The report that came out this week about doctors wanting to ban MMA in Canada is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. It’s my understanding that it was written by a doctor, who admittedly has never seen an MMA fight in his life. How can someone be qualified to comment on something they’ve never actually witnessed first-hand?
To me, it’s a witch hunt and is becoming a mockery of educated people among the MMA community. The guy was asked if he knows how many deaths there were in MMA as compared to boxing (one in MMA as opposed to 14 in boxing), and he didn’t even know that statistic. It’s just a very biased, non-factual proposal they’re putting forward.
And let’s compare to other sports. I have a cousin who is an amazing football player but retired at the age of 20 because he sustained too many concussions. He was also a competitive wake boarder but he can’t do that anymore either. The dangers of sport reach a certain line but to try to outright ban them is ludicrous.
That being said, MMA, the UFC, Strikeforce, etc., are big-dollar businesses now. They generate so much revenue for a lot of people, for promoters and athletic commissions, it would be hard for one doctors’ report to stop the big ball from rolling at this point.
Strikeforce reflections
I only caught the main event of last Saturday’s show, but I enjoyed watching Feijao’s fight. I thought King Mo did very well in his fight against Gegard Mousasi to win the belt but that was a classic example of a stylistic matchup. King Mo is great wrestler, Mousasi a skilled kickboxer, and King Mo ground out a win. But he wasn’t able to get the takedowns on Feijao. He changed his training for this fight, focusing less on wrestling and getting away from his strengths and that backfired as he got knocked out.
I didn’t see the K.J. Noons-Jorge Gurgel fight, but I heard about the controversy, so I watched a replay of the ending. I saw the right hand, the left hook, the pause and then the big knee. I wasn’t able to tell if it was an illegal knee. It seems pretty clear Gurgel was grounded when Noons threw the late knee, but having said that, you’ve got a split second to react and if the ref isn’t stopping the fight, what’s stopping him.
Now I’ve read that there will likely be a Noons rematch with Nick Diaz. But I’d much rather see Diaz and Jason (Mayhem) Miller go at it to settle their feud. There’s more of a selling feature to that matchup.
As for Bobby Lashley, I’ve said this before, he’s highly overrated. He’s a great athlete but he hasn’t evolved yet as an MMA fighter so it didn’t surprise me at all seeing him lose to Chad Griggs.
UFC 118 picks
The B.J. Penn-Frankie Edgar fight is a mystery to me. I didn’t see their first meeting since I was in Montreal cornering one of my fighters that night. Penn has been flying under the radar for this one. I haven’t heard anything from him; I don’t know anything about how or where he trained. I’ve always said that if he shows up 100 per cent ready for a fight, he’s unstoppable; but if he shows up half assed, he’s very beatable. So it really depends on which B.J. Penn shows up. I’m a big fan of Penn’s, so having heard their first fight was really close, I’m going with B.J.
Randy Couture vs. James Toney
I’ll tell you what. Toney has done a great job of selling the fight. Every time I hear him talk, I think he’s a bigger idiot, but you have to hand it to him in terms of promotion. But I think he’s in way over his head against Couture. Every fighter has a puncher’s chance but in my opinion that’s his only chance. We know Couture is an educated fighter and he’s not going to stand and box and Toney — he learned his lesson against Chuck Liddell. As soon as Randy gets a hold of him — and that might take a few minutes as Toney might dance around and try to avoid him — that’s it. But the second he does get a hold of him, Toney will be on his back and choked out.
And that hopefully will be the end of Toney in the UFC. Hopefully Dana White has some great witty things to make fun of him about afterward. And for the boxing people, it won’t change a thing. Bernard Hopkins, The Executioner himself, says Toney doesn’t stand a chance. In fact, Hopkins said under MMA rules at the highest level that no boxer has a chance. Those were his words. And I believe the same thing would have happened to Ricardo Mayorga had his fight against Din Thomas not been called off. Boxers entering an MMA fight are going to get kicked, choked, wrestled to the ground — things they’re just not prepared to deal with.
Kenny Florian vs. Gray Maynard
I’m sitting on the fence on this one. Each time I watch either of these guys fight, they get better. If Gray fights a smart fight, he’ll take KenFlo down and try to grind him down for as many rounds as necessary to win a decision. But Florian has great Muay Thai and is good on the ground. So this one’s tough. But I’m going to go with Maynard to grind one out. It will be a close fight though.
Demian Maia vs. Mario Miranda
I watched Miranda fight David Loiseau, and I see him as being very much like Chael Sonnen. He likes to get in the clinch and is relentless with his takedowns. But do you really want to take Maia down? I can say from personal experience, that’s not what you want to do. You don’t want to get into a ground fight with Demian Maia. I’m picking Maia by submission.
Nate Diaz vs. Marcus Davis
I’ve always felt that Davis has been given good fights for his style. He has some submission wins but primarily comes from a boxing background. This fight is in Boston, Davis’s old stomping grounds, but Diaz is a bad matchup for him with his jiu-jitsu abilities. I’m going with Diaz by submission.
Bonus pick: John Salter vs. Miller
I would have thought Salter would have been offered a much easier fight this early in his career. He was in his league with his original opponent, Phil Baroni, but he’s totally out of his league with Dan Miller. I think Miller will bring him down to earth after his grand celebration when I hurt my ankle in our fight in Montreal. (Yes, I am a little bitter.)