Trev

I think Mac forgot his heart somewhere... he just didn't look like he wanted to be there. He got pulled into Neer's game, gave in to the taunting and didn't fight his own fight. Getting caught in that triangle just doesn't seem very Mac Danzig. And he gave way too much respect to Neer at the end of the fight. Hilary is right -he showed no aggression, didn't go after it at all. He circled out and countered, which plays right into Neer's game, because he just moves in and takes it all on the chin without giving a $%^&*. Maybe it's me, but Mac's jits didn't look like it has in the past either. Apart from a couple of slick little reversals, it just wasn't there. I think he wasn't there mentally. Maybe it's his training, maybe he needs to change that, or maybe he needs to re-evaluate his career. UFC's 155 is a tough place to hang. Where's the old Mac Danzig? I enjoyed the main event the most - Lauzon did what he had to do to beat a more aggressive fighter with more powerful striking. I hope Mac watched that fight, because that's what he needed to do. Oh well, no disrespect to Danzig.

Yeah I'll second (or third...) that!

All this stuff has left me with a weird feeling about this fight. I don't even care to see a rematch. I think GSP and BJ should both just get on with the fights we really want to see now: GSP vs. Alves and Penn vs. Kenflo. For the record I think there is something to the complaints against GSP's corner, a lot of people noticed it. That said, I don't think it changed the outcome of the fight. But no one really knows at this point. It's a mess.

GSP! I expected a little more out of BJ Penn too - I was especially surprised how easily GSP passed BJ's guard and just dominated him on the ground. Still a good fight. I didn't think BJ was really going to live up the hype, he's a great lightweight, maybe the greatest right now, but 170 is a stretch for him. Thiago Alves will be a better test for GSP for sure (if he can make weight). I was even more surprised how quickly Machida took out Silva. I thought that one was going to be a 3 round evasion game from Machida. That'll help Machida's image a little...though I've always liked his style. The other fights weren't bad - Jon Jones looked great for his experience level and age, there's a future there. I thought Karo was handed that win, it looked to me like the Dong Hyon Kim won that fight. And I'm getting really tired of watching Guida win fights by clinging to guys' backs for 3 rounds. I like his walk-in, I like his energy, but as soon as the fight gets past the first half of the first round...zzzzzzz. Lame. Diaz looked really frustrated. Looking forward to Fightnight next weekend - Mac's back!

RIP Grand Master Helio Definitely a life to celebrate and I'm sure he left at peace with himself and his contribution to the world.

Yeah, I was too. I guess that judge saw Cerrone moving forward all the time, and thought that was worth more than Varner taking him down nearly at will and staying on top of him. Judges are always a little hit and miss. Varner was a bit of a putz in the post-fight interview. I actually enjoyed the other fights on the card more than this one. WEC's best fighters seem to be the 135s and 145s (because there's nowhere else for them to go except Japan...).

Yeah, it was definitely illegal, but unintentional from the look of it. Too bad the fight ended that way, but it would have gone the distance anyway and the outcome would have been the same I think.

GSP!

Anyone here see WEC 38? Jamie Varner vs. Donald Cerrone and Urijah Faber vs. Jens Pulver 2. Was a great show - only one fight made it past the first round. I always enjoy WEC because it's mostly guys around my weight - 135- and 145ers. Plus, Miguel Torres.

I thought the event was okay - it really was all about Fedor vs. Arlovski. There's another one for Fedor's reel. Fedor looked especially relaxed - so relaxed he almost looked hurt right before the KO. That must have been what tricked Arlovski into being confident enough to try a flying knee.

Well, we're back in snowy Vancouver... Had a lot of fun downunder, didn't exercise nearly enough. We found Basil Pizza and Green Palace in Newtown, as well as the vegan store, Vegan's Choice. Met Charles the part owner of Basil Pizza, and had a couple of good chats with him. Basil Pizza has a great weekend vegan breakfast (I think they call that part of the restaurant 'Naked Coffee'). In Brisbane, we tried The Forest in the West End. It was pretty good. There wasn't a whole lot else to choose from. We made most of our own food at home and ate a lot of fruit. Up in Mooloolaba on the sunshine coast there's a Tibetan restaurant called "Spirit of Tibet" that has a bunch of vegan dishes on the menu. Frustratingly, they also serve a lot of animals too. Sorry we couldn't get together in the end, Sydneyvegan. Most of our free time in Sydney was while you were away. At the end of our trip we were super busy with family stuff and driving to the south coast of NSW. Next time! We'll be back downunder, that much is guaranteed. Overall it was a great trip. Now--back into the kickboxing gym!

dude... I'm so inspired. I'm just about to get back into some serious training again-- I should just go raw again and be done with the on/off raw cycle. Bamboo bike is so rad too. I will try harder! Awesome that you're spreadin' the word, especially in Australia... good work!

Well, we're here... wow, Sydney's pretty tough on its vegans! We have found Basil Pizza in Newtown, and we're going to try the weekend breakfast tomorrow morning (Dec.27th). We'll be trying a few of the other Newtown veg spots too. Hasn't been too hard tho--our rels here have been accomodating, esp for christmas lunch. Don't get me wrong--we still love Sydney and are having an awesome time! Oh, and Robert--I forgot my veganbodybuilding shirt! Sorry! Been hitting all the 'exersites' on the beach walks and taking pics.

I haven't been on the forum in 2 months, and I'm wordless.

I agree with you, Ronnie, it is a travesty. UFC is all about marketing (of course, they're a corporation) but I think they pushed this one a little too soon. Lesnar has no pedigree in MMA and has not earned his way to this position. I know there's a perception that the heavyweight category is sparsely populated right now, but I am morally at odds with this fight. I strongly dislike Lesnar. I think he's too conceited and disrespectful to be in the position he's in. Dana doesn't share my disdain, so we're going to have to watch many more Lesnar-fests in the future I guess. UFC needs some more international talents like Alistair Overeem The rest of the card looks alright. Kenflo and Demian Maeia will be two fights to watch. And Leben? There goes the shred of credibility he managed to scrape together over the last year. Disappointing. I wanted to see him get over his demons. This is going to make it harder for him.

I saw Brenda Davis speak at this year's Vancouver Taste of Health. It is nice to see a positive article in the mainstream news media.

It is too bad for all the fighters but it was really just a matter of time. Nothing like this lasts very long on prime time network tv. Ultimately it was a lame presentation of mma - the whole impression EliteXC gave was of a sideshow full of crooked dealings, dubious outcomes (early stoppages, lack of stoppages when there should have been) and distractions (dance routines?!). The promoters forgot what mma is about - the fights. They forced the match-ups, tried to hype up fighters with no pedigree (they banked a lot on Kimbo and that kind of fell on its face). The announcers sucked. The whole package was embarrassing to the mma world. Their 'Heat' show was a media flail-fest. It is really too bad that women's mma doesn't have a significant promotion with EliteXC gone. I hope Affliction, or WEC pick them up, and eventually the UFC. Fight promotion's a tough game at this level. The UFC sets the bar pretty high. With Dream in trouble too (an excellent overseas promotion, basically Pride re-packaged), I wonder if Affliction's days are numbered. That would leave us with the UFC as the only big show in the world. This is all pointing to a settling of the dust in the mma fever that's swept the fighting world. Maybe a good thing though - we need solid organizations, not flaky, fly-by-night circus side shows like EliteXC. Can you tell I wasn't a fan of EliteXC?

They'll let you know what you need to bring to future classes. You probably just need shorts, t-shirt and a towel. They'll tell you what kind of gloves to get (probably 12 or 16oz boxing gloves that they'll sell). A cup is a must when you start sparring, and maybe even for pad work. They'll tell you when to buy all the other stuff. Definitely don't bring an attitude! Go with an open mind. Attitude is just another obstacle to learning and will just get your a$$ kicked when you start sparring. Just be ready to start with the basics. Have a blast!

That seems right in line. What's maybe more important than BMI is body fat to muscle. Bone density has an influence on weight too. A lot of fighters are between 120 and 130 lbs at 5'6". I'm 5'8", 138lbs after an average workout. I would cut to 135 to fight. I'm at BMI 21 right now. BMI is kind of a useless measure for athletes because it doesn't differentiate a strength athlete from an endurance athlete. It doesn't indicate 'health' either. You are near the low end of normal range if that means anything at all to you. And protein-shmotein. Calories are what's important. I stick to about 10% of my calories from protein and work out hard, heal quick, do lots of body conditioning and sparring and have even gained about 2 lbs in muscle over the last 2 weeks (w/ mild weight training).

No worries, Robert! The people working the Vega booth today were pretty excited that we knew you. So excited that the guy threw down his best Cheeke pose for a photo, complete with Vega jar curl bicep flex. They thought very highly of you too. Anyway, it's all over for another year. I have a headache from looking through the camera viewfinder for 3 days but we got some great photos, met some great people, met back up with some people loveliberate hooked us up with when he was here in the summer, ate lots of samples and got the new Vanilla Chai Vega (awesome!!!). Now I've gotta get photoshop-ing!

Yeah we wish you were here too! It was way fun last year... Suz is shooting a lot this year. We're trading the camera back and forth, and the other holds the remote flash and stuff. We have a good system worked out. It's still a good time!

The Earthsave Gala evening is over - was a lot of fun, got some great photos. Best part was meeting Howard Lyman and hearing him speak. I've seen his talks on You Tube, but seeing him in person and hearing his story again was inspiring nonetheless. Robert - I said 'hi' to Howard for you. He had very good things to say about you, I think he's a fan. Two more full days of the event to go - should be awesome!

Seriously? I'll be moving to Vancouver, Montreal or Toronto in January to work in the arts biz, at that might be movies. What do you do? I'm a camera assistant. If you've never worked as crew, give it a second thought. I'm getting out of the biz after 8 years. Enough is enough. There are positives and negatives to the film industry, but you should know what you're getting into. I wish someone had warned me before I had invested my education in it.

I work in the movie biz - this'll be nothin'! It's only 8 or so hours a day - that's like half-days!

hahahahaha .... um ..... really?!?! Maybe not... Earthsave just emailed me their shot list...