung wildly with a huge right. With 2:20 left in the round, Guida ducked under the shot and scored one of his vaunted takedowns. Guida grinded away on the ground and made Dos Anjos (14-5, 3-3 UFC) work to avoid getting into a dangerous position. In the third, Dos Anjos looked completely tentative standing so attempted a takedown. Guida thwarted the attempted, got the clinch and scored a big slam. With Dos Anjos on his back, Guida worked for head and arm control against the cage. It didn't appear anything dangerous was locked on but Guida's shoulder was driving into Dos Anjos' face. The Brazilian couldn't take the pain any longer. It was career win No. 7 for Guida, who is now 27-11 in his MMA career despite only being 28 years old. The younger Dos Anjos, 25, is one of the most improved fighters in the UFC but he ran into a cardio buzzsaw a little too early in his career.
Aug/100
Nobyl Montage
Nobyl has a sick new montage.
ChristianHosoi
CJHobgood
CliffordAdoptante
CoreyBohan
CoryLopez
Aug/100
Joe Riggs Beats Up Louis Taylor in Strikeforce Challengers Main Event
by Michael David SmithIn a fight that started slowly but ended violently, Joe Riggs beat up Louis Taylor Friday night, rocking Taylor with a huge left hand a minute into the third round, then pouncing on him and raining punches down until Taylor tapped out and the fight was over.
Although it was an impressive finish by Riggs, it was also a fight that showed many of the problems of the Strikeforce Challengers shows: Although Challengers is ostensibly designed to promote MMA up-and-comers, Riggs is actually a seasoned veteran. The fight did nothing to advance Riggs' career, and certainly did nothing for Taylor's. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
ParksBonifay
PeterMel
PeterMendia
PhillipSoven
Pierre-LucGagnon
Aug/100
Hughes has no interest in being called ‘The Gracie Killer’
Matt Hughes has mauled two of the Gracies, Renzo and Royce, plus he's defeated one their best students, Matt Serra. He's usually willing to call guys out, but that's not the case with the Gracies and their latest protege to step up, Ricardo Almeida. When he was asked about facing Almeida, Hughes responded by requesting that the media cut out the silly nicknames. "It’s nothing personal for me. I don’t want to be called 'The Gracie Killer,'" Hughes said during the UFC 117 prefight press conference. "I like Renzo and Royce. They were just the guys the UFC put in front of me."Now that doesn't mean there won't be some passion on the side of Almeida. He was in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112 when Hughes beat down Renzo. "I was in the corner ... and I asked for the fight then," said Almeida. "I thought a big part of your team is having your training partner’s back. It was definitely an emotional night for me but nothing personal. [This is] just a chance to fight a UFC Hall of Famer and someone who has done a lot for the sport." Hughes can also relate to Almeida's desire to beat the guy who beat his coach. "I did the same thing after Pat Miletich lost a couple of times," said Hughes. "I wanted to face those same guys. So I understand where Ricardo is at and what he’s doing."Hughes (44-7, 17-5 UFC) fought Jose Landi-Jons, Carlos Newton and Renzo Gracie after Miletich had suffered losses to each member of the trio. He went 2-1, losing to Landi-Jons. Almeida (12-3, 5-3 UFC) is a recent addition to the UFC's welterweight division. He won his debut at 170 pounds over Matt Brown via rear-naked choke.
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
MattHoffman
Aug/100
Silva shows champion’s guts in pulling off miracle comeback
The talk was so non-stop and over the top, some starting believing even Chael Sonnen had to know his guarantees couldn't be executed. He spoke about bringing the fight to Anderson Silva, taking him Silva for 25 minutes and pounding a hole in his head. Ridiculous, right? Wrong, Sonnen did exactly what he said he would do but he only did it for 22. Leading 4-0, Sonnen relaxed for a few seconds in Silva's guard and got caught by a big right. That stopped Sonnen long enough to allow Silva to throw his legs up and lock on a triangle choke. Sonnen couldn't hold out, he tapped and Silva retained his UFC middleweight title with a miracle comeback at 3:10 of the fifth round in the main event at UFC 117 in Oakland. Sonnen is always brutally honest and had no excuses just seconds after the fight."It was a tough fight. He's a tough guy," Sonnen told UFC analyst Joe Rogan. "I came in second. They gave me my chance and I came up short."Update I: Anderson Silva got a Submission of the Night award ($60,000). He and Sonnen got the Fight of the Night bonus as well. ($60,000 each) Update II: Compustrike claims Sonnen landed an MMA record 289 strikes during the fight. That included 218-11 to over the first three rounds and 51-2 in the first. FightMetric says the count was 320-64 overall in favor of Sonnen. He can still be proud. He was leading the fight, 40-34, 40-36, and 40-35, on the scorecards. Coming in, Silva had won all 11 of his UFC fights, barely losing a few rounds. He was so dominant that opponents were afraid to engage with him, making for some ugly, boring fights. Sonnen wasn't intimidated at all. He blew threw Silva (27-4, 12-0 UFC) in the opening seconds of each round to score takedowns. On the ground, Silva was helpless. He couldn't improve his position and couldn't get off his back. But Sonnen (24-11-1, 4-4 UFC) didn't close it out. That's why championship fights are five rounds. When asked if he wanted an immediate rematch, Sonnen was still stunned. "I'm only here to be No.1. If I'm not the best I'm gonna move on in life," said Sonnen. "But for now I got the silver medal." Silva almost seemed shocked from the start. No one ever comes right at the lethal striker. That's exactly what Sonnen did and he got off the first big shot of the fight. Sonnen landed a huge left that stunned Silva. The champ retreated, dropped his hands and was taking more shots on the feet. That's when Sonnen scored his first takedown with 3:22 left in the round.In the second, it hit the deck just 11 seconds in. The next round Silva was on the mat in 24 seconds. In the fourth, Silva scored a takedown but then looked like an amateur as Sonnen easily reversed him. On the ground, Sonnen pounded away with an array of elbows and punches to the body and head. Both fighters were bruised badly at the end of the fight.
Aug/100
A rock climbing training blog – why?
If you are hoping to improve your ability or learn more about training techniques and tools, then this blog will give you some of the answers - because that’s what I’m going to do too!
I’ve been climbing for about three years and have developed enough basic ability to get me up 6a routes. I’ve set [...]
Aug/100
UFC 117: Anderson Silva Beats Chael Sonnen in a Stunner
by Michael David SmithChael Sonnen talked more trash than any fighter in UFC history leading up to Saturday's middleweight title fight with Anderson Silva.
Once he got Silva in the cage at UFC 117, he backed the talk up for four and a half rounds, dominating Silva until the champion finally managed to sink in a triangle choke that forced Sonnen to tap out in the fifth round.
"Chael had a hell of a fight tonight," Silva said afterward. "I knew that I was losing the first four rounds." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
First bouldering at Stanage Plantation, Derbyshire, UK
Location: Stanage Plantation
Date: Sunday 27 July
Sunday shone this weekend. A planned trip to the gym was quickly canned and instead we made a trip out to a new bouldering spot. After a recommendation that Stanage plantation had some good climbing (thanks Jonny!) we checked my bouldering guide book and set out.
If you’re reading this wondering [...]
LeslieKent
LisaAnderson
Mark\"Gator\"Rogowski
MarkKenney
MattHoffman
Aug/100
WEC 50: Faber says Cruz is a dope and disrespectul
There is no more polite dude in MMA than Urijah Faber. The former WEC champ has certainly done enough during his illustrious career to be a pompous jerk if he wanted. He could talk lots of trash, but it's hard to recall Faber really smashing someone. Then there's Dominick Cruz. The current bantamweight champ rubs Faber the wrong way, and he has no problem expressing his feelings about Cruz (2:33 mark). "There aren't many people I don't like out there," Faber told Larry Pepe of Pro MMA Radio. "For lack of a better way to describe him, he just seems like kind of a dope."Faber pointed to a UFC magazine piece on Cruz, where he talked about his reckless ways as a teen. Cruz told the mag that he got booted from his home for throwing parties at his mother's apartment. "What kind of sob story is that dude? He's throwing parties when he's 19 when his mom leaves town so then she kicked him out and he had to be off on his own," said Faber. "I don't know man, he just rubs me the wrong way. The way he was disrespectul when we first fought and just the way he carries himself."Faber's teammate and friend Joe Benavidez takes a run at Cruz's title belt next week at WEC 50. Mark it down, if Benavidez falls short, Faber will probably get a shot at Cruz down the road.
Aug/100
Hella Zeros
Someone is proposing that Hella be the official prefix for ten to the twenty seventh power (a number followed by 27 zeros). Get all the info and join the crusade at this facebook fan page.
JeremyMcGrath
JoshSanders
JustinHoman
KellyClark
KellySlater
Aug/100
Randy Couture, Hollywood’s Toughest Tough Guy
by Michael David SmithIn a recent interview with David Letterman, Sylvester Stallone was talking about all the tough guys in his upcoming movie, The Expendables. The cast features a who's who of Hollywood action heroes -- Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Stone Cold Steve Austin and more. But Stallone said none of those guys can hold a candle to Randy Couture.
In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Couture talked about his status as a Hollywood tough guy -- Hollywood's toughest guy, according to Stallone -- and what he thinks the future holds for him as an actor. He also touched on his upcoming fight with James Toney at UFC 118, and discussed his son's professional MMA debut on Friday night's Strikeforce card. The full interview is below. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
Joe Riggs Beats Up Louis Taylor in Strikeforce Challengers Main Event
by Michael David SmithIn a fight that started slowly but ended violently, Joe Riggs beat up Louis Taylor Friday night, rocking Taylor with a huge left hand a minute into the third round, then pouncing on him and raining punches down until Taylor tapped out and the fight was over.
Although it was an impressive finish by Riggs, it was also a fight that showed many of the problems of the Strikeforce Challengers shows: Although Challengers is ostensibly designed to promote MMA up-and-comers, Riggs is actually a seasoned veteran. The fight did nothing to advance Riggs' career, and certainly did nothing for Taylor's. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Skysurfing
Skateboarding
Mountainboarding
Snowskate
Wakeboarding
Aug/100
Hella Zeros
Someone is proposing that Hella be the official prefix for ten to the twenty seventh power (a number followed by 27 zeros). Get all the info and join the crusade at this facebook fan page.
DarrenShapiro
DaveMirra
DeanRandazzo
DennisMcCoy
DougParsons
Aug/100
We need some more of this……it’s been way too long
DeanRandazzo
DennisMcCoy
DougParsons
EilssaSteamer
EricKoston
Aug/100
Guida wrecks Dos Anjos’ jaw in win at UFC 117
Clay Guida's game may not possess anything outstanding but if you're not in there to fight 15 long, hard minutes don't bother showing up. Putting on an impressive kicking display in the first round, Rafael Dos Anjos looked like he was going to cruise to a win. But things were derailed by Guida's non-stop pace. Dos Anjos suffered a jaw injury along the way and when Guida got into a position where he could crank on his face, the Brazilian tapped out at 1:51 of the third round.By making Dos Anjos chase him around the ring, Guida changed the fight in the second round. Dos Anjos got a little frustrated and swung wildly with a huge right. With 2:20 left in the round, Guida ducked under the shot and scored one of his vaunted takedowns. Guida grinded away on the ground and made Dos Anjos (14-5, 3-3 UFC) work to avoid getting into a dangerous position. In the third, Dos Anjos looked completely tentative standing so attempted a takedown. Guida thwarted the attempted, got the clinch and scored a big slam. With Dos Anjos on his back, Guida worked for head and arm control against the cage. It didn't appear anything dangerous was locked on but Guida's shoulder was driving into Dos Anjos' face. The Brazilian couldn't take the pain any longer. It was career win No. 7 for Guida, who is now 27-11 in his MMA career despite only being 28 years old. The younger Dos Anjos, 25, is one of the most improved fighters in the UFC but he ran into a cardio buzzsaw a little too early in his career.
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Aug/100
Vincent Santelli
Plus has some leftovers from their new video. We'll start with Vincent Santelli's leftover part.
Aug/100
Disturbing photos from Silva’s UFC 117 win over Sonnen
Anderson Silva should be counting his lucky stars this Monday morning that he still has his UFC title belt. The champ got whupped on for 22 minutes but was still able to pull out a submission with just over two minutes left in his fight against Chael Sonnen.Apparently his work with action movie star Steven Seagal didn't pay dividends. Silva was serious about his ties to the star of great flicks like "Above the Law" and "Under Siege." Seagal escorted Silva to the Octagon and even got a big smooch. In this video, Seagal appeared to be adding to Silva's offensive arsenal by showing him some moves from Aikido. Remember, Seagal was the guy who said Sonnen wouldn't be much of a test for Silva. "Certainly this fight is another step in the road," said Seagal. "But I believe that this will not be one of his more difficult fights." To avoid getting sacked 27 times, Silva may want to add Fran Tarkenton to his next camp. The champ was taken down in all five rounds. That included being dumped on his rear-end in less than a minute into the last four rounds. According to Compustrike, he was also hit 289 times. That's an outrageous number when you consider the champ had only been hit a total of 208 times in his first 11 UFC bouts. Sonnen used the word "devastated" on numerous occasions during the postfight press conference. Losing on the big stage has too often been the case for the former Oregon wrestler.He can take some satisfaction in grabbing the fight of the night bonus of $60,000. That's more than Las Vegas bettors could say. Silva's Hail Mary submission came as bettors were counting their money. Unfortunately when you "take a knee" in someone's guard it's not quite the same as football. The one-sided betting on Silva pushed his odds to minus-500 in some cases. As you can see, a parlay ticket with underdogs Sonnen and Matt Hughes, would've paid in excess of 11-to-1. Hughes was a solid dog win at plus-145. Dennis Hallman was the best of the night at plus-280. Stefan Struve screwed underdog bettors as well. The giant was getting destroyed by Christian Morecraft (plus-240) when he landed a fight-changing right hand to turn things in his favor.
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Aug/100
UFC 117: Jon Fitch Dominates Thiago Alves
by Michael David SmithJon Fitch did what he usually does Saturday night at UFC 117, taking Thiago Alves down over and over again, controlling him on the ground, and grinding out a unanimous decision victory.
Fitch has now won by unanimous decision in each of his last five fights, and he has clearly established himself as the No. 2 welterweight in MMA, behind only UFC champion Georges St. Pierre.
More: Fitch vs. Alves 2 Live Blog | UFC 117 Results | Latest UFC 117 News
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Aug/100
Younger Couture gets first win; Riggs back on track
It's hard to believe there's a fighter who's more polite and docile away from the cage than Randy Couture. We've found one. It's his son Ryan. But much like his famous fighting father, the next generation Couture turns on the nasty when he steps in the cage. The 27-year-old, making his pro debut on Showtime, made quick work of Lucas Stark by forcing a tap via triangle choke less than 90 seconds into the fight.Couture is a pretty grounded kid but you could see he was wound up before the fight. There was a ton of pressure on him. After all, he was making his pro debut on a televised card on Showtime. Even he admitted in the lead up to the fight that he was getting the only opportunity because of his name. Once he got the win, he took a couple of deep breaths before his hand was raised. He didn't jumped around like a maniac or talk trash. He was even a little embarrassed as he asked fans to come to his afterparty."Everyone come have a drink with me at Martini Ranch, please," Couture said sheepishly.He may have been nervous before and after the fight but he showed the composure of a veteran during the short fight. Stark's striking was a bit awkward but he nailed Couture with a couple of good shots. He also landed a nice fireman's carry to dump Couture on his back. Couture reacted quickly by throwing his right leg on Stark's shoulder. Stark was stationary for a few seconds, Couture threw his other leg up and the choke was locked on. The 20-year-old quickly tapped at the 1:15 mark. There was no way to get out. Ryan was certainly more successful than the last Couture Strikeforce tried to throw in the cage. Randy's ex-wife Kim had a rough time in her two Showtime fights. She leapt onto the big stage a little too quickly. The more patient Ryan fought on the amateur scene in Las Vegas for the last few years and got six matches under his belt before he decided to go pro. He's also at his father's gym, Xtreme Couture in Las Vegas, just about everyday training with guys like Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard and Martin Kampmann.Patient Riggs blasts out TaylorJoe Riggs isn't quite the aggressive killer he was during his UFC days but he still possesses some dangerous elements. The relatively inexperienced Louis Taylor knew that but still couldn't resist the urge to trade with Riggs. That was a bad move. Taylor caught a huge left midway through the third round, hit the deck and found himself getting blasted in the forehead. Trapped helplessly in a crucifix, Taylor tapped due to strikes giving Riggs his 33rd career win in a catchweight fight at 182 pounds. Riggs used to be a guy who swung for the fences. He was good enough, even at the tender age of 21-to-24, to pick up four wins in the UFC and get a welterweight title shot against Matt Hughes. Now 27, Riggs has become more of a counterstriker. That approach cost him against Jay Hieron in his last fight but against a guy with only seven fights, the mindset proved to be the correct way to go. Taylor, a wrestler by trade, could only score two takedowns and was nullified by Riggs (33-11) on the bottom. In the third round, Taylor (6-2) tried to open things up but as Showtime color analyst Pat Miletich pointed out, he was leading with his head. Riggs nailed Taylor with an overhand left. The Chicago-native immediately grabbed his face and seconds later was on his back getting pounded by Riggs.This was Riggs' first fight above 170 pounds since September of 2008. He still looked lean as a near middleweight. After the fight, Riggs lobbied for a rematch against Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz. If that doesn't happen, he wants in the proposed Strikeforce middleweight tournament.
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Aug/100
‘I never spoke of Lance Armstrong, ever,’ says Sonnen
Chael Sonnen's act is hilarious, but we're starting to think he doesn't know what he's saying half the time or he's schizophrenic. Over the last three months, his prefight rants are some of the best we've ever heard in mixed martial arts. But every once in a while, he crosses the line. When pressed on it, he's often failed to explains things very well.Today took the cake. Speaking with Ariel Helwani (VIDEO - 4:20 mark) of Fanhouse, Sonnen denied ever talking about Lance Armstrong or doing an interview with Larry Pepe (pictured during 1-of-5 interviews he's done with the fighter). Sonnen was in hot water all over the web for throwing a controversial theory on the legendary cyclist and cancer victim."When you screw up, you have to own it. That stuff really gets under my skin.
Take Lance Armstrong. Lance Armstrong did a number of things and he gave himself
cancer. He cheated, he did drugs, and he gave himself cancer," someone who sounded like Sonnen told Pepe of Pro MMA Radio (1:32:37 mark). "Well, instead of
saying ‘Hey listen, I cheated and gave myself cancer, don't be like me.' He
actually made himself the victim and then went out and profited something like
$15 million dollars from this ‘Hey, poor me, let's find a cure for cancer'
campaign instead of just coming clean and saying, 'Look, here's what I did, I
screwed myself up, and I hope people learn from my mistakes.' You just watch
these guys and can't help but think, God, what a fraud."Below, you can hear part of the 46 minute interview that Sonnen did with Pepe last Thursday at Noon PT (aired on Monday). The Armstrong remarks come at the 3:25 mark.We caught up with Pepe tonight, who was perplexed by the fact the fact that Sonnen said he never did the interview.
Aug/100
‘Showtime’ Pettis ready for Roller and MTV
WEC lightweight Anthony Pettis is an unassuming guy. He doesn't walk into his gym, Roufus Training Academy, as the star. Instead, he's the eager-to-learn fighter who soaks up everything he can from his coaches. Still, MTV has chosen to spotlight Pettis on "The World of Jenks," a new show that will immerse the viewer in different types of people's lives. It followed Pettis the week that he KOed Danny Castillo at WEC 47. "I was coming off a loss, so I didn't know what was going to happen. It could have gone either way," Pettis told Cagewriter. "If I lost again, I was cut from the WEC. But I won, and I won twice, and now I'm that close to a title shot. It was crazy to have the cameras in your face everywhere. It was a cool experience. I'm really interested to see how it turns out." He doesn't consider himself a star, but it's that eager-to-learn attitude that makes Pettis an interesting fighter to watch and a perfect fit for MTV. Out of his 11 wins, only one fight has gone to decision. Because of the MTV series, he got the chance to see how his mother reacted to his fights. "She walked out of the arena, and had her head down, and all she heard was a big commotion. That's when I got my headkick. She said, 'What happened, what happened?' Someone said, 'He won!' And she was happy about it. She can't take it at all."Family is an extremely important part of Pettis' life. He trains with his younger brother, Sergio, and Anthony says that his MMA career would make his father proud. "He was the competitive type. With the exposure that I've gotten, I've gone in Milwaukee from no one knowing me to the whole city knows me. Everywhere I go, I have people supporting me. He had a lot of friends, so he'd like that. He was the one who had us in tae kwon do tournaments, so he'd support us." Pettis' father was murdered in 2003, when Anthony was just 15 years old. Martial arts served as a refuge for him, and kept him focused when he could have easily gone down the path to drugs and gangs, as some of his family did."I had the worst of the worst happen to me, and I could have chosen to go anywhere. I could have chosen to give up on anything, be bad, live the street life, go to jail. All my cousins are in gangs. My dad's brother has three boys, and their dad also died in a house robbery, seven years before my dad, and they all joined gangs. They're 34 years old now, and they're lost. Martial arts gave me focus and gave me something to do. If I couldn't come here every day and do this, I'd be lost."For WEC 50, Pettis has his focus trained on Shane Roller, an All-American wrestler. To get ready for him, Pettis has worked with a slew of top wrestlers. Two-time national champion Ben Askren stopped by Roufus Sport to work with Pettis.Pettis knows that Roller will want to take the fight to the ground, so he has been working on takedown defense. Though Pettis is more comfortable on his feet, he believes in all the parts of his game."I'm confident that my skills are better than his, standing up, on the ground, and I'm going to stuff his takedowns."
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Aug/100
First time climbing at Froggatt Edge
I’ve only just got chance to post about last week’s trip to Froggatt Edge. Friends tell me that a crisp spring morning is better for climbing grit but if you ask me sunshine is the way forward. I headed to Froggatt Edge (just south of Sheffield) with a few friends for my first ascents on [...]
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Aug/100
Pirkka Pollari Leftovers
I'm not sure how Plus Skateshop in Florida got Euro ripper Pirkka Pollari on the team, but they did and here is his leftovers from the new video.
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Aug/100
Atlanta Hates Us March Montage
Atlanta Hates Us has a nice black & white montage from the much cooler month of March.
Aug/100
Hughes shows Hall of Fame skills with UFC 117 win over Almeida
In his first bout since being inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, Matt Hughes choked out Ricardo Almeida with a front headlock at 3:15 in the first round at UFC 117. Hughes knocked Almeida to the ground with a big left, then finished him off with a quick choke from a front headlock. Almeida never had the chance to tap, and went out cold from the choke. Hughes, a former wrestler and wrestling coach at Eastern Illinois University, credited his wrestling training for that move."It's an old wrestling move I learned at Eastern Illinois," he said after the fight. "I'm happy to beat a Brazilian with a wrestling move."Hughes said that July's Hall of Fame induction put extra expectations on him to win his next bout. "Darn Dana White had to go and put me in the Hall of Fame and put pressure on my shoulders, so it feels good. Hughes said that he's going to take the fall off to go hunting, and then will discuss his next fight with UFC president Dana White. Though Hughes is removed from his championship form, he does have three straight wins since losing to Thiago Alves in June of 2008.
Aug/100
Mid North Coast NSW – January 2010
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Aug/100
Department of Skateboarding Closing
It's sad news but Portland's Dept. of Skateboarding will be closing its doors. It will be free for everyone to skate all weekend. Go get your last kicks. Some kind of rescue plan needs to happen before those ramps are RIP as well.
Aug/100
Grind for Life high ollie contest
Again this year there was a high ollie contest at ASR put on by Grind for Life, The Skateboard Mag, and DC.
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MarkKenney
MattHoffman
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MikeValley
Aug/100
Mid North Coast NSW – January 2010
Aug/100
Vincent Santelli
Plus has some leftovers from their new video. We'll start with Vincent Santelli's leftover part.
Aug/100
Want to see Silva-Sonnen II immediately? Silva’s manager is iffy
For some reason in mixed martial arts, immediate rematches are usually frowned upon. The younger demographic likes new blood in the cage, especially when it comes to title fights. So when will we see Chael Sonnen get another shot at Anderson Silva? Sonnen was leading 4-0 (40-35, 40-34, 40-36) and on his way to winning the fifth round when he got caught in a triangle choke. The prefight hype was amongst the best in UFC history and the fight was dynamite. Sonnen's willingness to put himself on the line with what seemed like outrageous guarantees, will likely pay dividends in the form of pay-per-view buys that could be in excess of 750,000. The second fight will be even bigger. So can the UFC afford to slip in another contender before Sonnen and Silva meet? And isn't it incredibly risky to make Sonnen fight someone else in the interim? Yahoo! Sports' MMA expert Kevin Iole thinks there's only one choice for the UFC and we could be waiting a while before we see the rematch.Update: Silva's manager Ed Soares sounds like he's already lining up against giving Sonnen an immediate shot. Soares told FightHype: "I mean, I don’t necessarily think an immediate rematch is legitimate. It’s not like he won by decision. You got submitted man. You were on top of him for 23 minutes of the fight and couldn’t finish him. Anderson got a few bumps and bruises, but let’s be realistic, you’re on a guy 23 minutes and you couldn’t finish him? Why should he get a rematch?" As expected, initial reaction to this post was all over the map on Twitter @stevecofield.
Aug/100
Good guy alert: Forrest Griffin to donate book proceeds to charity
In addition to being the former UFC light heavyweight champ, Forrest Griffin is an author. His first book, "Got Fight?", made the New York Times bestseller list. Now, with his second book, "Be Ready When the [expletive] Goes Down: A Survival Guide to the Apocalypse," he is not keeping any of the proceeds. From theultimatefighter.com via Cage Potato: "Even if they get nothing out of [the book], I hold myself free from harm, because I donated every penny that I make from this book to charity. I didn't keep any money from the book at all to help you survive the apocalypse. That's how much I care about you the reader. There’s a couple of different [charities the money will go to]: Fisher House, Three Square, a food bank in Las Vegas, our church, and then a couple more personal ones. The guy Big John, in the book, he passed away, and he’s got a five-year-old son, and he’s got a trust set up, so some of it’s for that as well. I kept no money from the book. It didn’t go to charities like the 'Forrest Griffin Needs a New Car Foundation." He probably doesn't need a car because he got one as a bonus for coaching "The Ultimate Fighter," but that's not the point. Giving away every bit of cash earned on a book is a good deed, and for that, we say nicely done, Forrest.
Aug/100
Randy Couture, Hollywood’s Toughest Tough Guy
by Michael David SmithIn a recent interview with David Letterman, Sylvester Stallone was talking about all the tough guys in his upcoming movie, The Expendables. The cast features a who's who of Hollywood action heroes -- Stallone, Bruce Willis, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Dolph Lundgren, Jet Li, Stone Cold Steve Austin and more. But Stallone said none of those guys can hold a candle to Randy Couture.
In an interview with MMAFighting.com, Couture talked about his status as a Hollywood tough guy -- Hollywood's toughest guy, according to Stallone -- and what he thinks the future holds for him as an actor. He also touched on his upcoming fight with James Toney at UFC 118, and discussed his son's professional MMA debut on Friday night's Strikeforce card. The full interview is below. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments
Aug/100
www.rock-climbing-blog.com claimed on Technorati
I’m pleased to claim this blog officially on Technorati so that more people will read it
This link to my Technorati Profile is all it takes.
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