ronnie kray

most of those fights did not turn out how i expected. i didn't expect Rampage to KO Silva in such a devastating fashion. and i didn't expect Frank Mir to beat Nog either. i like both of those guys, so i felt bad for Nog, and happy for Mir. Mir has had to come back from alot to get to the top again. so it's great to see him win against all odds. i had a feeling Rashad was going to win. so i got 1 out of 3 correct. so all the underdogs won, and 2 new champions were crowned. good night of fights overall. now Frank Mir will meet Brock Lesnar for the undisputed heavyweight title. i hope Mir subs him quick, just like the first time.

the weigh ins, with a slight altercation between Wanderlie Silva and Rampage Jackson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwUQIZjxY_k the fights are on tomorrow!

^i edited my last post with a video that hasn't been yanked yet. the Minotauro vs Mir fight is interesting to me. i'm a fan of both so it's hard for me to pick. but overall, i think Minotauro has too much experience and will end up winning. something about Rashad Evans is telling me he can pull off a win against Forrest Griffin. Silva vs Jackson seems a bit unnecessary at this point. and i'm looking forward to seeing Cheick Kongo and Yushin Okami back in action. fights less than a week away, looking forward to it!

UFC 92: Ultimate 2008 Sat Dec 27th 2008 Forrest Griffin vs Rashad Evans Minotauro Nogueira vs Frank Mir Wanderlie Silva vs Rampage Jackson Cheick Kongo vs Mustafa Al-Turk Yushin Okami vs Dean Lister Matt Hamill vs Reese Andy

just google this, looks pretty good. thanks for the heads up. gonna try to find a few episodes.

Mac Danzig vs Josh Neer "Mac Danzig is ready to get back to work. He will face Josh Neer at UFC Fight Night 17 on Feb. 7 at the Palms in Las Vegas." "Danzig made the announcement via his MySpace page on Sunday."

well as you all know by now, the above event was postponed. it seems to be back on track and scheduled for Jan 24th. http://c2.ac-images.myspacecdn.com/images02/42/l_df57956b87c3423f8e682f971b125655.jpg Day Of Reckoning Matt Lindland vs Vitor Belfort Josh Barnett vs Gilber Yvel Vladimir Matyushenko vs Antonio Rogerio Nogueira Fedor Emilianenko vs Andrei Arlovski normally the odds would be heavlily against anyone fighting Fedor. i would say his is still the favorite, but with Fedor's recent loss in World Combat Sambo Championship, his fight against Andrei Arlovski just got a bit more interesting.

Fedor has been ranked #1 for so long, you have to wonder if this loss will affect him mentally in his next MMA fight. perhaps it will also give his opponent a boost of confidence as well.

*UPDATE* John Fitch back in the UFC 24 hours after he was cut from the contract by Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta managed to come to an agreement with all AKA fighters to keep them in the UFC. seems the main problem was "Fitch did not appreciate what he viewed as White’s “strong-arm tactics.” after seeing Dana's profanity filled interview with yahoo, it looks like the Fertittas went into damage control. everyone was blowing up msg boards talking about how crazy White was acting and how ridiculous it was to let Fitch and all of AKA go. thru it all, AKA remained professional while Dana reacted like a jerk. as one blogger put it, "he was a cross between a cut throat business man and a immature whiny hissy fit". so to put it mildly, Dana does not have the best public image right now.

your right about one thing. lesnar is not the one to blame for Fedor not being signed. it's more to do with Dana White. the contract stipulations they offered Fedor were ridiculous. exclusive lifetime rights to name, image, likeness, marketing, etc. "the UFC presented the nearly unblemished Pride heavyweight champion with a stringent, binding contract –- one that pledged his exclusivity to their organization and even prevented him from competing in sambo, which Emelianenko is a national spokesman for in his homeland.“Many of the terms were oppressive and there really wasn’t any negotiation... It was a ‘take it or leave it.’ " "Fedor is the face of Combat Sambo in Russia. His popularity is at a level where he is acquainted with President Putin himself. Fedor would like to represent Russia in Combat Sambo at the world championships, as he has done for several times before. " Fedor also didn't seem to like Dana White referring to his managers as "crazy Russians" when they attempt any kind of negotiations. i'm sure Fedor is getting paid less at Affliction, but that just shows it's not all about the money for him. there are just as many top 10 heavyweights outside the UFC he could fight. he just really wanted a fight with Randy Couture. that's what brought him to the negotiating table in the first place. "we'll prefer to fight for less money but with an organization which is more flexible". Couture still has 1 fight left on his contract with UFC. and we've already seen what happens when he tried to negotiate with Dana White, so Randy isn't going anywhere. interesting to hear that UFC just cut John Fitch from his contract for refusing to sign a lifetime exclusive contract for his likeness to be used in a video game. and Fitch was actually willing to negotiate a 5 or 10 year contract, but UFC said no, must be lifetime. in addition to that, Dana said he would not even do business with American Kickboxing Academy any longer, based on Fitch's refusal to sign the contract. AKA is home to other UFC fighters like Josh Koscheck and Cain Velasquez. John Fitch said "it’s pretty incredible that they’d go to those lengths for something like this, over a video game.” and White's response:“I’m just so [expletive] sick of this [expletive] it’s not even funny... Affliction is still out there trying to build its company. Let [Fitch] go work with them. Let him see what he thinks of those [expletives]. [Expletive] him. These guys aren’t partners with us. [Expletive] them. All of them, every last [expletive] one of them. there's not much negotiating with this guy. he seems to be running UFC like a dictator. P.S. sorry i leave such long comments every time i post.

just as i suspected, after Randy's loss, it's slowly being acknowledged that the dream fight between him and Fedor Emilianenko may never happen. it's a shame that these two legends who wanted to fight each other so badly will never meet. it's the fight that Randy wanted, it's the fight that Fedor wanted, and it's the fight the fans wanted. but all that was brushed aside so brock lesnar can have his moment in the spotlight, and bring in big $$$ in pay per view buys. Emelianenko has certainly resigned himself to the fact that a fight with Couture may never happen... “Nothing is ever certain,” Emelianenko said. “This is something that the managers and the organizers need to resolve. But I understand that in all likelihood if Randy stays with the UFC, that the chances of us fighting are much less, and hopefully our fans will be able to overcome that...” Source: MMA Weekly

lesnar doesn't have it easy with either fighter. Frank Mir beat lesnar already. this was less than a year ago, so i don't think brock has gotten that much better in the 8 months since he lost to Mir. he hasn't had to deal with much submission attempts in his 2 fights since. and Nogueira is one of the top ground guys in the world, a submission magician. Nog has also faced competition the size (even bigger) than lesnar. check the fight he had against 6' 4" 350 lb Bob Sapp or 6' 11' 280 lb Semmy Schilt. so hopefully lesnar will lose and have to go back to working his way up the ladder, like every other fighter has to do it. sorry to make it so obvious i don't like lesnar. i just can't stand the special treatment he has received. and i hate the fact that his celerity status gave him a title shot other more deserving fighters have been bleeding to try to get to for years.

well the worst has happened. this is wrong on so many levels. but brock lesnar is the heavyweight champ *ugh* (just threw up in my mouth a little) don't get me wrong. he clearly won the fight. the ref gave Randy plenty of time to recover and defend himself, and he just couldn't do it. i'm not gonna make excuses. i just hate the way the whole thing was handled. this is Dana's wet dream. he could not wipe the smile on his face putting that belt on lesnar. imagine the money all the wwe fanboys are gonna bring in now that lesnar is the champ. Randy knows he doesn't have much time left. and after what he's done in his career, he deserves to go out fighting the best. at least let Randy fight a top 10 guy! instead, took their hall of famer and they fed him to this celebrity circus freak rookie, in the name of the big money. i understand capitalism, but you gotta have some sort business with ethics. is that such an oxymoron these days? and though lesnar beat couture, at least to me, it still doesn't feel like he earned it. it feels like he sort of bribed his way to it using his fame. he never had to face a top 10 opponent, and he gets paid way more than the other top 10 fighters. all because he is a star... just shameful the ufc would even allow this fight to take place. but that's business isn't it. i better cut myself off now, because this rant could take up the whole page. the rest of the fights were pretty good. Maia again submits his opponent. Gonzaga looked very impressive again. and Kenny Florian shows he should be the obvious next choice for a title shot at lightweight. best of all, the BJ Penn vs GSP rematch was made official! now that is an epic fight! and i hope they promote it as much as they did this one.

i tend to go off on a rant sometimes, and i apologize if i sound obnoxious. but i gotta say one more thing. i am tired of how the UFC keeping referring to this fight as "the biggest fight in the history". what a crock! maybe biggest for them, because it will make them more money than any other pay per view. but for the fans? please... Randy vs Minotauro is much more interesting and exciting to me. GSP vs Matt Hughes II was way more intriguing. i am way more excited for the pending BJ Penn vs GSP rematch coming up in jan. not too mention the fights outside the UFC, like Fedor vs Josh Barnett or Andre Arlovski. and as far as new fighters, Brock Lesnar is not that impressive and not much to get hyped over. i am much more excited about the UFC bringing in Dennis Kang, Eddie Alvarez, Jake Shields, KJ Noons, and Robbie Lawler. you know, fighters who actually have MMA experience. and the real biggest fight they could (and should) have put together would have been Randy Couture vs Fedor Emilianenko, that's what the fans really want to see, and the fight Randy wants more than anything (imagine hoping for Fedor, but having to settle for Brock ). but it's not about what the fans want or what the fighters want, it's about what will make the most money. that's another reason i hope Randy wins. because Randy doesn't very many more fights left in him. if by chance Randy loses, that fight is much less likely to happen. dana white would use Randy's loss as an excuse to not even attempt a future fight with Fedor. and that, again, would be a travesty.

in an ideal world, the most talented fighters would be the ones who get paid the most. but we don't live in that world. i don't blame Randy for wanted to leave. he wasn't the only one. Tim Sylvia, Andrei Arlovski, (who of course, left the UFC, just like Randy wanted to) and many others both were puzzled how a rookie with only 1 professional fight was going to get a contract and paid 2 or 3 times more than the champions and veterans of the sport. what i would like to see is brock work his way up, just like everyone else in the top 10 has to do it. any other fighter in his position would still be fighting in regional promotions for christ sake. so let him fight a few top 10 fighters. let him fight Gonzaga and Werdum. if he's successful, then give him a shot at the title. i would respect him more if he did it that way. that, and if he remembers he's not in WWE anymore and stop acting like a douche in interviews. brock does have a chance of winning tomorrow. for me that's irrelevant. Mike Tyson probably had the ability to beat the champion the day he went pro. but he he had to work his way up and beat all the other contenders. he fought 27 people before he earned his shot at the title. from the business side, it makes sense. you want to make as much money as possible, so you sign a celebrity who bring in all his fans from his WWE days. you paying him so much, so you want to make your money back. put him up against an aging champ, hopefully he wins and the celebrity is now the champ. so i can understand the business of the sport. i just don't agree with it. the special treatment he is getting make me a little sick. it's the same mentality has plastic popstars making millions while more talented earnest musicians struggle in obscurity. it's the same mentality that has vanilla ice making more money than bob dylan. if brock wins tomorrow, that would be the real travesty. wow... that was a long rant... sorry. :- /

website is up for UFC 91: The Travesty well everyone knows how i feel about the main event. but i am actually looking forward to the rest of the card, seeing Demian Meia, Amir Sadollah, Gabriel Gonzaga, and Kenny Florian back in action.

ELITEXC CLOSING UP SHOP "EliteXC’s remaining show scheduled for Nov. 8 in Reno, Nevada has been canceled.... notifications had been sent out on Monday informing managers that the company was ceasing its fight promotion operations by the end of this week and it had begun the process of letting its employees go. The company had accrued over $55 million in debt in its twenty-four months of operations. Though its third CBS-televised offering, Oct. 4’s “Heat,” was looked at as a ratings success by EliteXC and CBS executives, the company's financial position had become untenable in recent months." what a shame. though it was not the best show in town, it did have some very talented top 10 fighters who now don't have a place to fight. if nothing else, they did provided those guys a place to fight and expose MMA to a new audience. i wonder what will happen to those fighters now. certainly hope Jake Shields and Eddie Alvarez get picked up by UFC. maybe KJ Noons and Robbie Lawler too. UFC does not have a women's division, so i guess we may not see Gina Carano vs Cristi Cyborg for a while.

yeah i am very close to not watching this season anymore. i just saw a preview of the next episode where junie fights. he spits on the ground and pushes his opponent at the standoff. honestly, the only reason i may watch is because i'm hoping to see him lose. he has already gotten away with too much.

some fights coming up this weekend. not the biggest line up, but could be interesting. and hey it's free! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6Q1TYhJJy4

somehow junie managed to stay on the show and not get kicked out. i don't understand why. he has managed to alienate everyone in the house and his coach too. but he will have to fight next week, we'll see how that goes. while i liked him at first, now i am hoping he gets tapped out quick.

well i don't know if anyone saw this last episode. i have read about it and seen clips of the chaos that happened on this episode. SPOILER ALERT BELOW! Junie is out of control! everyone was sure he was going to get kicked out of the house. somehow Dana decided to let him stay. i don't understand why, the guy has already swung at people and even cut someone with broken glass. people have gotten kicked out for much less than that. he clearly has problems and needs help. best thing for him would be to get him out of the show and into therapy. and at the end of this show, apparently he jumps over the octagon fence and attacks the guy who just won. this guys is has got to go. he's gonna get himself or others hurt. the only reason he is staying i guess, if for the ratings he's bringing in. makes for good "reality" tv.

cool pics! new website is up to promote the next events. seems to be for both UFC 89 and UFC 90. pretty nice website.

oh... there were some other fights that night. for me, Benji Radach KO Ninja Rua was an upset. i really thought Rua would take this one. but props to Benji. and it was a really good fight with both fighters coming out to bang. at one point in the 1st round, they nearly had a double KO, when they both landed solid shots and dropped at the same time. Jake Shields! Daley did look better in the stand up, but Shield's BJJ was just too good. classic, patient, and bam, there's the armbar. still impressed by him. Gina Carano looked much better than i expected. i heard she was very worn out from the cutting weight process. wonder how she will do against Cyborg, she seems to be the next challenger for her. great seeing a top 10 heavyweight like Andrei Arlovski in action again. turned out as i expected. and what was with all those Fedor commercials? somethings gonna get announced soon.

hey, we are already discussing this over here. no matter. thanks for that video. we couldn't believe the last minute drama going on . a last minute injury for Shamrock and the doctors wouldn't clear him for the fight. when i heard Seth Petruzzeli was the replacement, i knew he could win the fight. he is in a lower weight class, Kimbo was about 30 lbs. heavier than him. Kimbo also had a height and reach advantage, so i guess they thought it was safe to put Seth in a fight with him. but i knew he was more experienced and has faced tougher opponents, so he would not buy into the hype machine and would not be intimidated by Kimbo. and we all saw what happened. it'll be interesting to see what they do now. do they keep hyping Kimbo, or turn to hyping Seth? or do they just focus on Gina Carano. or do they try to get a new cash cow in Tito Ortiz? he mentioned he was pretty close to signing a deal with them soon.

DRAMA AT THE WEIGH INS! Gina Carano had trouble making weight. she had to strip naked to make it. no, we didn't get to see any nudity. there were towels. it's funny to see the guy behind her. when she missed weight the first time, he was like "umm... all those heavy clothes are weighing you down. maybe you should take off your clothes." Jake Shields and Paul Daley had to be separated after exchanging words, Kimbo Slice and Ken Shamrock got into a shoving match. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGw8HrNmJiw