Ringside Report Radio. May 8, 2013. Now online

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This is the May 8, 2013 episode of Ringside Report Radio. Hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

Simon and McKough discussed Shane Carwin’s retirement from MMA and his best moments in the UFC.

Simon and McKough talked about Anderson Silva missing a media day and being fined $50,000 by the UFC.

Simon and McKough also talked about the recent releases by the UFC, Eddie Alvarez ongoing legal situation with Bellator and the high buyrate for UFC 159.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode.

Ringside Report Radio. April 26, 2013- UFC 159 preview now online

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This is the April 26, 2013 episode of Ringside Report Radio. Hosted by Dave Simon and Fred Garcia.

Simon and Garcia discussed Jon Jones’ comments about Matt Mitrione’s comments about Fallon Fox and Mitrione’s response via Twitter. Simon and Garcia also talked about Daniel Cormier possibly dropping to light-heayweight and getting an immediate title shot.

Simon and Garcia previewed and gave their predictions for UFC 159 including every preliminary bout and the main event of Jon Jones v. Chael Sonnen for the UFC light-heavyweight championship.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode.

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UFC 159

Newark, New Jersey

Saturday April 27, 2013

Pay-Per-View-10pm Eastern

Jon Jones (C) v. Chael Sonnen- (UFC Light-Heavyweight Championship)

Michael Bisping v. Alan Belcher- (Middleweight)

Cheick Kongo v. Roy Nelson- (Heavyweight)

Vinny Magalhaes v. Phil Davis (Light-Heavyweight)

Jim Miller v. Pat Healy (Lightweight)

Televised Preliminary Card (FX/Sportsnet)- 8pm Eastern

Rustam Khabilov v. Yancy Medeiros (Lightweight)

Johnny Bedford v. Bryan Caraway (Featherweight)

Sara McMann v. Sheila Gaff (Women’s Bantamweight)

Ovince St-Preux v. Gian Villante (Light-Heavyweight)

Facebook.com/UFC Preliminary Card- 6:30pm Eastern

Leonard Garcia v. Cody McKenzie (Featherweight)

Nick Catone v. James Head (Welterweight)

Steven Siler v. Kurt Holobaugh (Featherweight)

Ringside Report Radio EP. 500 with Vitor Belfort, Gegard Mousasi, Jon Fitch and Daniel Cormier

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This is the December 21, 2012 episode of Ringside Report Radio. Hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough with Vitor Belfort, Gegard Mousasi, Jon Fitch and Daniel Cormier.

This was the special 500th episode of Ringside Report Radio and features interviews with Gegard Mousasi, Vitor Belfort, Jon Fitch and Daniel Cormier.

Gegard Mousasi discussed his upcoming bout with Mike Kyle for Strikeforce on January 12, his future in the UFC and his current training schedule.

Vitor Belfort discussed his bout with Michael Bisping on January 19 in the main event of UFC on FX 7 in Brazil and had a message for Dana White about his affirmation that if Bisping was victorious, he would earn a title shot at Anderson Silva.

Jon Fitch talked about his bout with Demian Maia scheduled for February 2 at UFC 156, his recent win over Erick Silva and whether or not he believes in aliens.

Daniel Cormier talked about his upcoming fight with Dion Staring on January 12 for Strikeforce and his future in the UFC either as a heavyweight or light-heavyweight competitor.

All this and much more from this Ringside Report 500th episode special.

Ringside Report Radio. October 19, 2012 now online

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This is the October 19, 2012 episode of Ringside Report Radio. Hosted by Dave Simon and Johnny North.

Simon and North listened to clips from Jon Jones, Chael Sonnen and Dana White from the Ultimate Fighter season 17 conference call. Simon and North discussed the UFC’s decision to bring Sonnen and Jones as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter and their fight that will take place in April 2013.

Simon and North also discussed Dan Henderson’s place in the UFC light-heavyweight division, a potential Jon Jones- Anderson Silva fight and a recent bill introduced in Canada to change legislation of MMA in the country.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode.

The Expendables 2 – Review

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Lots of bullets, lots of explosions, and more action flick stars than you can handle! The mercenaries known as The Expendables are ‘Back to War’ in a very good sequel.

The movie kicks off with an amazing action scene as the Expendables: Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Toll Road (Randy Couture), Gunner Jensen (Dolph Lundgren), Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) and newest member, the sniper Billy The Kid (Liam Hemsworth) blast their way to saving Chinese billionaire in Nepal. Upon their arrival they  discover that Ross’ arch-rival and occasional ally Trench (Arnold Schwarzenegger), is also in custody of the Nepalese criminals. Once the Chinese billionaire is saved Yin Yang brings him back to China and isn’t seen in the movie again.

With the mission complete, CIA Agent Mr. Church (Bruce Willis)  reminds Ross that the Expendables owe the CIA five million dollars and must complete a new mission. In what is described as a walk in the park, the Expendables are forced to bring Maggie (Yu Nan) to Albania, the site of a downed plane to retrieve a miniature computer from a high-tech electronic safe. In possession of the miniature computer, the Expendables are then ambushed by Eastern European crime cartel lead by Jean Vilain (Jean-Claude Van Damme) who wants the miniature computer because it contains the location of  five tons of weapons-grade plutonium, that Vilian wants to sell. Vilain takes the miniature computer and kills Billy the Kid by kicking Ross’ knife into his chest.

Seeking revenge and wanting to stop Vilian from getting the five tons of weapons-grade plutonium, The Expendables have a new mission: Track ‘em, find ‘em, kill ‘em. In order to stop Vilian, The Expendables get help from Trench, Mr. Chruch, and the lone-wolf, Booker (Chuck Norris).

It is very surreal to see all of these classic action movie stars in one movie together, unfortunately it leaves little time to properly showcase all of them. Jet Li has a cool fight scene in the opening of the movie, and then is gone. Jean-Claude Van Damme played a very creditable villain, to set up the ultimate showdown between he and Stallone. That fight scene was years in the making, Universal Solider versus Rocky, just disappointing that it was short and Stallone basically dominated him. Although they were very entertaining, Jason Statham had multiple fights scene that could have been spread out to different cast members. Lundgren, Couture, and Crews play off each other very well, adding most of the comedic aspect of the movie. Yu Nan brings nothing to the table in this movie. No element of her character that makes her a quintessential part of the group, nor is she eye-candy. Chuck Norris’ role was brief, which was disappointing, nonetheless very cool to see him appear. His character was flawed in the sense that he “works alone” removing the possibility of more cameos from other action stars as his crew, but understandable that he needs no one else, because he’s Chuck Norris. The combination of him, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzengger standing together blowing people away  is awesome. Willis and Schwarzengger wise cracking each other with catchphrases from their respective movies adds a nice comedic effect. If a trilogy is in the works it would be nice to see Clint Eastwood, Steven Seagal, Wesley Snipes, Vin Diesel, The Rock, Hulk Hogan, and Danny Trejo possible characters or cameo appearances.

Final conclusion: This movie is awesome! The bloodiness and ultra-violence that this movie delivers, makes it arguably the best action movie of the summer and ultimately fun for action movie gurus. This movie is a must see it the theatre;  the silver screen adds a more spectacular life like experience with fight scenes, special effects, gun battles, explosions and sounds that Blu-ray and DVD wouldn’t be able to deliver.

The Expendables 2

Rated R

Lionsgate

Run time of 103 minutes

August 17th, 2012

 

 

 

Weekend in Fights June 2nd Edition

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This Weekend in Fights! (June 2nd, 2012) crowned a new Ultimate Fighter champion, as well as a new Welterweight contender and a slew of new fighters to the UFC roster.  The weekend also featured action in Ireland with Cage Warriors 47, Ring of Fire 43 in Colorado, RMMAC in Russia, NAAFS 8 in Cleveland, XKO 15 in Texas, and Barre Beatdown in Vermont.

The UFC kicked off the weekend with a rare Friday night appearance, concluding the 15th season of The Ultimate Fighter. TUF Live Finale emanated from the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas, Nevada. This was the first live season of TUF, where the fighters competed and lived in the house throughout the 13 weeks of the broadcast. Last week as both Mike Chiesa and Al Iaquinta fought to become finalists in an all Team Faber affair. In the storyline finish reminiscent of a Hollywood movie, Mike Chiesa who lost his father after winning his entry bout into the house wins the entire 32-man tournament with a submission finish over Iaquinta. Team Faber’s 5th pick overall Chiesa made short work of Team Faber’s #1 pick Iaquinta by toughing through the early onslaught of strikes from Iaquinta and closing the distance. Chiesa took the fight to the mat taking Iaquinta’s back in the processes. Chiesa secured a body triangle, locking in a deep rear-naked choke that choked Iaqunita out cold at the mid mark of the first round.

Mike Chiesa maybe be the winner of TUF 15, but the event was headlined with a Welterweight showdown between knockout artist Jake Ellenberger squaring of against the crafty Danish veteran Martin Kampmann. Ellenberger stormed in on Kampmann early in the first round, almost bringing the bout he end with a left hook that floored Kampmann. Ellenberger failed to finish the fight with his ground and pound, as Kampmann recovered pulling Ellenberger into a guillotine choke for the remainder of the round. In the second round Ellenberber bloodied up Kampmann’s nose, but stumbled with his footing which proved to be a huge mistake. Kampmann capitalized on this stumble and connected with a series of knees from the clinch dropping Ellenberger to the mat to end the bout before the two minute mark of the second round. Kampmann snaps Ellenberger’s 6-fight win streak and positions himself into the Welterweight title picture.

Charles Oliveira is now 2-0 at Featherweightwith second round submission victory over TUF 12 winner Jonathan Brookins. In very competitive first round Oliveira worked kicks, while Brookins connected with barrages of short punches. Brookings was able to score a takedown but it was short lived as Oliveira return to his feet to conect with superior strikes for the remainder of the round. In the second round Brookins connected during their exchanges bloodying up Oliveira’s nose and forehead. Oliveira quickly clinched and brought the action to the mat. From guard, Brookins worked a guillotine which Oliveira escaped and delivered a series of elbow strikes before slapping his own guillotine choke from the seated position. Oliveira wrenched the choke from the mount, transitioning to guard for the finish. This win marks Oliveira’s second win over an Ultimate Fighter winner.

Also impressive on the card was the “American Boy” Justin Lawrence’s UFC debut. Lawrence was the odds on favorite to win the entire tournament, but losing in the semifinals to eventual winner Mike Chiesa, Team Cruz’s #1 pick Lawrence took on Team Faber’s #6 pick John Cofer. Lawrence outclassed Cofer throughout the first two rounds, but the highlight reel finish came at 19-seconds of the third round, as Lawrence connected with a thip fake, jab, cross, roundhouse kick combo landing his foot flush on the cheek of Cofer, dropping him to the mat for the knockout finish. (Full The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale event results below – Full The Ultimate Fighter Live Season results here.)

Also on Friday night, former STRIKEFORCE Heavyweight Grand Prix Semifinalist Sergei Kharitonov headlined Russian MMA Championship (RMMAC) against John Delgado at the Yubileyny Sports Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Kharitonov made short work of Delgado with a 34-second Keylock submission. The event also held a one night Heavyweight tournament with Alexei Kudin coming out the victor. Fighting three times in one night, with two TKO’s and a unanimous decision, Kudin defeated Konstantin Gludov in the finals. (Full RMMAC event results below.) 

Cage Warriors started the jam packed Saturday night of fights airing on MMAjunkie.com and Facebook from the The Helix in Dublin, Ireland. The event saw two championship bouts, as Heavweight champion Mike Hayes took on D.J. Linderman for the strap; and the vacant Featherweight title was on the line between England’s Dave Hill and Irishman Conor McGregor.

A rematch three years in the making D.J. Linderman repeated his by getting a unanimous decision victory over Mike Hayes. The difference in this bout, is that it was five rounds and for the Cage Warriors Heavyweight title. Linderman attempted to bring the bout to the ground many times throughout the first two rounds, but displayed superior standup, when Hayes was able to defend those attempts. After attempted many time Linderman was able to score the takedowns in the third round, staying more active than Hayes. Hayes showed some life, and in a sense of urgency landed his own takedown in the fifth, landed some knees to the body and attempted a rear-naked choke. Unfortunately it was too little too late, losing the decision and surrendering his championship in the process.

Irish beats English in the co-main event of the evening as Conor McGregor submitted Dave Hill with a second round rear-naked choke submission. McGregor defended a takedown attempt ending up in top position ignoring Hill’s submission attempts and delivering some ground and pound until the bout was brought back up to their feet. McGregor took this fight again slapping on the submission he would finish the fight with, but not in this round as Hill was saved by the bell. McGregor to the ground early in the second round took Hill’s back and ended it, capturing the vacant Cage Warriors Featherweight title. (Full Cage Warriors 47 event results below.)

MMA Journeyman Phil Baroni headlined Ring of Fire 43 at the 1st Bank Center in Broomfield, Colorado on Saturday. A 28-fight veteran, Baroni has fought in every recognizable  promotion including the UFC, Pride, Elite XC, STRIKEFORCE, and ICON Sport among others. The fight had all the makings of an exciting finish, as Baroni’s opponent Chris Holland (4-3) has never gone the distance in his seven bouts, winning all of his bouts via KO/TKO. Of Holland’s three losses, one was by submission and two by knockout, one of which came at the hands of Instinct MMA star Brandon Thatch.  This bout was no different from Holland’s other bouts as the finish came via TKO in the second round. Holland picked up is his fifth victory, delivering Baroni his 15th loss.  (Full ROF 43 event results below.)

North American Allied Fight Series (NAAFS) took place at the Nautica Pavilion in Cleveland, Ohio and was available on iPPV on GoFightLive.com. The card featured two Bellator fighters and Cleveland natives in Frank Caraballo and Chris Lozano. Frank Caraballo defended his NAAFS Featherweight championship title versus Antonio Castillo Jr. with a quick first round rear-naked choke submission, bring an end to the Puerto Rico/Mexico trash talk between the two. Bellator Season 6 Welterweight tournament quarter-finalist Chris Lozano was originally slated to take on Kyle Baker for the NAAFS Welterweight title, but due to injury, Lozano was pitted against Wisconsin native James Warfield (22-10). Lozano pikced up the victory by  putting the beat down on Warfield so bad that he was unable to continue into the second round. (Full NAAFS: Fight Night in the Flats 8 event results below.) 

Former UFC Middleweight Jake Rosholt (12-3 MMA, 1-2 UFC) headlined Xtreme Knockout 15 (XKO 15) on Saturday at the The Gym in Arlington, Texas. UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture and UFC Welterweight Johny Hendricks were special guests for the event. Now fighting at Light Heavyweight, Rosholt took on Matthew Thompson (16-9). Thompson made short work of Rosholt with a first round kneebar submission, snapping Rosholt’s five fight win streak. (Xtreme Knockout 15 event results below.)

Vermont based Xtreme Combat Promotions presented Barre Beatdown at the Barre Municipal Auditorium in Barre, Vermont on Saturday night. A combination of both amateur and professional cage bouts took place in front of a packed house. Ringside Report Radio’s Kevin McKough manned the ring announcing duties for event. Lots of quick finishes and guillotine chokes throughout the night as three of nine bouts ended in that fashion. The main event was a Middleweight bout between Mike Derby and Tim De Iturriaga. The bout was a wrestling war as Berby took De Iturriaga to the ground and worked to improve position. Berby eventually took De Iturriaga’s back sinking in a rear-naked choke for the victory. To purchase a DVD copy of the event call Eastman Entertainment at 802-489-1970.  (Full Barre Beatdown event results below.)

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Friday Night Fights -

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The Ultimate Fighter Live Finale results:

Martin Kampmann def. Jake Ellenberger via knockout (knees) – Round 2, 1:40

Mike Chiesa def. Al Iaquinta via technical submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 1, 2:37 - to win “TUF: Live” championship

Charles Oliveira def. Jonathan Brookins via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 2, 2:42

Max Holloway def. Pat Schilling via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Justin Lawrence def. John Cofer via knockout (kick) – Round 3, 0:19

FUEL TV prelims:

Daron Cruickshank def. Chris Tickle via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-27, 29-27)

Myles Jury def. Chris Saunders via submission (guillotine choke) – Round 1, 4:03

Sam Sicilia def. Cristiano Marcello via TKO (punches) – Round 2, 2:53

Joe Proctor def. Jeremy Larsen via TKO (knee and punches) – Round 1, 1:59

Facebook prelims:

Erik Perez def. John Albert via submission (armbar) – Round 1, 4:18

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RMMAC – Russian MMA Championship results:

Sergei Kharitonov def. John Delgado via Submission (Keylock) – 0:34 – Round 1

Alexei Kudin def. Konstantin Gludov via Unanimous Decision

Zabit Samedov def. Vitaly Operin via KO (Spinning Back Kick) – Round 1

Konstantin Gludov def. Anderi Sen via KO (Head Kick) – Round 1

Alexei Kudin def. Tadas Rinkevicius via TKO (Doctor Stoppage)

Ibragim Ibragimov def. Vladimir Kuchenko

Konstantin Gludov def. Timur Shikmagomedov

Alexei Kudin def. Oleg Tinins via TKO – Round 1

Tadas Rinkevicius def. Vyacheslav Vasiliev via TKO

Igor Konstin def. Andrei Sen via KO

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Saturday Night Fights -

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Cage Warriors 47 results:

D.J. Linderman def. Mike Hayes via unanimous decision (49-47, 49-46, 48-47) – to become new heavyweight champion

Conor McGregor def. Dave Hill via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 4:10 – to win vacant featherweight title

Rosi Sexton def. Aisling Daly via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28) – women’s tournament semifinal bout

Cathal Pendred def. David Bielkheden via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28)

Neil Seery def. Mark Platts via submission (rear-naked choke) – Round 2, 2:36

Facebook prelims:

Jack Mason def. Tommy Quinn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28

Paul Redmond def. Yuri Malko via TKO (strikes) – Round 2, 2:05

Brett Sizeland def. Victor Peixoto via TKO (strikes) – Round 1, 1:32

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Ring of Fire 43 results:

Chris Holland def. Phil Baroni via TKO (Punches) – 2:50 – Round 2

Cameron Dollar def. Tyler Toner via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 2:00 – Round 2

Justin Gaethje def. Marcus Edwards via Unanimous Decision

Tommy Thompson def. Prentice Ingraham via Split Decision

Vinnie Lopez def. Mark Korzenowski via TKO (Punches) – 3:41 – Round 3

Leandro Veal def. Chad Wicks via KO (Punches & Elbows) – 2:54 – Round 1

Mark Taylor def. Aaron Romero via Majority Decision

Henry Solis def. Justin Willis via TKO (Elbows) – 4:32 – Round 2

Zach Riley def. Toby Lopez via Submission (Arm Bar) 1:34 – Round 1

Bryce Thorstad def. Zach McChesney via KO (Punches) – 0:23 – Round 2

Aaron Trujillo def. Tyson Grippen via Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 2:12 – Round 1

Jared Deaguero def. Nathan Torrez via TKO (Punches) – 1:40 – Round 1

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NAAFS – Fight Night in the Flats 8 results:

Frank Caraballo def. Antonio Castillo Jr. via Submssion (Rear-Naked Choke) -3:46 – Round 1

Chris Lozano def. James Warfield via TKO (Retirement) – 5:00 – Round 1

George Comer def. Khama Worthy via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 3:58 – Round 2 9-1 (Griffon Rawl)

Joe Heiland def. Andrew Osborne via Split Decision

*Amateur*
Sarah McLeod def. Amber Ignotowski via Unanimous Decision

Tyler Saltsman def. Jerrell Hodge via Unanimous Decision

Josh Krizan def. Josh Lasich via Split Decision

Emmanuel Kangah def. Gabe Garcia via TKO (Punches) – 1:42 – Round 2

Jeff Hughes def. James Rankin via Unanimous Decision

Shane Valko def. Ryan Arce via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 1:05 – Round 1

Dominic Mazzotta def. Mike Velasquez via Technical Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 1:05 – Round 1

John Antanitis def. Steve Burton via Technical Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 1:09 – Round 2

Jarrell Miller def. Cameron Duncan via TKO (Punches) – 2:56 – Round 1

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XKO 15 results:

Matt Thompson def. Jake Rosholt via Submission (Kneebar) – 4:16 – Round 1

Hayward Charles def. Roy Spoon via Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 1:52 – Round 1

Chas Skelly def. Jeremy Myers via Submission (Brabo Choke) – 2:59 – Round 1

Klayton Mai def. Sidney Cawdrey via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 0:28 – Round 2

Josh Foster def. Mathew Jones via Split Decision

Joseph Salas def. Casey Hudson via Unanimous Decision

Chris Feist def. Joshua Strahan via Submission (Guillotine Choke) – 0:28 – Round 1

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Barre Beatdown results:

Pro:

Mike Berby def. Tim De Iturriaga via Submission (Rear-Naked Choke) – 1:22 – Round 3

Amateur:

Mark Glover def. Steve McKinstry via KO (Punch) – 0:19 – Round 1

Brad Bateman def. Chris Lynde via Submission(Guillotine) – 0:43 – Round 1

Rourke Devlin def. Bruce Richards via Unanimous Decision

Dennis Sherman def. Ander Belcarris via Submission (Guillotine) – 1:36 - 10min Grappling Match

Gary Goddermote def. Josh Howe

Adam Sawyer def. Bruno McKee via TKO (Punches) – 1:11 – Round 3 - Heavyweight Exhibition Match

Paul McLean def. John Dean via Submission (Guillotine) – 1:03 – Round 1

Darryl Martinez def. Craig Bridge via TKO (Referee Stoppage) – 2:06 – Round 2

 

Ringside Report Radio. June 1, 2012 with Dan Severn now online

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Ringside Report Radio. June 1, 2012 hosted by Dave Simon and Kevin “Big Tuna” McKough.

UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn appeared on this episode to discuss a potential rematch with Royce Gracie, Ken Shamrock or Mark Coleman. Severn talked about his career in the WWE including whether or not he wanted to “shoot” in a pro wrestling match and his memories of Owen Hart.

Dave and Kevin debated the Top 10 in MMA for June 2012 including every weight class from Heavyweight to Bantamweight.

Dave and Kevin also discussed the ongoing results from The Ultimate Fighter 15 finale.

All this and much more MMA on this 2-hour episode.

UFC: Bad Blood Chuck Liddell VS. Tito Ortiz DVD review

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“Tito can talk about money or whatever else he wants to talk about, it’s a fucking crock of shit,” says UFC president Dana White on Tito Ortiz’s excuse for not fighting Chuck Liddell.

Ortiz and Liddell were once considered friends, but after Ortiz decided to not fight Liddell following Ortiz’s third victory over Ken Shamrock, a rivalry was created between the two.

Bad Blood documents the rise and fall of both Ortiz and Liddell’s careers in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and how their feud produced two of the most anticipated bouts in UFC history. Ortiz’s quest to dominate the light heavyweight division and Liddell’s drive to become the champion eventually led to a bitter falling out.

Ortiz believes that Liddell and himself should have gotten the big payday for their fight, but they were not getting it. White fires back against Ortiz saying the money was good back then. White says Ortiz backed out on the UFC and defending his title because Ortiz knew he could not beat Liddell. In training sessions Liddell says that Ortiz always came up with excuses for not wanting to spar with Liddell. In the end, Ortiz is made to look like a coward who only cares about himself while Liddell is shown as the face of the UFC in Ortiz’s absence.

With Liddell’s finance Heidi Northcott, his trainer Jon Hackleman, there is a more personal and in-depth look in Liddell’s life. While Ortiz talks about how he lost a friend and nearly died in a drive-by shooting, his wife Jenna Jameson gives no interviews and is only shown once in the background. Ortiz introduces two long-time friends, but they barely say anything. White is pretty much negative on everything Ortiz did to the UFC by costing them big money. White believes that Ortiz has no friends and only befriended Liddell in order to keep him away from his championship.

Ortiz talks about how he feels Liddell’s thumb to his eye in their first fight was the reason he lost. White states Ortiz could have poked both of Liddell’s eyes and it would have been the same result. Due to the anger White has towards Ortiz for hurting the UFC, White hunged Liddell’s glove and trunks, “in my fucking living room man. Those things hung in my living room forever.” Even after their two battles the two still waged war against each on UFC’s Ultimate Figher however there was never a third fight and Liddell’s career ended before there could be one.

Good versus evil could have also been the title of this DVD as the UFC portray Ortiz as a horrible selfish human being while Liddell was someone who just wanted to fight and get what he deserved. A great look at how both fighters worked their work into the UFC and made it to the top of their division. Depending on who you like will depend how much you like this DVD. Ortiz fans will definitely feel that this is an unfair look at Ortiz while Liddell fans will feel that the true story was finally told.

UFC: Bad Blood Chuck Liddell VS. Tito Ortiz

Anchor Bay Entertainment

Run time of 150 minutes

Releases on Aug. 30, 2011

Click here to order the DVD

UFC 129: St-Pierre VS. Shields DVD review

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In front of an Ultimate Fighting Championship record crowd of 55,000 in Toronto’s Roger Centre, Canada’s own Georges St-Pierre for the second straight fight left jabbed his way to successfully defend his welterweight championship at UFC 129.

GSP was able to score a few takedowns, but pretty much the whole fight was kept standing. GSP was a lot more cautious against Jake Shields than his fight at UFC: 124. GSP did score the more impressive strikes, however out of respect for Shields’ ability to defend on the ground GSP did not go for the finish.

Shockingly in the fourth round Shields left GSP a bloody mess. Shields nailed a mean right that had GSP telling his corner, “I can’t seez out of my left.” With only a round left, GSP swag wildly with his right and missed quite a lot. While GSP did not win every round, he did more than Shields to get his hand raised. Surprisingly, fans booed near the end of the fight.

In one of the special features on the DVD, Super 7: Q & A with all UFC Champions, Joe Rogan questions Anderson Silva about the talk of a potential super-fight against GSP. Silva admits that GSP along with B.J. Penn are the best in the world and fights against them are Dana White’s decision, “not mine.”

The behind-the-scenes extras show how UFC had to put together their biggest setup ever. Getting the venue ready in five days was quite tricky with about 1000 people working on the setup. GSP is shown arriving to the venue earlier in the day talking about how nervous he was but very honoured to be the main event of the biggest UFC show ever. There is no post-fight interviews with Shields or GSP, but there is footage of GSP’s trainer Firas Zahabi telling Shields he was the best challenge GSP ever had.

In what was deemed the Fight Of The Night, Mark Hominick was left bloody and a disgusting hematoma on his forehead after coming up short in his battle with UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Hominick did give Aldo his greatest challenge to date, but in the end Aldo proved that he is not only deadly on the ground and with his kicks, but his fists are also equally strong.

In his last fight in mixed martial arts, UFC legend Randy Couture went down to a devastating jump head kick by Lyoto Machida early in the second round. Couture looked frustrated early in round one trying to figure out how to takedown Machida. A slight opening was all Machida needed to deliver the same kind of knockout Silva delivered at UFC: 126.

Despite what many fans have said about the main event outcome, UFC 129 features some fantastic back-and-forth grappling battles, bloody wars and impressive submissions. UFC gives fans so much more with the addition of French commentating of the entire event with Patrick Cote and Jean-Paul Chartrand, all the prelim fights, and a special look into Couture’s training for his final fight.

If you’re an MMA fan this DVD should be in your collection.

UFC 129: St-Pierre VS. Shields

Anchor Bay Entertainment Canada

Runtime of 300 minutes

Released on Jul. 5, 2011

Click here to order the DVD

UFC 129 fight card–

Prelims-

Yves Jabouin vs. Pablo Garza

John Makdessi vs. Kyle Watson

Jason MacDonald vs. Ryan Jensen

Ivan Menjivar vs. Charlie Valencia

Claude Patrick vs. Daniel Roberts

Sean Pierson vs. Jake Ellenberger

Nate Diaz vs. Rory MacDonald

Main show–

Mark Bocek vs. Ben Henderson

Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Jason Brilz

Randy Couture vs. Lyoto Machida

Featherweight Championship bout: José Aldo (c) vs. Mark Hominick

Welterweight Championship bout: Georges St-Pierre (c) vs. Jake Shields

Brock Lesnar Death Clutch book review

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Manhandling Frank Mir “like a bitch,” overcoming student hardships to win an NCAA title, and not letting Vince McMahon treat him like “a low-life jerk-off,” are reasons why Brock Lesnar is the Baddest Dude on the Planet.

For the first and perhaps only time, Lesnar opens up with Paul Heyman co-writing on his personal life in his memoirs Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival.

Lesnar explains how it was tough growing up poor on a farm in South Dakota. Lesnar dispels the rumours that he grew up with a silver spoon in his mouth, however credits his parents a lot for helping him early in life. Lesnar explains how he changed from a scrawny kid to a larger than life heavyweight in his college days.

Following his spectacular double overtime victory for the NCAA Heavyweight Championship in amateur wrestling, WWE talent scout Gerald Brisco saw Lesnar and signed him to the biggest WWE development deal of all-time, or at least from what they told him. After telling the WWE that “If you want me to get better, then you need to put me in the ring with better people!” WWE brought Lesnar to the main roster where he went on a path of destruction with Heyman.

The difficult road schedule and the politics of the WWE environment eventually started to wear down “The Next Big Thing.” Lesnar admits to drinking a bottle of vodka a day and taking a couple hundred pills of Vicodin became his only way to numb the pain he was going through, especially after he got a concussion from the Shooting Star Press at WrestleMania 19. Lesnar openly says that WWE pushed him to do the move even though he thought it was a dumb idea.

Lesnar did not want to become like Curt Hennig or Ric Flair, he wanted out and he wanted to move on. A major motorcycle accident stopped him from going further in his NFL career, but after a bitter contract dispute with WWE, Lesnar jumped the barricade at an Ultimate Fighting Championship event and got Dana White’s attention. Right away Lesnar said he wanted to face the best and he got to face the best. To those tradition MMA fans that believe he got a title shot too quickly he says, “Screw them.”

A lot of stories especially when it comes wrestling are not mentioned because Lesnar cannot remember thanks to all the drug and alcohol abuse he went through. While Lesnar is brief with a lot of his stories, fans still get an honest and aggressive opinion from the former UFC Heavyweight Champion. Bullying around the Big Show, questioning the honesty of The Rock and Kurt Angle, and criticizing Vince McMahon for the way he treats his superstars. Wrestling fans get more than enough shocking and bunt opinions from Lesnar.

Haters of Lesnar will only look at this book and find they were always right about how he was born with a wicked spirit. Lesnar sums himself up quite nicely though, “You can call it ego, or cockiness, or arrogance, or anything else you want, but I’m used to being in control. Some people were meant to lead, others were meant to follow. I was born to take charge. It’s not only what I do, it’s who I am.”

Death Clutch: My Story of Determination, Domination, and Survival

By Brock Lesnar with Paul Heyman

HarperCollins Canada

224 pp.