wow... what a weekend!! Montreal is amazing... great friends, food, beer, patios, tunes, shopping, walking, talking, more beer, more patios, more walking, more talking, and lots and lots of laughs.....
the event on Saturday was amazing... but we also had a lot of fun on Friday afternoon! we met Dana White outside the Bell Centre and got a couple of photos. Dana was really kind and accessible. He was all smiles, and took the time to shake everyones hand and sign autographs. :cool:
Then we headed off to a pub for dinner, and happened upon a meet and greet with Matt Hammill and Jorge Gurgel inside the pub!!! got to chat with both of them and get photos. Both Matt and Jorge were incredibly friendly, and were excited to share stories about their training and fights.
after dinner, we started to wander around, and while browsing through HMV, we ran into Mac Danzig who was also kind enough to take some time for photos. We wished him luck in his fight, which obviously payed off...
Then it was off to the Xtreme Couture party, where we got to see Gray Maynard, Randy Couture, and Dan Henderson up close, but didn't quite get an opportunity to shake hands (or for ReleasH to 'examine' Gray's broken hand), but it was still exciting to be there. Skipping the line and being usherd in to the VIP entrance was pretty funny too!! :cool:
ok, i'll let mookie and ReleasH fill in the rest....
i miss you both, just a 'little bit'.... xoxoxoxox
..."so glad to be back home..." (a "lil' bit" of wintersleep there for you ceg!)
...actually no i'm not. i wish i was still living out the dream that was this weekend. let me first start by saying that i couldn't have had two more beautiful, kind, and fun people to share it with than ceg and releash! i had some trouble saying goodbye :( ...as ceg will atest to...although, it's just goodbye for now...
next, congrats to leafs for winning the title in montreal. i'd hoped to defend, but you were too much for me this time. i guess you were in the role of gsp and i was matt serra! haha nice work with the picks!
i didn't tell ceg and releash, but i soiled myslef many times during the show! to see goulet come out to that ovation then get a huge win, then the debut of cain, a sweet battle between rich clementi and sam stout, the beautiful jiu-jitsu of demian maia with his topside triangle choke on ed herman, jason day with a huge upset in his debut...and a great performance at that...he almost had a gogoplata at one point!!!...(edit: on further review he wasn't close to getting his foot over belcher's head, so i think i was still confused about when it happened. must have been in mac's match with bocek. day still landed a lot of damage while belcher was stuck in the rubber guard, though. those elbows he threw after the stand up were strong!)
then...an incredible round of grappling between jason macdonald and joe doerksen! wow! it was beautiful to watch. both guys had what looked like sure submissions, but jason made it trough with the big win in the second in one of my faves of the night.
mac and mark continued the action to start the PPV...with mark bocek putting up a much better fight than i thought he would. when we met mac out shopping at hmv with his girlfriend, i told releash he really shouldn't have too much to worry about other than bocek's high class jiu-jitsu, but he showed some striking i hadn't seen from him before. ultimately, mac was too much...and again we almost got to see a gogoplata finish!!!!! still, to submit mark bocek is very impressive.
bisping and mccarthy...well, i missed the first half and had to get releash to fill me in on what happened as i was keeping my eye on david loiseau and jonathan goulet taking pics on the floor with fans...hoping i could grab ceg's camera and fall down the stairs to catch a quick pic. great finish by bisping! knees! oy-ee! oy-ee! oy-ee!
kalib and nate was a huge letdown. kalib is such a good guy. the three of us just sat there stunned. i don't know what it was, but i'm pretty certain he's going to be cut. the 30-24 score we all felt was accurate and deserved. i just don't know what to say...
great fight between rich and travis in the first, then as releash noticed and ceg too, there was something not quite right about travis in the second and it wasn't just that he was gassed. missing punches by a mile and having trouble keeping his balance. we were yelling for a stoppage, and fortunately for travis that was it. great job by rich to get out of that armbar...how the fudge he did it is beyond me?!?!? how do you turn your shoulder that way?!?!haha
...and the main event...the main event...never in my life have i experienced anything like that. it was beyond words. hugs and high fives all around. the place was insane, insane, INSANE!!!
i cannot wait to watch the PPV! i have a couple of the pre-lims so far and hope to have the rest later so i'll upload when i get a chance and send them around to anyone interested. leafs, ceg, releash first, though since we were there! tee hee sorry we didn't meet up leafs, but it sounds like you had an amazing time. we did too. i couldn't have asked for better company for this experience. i'll never forget it.
from the weigh-ins and making an ass of myself trying to get a goulet chant going, to making an ass of myself again yelling out maia over and over, to meeting so many wonderful people....dana white, mac danzig, mauro renallo, eddie bravo, and i can't say enough about matt hamill and jorge gurgel. we practically had dinner with them while watching some of matt's fights on the big screen. he explained to us how he was in a semi-coma for eight hours after his fight with mike nickels on the show! :eek: great guy! i practically expected him to leave with us and hang out for the night! haha jorge was awesome too. i gained a lot of respect for those guys and their willingness to go WAY out of their way for the fans.
the only thing i'm still slightly stewing about is how close we were to randy and gray maynard. releash was next in line to get her picture taken with him when they shut it down! i felt really bad that she missed out, but all the more reason for us to do it again another time! boo ya! seriously, though, to be that close...releash, then ceg, then me to meet randy and gray and have them walk away was slightly disappointing to say the least, especially knowing how much releash wanted to meet gray.
also, while that was going on, i'm sure i came close to eating a right hand from dan henderson as i almost reached out to grab him by the shirt as he briskly walked behind me when we were waiting in line for randy and gray. within arms reach, and i couldn't decide to go after him or to stay in place in line...turns out neither panned "oot"...
still, small things to complain "aboot" on such an incredible weekend. oh yeah, i wish i'd met kalib, jonathan, and especially demian maia as well...
like i said...all the more reason to go "another round".
here's to a lil' bit of dana white calling releash "babe" , great chats over beer (i'm a LW!), falling up stairs, calling fighters by a name of an opponent they don't like, "she thinks your clinch game is boring!", many "good ideas", a wonderfully relaxing sunday, and to one fool making too many dana white sightings (me! haha)
40 hours on the train...WELL worth it for memories i will cherish forever.
also...where are all you guys when the PPV's are usually on?!?!? thanks to everyone for posting and keeping the thread warm while the "regulars" were gone doing our thing. if you guys don't mind, i'm going to go back and read through and maybe post a couple of comments if that's cool....
...since i still can't talk after losing my voice (from yelling maia too many times, and the attempts at the goulet chant, then GSP, GSP, GSP...and some other edge of my seat / jump out of my seat moments to yell my approval at the majority of the outcomes and the action..."knee!, "knee!", "gogplata? no way!", "spinning back kick or back fist coming up" , "this fight is over...it's a wrap"...when maia first took herman down. )
so i feel the need to type to communicate a lil' bit. couldn't talk to the guy sitting next to me on the train home so he left like i had the plague and i had the double seat to myself...blessing in disguise, i guess. probably better for ceg and releash as they didn't have to put up with my "rambin' on" on sunday and we enjoyed a fairly quiet and relaxed day of crepes...those were so fuckin' good!...and touring the city (thanks again ceg for taking me to notre dame...gorgeous! next time we're going back with releash. )
Rank Player Total Points Awarded
1 krs82 200
2 battery 180
3 J Bully 177
4 All Manador 151
5 Loveboatcapt0226 136
6 beachdweller No Play
congrats again leafs! nice picks, and overall good picks by everyone. welcome back, lbc!
...nice job getting the bonus on the franklin fight. the rest of us would have had it if rich didn't have a shoulder that doesn't seem to mind going in any direction!
hey guys, just got back to the hotel for a bit from shopping... I LOVE MONTREAL...
we didnt' make it to the weight-ins or the xtreme couture party cause well we got kinda side tracked lol.
Just wanted to say, hope you are all enjoying yourselves and enjoy the fights tonite!
edit: o ya, just thought i'd add that i ran into Bisping on St. Catherine and Peel, he stopped to shake hands (would not use his right hand) and take pictures... Even though i'm not a fan, i have to say, he was a really nice/cool guy... He was just out walking around with him and his girlfriend/wife which was really cool aswell.
HAPPY 420 after we get out tonite!
awesome, leafs! shame you missed the weigh-ins. it was a good time. still, can't complain when you're meeting up with "the count" on the street, eh? funny how so many of these guys are so personable that it's difficult not to cheer for them or become a fan after meeting them.
You didn't get the Jason Macdonald fight by any chance did you?? I was so bummed that it didn't make the ppv...and so far I haven't been able to find it on youtube or anywhere. I've heard the fight was damn good.
Congrats on all the guys you met. I wish I coulda gone this weekend.
"Rock and roll is something that can't be quantified, sometimes it's not even something you hear, but FEEL!" - Bob Lefsetz
Kalib Starnes should never be heard from again after that fight. What a joke!! He ran away the whole fight and wanted no part of Quarry.
as much as i like kalib because he's a great guy and have enjoyed his matches before...you're completely right, lbc...there's no place for that at that level of competition. we all agreed the 30-24 score was justified.
i'm still trying to get my mind around what happened to him out there. it's beyond perplexing. i mean, nate has more power, but kalib has more accuracy and better combos with better movement, in terms of just hands, but he froze. he should have been able to pick nate apart gradually, but...i don't know...i still don't know what to say...
releash mentioned that maybe he didn't like one of nate shots in the first and maybe was wary of his power after that, but you've got to actually fight at some point! it never happened!
You didn't get the Jason Macdonald fight by any chance did you?? I was so bummed that it didn't make the ppv...and so far I haven't been able to find it on youtube or anywhere. I've heard the fight was damn good.
Congrats on all the guys you met. I wish I coulda gone this weekend.
not so far, unfortunately. it was a great match! a really pleasant surprise and a beautiful first round.
so far i've only found herman / maia and velasquez / morris...
i'll keep looking...definitely they'll be up at some point. i know a couple of pre-lims last time took a few days to get some errors at ufc.com cleared up, so maybe they're having trouble again.
when i get them uploaded i'll be sure to let you know. it was one not to be missed, in my opinion.
thanks, and maybe we'll have a big group of jammers next time! they WILL be back!
dana white was all aboot going to see releash in nashville, so in retrospect i wish she'd said she was from montreal...that way they would be back very soon! haha
as much as i like kalib because he's a great guy and have enjoyed his matches before...you're completely right, lbc...there's no place for that at that level of competition. we all agreed the 30-24 score was justified.
i'm still trying to get my mind around what happened to him out there. it's beyond perplexing. i mean, nate has more power, but kalib has more accuracy and better combos with better movement, in terms of just hands, but he froze. he should have been able to pick nate apart gradually, but...i don't know...i still don't know what to say...
releash mentioned that maybe he didn't like one of nate shots in the first and maybe was wary of his power after that, but you've got to actually fight at some point! it never happened!
Mookie we're talking about the same guy who threw in the towel in a match cause his eye was swelling up....who gave up on the Ultimate Fighter cause he had bruised ribs. He's a pussy pure and simple...any time Nate tried to do anything he ran cause he was scared of him...he knew Nate could kick his ass.
Many of the wins he has were against really shitty fighters so hard to really gauge someones talent with those fights. He just killed his UFC career on Saturday night...sad but true.
"Rock and roll is something that can't be quantified, sometimes it's not even something you hear, but FEEL!" - Bob Lefsetz
Starnes parts ways with UFC
Monday, April 21, 2008
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canadian fighter Kalib Starnes, vilified by mixed martial arts fans for his inactivity in a bout against Nate Quarry at UFC 83 on the weekend, has asked to be released from his UFC contract.
But the 33-year-old middleweight from Surrey, B.C., declined to discuss what happened in the lopsided fight Saturday night in Montreal or why he wanted out of the UFC, saying he would comment further once his UFC exit paperwork was complete.
"Until that happens, I don't feel comfortable talking any more about it," Starnes told The Canadian Press on Monday from his training base in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"Personally, I couldn't be happier to be released from my UFC contract," added.
It's a far cry from his bio on the official UFC website (http://www.ufc.com) which quotes him saying: "It's an honour and pleasure to fight in the UFC."
Citing UFC president Dana White, Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the UFC had cut Starnes.
"He just doesn't belong in the UFC and after his performance the other night, he should consider a new line of work," White told Yahoo.
Starnes denied the UFC had initiated the move, saying he had asked for the divorce papers in a call to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva on Monday morning.
The Canadian fighter backpeddled like a hockey defenceman en route to losing a unanimous decision, with one judge scoring it a remarkable 30-24 for his opponent. Quarry mocked him late in the bout, miming Starnes' running and holding his hands high in front of his face, which he later said was an invitation for Starnes to hit him.
MMA Internet forums were filled with abuse for Starnes.
"I hope Starnes never fights MMA again... . What a gutless display, I was embarrassed watching it," said one post on fightopinion.com
"Starnes should be blacklisted from ever fighting MMA again," wrote another.
"I would have paid an extra $10 for them to not air the Kalib Starnes fight.," a third wrote.
"Starnes stinks," summed up another online critic.
White was dismissive of Starnes at the post-fight news conference in Montreal.
"It takes two guys to fight and Nate's the only one that showed up to fight tonight for that fight," White said.
The soldout Bell Centre crowd chanted "Boring, Boring," and cheered Quarry mimicking Starnes' running. And as they waited for the decision, they cheered Quarry when the American was shown on the big screens and booed Starnes when he came on.
Said Quarry: "I knew the Canadian fans especially, they were going to go for a warrior's heart more than who was just born there. So that's what I brought."
Asked about Quarry's posturing, Starnes said the American came to see him after the fight.
"He came and apologized to me afterwards. I understand what it's like when you become emotional and excited in the ring. I think he was upset that I wasn't standing there exchanging with him more, because he wanted to knock me out. He was disappointed, I think, that he wasn't able to put me away."
Starnes says he did not leave the cage unscathed, pointing to a possible broken bone in his right foot.
"I'm having difficulty getting a hold of the medical claims representative from the UFC to be able to go get my foot X-rayed," he said.
He also cited severe bruising on his left thigh, a black eye, sprained jaw and "some lumps all over my head."
.Starnes was operating on the kind of contract often given to alumni of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show. He says the deal guaranteed him three fights a year with the UFC holding an option at the end of each year whether it wanted to continue.
The Canadian fighter (10-4-1 including 2-3 in the UFC) has endured a slew of injuries in recent years including a fractured fibula, broken nose, rib injury, jawbone infection and torn shoulder muscle.
He needed 20 stitches to close a gaping cut on his forehead after a TKO loss lost to Alan (The Talent) Belcher in October at UFC 77. Before that he won a hard-nosed decision over Chris Leben, lost to Yushin Okami and defeated Danny Abbadi in the UFC.
Starnes has fought hurt before. On Season 3 of "The Ultimate Fighter," he competed with a broken leg. He thought he had a deep bone bruise but later found out it was a fractured fibula.
The six-foot-three Starnes is no ordinary fighter. The 185-pounder lists his heroes as Noam Chomsky and Bertrand Russell and talks happily of seeing Japan's cultural heritage in Kyoto during a trip to the Far East.
Mookie we're talking about the same guy who threw in the towel in a match cause his eye was swelling up....who gave up on the Ultimate Fighter cause he had bruised ribs. He's a pussy pure and simple...any time Nate tried to do anything he ran cause he was scared of him...he knew Nate could kick his ass.
Many of the wins he has were against really shitty fighters so hard to really gauge someones talent with those fights. He just killed his UFC career on Saturday night...sad but true.
i'm not sure which match you mean about the eye swelling up, but he actually had dislocated ribs (or a dislocated rib...releash would know )) in his match against kendall and continued to fight for close to another round after the injury. certainly it wasn't smart of him to point out the injury, but it was a serious injury that could have resulted in some pretty severe damage had he continued to eat those body kicks from kendall. not everyone would have continued as long as he did. it turns out to have been a smart move to stop.
i'm not trying to excuse what happened on saturday, that for sure! there's no excuse! i just don't understand it. i've talked to kalib through emails and messages quite a few times and he's a great guy with a passion for the sport...he certainly didn't show it on saturday, but he is talented and trains hard. he's a legitimate black belt in jiu-jitsu having earned it in brazil at some of the gracie's schools. his hands have been improving dramatrically since his move to american top team to train with howard davis jr. he never performed up to his capabilities, though, and now he's done the right thing and asked to be let go.
i feel really bad for him, but it is his own doing. there's no excuse for the running from nate and simply not fighting. i'll definitely agree with you on that! as i said, i just can't get my mind around it all. ceg and releash can atest to what i looked like during and after that fight. i was simply dumbfounded. :( even i said after the show to both ceg and releash that he would and probabaly should be let go.
Demian Maia subs Ed Hermann, I would have loved to see that one. What a night of fights so far.
lbc, it was beautiful!!! i was screaming for maia at the weigh-ins and as soon as maia got his first take down, i looked at releash and ceg and said...this fight is a wrap! it was my bad, though, as herman did a good job of getting back to his feet, but maia's brilliant jiu-jitsu shone through in the end. gorgeous top side triangle finish.
great night indeed! i have this one, so i'll send it to you later when i upload it.
great blog from joe doerksen about his second loss to jason macdonald...good to read that he got a good reception after the match from the crowd. well deserved.
"Freak of nature"
April 21, 2008
by Joe Doerksen
Montreal was unbelievable. The whole experience from start to finish was great. The fans were awesome, I walked around the arena a bit after the fight and a lot of people were congratulating me on a good performance. From the way they were talking to me, you'd think that they'd forgot I lost the fight. They didn't seem to care whether you'd won or lost, they were just happy that you went out there and put on a good show.
Obviously I would have enjoyed a win a little bit more than a loss, but training went well. The fight went well, it was a good fight. Obviously I didn't get the result I was looking for, but right up until I got knocked out I think I was doing just fine. I was able to get out of a submission attempt by him, and I thought I had a good one on him with that kimura.
I was AMAZED at how flexible his joints are. I don't think I've ever run into that before in my life. Anybody else and I would have taken their arm home with me in my suitcase. That was unbelievable. Honestly he's a freak of nature; that is not normal.
I'll probably wait a week or two until everything in my head settles down and then watch the fight with a more objective point of view. See if there's anything I can learn from it.
All you can do is prepare to do well and go fight a good fight. And at the end of the day my main concern was to put on a good performance and I believe I did that. I didn't feel like I made many big mistakes, I just got caught with a shot that put me to sleep. I don't really feel there's anything that could have been done differently. It's probably too early to tell though.
We're fighting at the highest level in the world, so it only takes you losing concentration for one second, make one mistake and it's over. I don't even have any memory of the knockout blow. I remember him getting the takedown, and that's pretty much it.
I think the bad blood between is now done with. I wanted to have a second fight with him because I wasn't satisfied after the first one. I got my second chance and it went his way again. So I'm okay with leaving things alone. I don't have any personal interest in fighting him again.
However, for the right amount of money, I'll fight anybody. I think the animosity is gone, but I'd still be willing to fight him again. We're not going to be training together, exchanging Christmas cards and he certainly won't be invited to any barbecues at my place. But I'm okay with the whole thing with him being over.
It was suggested to me that our fight deserved to get fight of the night, but you know that's not a decision I make. If it was I would win every time, I suppose! At the end of the day, fighting in the UFC was a dream of mine when I was younger, and now it's becoming a regular thing, and it's kind of neat to be able to go and do that job. Winning would be more fun obviously, but I don't think I've won my last UFC fight. Somewhere down the road I think I'm going to win another one, maybe more.
I've gone through my ups and downs in this business. I've had my winning streaks; I've had my losing streaks. Sometimes things just don't go your way for a little and then suddenly they bounce right back and you start winning again and there seems to be no explanation for it. Best way to handle it is keep working and trying to improve. I still feel like I'm learning as an athlete and as a fighter. I think my best fights are in front of me, not behind me.
This is the second time I've lost three fights in a row, but the last time I went on to win my next 10 straight afterward. The level that I'm fighting at now is a lot higher than the last time I lost three in a row and even though I've lost the last few, I've fought very well. The endings just weren't much fun.
Now I'm probably going to take the whole summer off. I trained really hard for this fight, and put myself through a lot of stress. For the last two summers in a row, I've been training and missing most of my summers. This time, I think I'm going to stay home, drink some beer, and hang out on the beach and get fat with my friends and probably fight again some time in the fall. I will be relaxing for a while!
GSP messed up and regained the belt with dominance. i cant see him losing that belt for a very long time now.
who is there to beat him? hes in his prime and wont slack off like he did with serra (last year) and not take a guy seriously again.
jon fitch is next, so we'll see what happens. i expect a very good match, but at this point georges seems to be too much for just about anyone...even a beast like fitch. still, i can't wait to see it!
Well i just got home from montreal and that was an incredible weekend.
Did you hear Kalib get boo'd out of the building lol, he was a f'ing joke last night and i loved Nate's interview after the fight!
Bisping would be a really cool guy to have a beer with, he finally said he had to go after about 20minutes of doing pictures and stuff, but then a guy came up in a wheelchair and asked for one and he was like, "ofcourse, anything for you", came across as an incredible man.
To ACCgoddess - I'm just rewatching the ppv right now so i didn't know they weren't showing the Joe/Jason match, but you are right, it was very good. Joe had a very very deep armbar in, and i thought forsure the fight was going to end, but jason fought out if and finished in the 2nd very strong (with elbows i believe, i was a little intoxicated though lol).
Actually every fight (except that SOB kalib starnes) was incredible. I'm not sure if they showed the Day/Belcher fight on the ppv, but that was damn impressive. The crowd went insane for Day.
Ok i'm going to finish watching the ppv, hope we came across as loud as it was in there. It was absolutly insane there, and afterwards all the GSP chants down St. Catherine and all downtown montreal was amazing. An absolutly amazing environment.
The funniest part of the night though was one girl walking down St. Catherine (obviously drunk) chanting GPS, i couldn't stop laughing.
edit: just checked the fantasy and i can't believe i came in 1st, i thought i didn't do too well, but the Franklin fight really helped me out with the bonus.
Very good picks by everyone, i bet we got a pretty good average on this one. sorry for beating you mookie, but i needed my title back lol
GPS! too much! that's funny!
no apology necessary...i will train harder and be a better version next time! haha congrats again! it's good to read you had a good time...hard not to, eh? what a great night, and the day belcher match was surprising. day was pretty much all over him. really great reaction from the crowd there!
i can't wait to watch the PPV for the same reasons. i'm hoping the energy of the crowd translated well to the PPV.
GSP looked so dominant, I don't see how they could give Serra a rematch. Serra seemed totally defeated after the first round. The UFC has done some crazy things so if Serra wins a few and builds his record back up you never know.
i can't wait for serra vs. hughes now! finally i can cheer for serra outright!
wow... what a weekend!! Montreal is amazing... great friends, food, beer, patios, tunes, shopping, walking, talking, more beer, more patios, more walking, more talking, and lots and lots of laughs.....
the event on Saturday was amazing... but we also had a lot of fun on Friday afternoon! we met Dana White outside the Bell Centre and got a couple of photos. Dana was really kind and accessible. He was all smiles, and took the time to shake everyones hand and sign autographs. :cool:
Then we headed off to a pub for dinner, and happened upon a meet and greet with Matt Hammill and Jorge Gurgel inside the pub!!! got to chat with both of them and get photos. Both Matt and Jorge were incredibly friendly, and were excited to share stories about their training and fights.
after dinner, we started to wander around, and while browsing through HMV, we ran into Mac Danzig who was also kind enough to take some time for photos. We wished him luck in his fight, which obviously payed off...
Then it was off to the Xtreme Couture party, where we got to see Gray Maynard, Randy Couture, and Dan Henderson up close, but didn't quite get an opportunity to shake hands (or for ReleasH to 'examine' Gray's broken hand), but it was still exciting to be there. Skipping the line and being usherd in to the VIP entrance was pretty funny too!! :cool:
ok, i'll let mookie and ReleasH fill in the rest....
i miss you both, just a 'little bit'.... xoxoxoxox
+ one million! i should be able to talk soon (i hope!) so i'll give you a buzz to let you know how the train ride home was...matt hamill was there waiting for me! haha
...going to reply a bit more, then crash about as hard as we did friday and saturday while trying to start watching the ppv at least...
so many things happened...i momentarily forgot about the line...that was great work, releash!
Fight of the Night: Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Submission of the Night: Demian Maia
Knockout of the Night: Jason MacDonald
tough call on fight of the night...lots of deserving candidates, but i'm glad jonathan gets the bonus! he's been fighting a lot over the last year and not making a lot of money, so this will be great for him and his daughter!
...and of course i'm going to agree with the sub of the night! maia, baby, maia!
i just noticed the thread views...we blew the old record out of the water! i think we got close to / or over 3,000 for liddell vs. ortiz.
ok, i should stop typing now. just haven't been able to talk and it's nice to see everyone's opinions on a great show. as always, i'm not scared to discuss a little mma.
ok, one more...i hope!...just that this is something that totally went over my head as we were watching the show. jonathan goulet...first canadian to win on home turf in the UFC in the UFC's first match in canada. 75$ grand is also pretty nice.
goulet, goulet, goulet, goulet...goulet, goulet!
Goulet opens UFC 83 with win
Saturday, April 19, 2008
By James Brydon, Sportsnet.ca
MONTREAL -- Jonathan (The Road Warrior) Goulet made history Saturday night.
The welterweight from Victoriaville, Que., became the first Canadian to win on home soil in the UFC when he opened up the preliminary card for UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2, at the Bell Centre with a knockout of Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
"I think I deserved (that win), because I worked and trained really hard for that fight," Goulet, sporting a nice red bruise under his right eye, told Sportsnet.ca.
It started off not looking good for the local favourite, as Hironaka had Goulet on the ground and was sending a lot of strikes his way.
One of his main training partners from the local Tri-Star gym, Montreal's David Loiseau, admitted he was a little worried about his man at that point.
But Goulet survived the first round and came out stronger in the second.
Goulet got the upper hand less than two months into the second round with a right hook, left overhead combination that put Hironaka down. Hironaka scrambled to get back to his feet, but another solid strike from the Quebecer sent him down cold and the referee put an end to it at 2:07.
"The crowd gave me the power to rally and eventually knock him out," said Goulet in the post-fight interview inside the Octagon.
The crowd had been cheering loudly from the moment Goulet came to the cage. He is used to fighting in Montreal, competing with TKO Championship Fighting and he even fought in the Bell Centre twice in 2007.
Saturday was his first fight on a new four-fight contract with the UFC, where he will be fighting full-time from here on. He said the organization wants him to focus on just one circuit and not split time with Canadian circuits.
After a win like Saturday's, he should have no problem doing that. He may even get a match on a pay-per-view card. Goulet said the thing that made him the most mad about the situation fighting at home was that he was the first fight and may not end up on the televised portion of the card for his friends and family to see.
"I'll be quicker, stronger than ever to be able to be on TV. I want to force Zuffa to put my fight on TV," said Goulet earlier in the week. He got his wish, as his fight was the last fight. He also earned Fight of the Night honours as well as the $75,000 bonus that comes with it. That helps to keep him full-time in the UFC.
So who's next for Goulet?
"Maybe Karo Parisyan," said Goulet. "I don't know, I haven't done my homework yet."
i'm going for a record of consecutive posts in a row!
just wanted to ask if any canooks happened watch the two hour countdown show on sportsnet at 8 eastern? if anyone did, did they happen to see a bald guy walk into the frame with a "team tanner, sponsored by me" t-shirt on, inexplicably point to the logo, and then walk away?
...just curious...i'm trying to find the video to laugh at myself!
just found doerksen vs. macdonald...i'll have to upload these tomorrow, though. so far i have three of the five unaired pre-lims and i should be able to send out the PM's by tomorrow night for you guys to download. i hope to have all five by then.
Sadly we didn't see the Day fight either. This is what made it to air:
Georges St-Pierre Vs. Matt Serra - WW Championship
Rich Franklin Vs. Travis Lutter
Kalib Starnes Vs. Nate Quarry
Michael Bisping Vs. Charles McCarthy
Mark Bocek Vs. Mac Danzig
I hope there were some people at the show who were taping cause neither UFC.com nor Youtube has the Macdonald or Day fights. I'm hoping in the next few days something turns up on youtube.
BTW next months ppv looks INCRECIBLE!! I'll let Mookie tell you all the card with his new thread. haha
thanks, acc, for the promo for the new thread! i'll start it up tomorrow. also, as i mentioned above, i'll send out the pm's to you guys with as many pre-lims as i can find and upload by tomorrow. i have the macdonald vs. doerksen fight too. the reaction for jason day was outstanding, as was his performance...especially when you consider that he was replacing patrick cote, making his debut, and doing it against a fairly established fighter in alan belcher.
oh, and the goulet vs. hironaka match did make the ppv, after the main event. fight of the night for hironaka and the road warrior!
i feel really bad for him, but it is his own doing. there's no excuse for the running from nate and simply not fighting. i'll definitely agree with you on that! as i said, i just can't get my mind around it all. ceg and releash can atest to what i looked like during and after that fight. i was simply dumbfounded. :( even i said after the show to both ceg and releash that he would and probabaly should be let go.
Well 1st off welcome back both mookie and civ, i'm glad to hear you guys loved montreal as much as I did!!!! I loved how the fighters were just all around the city, and so nice, you are very right that it is hard not to be a fan after you meet any of the guys.
Thanks for the bonus winners civ, i have read on sherdog that the fighters recieved 75k instead of the regular 25 which is huge. The UFC must have made a killing which is great for us because it guarentees they'll be back. CAN'T WAIT!!!
I have to say that i am very disappointed that i didn't go to the pre-party (i kinda knew i wouldn't make the weigh-ins about 10minutes into my stay at peel pub lol). I really wish I would have met you guys, but things happen for a reason so, even more incentive to go again lol. My side track was very fun though, downtown montreal in a word is perfect. Everything is within easy walking distance and there is everything you want there. Pretty much as soon as we got there we knew it was the place we are going to hold my buddy's bachelor party, so we needed to do some research lol.
About the whole Kalib thing, I am still pissed at the guy for showing up like that. I'm not a huge fan, but i was cheering for him and to say the least, i was disappointed in him. I want to know what was wrong because that is not like him at all. Although he is not (imo) a top fighter, he usually does perform and he did not do that on saturday night. Like you said, he has fought hurt in the past and I have to believe that he broke something the day of or day before the fight and didn't want to put the ufc in a spot and back out with pretty much no notice. I can somewhat understand that (if it is the case) but he should have still fought it out if he was going to do that. IMO he showed us more disrespect by putting on a fight like that than backing out with no notice (unfortunatly he would have been bashed really badly for that aswell).
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
well i'm not going to come close to your record, but i'm going on post #2 mookie, lol.
I would love to have the prelims, imo the prelims were even better fights than the main card, as you can tell by all bonuses being handed out to guys that were on the undercard. For experience the main event still beats out all others though.
thanks very much for the doerkson and goulet interviews, i'm so glad to hear what joe had to say. He is so right in that we really didn't care who won or lost, he earned his pay saturday and was respected for it. I still can't believe jason got out of that freakin kimura, anybody else (except maybe rich, how the hell did he get out of that armbar like that) that fight was over.
I'm happy for Goulet aswell, that dude showed so much heart fighting back from the 1st round. I don't want to see him fight Karo yet though, i think it's a little much for him, even though i'll cheer for him all the way through it.
Hughes/Serra will be great, i'll be cheering for Serra aswell. And remember that BJ has said after the Sherk fight, he wants gsp again to avenge his loss. gsp has some good fights coming up against fitch, alves, and hopefully bj again. Time for him to challenge anderson for the p4p title
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
sorry, onto #3
Just wanted to add that it's insane that you guys pretty much had dinner with hammill and gurgel. That is like a freakin dream, i am so envious of you 3.
Also, were you guys at HMV around 3 or 4 on friday? Henderson, Heurta, and if i remember correctly, florian were there doing pictures and signing. The line was way too long when we got there, so, peel pub it was, again lol. I swear that place is awsome, great food, great environment, good beer, and happy hour is from 3-7 with pitchers ranging between $6 for domestic beer and up to $12 for imports. We drank moosehead for $10/pitcher for 4 hours.
I just read the artical that civ posted, you were right, really good article and very good news!
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White comments on whether UFC will ever be back in Canada: "This is a hot bed for mixed martial arts now, obviously not only for the talent but just so many fans here... The energy here tonight was more powerful here than anywhere I've ever been. We did 21,390 people here - officially the biggest UFC event ever."
"I'd be back here every weekend, if we could."
"I'll ride the wave where it takes me"
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
Comments
very cool town
Gotta love the judge who scored the fight 30-24. That's pretty accurate.
what a joke that was
the dance at the end was awesome lol
Fight of the Night: Jonathan Goulet vs. Kuniyoshi Hironaka
Submission of the Night: Demian Maia
Knockout of the Night: Jason MacDonald
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/posted/archive/2008/04/19/ufc-debuts-in-montreal-live-blog.aspx
ok... it's 4:36pm. i think i've put up with work for long enough. i'm going home to sleep!
...actually no i'm not. i wish i was still living out the dream that was this weekend. let me first start by saying that i couldn't have had two more beautiful, kind, and fun people to share it with than ceg and releash! i had some trouble saying goodbye :( ...as ceg will atest to...although, it's just goodbye for now...
next, congrats to leafs for winning the title in montreal. i'd hoped to defend, but you were too much for me this time. i guess you were in the role of gsp and i was matt serra! haha nice work with the picks!
i didn't tell ceg and releash, but i soiled myslef many times during the show!
then...an incredible round of grappling between jason macdonald and joe doerksen! wow! it was beautiful to watch. both guys had what looked like sure submissions, but jason made it trough with the big win in the second in one of my faves of the night.
mac and mark continued the action to start the PPV...with mark bocek putting up a much better fight than i thought he would. when we met mac out shopping at hmv with his girlfriend, i told releash he really shouldn't have too much to worry about other than bocek's high class jiu-jitsu, but he showed some striking i hadn't seen from him before. ultimately, mac was too much...and again we almost got to see a gogoplata finish!!!!! still, to submit mark bocek is very impressive.
bisping and mccarthy...well, i missed the first half and had to get releash to fill me in on what happened as i was keeping my eye on david loiseau and jonathan goulet taking pics on the floor with fans...hoping i could grab ceg's camera and fall down the stairs to catch a quick pic. great finish by bisping! knees! oy-ee! oy-ee! oy-ee!
kalib and nate was a huge letdown. kalib is such a good guy. the three of us just sat there stunned. i don't know what it was, but i'm pretty certain he's going to be cut. the 30-24 score we all felt was accurate and deserved. i just don't know what to say...
great fight between rich and travis in the first, then as releash noticed and ceg too, there was something not quite right about travis in the second and it wasn't just that he was gassed. missing punches by a mile and having trouble keeping his balance. we were yelling for a stoppage, and fortunately for travis that was it. great job by rich to get out of that armbar...how the fudge he did it is beyond me?!?!? how do you turn your shoulder that way?!?!haha
...and the main event...the main event...never in my life have i experienced anything like that. it was beyond words. hugs and high fives all around. the place was insane, insane, INSANE!!!
i cannot wait to watch the PPV! i have a couple of the pre-lims so far and hope to have the rest later so i'll upload when i get a chance and send them around to anyone interested. leafs, ceg, releash first, though since we were there! tee hee sorry we didn't meet up leafs, but it sounds like you had an amazing time. we did too. i couldn't have asked for better company for this experience. i'll never forget it.
from the weigh-ins and making an ass of myself trying to get a goulet chant going, to making an ass of myself again yelling out maia over and over, to meeting so many wonderful people....dana white, mac danzig, mauro renallo, eddie bravo, and i can't say enough about matt hamill and jorge gurgel. we practically had dinner with them while watching some of matt's fights on the big screen. he explained to us how he was in a semi-coma for eight hours after his fight with mike nickels on the show! :eek: great guy! i practically expected him to leave with us and hang out for the night! haha jorge was awesome too. i gained a lot of respect for those guys and their willingness to go WAY out of their way for the fans.
the only thing i'm still slightly stewing about is how close we were to randy and gray maynard. releash was next in line to get her picture taken with him when they shut it down! i felt really bad that she missed out, but all the more reason for us to do it again another time! boo ya! seriously, though, to be that close...releash, then ceg, then me to meet randy and gray and have them walk away was slightly disappointing to say the least, especially knowing how much releash wanted to meet gray.
also, while that was going on, i'm sure i came close to eating a right hand from dan henderson as i almost reached out to grab him by the shirt as he briskly walked behind me when we were waiting in line for randy and gray. within arms reach, and i couldn't decide to go after him or to stay in place in line...turns out neither panned "oot"...
still, small things to complain "aboot" on such an incredible weekend. oh yeah, i wish i'd met kalib, jonathan, and especially demian maia as well...
like i said...all the more reason to go "another round".
here's to a lil' bit of dana white calling releash "babe"
40 hours on the train...WELL worth it for memories i will cherish forever.
...since i still can't talk after losing my voice
so i feel the need to type to communicate a lil' bit. couldn't talk to the guy sitting next to me on the train home so he left like i had the plague and i had the double seat to myself...blessing in disguise, i guess. probably better for ceg and releash as they didn't have to put up with my "rambin' on" on sunday and we enjoyed a fairly quiet and relaxed day of crepes...those were so fuckin' good!...and touring the city (thanks again ceg for taking me to notre dame...gorgeous! next time we're going back with releash.
UFC 83 Serra vs St-Pierre 2 :: LEAGUE RESULTS
The Evolution Fight Club
Rank Player Total Points Awarded
1 krs82 200
2 battery 180
3 J Bully 177
4 All Manador 151
5 Loveboatcapt0226 136
6 beachdweller No Play
congrats again leafs!
...nice job getting the bonus on the franklin fight. the rest of us would have had it if rich didn't have a shoulder that doesn't seem to mind going in any direction!
awesome, leafs! shame you missed the weigh-ins. it was a good time. still, can't complain when you're meeting up with "the count" on the street, eh?
hope your "side track" was fun!
You didn't get the Jason Macdonald fight by any chance did you?? I was so bummed that it didn't make the ppv...and so far I haven't been able to find it on youtube or anywhere. I've heard the fight was damn good.
Congrats on all the guys you met. I wish I coulda gone this weekend.
as much as i like kalib because he's a great guy and have enjoyed his matches before...you're completely right, lbc...there's no place for that at that level of competition. we all agreed the 30-24 score was justified.
i'm still trying to get my mind around what happened to him out there. it's beyond perplexing. i mean, nate has more power, but kalib has more accuracy and better combos with better movement, in terms of just hands, but he froze. he should have been able to pick nate apart gradually, but...i don't know...i still don't know what to say...
releash mentioned that maybe he didn't like one of nate shots in the first and maybe was wary of his power after that, but you've got to actually fight at some point! it never happened!
not so far, unfortunately. it was a great match! a really pleasant surprise and a beautiful first round.
so far i've only found herman / maia and velasquez / morris...
i'll keep looking...definitely they'll be up at some point. i know a couple of pre-lims last time took a few days to get some errors at ufc.com cleared up, so maybe they're having trouble again.
when i get them uploaded i'll be sure to let you know. it was one not to be missed, in my opinion.
thanks, and maybe we'll have a big group of jammers next time!
dana white was all aboot going to see releash in nashville, so in retrospect i wish she'd said she was from montreal...that way they would be back very soon! haha
Mookie we're talking about the same guy who threw in the towel in a match cause his eye was swelling up....who gave up on the Ultimate Fighter cause he had bruised ribs. He's a pussy pure and simple...any time Nate tried to do anything he ran cause he was scared of him...he knew Nate could kick his ass.
Many of the wins he has were against really shitty fighters so hard to really gauge someones talent with those fights. He just killed his UFC career on Saturday night...sad but true.
Starnes parts ways with UFC
Monday, April 21, 2008
THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canadian fighter Kalib Starnes, vilified by mixed martial arts fans for his inactivity in a bout against Nate Quarry at UFC 83 on the weekend, has asked to be released from his UFC contract.
But the 33-year-old middleweight from Surrey, B.C., declined to discuss what happened in the lopsided fight Saturday night in Montreal or why he wanted out of the UFC, saying he would comment further once his UFC exit paperwork was complete.
"Until that happens, I don't feel comfortable talking any more about it," Starnes told The Canadian Press on Monday from his training base in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.
"Personally, I couldn't be happier to be released from my UFC contract," added.
It's a far cry from his bio on the official UFC website (http://www.ufc.com) which quotes him saying: "It's an honour and pleasure to fight in the UFC."
Citing UFC president Dana White, Yahoo Sports reported Monday that the UFC had cut Starnes.
"He just doesn't belong in the UFC and after his performance the other night, he should consider a new line of work," White told Yahoo.
Starnes denied the UFC had initiated the move, saying he had asked for the divorce papers in a call to UFC matchmaker Joe Silva on Monday morning.
The Canadian fighter backpeddled like a hockey defenceman en route to losing a unanimous decision, with one judge scoring it a remarkable 30-24 for his opponent. Quarry mocked him late in the bout, miming Starnes' running and holding his hands high in front of his face, which he later said was an invitation for Starnes to hit him.
MMA Internet forums were filled with abuse for Starnes.
"I hope Starnes never fights MMA again... . What a gutless display, I was embarrassed watching it," said one post on fightopinion.com
"Starnes should be blacklisted from ever fighting MMA again," wrote another.
"I would have paid an extra $10 for them to not air the Kalib Starnes fight.," a third wrote.
"Starnes stinks," summed up another online critic.
White was dismissive of Starnes at the post-fight news conference in Montreal.
"It takes two guys to fight and Nate's the only one that showed up to fight tonight for that fight," White said.
The soldout Bell Centre crowd chanted "Boring, Boring," and cheered Quarry mimicking Starnes' running. And as they waited for the decision, they cheered Quarry when the American was shown on the big screens and booed Starnes when he came on.
Said Quarry: "I knew the Canadian fans especially, they were going to go for a warrior's heart more than who was just born there. So that's what I brought."
Asked about Quarry's posturing, Starnes said the American came to see him after the fight.
"He came and apologized to me afterwards. I understand what it's like when you become emotional and excited in the ring. I think he was upset that I wasn't standing there exchanging with him more, because he wanted to knock me out. He was disappointed, I think, that he wasn't able to put me away."
Starnes says he did not leave the cage unscathed, pointing to a possible broken bone in his right foot.
"I'm having difficulty getting a hold of the medical claims representative from the UFC to be able to go get my foot X-rayed," he said.
He also cited severe bruising on his left thigh, a black eye, sprained jaw and "some lumps all over my head."
.Starnes was operating on the kind of contract often given to alumni of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show. He says the deal guaranteed him three fights a year with the UFC holding an option at the end of each year whether it wanted to continue.
The Canadian fighter (10-4-1 including 2-3 in the UFC) has endured a slew of injuries in recent years including a fractured fibula, broken nose, rib injury, jawbone infection and torn shoulder muscle.
He needed 20 stitches to close a gaping cut on his forehead after a TKO loss lost to Alan (The Talent) Belcher in October at UFC 77. Before that he won a hard-nosed decision over Chris Leben, lost to Yushin Okami and defeated Danny Abbadi in the UFC.
Starnes has fought hurt before. On Season 3 of "The Ultimate Fighter," he competed with a broken leg. He thought he had a deep bone bruise but later found out it was a fractured fibula.
The six-foot-three Starnes is no ordinary fighter. The 185-pounder lists his heroes as Noam Chomsky and Bertrand Russell and talks happily of seeing Japan's cultural heritage in Kyoto during a trip to the Far East.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/04/21/starnes_leaves_ufc/
i'm not sure which match you mean about the eye swelling up, but he actually had dislocated ribs (or a dislocated rib...releash would know
i'm not trying to excuse what happened on saturday, that for sure! there's no excuse! i just don't understand it. i've talked to kalib through emails and messages quite a few times and he's a great guy with a passion for the sport...he certainly didn't show it on saturday, but he is talented and trains hard. he's a legitimate black belt in jiu-jitsu having earned it in brazil at some of the gracie's schools. his hands have been improving dramatrically since his move to american top team to train with howard davis jr. he never performed up to his capabilities, though, and now he's done the right thing and asked to be let go.
i feel really bad for him, but it is his own doing. there's no excuse for the running from nate and simply not fighting. i'll definitely agree with you on that! as i said, i just can't get my mind around it all. ceg and releash can atest to what i looked like during and after that fight. i was simply dumbfounded. :( even i said after the show to both ceg and releash that he would and probabaly should be let go.
lbc, it was beautiful!!! i was screaming for maia at the weigh-ins and as soon as maia got his first take down, i looked at releash and ceg and said...this fight is a wrap!
great night indeed! i have this one, so i'll send it to you later when i upload it.
"Freak of nature"
April 21, 2008
by Joe Doerksen
Montreal was unbelievable. The whole experience from start to finish was great. The fans were awesome, I walked around the arena a bit after the fight and a lot of people were congratulating me on a good performance. From the way they were talking to me, you'd think that they'd forgot I lost the fight. They didn't seem to care whether you'd won or lost, they were just happy that you went out there and put on a good show.
Obviously I would have enjoyed a win a little bit more than a loss, but training went well. The fight went well, it was a good fight. Obviously I didn't get the result I was looking for, but right up until I got knocked out I think I was doing just fine. I was able to get out of a submission attempt by him, and I thought I had a good one on him with that kimura.
I was AMAZED at how flexible his joints are. I don't think I've ever run into that before in my life. Anybody else and I would have taken their arm home with me in my suitcase. That was unbelievable. Honestly he's a freak of nature; that is not normal.
I'll probably wait a week or two until everything in my head settles down and then watch the fight with a more objective point of view. See if there's anything I can learn from it.
All you can do is prepare to do well and go fight a good fight. And at the end of the day my main concern was to put on a good performance and I believe I did that. I didn't feel like I made many big mistakes, I just got caught with a shot that put me to sleep. I don't really feel there's anything that could have been done differently. It's probably too early to tell though.
We're fighting at the highest level in the world, so it only takes you losing concentration for one second, make one mistake and it's over. I don't even have any memory of the knockout blow. I remember him getting the takedown, and that's pretty much it.
I think the bad blood between is now done with. I wanted to have a second fight with him because I wasn't satisfied after the first one. I got my second chance and it went his way again. So I'm okay with leaving things alone. I don't have any personal interest in fighting him again.
However, for the right amount of money, I'll fight anybody. I think the animosity is gone, but I'd still be willing to fight him again. We're not going to be training together, exchanging Christmas cards and he certainly won't be invited to any barbecues at my place. But I'm okay with the whole thing with him being over.
It was suggested to me that our fight deserved to get fight of the night, but you know that's not a decision I make. If it was I would win every time, I suppose! At the end of the day, fighting in the UFC was a dream of mine when I was younger, and now it's becoming a regular thing, and it's kind of neat to be able to go and do that job. Winning would be more fun obviously, but I don't think I've won my last UFC fight. Somewhere down the road I think I'm going to win another one, maybe more.
I've gone through my ups and downs in this business. I've had my winning streaks; I've had my losing streaks. Sometimes things just don't go your way for a little and then suddenly they bounce right back and you start winning again and there seems to be no explanation for it. Best way to handle it is keep working and trying to improve. I still feel like I'm learning as an athlete and as a fighter. I think my best fights are in front of me, not behind me.
This is the second time I've lost three fights in a row, but the last time I went on to win my next 10 straight afterward. The level that I'm fighting at now is a lot higher than the last time I lost three in a row and even though I've lost the last few, I've fought very well. The endings just weren't much fun.
Now I'm probably going to take the whole summer off. I trained really hard for this fight, and put myself through a lot of stress. For the last two summers in a row, I've been training and missing most of my summers. This time, I think I'm going to stay home, drink some beer, and hang out on the beach and get fat with my friends and probably fight again some time in the fall. I will be relaxing for a while!
http://www2.sportsnet.ca/blogs/joe_doerksen/2008/04/21/freak_of_nature/
jon fitch is next, so we'll see what happens. i expect a very good match, but at this point georges seems to be too much for just about anyone...even a beast like fitch. still, i can't wait to see it!
GPS! too much! that's funny!
no apology necessary...i will train harder and be a better version next time! haha congrats again!
i can't wait to watch the PPV for the same reasons. i'm hoping the energy of the crowd translated well to the PPV.
i can't wait for serra vs. hughes now! finally i can cheer for serra outright!
+ one million!
...going to reply a bit more, then crash about as hard as we did friday and saturday while trying to start watching the ppv at least...
so many things happened...i momentarily forgot about the line...that was great work, releash!
tough call on fight of the night...lots of deserving candidates, but i'm glad jonathan gets the bonus!
...and of course i'm going to agree with the sub of the night!
great night for jason mac too!
ok, i should stop typing now.
goulet, goulet, goulet, goulet...goulet, goulet!
Goulet opens UFC 83 with win
Saturday, April 19, 2008
By James Brydon, Sportsnet.ca
MONTREAL -- Jonathan (The Road Warrior) Goulet made history Saturday night.
The welterweight from Victoriaville, Que., became the first Canadian to win on home soil in the UFC when he opened up the preliminary card for UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2, at the Bell Centre with a knockout of Kuniyoshi Hironaka.
"I think I deserved (that win), because I worked and trained really hard for that fight," Goulet, sporting a nice red bruise under his right eye, told Sportsnet.ca.
It started off not looking good for the local favourite, as Hironaka had Goulet on the ground and was sending a lot of strikes his way.
One of his main training partners from the local Tri-Star gym, Montreal's David Loiseau, admitted he was a little worried about his man at that point.
But Goulet survived the first round and came out stronger in the second.
Goulet got the upper hand less than two months into the second round with a right hook, left overhead combination that put Hironaka down. Hironaka scrambled to get back to his feet, but another solid strike from the Quebecer sent him down cold and the referee put an end to it at 2:07.
"The crowd gave me the power to rally and eventually knock him out," said Goulet in the post-fight interview inside the Octagon.
The crowd had been cheering loudly from the moment Goulet came to the cage. He is used to fighting in Montreal, competing with TKO Championship Fighting and he even fought in the Bell Centre twice in 2007.
Saturday was his first fight on a new four-fight contract with the UFC, where he will be fighting full-time from here on. He said the organization wants him to focus on just one circuit and not split time with Canadian circuits.
After a win like Saturday's, he should have no problem doing that. He may even get a match on a pay-per-view card. Goulet said the thing that made him the most mad about the situation fighting at home was that he was the first fight and may not end up on the televised portion of the card for his friends and family to see.
"I'll be quicker, stronger than ever to be able to be on TV. I want to force Zuffa to put my fight on TV," said Goulet earlier in the week. He got his wish, as his fight was the last fight. He also earned Fight of the Night honours as well as the $75,000 bonus that comes with it. That helps to keep him full-time in the UFC.
So who's next for Goulet?
"Maybe Karo Parisyan," said Goulet. "I don't know, I haven't done my homework yet."
http://www.sportsnet.ca/mma/2008/04/19/goulet_ufc83/
just wanted to ask if any canooks happened watch the two hour countdown show on sportsnet at 8 eastern? if anyone did, did they happen to see a bald guy walk into the frame with a "team tanner, sponsored by me" t-shirt on, inexplicably point to the logo, and then walk away?
...just curious...i'm trying to find the video to laugh at myself!
thanks, acc, for the promo for the new thread!
oh, and the goulet vs. hironaka match did make the ppv, after the main event. fight of the night for hironaka and the road warrior!
Well 1st off welcome back both mookie and civ, i'm glad to hear you guys loved montreal as much as I did!!!! I loved how the fighters were just all around the city, and so nice, you are very right that it is hard not to be a fan after you meet any of the guys.
Thanks for the bonus winners civ, i have read on sherdog that the fighters recieved 75k instead of the regular 25 which is huge. The UFC must have made a killing which is great for us because it guarentees they'll be back. CAN'T WAIT!!!
I have to say that i am very disappointed that i didn't go to the pre-party (i kinda knew i wouldn't make the weigh-ins about 10minutes into my stay at peel pub lol). I really wish I would have met you guys, but things happen for a reason so, even more incentive to go again lol. My side track was very fun though, downtown montreal in a word is perfect. Everything is within easy walking distance and there is everything you want there. Pretty much as soon as we got there we knew it was the place we are going to hold my buddy's bachelor party, so we needed to do some research lol.
About the whole Kalib thing, I am still pissed at the guy for showing up like that. I'm not a huge fan, but i was cheering for him and to say the least, i was disappointed in him. I want to know what was wrong because that is not like him at all. Although he is not (imo) a top fighter, he usually does perform and he did not do that on saturday night. Like you said, he has fought hurt in the past and I have to believe that he broke something the day of or day before the fight and didn't want to put the ufc in a spot and back out with pretty much no notice. I can somewhat understand that (if it is the case) but he should have still fought it out if he was going to do that. IMO he showed us more disrespect by putting on a fight like that than backing out with no notice (unfortunatly he would have been bashed really badly for that aswell).
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
I would love to have the prelims, imo the prelims were even better fights than the main card, as you can tell by all bonuses being handed out to guys that were on the undercard. For experience the main event still beats out all others though.
thanks very much for the doerkson and goulet interviews, i'm so glad to hear what joe had to say. He is so right in that we really didn't care who won or lost, he earned his pay saturday and was respected for it. I still can't believe jason got out of that freakin kimura, anybody else (except maybe rich, how the hell did he get out of that armbar like that) that fight was over.
I'm happy for Goulet aswell, that dude showed so much heart fighting back from the 1st round. I don't want to see him fight Karo yet though, i think it's a little much for him, even though i'll cheer for him all the way through it.
Hughes/Serra will be great, i'll be cheering for Serra aswell. And remember that BJ has said after the Sherk fight, he wants gsp again to avenge his loss. gsp has some good fights coming up against fitch, alves, and hopefully bj again. Time for him to challenge anderson for the p4p title
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06
Just wanted to add that it's insane that you guys pretty much had dinner with hammill and gurgel. That is like a freakin dream, i am so envious of you 3.
Also, were you guys at HMV around 3 or 4 on friday? Henderson, Heurta, and if i remember correctly, florian were there doing pictures and signing. The line was way too long when we got there, so, peel pub it was, again lol. I swear that place is awsome, great food, great environment, good beer, and happy hour is from 3-7 with pitchers ranging between $6 for domestic beer and up to $12 for imports. We drank moosehead for $10/pitcher for 4 hours.
I just read the artical that civ posted, you were right, really good article and very good news!
At the post-fight press conference, UFC president Dana White comments on whether UFC will ever be back in Canada: "This is a hot bed for mixed martial arts now, obviously not only for the talent but just so many fans here... The energy here tonight was more powerful here than anywhere I've ever been. We did 21,390 people here - officially the biggest UFC event ever."
"I'd be back here every weekend, if we could."
09/19/05, 05/09/06, 05/10/06