UFC 80: Newcastle, England - BJ Penn Vs. Joe Stevenson / UFC Fight Night 12

mookie blaylock 10

civ_eng_girl wrote:

uh oh! we don't agree on some of these... see above....

however, i don't know much about any of these guys though, so mine are a total stab in the dark....

believe me, ceg, i am certainly in the minority when picking joe stevenson! gouveia and rivera might not be the most popular picks either. i think we need variety, though...if we all pick the same, and we're all wrong...no points!

as you proved last time, a stab in the dark is more than fine! some of the "experts" study these matches and break them down and still end up totally off on their predictions.

you just never know...i predict you get a rambo prize pack this time!

p.s. at least we're on the same page with our canuck brother, sam stout!

mookie blaylock 10

hey, lbc, if you're out there...tito is on "celebrity apprentice" tonight!

mookie blaylock 10

how many "could's", "likely's", "probably's" and "doable's" add up to a show in montreal?

sounds like serra is confident he's going to be ready. matt says he's ready for the canadian fans to yell at him to die, but i don't think he has to literally worry about attempts on his life, like matt hughes may have! i hope to be there to see two of my favourite fighters as they face each other again!



Serra up for facing GSP in April
Thursday, January 3, 2008
THE CANADIAN PRESS


UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra says he will be ready to defend his title in April against Canadian Georges St. Pierre in Montreal.

The 33-year-old from Long Island, N.Y., has yet to resume full training from the two herniated discs in his lower back that forced him out of the recent UFC 79 grudge match against Matt Hughes in Las Vegas. But he says April sounds doable, even if it means venturing into hostile territory north of the border.

"I'm definitely up for that," he told The Canadian Press in an interview.

Serra has not fought since he upset St. Pierre to win the title at UFC 69 last April. He can't wait to get into the cage again. And he also doesn't want to run the chance of any more bad luck coming his way.

St. Pierre stepped in for Serra in mid-November when the champion hurt himself training for the Hughes fight in Las Vegas. The UFC elected to make the Hughes-St. Pierre match a five-round bout for the interim championship with the winner advancing to face off against Serra to decide the 170-pound crown for real.

"I always try to find the positive in things but people around me were upset, more so than me," Serra said of the UFC's decision to put part of his title on the line while he was sidelined.

And given that decision, anything could happen so better get in the cage fast, Serra argues.

"I've got to be realistic. I don't know what they're going to do," Serra said. "I feel like I'm friendly with everybody but business is business and who knows? I know they like Georges, it's not that they don't like me but I don't know. He might be more of a better poster boy. Who knows?"

Talking to Serra, one gets the sense that he is slightly irked at the way things have gone over the last year since he beat St. Pierre in the Canadian's first title defence.

Serra agreed to serve as coach on Season 6 of "The Ultimate Fighter," which delayed his own first title defence until the show had run its course. His back injury derailed the Dec. 29 grudge match with rival coach Hughes and then Serra had to sit by and watch as St. Pierre and Hughes fought for the interim title.

St. Pierre submitted Hughes in the second round and Serra, who hosted a closed-circuit viewing of the fight at Madison Square Garden, had to watch as the "interim" championship belt was given to the Canadian.

"Man, what am I going to do?" he said. "I mean I'm the one who got injured. It's really kind of ridiculous that they did the thing with the belts. But whatever... . It is what it is, dude. I roll with that stuff and I try not to take it too personal. I just do my thing."

Serra also notes he waited for St. Pierre to heal when a knee injury forced them to postpone their meeting from UFC 67 in February to UFC 69 in April.

"I thought nothing of it because guys get injured," said Serra.

"The first time it's ever happened to me happened to be one of the biggest fights which was very upsetting to me. But again I made the right decision. It wasn't even much of a decision. I couldn't fight in that condition."

After losing to Serra, St. Pierre has looked rock-solid in beating Josh Koscheck and Hughes in his subsequent fights.

"Now he's back in full force." Serra said. "And now he's back into this MMA god that people hype him up to be. And I don't mean that disrespectfully because I really like Georges. I do. I think he's tough as hell. But it's the same thing I said before. Nobody's invincible."

Serra proved that at UFC 69. A 10-1 underdog who only got a title shot after winning Season 4 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Serra was seen as canon fodder for the Canadian. One right hand changed all of that.

Watching UFC 79 pass him by was "extremely upsetting," he said.

"Again you roll with that kind of stuff. There's more people with bigger problems that than. I'll get my shot back in there."

Serra says he is not in pain these days although his back remains tight. A recent injection in the spine has helped speed his recovery.

The 170-pounder had fought with a torn bicep and torn meniscus in the past, but had never had any back problems. It's been a painful experience.

"Some stuff's just too hard to work around," he said. "For a couple of weeks afterwards, my wife was putting my socks and shoes on. It was brutal."

Serra is back doing "everyday stuff" but is only now beginning to resume some form of training. That hasn't helped his weight, he acknowledged.

"You know me. I get chubby real quick," he said cheerfully, comparing himself to Robert De Niro's ballooning Jake La Motta in the film "Raging Bull."

As for fighting in Montreal, Serra looks to another boxing movie -- "Rocky 4" -- when Rocky Balboa flies to Russia to take on Ivan Drago.

"Same thing, but just put the little Italian guy in Canada. That's me. I like it, I like it, man."

"I take no offence at people in Canada yelling for me to die," he added.

Serra was rooting for Hughes to beat St. Pierre, because he wanted to fight him next. But he says the two may still tangle in the cage.

"Too much has been done for us not to go at it, me and that guy," said Serra.

Hughes echoes that view, although he sees a Serra meeting coming after the champion loses to St. Pierre.

"I'm going to take some time off and think about things," Hughes said on his website matt-hughes.com. "I've already talked to Dana and (UFC co-owner) Lorenzo Fertitta, and we'll probably see what happens with Georges and Serra. And if Serra loses, I might go against him. Nothing is set in stone, just an idea right now."

http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/01/03/serra_montreal/

civ_eng_girl

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

you just never know...i predict you get a rambo prize pack this time!

p.s. at least we're on the same page with our canuck brother, sam stout!

hahaha... i'm going to wear a bandana around my head when i watch, for good luck...

VAS-Y SAM!!

civ_eng_girl

ok, since mookie seems to have dropped the ball on the posting of the Top 10 lists.....


Ten Best – The Top Fights of 2007 By Thomas Gerbasi

Always the toughest category to narrow down to a list of just ten (or 11 in this case), the best fights of the year have to have some combination of action, drama, and significance to be considered, and 2007 had more than a few bouts with all three attributes. Who made the cut? Read on to find out.

10 (tie) - UFC 77 – October 20 – Matt Grice W3 Jason Black
With fans still settling into their seats at the U.S. Bank Arena, Grice and Black fought like main eventers, with Grice surviving a triangle choke and ground strikes in the second round that almost certainly spelled doom to finish strong and earn a split decision that was originally (and erroneously) announced as a draw.

10 (tie) – UFC 72 – June 16 – Tyson Griffin W3 Clay Guida
The next time one of your Neanderthal buddies thinks ground fighting is just two guys laying on each other, pop this fight in the DVD player and let them see what happens when two skilled and aggressive fighters lock horns and battle it out on the mat. A fight fought at a torrid pace for practically all three rounds, there was some dispute about the final decision in Griffin’s favor, but this was the type of bout where there truly were no losers.

9 – UFC 68 – March 3 – Randy Couture W5 Tim Sylvia
What can you possibly say about this one that hasn’t already been said? Turning back the clock after a one year retirement and knockout losses in two of his previous three fights, Couture cemented his legendary status by dominating 6 foot 8 Tim Sylvia for 25 minutes en route to taking the UFC heavyweight title for an unprecedented third time. What made this one even more special was that from the first right hand Couture landed (dropping Sylvia in the process), the packed house of 19,000 fans in Ohio stood, roared, and didn’t sit down for the rest of the five round bout. It was a special night for Couture, but even more memorable for everyone who was watching it.

8 – UFC 69 – April 7 – Roger Huerta W3 Leonard Garcia
From start to finish, this one was fought at a breakneck pace, and Latin warriors Huerta and Garcia did their combat sports predecessors – like Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Bobby Chacon, and Bazooka Limon – proud with an all-out war that may have been one-sided in Huerta’s favor on the scorecards, but that had no one in the arena complaining.

7 – UFC 76 – September 22 - Tyson Griffin W3 Thiago Tavares
Up and down, back and forth, all around the Octagon. At times it got tough keeping up with lightweight dervishes Griffin and Tavares, who may have given fight fans a glimpse of things to come at 155 pounds. Don’t be surprised to see these two battling it out in main events and title bouts in the next couple of years.

6 - UFC Fight Night – September 19 – Nate Quarry KO3 Pete Sell
The first fight between Quarry and Sell was a disappointment, with a quick stoppage ruining what had the potential to be an exciting matchup. There would be no disappointments in the rematch though, with both fighters getting rocked and bloodied in a pitched battle before Quarry ended matters with a right to the head early in the third.

5 – UFC Fight Night – June 12 – Spencer Fisher W3 Sam Stout
When the rematch between lightweight standouts Fisher and Stout made their exciting first fight look like a boring three round waltz, you know it was good. Think of Forrest Griffin-Stephan Bonnar I sped up and with even more flush shots landed. Both fighters left it all in the Octagon that June night in Florida, and had the bruises and cuts to show for it. Thankfully for fight fans, Fisher’s win - which evened his score with Stout at 1-1 – is the perfect segue into a third fight, something no true fight fan would complain about.

4 – TUF6 finale – December 8 - Jon Koppenhaver TKO3 Jared Rollins
One of the first things an emotional Jon Koppenhaver said after stopping fellow TUF6 castmate Jared Rollins was “J-Roc’s my friend, I didn’t want to have to fight him.” Well, the two welterweights fought like bitter enemies in this knock down, drag ‘em out brawl that saw a myriad of twists and turns and plenty of blood before Koppenhaver rebounded from almost certain defeat in the third to stop Rollins with a series of strikes. It was a fight that guaranteed that both fighters would be returning to the Octagon.

3 – UFC 79 – December 29 – Chuck Liddell W3 Wanderlei Silva
Six years in the making, the showdown between the most dominant light heavyweights of this era was worth the wait. Punctuated by brutal close range exchanges, this was a fight that had patrons at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on their feet and people at home jumping off their couches.
In the end, Liddell revived his career with a three round win, and in defeat Silva remained one of the sport’s true action heroes, a guy anyone would still pay to watch fight.

2 – UFC 67 – February 3 - Frank Edgar W3 Tyson Griffin
It was a spectacular way for Frankie Edgar to start his UFC career, by handing highly regarded Tyson Griffin his first pro loss, but even more impressive than the give and take action from both men was how Edgar survived a kneebar late in the third round that would have crippled most fighters.

“I hate to lose,” said Edgar after the fight. “I put so much on the line in that fight, it was balls to the wall the whole way, and then with 45 seconds left I get caught in that. But there was no way I could tap. It did pop a couple of times, but once it popped once, I said, ‘hey, the hell with it.’ I’d rather limp around for a while and get this ‘W’, then take a loss.”

1 - TUF6 finale – December 8 – Roger Huerta WSub3 Clay Guida
To be considered great, a fight has to have more than frantic action and back and forth momentum swings, though those attributes don’t hurt. What a fight truly needs to enter the realm of the classics is drama, and the bout between Huerta and Guida lived up to that end of the bargain spectacularly. Down two rounds to none on all three judges’ scorecards, Huerta needed to stop or submit Guida in the final round to win. Guida, his warrior spirit never wavering, could have run out the clock in the third to secure his win – but he didn’t and he came right at Huerta. Huerta, wrongly ridiculed for being all hype, gritted his teeth and had the look on his face that said ‘I’m not leaving here without a win.’ These two trains met in the center of the Octagon and collided, with Huerta’s knee knocking Guida off track. ‘The Carpenter’ gamely and frantically looked for the takedown that would save the fight for him, but Huerta wouldn’t allow it, and eventually he got Guida’s back and sunk in the fight-ending rear naked choke. It was a fight that saw everybody in The Palms rise in unison to salute the most memorable battle of 2007.

Honorable Mention – Marcus Davis WSub1 Paul Taylor, Michael Bisping TKO2 Elvis Sinosic, Joe Stevenson W3 Kurt Pellegrino, Thiago Alves TKO2 Chris Lytle, Karo Parisyan W3 Josh Burkman, Eddie Sanchez TKO2 Colin Robinson.

http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=9396

civ_eng_girl

Not that i'm biased or anything , but i thought that Huerta would be higher than 8th....


01/03/2008
Ten Best – The 2007 Fighters of The Year By Thomas Gerbasi

We’ve counted down the best submissions, knockouts, upsets, and fights of 2007 this week. Now the only thing left is to honor the UFC’s best fighter of 2007. Who got the nod? Read on for the 2007 UFC Fighter of The Year.

10 (tie) - Kenny Florian / Marcus Davis - Alumni of season one and season two of The Ultimate Fighter series, respectively, Kenny Florian and Marcus Davis each notched three wins in 2007. Florian’s victories (over Dokonjonosuke Mishima, Alvin Robinson, and Din Thomas) showed his development as a finisher and also let the lightweight division know that there were no ill-effects from his five round war with Sean Sherk in 2006. Davis, who has burdened by the tag ‘former pro boxer’ hanging around his neck for the last couple of years, may have finally shed his old skin with wins over Pete Spratt, Jason Tan, and Paul Taylor that showed him to be a true MMA fighter and elevated him from prospect to contender.

9 – Matt Serra – The winner of season four of The Ultimate Fighter reality show, Serra was given little chance to unseat the seemingly unstoppable UFC welterweight champion, Georges St-Pierre, at UFC 69 in April. But Serra was loose and well-trained entering the biggest bout of his career, and he showed it as he stood in the pocket and traded with GSP on even terms in the early going. Of course, most expected St-Pierre to get in gear and eventually end the bout, but that never happened, as Serra clipped the champion with a right hand that took his legs away, and subsequently went to work with a controlled abandon, eventually halting St-Pierre to win the 170-pound title in one of the year’s great upsets and stories. Gameplan, attitude, and execution – Serra showed it in his lone fight in 2007, and the magnitude of that victory earned him a spot here.

8 – Roger Huerta – Being the first MMA fighter to grace the cover of Sports Illustrated should have been enough to make 2007 memorable for ‘El Matador’, but the Minnesotan also fought at an exhaustive pace, notching five wins without a loss, with three of those wins coming by TKO. In the other two wins, over Leonard Garcia and Clay Guida, Huerta engaged in two bouts firmly entrenched on the year’s best fights list, with the come from behind submission victory over Guida an instant classic. Now he’s earned a vacation.

7- Jon Fitch – He’s not a mystery anymore. The best unknown fighter in the UFC, Fitch continued his unbeaten run in the Octagon in 2007, submitting Luigi Fioravanti and Roan Carneiro before arriving on the world stage with his three round decision win over Diego Sanchez at UFC 76 in September. Now all that remains to be seen is id Fitch will parlay his success and new fame into a welterweight title shot in 2008.

6 – Forrest Griffin - Bouncing back from a devastating loss to Keith Jardine at UFC 66 in December of 2006, Forrest Griffin, the season one winner of The Ultimate Fighter, re-established himself in 2007, not only in the UFC, but worldwide, as he drilled out a disciplined but decisive three round win over dangerous Hector Ramirez at UFC 72, and then shocked fans with his three round domination of Mauricio ‘Shogun’ Rua at UFC 76 in September, closing the show with a rear naked choke that left no doubts that Griffin is one of the best 205-pound fighters on the planet.

5 – Georges St-Pierre – If anyone would have told me that I would be putting GSP on this list after his upset knockout loss to Matt Serra in April, I would have called them crazy. But in a dominating three round win over Josh Koscheck in August and a simply brilliant performance in a second round submission victory over Matt Hughes, St-Pierre not only bounced back from the worst loss of his career, but he has people placing him high on the mythical pound for pound list once again. That’s some turnaround, and by this time next year, GSP may be on the top of this list.

4 – Frankie Edgar – In January of 2007 Frankie Edgar was an unknown kid from Jersey getting ready for his UFC debut at UFC 67. Three wins later, and Edgar is a top ten lightweight contender who is possibly on the path to a title shot by the end of 2008. And Edgar didn’t go 3-0 in the Octagon beating anyone either, as he took down previously unbeaten Tyson Griffin, previously unbeaten Mark Bocek, and highly regarded contender Spencer Fisher, who early in 2007 was one win away from a world title shot. If Edgar continues in this fashion, he’ll be making appearances on this list on a regular basis.

3 – Randy Couture – It was the most emotional victory of the year, and maybe of the last few years, as Couture returned from a one year retirement to win the UFC heavyweight crown from Tim Sylvia at UFC 68 in March. Using
textbook technique and a disciplined gameplan, ‘The Natural’ dominated the bout from start to finish en route to a shutout five round decision, and made any skeptics believe that when it comes to Couture, everything is possible and that age ain’t nothin’ but a number. Add in a decisive three round stoppage of Gabriel Gonzaga in August, and that’s a year any fighter would envy.

2 – Anderson Silva – Seen as a standup assassin after his first round stoppages of Chris Leben and Rich Franklin, Silva impressively showed the other facets of his game in his 2007 wins over Travis Lutter and Nate Marquardt. In February, Silva was taken to the mat by his fellow Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, and had some early difficulties with Lutter. But in the second, Silva was back on track and he submitted Lutter in impressive fashion. Five months later, ‘The Spider’ was expected to face one of his toughest tests in Marquardt, but instead, Silva was brilliant in a first round victory, ending matters with strikes on the ground after a beautiful sweep that put Marquardt in deep and fight-ending trouble. In October, Silva capped the year with a repeat stoppage victory over Franklin that cemented his place on the pound for pound lists. It’s hard to believe, but Silva’s getting better with each fight.

1 – Quinton Jackson - With three wins in the Octagon in 2007, including a first round knockout of Chuck Liddell to win the UFC light heavyweight crown at UFC 71 in May, and a title unification win over Dan Henderson in September, the selection of Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson as Fighter of The Year was close, but there should be little uproar over the choice. At UFC 67 in February, the former PRIDE standout kicked off his UFC career with a second round knockout of the first man to beat him, Marvin Eastman, and in May, he repeated his 2003 win over Liddell in even more emphatic fashion, dropping ‘The Iceman’ with a right hand and finishing the bout off on the ground at the 1:53 mark. There was no rest for ‘Rampage’ though, as he put his belt on the line in a unification bout against PRIDE champion Henderson in the headliner of UFC 75 in London, and he delivered yet again, showing his underrated ground game in the decision win. That’s two wins over pound for pound entrants in the same year. Hard to argue with results like that.

mookie blaylock 10

there is no way that tyson griffin vs. clay guida should be number 10!!! i would have said # 2 behind huerta vs. guida...which i'm pleasantly surprised to see at #1. i'm absolutely shocked there was no mention of forrest vs. shogun at all! :eek:

so i am both angered and pleased by the fight list! that is why i did not post it...actually, you're way more on the ball than i am, ceg.

a couple of the honourables like sanchez vs robinson and bisping vs sinosic are kind of surprising to me too.

as far as the fighters go...man, that one is tough to narrow down.

civ_eng_girl

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

so i am both angered and pleased by the fight list!

you're a very complex man..... an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a Motorhead touque...

mookie blaylock 10

civ_eng_girl wrote:

you're a very complex man..... an enigma, wrapped in a mystery, wrapped in a Motorhead touque...

that's from a movie, or tv show...some kind of comedy, i think...hmmm?!?

mookie blaylock 10

"confirms" sounds good, eh?



MATT SERRA CONFIRMS HE IS FIGHTING GSP
Friday, January 04, 2008
MMAWeekly.com




Matt Serra on Friday confirmed to NBCSports.com that he will meet Georges St-Pierre for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title when the UFC makes its Canadian debut in April in Montreal.

Serra defeated St-Pierre for the title in Houston in April of 2007. He had been scheduled to make his first defense of the belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, but a herniated disc forced him to withdraw from the bout.

Instead, St-Pierre stepped in on short notice and defeated Hughes for the interim title. Following the bout, St-Pierre refused to wear the belt, saying, “Matt Serra is the real champion,” and would not wear the belt until he defeated the Long Island, N.Y. native.

Serra said that his back has been rapidly improving and he is excited about defending the championship.

The event is tentatively scheduled for April 19 at the Bell Centre.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5401&zoneid=13

LOVEBOATCAPT0226

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

hey, lbc, if you're out there...tito is on "celebrity apprentice" tonight!

Thanks Mook , I watched it on tivo. I'm kind of a realty show wacko.
My early prediction is Gene Simmons wins it, because that guy could sell ice to eskimos!! LOL

mookie blaylock 10

same here on the reality show thing, lbc. i look forward to seeing more of tito as the show goes on. i hope he goes far into the season. oh, and gene simmons was making no sense with the people he was calling. crazy how many wealthy people one man can know and convince to do things. ice to eskimos, indeed!

mookie blaylock 10

so, i'm still a little perplexed about why griffin vs. guida isn't getting more recognition than it has. seems strange as many were calling it the potential fight of the year afterward. so mmaweekly.com also has a poll set up with the following results after close to 30,000 votes. again, i'm shocked to see griffin vs. guida at only 2 %. there's some great matches on the list, but even griffin vs. edgar is polling low. maybe i just have a bias for the LW's. in any case, it's nice to see tyson griffin nominated for all three of his fights, and clay guida nominated for two of his. both are well deserving guys.

from mmaweekly.com...


Total 27348 votes cast.

Roger Huerta vs Clay Guida 17.31%

Nick Diaz vs Takanori Gomi 16.85%

Chris Horodecki vs. Shad Lierley 12.78%

Frank Shamrock vs Phil Baroni 11.87%

Chuck Liddell vs Wanderlei Silva 11.27%

Robbie Lawler vs Murilo "Ninja" Rua 10.88%

Dan Henderson vs Wanderlei Silva 9.32%

Randy Couture vs Tim Sylvia 4.89%

Frankie Edgar vs Tyson Griffin 2.18%

Tyson Griffin vs Clay Guida 2.00%

Tyson Griffin vs. Thiago Tavares 0.65%

mookie blaylock 10

anyone have any matches that stand out as favourites from last year that weren't mentioned?

civ_eng_girl

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

that's from a movie, or tv show...some kind of comedy, i think...hmmm?!?

think Simpsons... where Lisa has a crush on Nelson....

"Nuke the whales?".... "Gotta nuke somethin'!".... "Touche"...

civ_eng_girl

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

"confirms" sounds good, eh?



MATT SERRA CONFIRMS HE IS FIGHTING GSP
Friday, January 04, 2008
MMAWeekly.com




Matt Serra on Friday confirmed to NBCSports.com that he will meet Georges St-Pierre for the Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight title when the UFC makes its Canadian debut in April in Montreal.

Serra defeated St-Pierre for the title in Houston in April of 2007. He had been scheduled to make his first defense of the belt against Matt Hughes at UFC 79 on Dec. 29, but a herniated disc forced him to withdraw from the bout.

Instead, St-Pierre stepped in on short notice and defeated Hughes for the interim title. Following the bout, St-Pierre refused to wear the belt, saying, “Matt Serra is the real champion,” and would not wear the belt until he defeated the Long Island, N.Y. native.

Serra said that his back has been rapidly improving and he is excited about defending the championship.

The event is tentatively scheduled for April 19 at the Bell Centre.

http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=5401&zoneid=13

yay. yay. yay...... YAY!!! :D:D:D

as soon as this sucker is announced, i'm booking a hotel room for that weekend....

mookie blaylock 10

civ_eng_girl wrote:

think Simpsons... where Lisa has a crush on Nelson....

"Nuke the whales?".... "Gotta nuke somethin'!".... "Touche"...

...i've even used it before is the worst thing....and now i can't think of the episode!!!

mookie blaylock 10

gina caranno will be back for next elitexc show. mostly i am posting this little blurb about gina because i was pissed that i couldn't make a comment on it at the mmajunkie site. this happens over and over and i'm so sick of it. anytime women's mma gets brought up, and particularly in gina's case, it's never taken seriously by more than maybe 5% of the people who respond. i can't imagine how frustrating it has to be for the women involved in mma that they are treated so poorly by their male counterparts and especially the fans. there were so many sexist remarks and negative comments they shut the comments section down as usual.

it would have been nice to be able to just post a comment that i was happy to see gina back in action and on a main card again. i wanted to point out that tara larosa, though, a well established and excellent fighter, started off her career 4-1. all of her wins came against opponents with losing records, with her lone loss being to the only opponent who actually had a winning record. gina, on the other hand, has won her first five mma bouts, with only one of her opponents having a losing record.

tara's able to make 135 much easier than gina could (if she could) because of body type and size. gina should be fighting in the 150-160 range, but there are hardly any quality opponents for her at this stage in her career to fight there. most compete at 135. the "trouble" she has making weight was, in one case, a matter of her weighing in fully clothed and being 1/4 pound over...which was of course met with cheers of "take it off" by the meatheads in the audience.

it would have been nice to make these points about the write up, but unfortunately there are people who follow this sport and still don't get it. some of them would be the first ones to be up in arms when people criticize mixed martial arts, and there are plenty enough who do, but they are also the first ones to treat female mma as a joke and say that women shouldn't be "allowed" to compete on the same cards as men. hypocrites! instead they just focus on looks and forget about women puting in the same hard work and having as good as or better skills than some men...some women's matches i've seen have put their male counterparts to shame.

hey, i look at the girls as much as the next guy, just like the girls do with the men, but at least the men get credit for their hard work once they've competed. the women still have to deal with the bullshit, even if they put on the fight of the night...which gina and julie kedzie did last year on a card that was otherwise filled with men.

in any case, i look forward to gina's next fight and seeing what improvements she has made in her ground game. if tara larosa is still "talking" when gina has a little more experience, i also look forward to gina using her superior muay thai to knock tara out and shut her and the critics up once and for all.

apology for rant. mookie angry. :mad:


January 5, 2008
Gina Carano Booked for Feb. 16 EliteXC Show
January 5, 2008

Gina Carano (5-0), EliteXC’s most marketed female fighter, will be part of the organization’s Feb. 16 show, the organization announced on Friday.

Carano will be part of the night’s televised main card, which airs live on Showtime at 10 p.m. ET. The show, which features a main event of Kimbo Slice vs. Tank Abbott, is expected to take place in Miami, Fla. — possibly at the University of Miami Arena.

An opponent for Carano has not yet been named.

Carano, 25, posted a 12-1-1 record in Muay Thai competitions before making her MMA debut — which just happened to be the first-ever state-sanctioned female fight — in June 2006. She’s a perfect 5-0 in MMA fights, winning two via decision and two via knockout. At a September EliteXC event, she earned her first career submission victory via rear-naked choke over Tonya Evinger.

Although she’s arguably the sport’s best-known female fighter, Carano and EliteXC have been the target of recent criticism for the way her career has been handled. Critics claim that the organization hand picks favorable match-ups — rather than the best match-ups — for her fights. They also cite the organization’s decision to create a special weight class (140 lbs.) for Carano — a weight she’s had trouble making.

Tara LaRosa, perhaps the sport’s top female fighter, has been one of Carano’s biggest critics. She also recently confirmed she’s been in talks with EliteXC about a possible contract.

Carano, the daughter of former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Glenn Carano, can be seen on the upcoming reincarnation of “American Gladiators.” She’ll be one of the show’s “gladiators” (with the name “Crush”). The show, which is hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, debuts with a two-hour premiere tomorrow at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. One-hour episodes will then air weekly on Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.


http://mmajunkie.com/2008/01/05/gina-carano-booked-for-feb-16-elitexc-show/

civ_eng_girl

i can't wait to finally see a women's fight! over the last few weeks, i've been trying to think of a fun way to get some exercise, and i've seriously been considering starting some kickboxing or MMA lessons!

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

tara's able to make 135 much easier than gina could (if she could) because of body type and size. gina should be fighting in the 150-160 range, but there are hardly any quality opponents for her at this stage in her career to fight there. most compete at 135. the "trouble" she has making weight was, in one case, a matter of her weighing in fully clothed and being 1/4 pound over...which was of course met with cheers of "take it off" by the meatheads in the audience.

really? she would really fight at 150-160?? she looks so much smaller than that! geez... at my current weight, i'd be fighting the likes of Chuck Liddel! and even with a weight cut, i'm not sure i'd be able to get down to as little as that....

you mean they don't just bust out the white towel when the girls have to get re-weighed?

mookie blaylock 10 wrote:

hey, i look at the girls as much as the next guy, just like the girls do with the men, but at least the men get credit for their hard work once they've competed. the women still have to deal with the bullshit, even if they put on the fight of the night...which gina and julie kedzie did last year on a card that was otherwise filled with men.

lol... this reminds me of a conversation i had with a coworker a few days ago... we were talking about UFC, and he asked who my favorite fighters were, to which i of course replied "GSP and Roger Huerta"... and then i realized that they are the two prettiest boys of the lot, and it made me wonder if their looks have somehow swayed my opinion of them... made me feel kinda bad... although i still love Cro Cop, and he's not that hot...

oh... and for the record... gina's gorgeous!

ReleasH

civ_eng_girl wrote:

yay. yay. yay...... YAY!!!

as soon as this sucker is announced, i'm booking a hotel room for that weekend....

Happyhappyjoyjoy!!!!! I am so there with you Ceg!!!

ps Happy to be back. I'll join the fantasy league and get my UFC 80 picks in as soon as i get the invite from Mooks!