“… I have to go out there and keep him from fighting his fight, but I don’t have a clue what’s really going to happen. I think I do better in anything I do when I’m really not sure what’s around the next corner. I just kind of go off and explore on my own…. I’m going to get in there and figure it out as we go. I don’t have a clue if I’ll win. I just know it’s fun again.”
Eccentric former middleweight champion, Evan Tanner, talks about his latest adventure that is set to take place inside the Octagon against Yushin Okami at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” this Saturday, March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. He hasn’t competed in a professional mixed martial arts bout in more than two years and will be up against one of the top contenders in the 185-pound category right out of the gate. Interesting definition of fun … can’t wait. To check out his physical transformation click here.
Submissions via email and in the comments section of the main contest post, which can be viewed here, will all need to be received prior to this deadline or will not be considered.
In addition, if you haven’t done so already go create a BetUS.com account RIGHT NOW because without one you can’t enjoy the more than $700 in prizes.
BetUS.com is the primary sponsor for the contest and is giving away lots of FREE cash. In addition, those who sign up now — even if you don’t win the “Motivator” contest — will receive a complimentary $75 FREE play in their accounts.
Pretty sweet deal, considering the pay-per-view (PPV) event this weekend has some intriguing betting options. For more on that click here.
The submissions this far have been, for the most part, creative and at times downright hilarious.
It’s going to be a tough one to call. Comments in this post are turned off. For all the details head over to the original contest post right here.
For all you nerds who like trivia, flexing your brain, and shit, head over to FightMetric to do it up MMA style. The quiz sports questions to test how much you really know about MMA - specifically how fights end. I got 8 out of 10 correct and I would’ve scored better had I not popped open the bottle of tequila at noon. The questions/answers are pulled from FightMetric’s extensive database of fight endings from both major and minor organizations.
We’ve spent our share of hours checking out FM’s number crunching on everything that happens in a fight such as strikes thrown and landed, types of punches, kicks, positions, time spent on the ground, etc. Their reports are pretty in-depth and they arrive at their data via some Einstein-esque equations. Don’t believe me? Here are two formulas they use to get their figures (actually taken from the site):
Believe it or not, but there’s more to this weekend in Columbus, Ohio, than just UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” and The Arnold EXPO 2008.
Both major events also coincide with the “Night to Remember” that benefits the Ray Mendoza Leadership Fund — an initiative that provides a yearly monetary gift/award to an Ohio family that has suffered from the loss of a loved one in armed combat overseas.
Mendoza — a former Ohio State wrestling Big 10 medalist and heavyweight runner-up for the Buckeyes at the Big 10 Wrestling Championships in 1993 — was killed in northern Iraq in November 2005 as a member of the United States Marines.
He was a roommate and teammate of former UFC champions Mark Coleman and Kevin Randleman while at Ohio State, helping “The Hammer” train for the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain.
Adam Wagner from MMAmania.com recently caught up with Coleman, who had this to say about the benefit:
“Ray was good buddy of mine, my training partner for the Olympics. He died in the Marines serving our country and the foundation was created to honor his memory. It helps families in the area who share similar unfortunate circumstances. I’m supporting it 100 percent. It’s a great cause.”
The Mendoza Fund will also be the primary funding source for the Ray Mendoza Leadership Institute at the John Glenn School for Public Affairs at The Ohio State University.
This Thursday, February 28, 2008, the celebration will kickoff with a networking event at Ray Mendoza Leadership Institute at The Ohio State University – Page Hall on campus.
MMA Authentics-sponsored fighters, including Coleman, Randleman, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, Roger Huerta, Sam Stout, Mark Homonick, Chris Horodecki, Dan Henderson and Diego Sanchez are all expected to be in attendance alongside other dignitaries.
On Friday, February 29, 2008, the “Night to Remember Event” will take place at the Park Street Patio & Sugar Bar (in the same area as Nationwide Arena) from 6:00 to 10:30 p.m. NFL legends such as Eddie George and Chris Spielman will be on hand during a celebrity meet and greet alongside a mix of MMA stars and other notable guests.
UFC ringside announcer, Mike Goldberg, will emcee the event, which costs just $100 to attend. All monies raised go toward the Ray Mendoza Leadership Fund.
For more information on events and interview opportunities contact Michael DiSabato at 614-783-7391 or Randy Haffey at 614-975-1363.
Cage Fighter / MMA Authentics, which has supported established and up-and-coming fighters in the sport of MMA since its inception, is responsible for the festivities. In fact, the company was perhaps the first that went directly to the large retailers to carry its clothing lines and can now be found in some of the biggest chain stores in the United States.
MMA Junkie is reporting that ProElite - the parent company of EliteXC - is set to announce a partnership with CBS to air their events. An agreement has apparently been approved between both parties.
The EliteXC airs on Showtime under EliteXC and ShowXC. As we already stated, EliteXC and Kimbo has had at least something to do with Showtime’s recent spike in subscribers. Showtime is cheaper than dishing out for UFC pay-per-view events every month and you get to see tasteful adults films late at night as a bonus. This rumor is easy to buy into because CBS owns Showtime and has certainly recognized the channel’s cross-over potential to network television - “Dexter” airing on CBS being a recent example. EliteXC: “Street Certified” pulled in a sold-out crowd and pulled in over 500,000 viewers to Showtime. Sure, Kimbo was a major part of that, but other EliteXC shows will reap residuals from him being in their fold. Network execs know that larger-than-life sports personalities draw ratings, so naturally they’d want to be in the Kimbo business.
And with Dana White ruining every chance of getting the UFC on network television - CBS was once the frontrunner to air UFC events - networks have started seeking other organizations to sign up. CBS and EliteXC is by far the marriage with the least hoops to jump through, so we could get this announcement very soon. The events would be broadcast live in prime-time and probably every month.
This could be a very large step and do for MMA what network TV has done for Arena Football…okay, bad example, but you get what I’m saying about the exposure. And I know I probably don’t even have to mention it, but “What Would Kimbo Do?” would be natural fit for CBS’s Saturday morning kid’s programming. Story line ideas now being accepted.
— Matt Lindland let it slip to MMA Weekly that he’s just signed a contract with a new fight promotion that will pay him more for his first fight than he made in his entire UFC career combined. He will be fighting only as a middleweight, and his first match is slated for June. Though Lindland wasn’t at liberty to discuss who’s behind the shadowy promotion, word is that Affliction is a primary partner in the deal, and another partner may be Oscar De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions. If you’ll recall, an earlier report suggested that the UFC had banned Affliction from sponsoring its fighters due to the fighting league it had in the works. Lindland — who has always sort of reminded us of Woogie Woganowski — hasn’t fought since his loss to Fedor Emelianenko via armbar at BodogFight: Clash of the Nations in April.
— Fightlinker found an image from a YAMMA ad that may reveal the design of their mysterious pit. If those are iron bars lining the cage, this thing is going to be run out of town faster than you can say “Meyrowitz.”
Good God, this guy has the best haymaker we’ve seen since Clubber Lang. Who knows if the Cro Cop fight will actually come together, but we’d love to see it. Check out Mo throwing bombs during his K-1 kickboxing career. Could his power-punches trump Mirko’s head-kick? We say: Maybe!
“… if you’ve ever watched any of my fights and compare those to [Alessio Sakara’s] fights you can see when the goings get tough, no matter what, win lose or draw I always bring the fight…. I think [the reason I’m on television and Josh Koscheck and Diego Sanchez are not because] it’s that probably that those guys are both great fighters but … pretty much every one of my fights is exciting so its not a crap shoot when you are putting me against Sakara whether or not that fight’s gonna be exciting.”
– Chris Leben explains the reason he thinks his middleweight bout against Alessio Sakara at UFC 82: “Pride of a Champion” on March 1 at the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio, is guaranteed to make the pay-per-view (PPV) telecast in an interview with InsideFighting.com. Other notables such as Josh Koscheck, Diego Sanchez and Andrei Arlovski have their bouts relegated to the non-televised preliminaries.
The love/hate relationship between Joe Riggs and his agent Ken Pavia is a matter of public record. In fact, Pavia has enough admiration for Joe Diesel that he has no problem blowing up the dude’s spot once in a while, as in his latest column for MMA Junkie. Though this story about Riggs’s run-in with a paraplegic grappler isn’t quite on the level of the Ricco Rodriguez car-accident switcheroo, it’s still pretty amazing. Check it:
[Nick] is a son of a bitch who is 200 lbs. of super-human upper-body strength and walks on his hands because he has no legs, literally…The first time Pat Miletich [told Riggs] to roll with him he thought it was a joke. Diesel playfully obliged and got into his guard. Nick proceeded to clap his stubs, which end mid-thigh, into Joe’s jugular vein and twist his arm off. He said his neck was sore for two weeks as a result. Joe said he got pissed and cursed at him. He said, “Let’s go again.” This time Nick grabbed him in a leg lock and was so strong that Joe was forced to tap again. But Nick, who apparently didn’t like to be cursed at, said “not yet Joe” and torqued it further. That kind of stuff doesn’t go ever well among fighters.
Now, Joe was really heated and demanded to try again. Well, he lasted a little longer — like a minute — before it was tap No. 3…Diesel was so upset that he stormed off to the locker room and showered up. In came Nick walking on his hands and Joe, in an act of retribution, proceeded to pee on the shower floor.
Nick then forced Joe to shampoo his hair for him. No, not really, but I like the visual.
By the way, Riggs is pain-free after undergoing a procedure yesterday to freeze three nerves in his lower back that were pinched by an out-of-place disc suffered in his fight with Cory Devela, and wants to get back in the cage as soon as possible. As Riggs told Pavia: “Make sure Devela doesn’t fight anyone else. I don’t want him exposed before I smash him.”
— Appears Cro Cop will be facing Siala “Mighty Mo” Siliga at Dream 1. No official announcement yet, but one could be coming soon. Mighty Mo fights out of Southern California and is 3-0. His two fights last year were in K-1 against Warpath Villareal and Min Soo Kim - and their 16-20-3 combined records. Mo hasn’t really been tested in his career and Cro Cop is certainly going to be ready to put on a show in his new home.
— TAGG Radio had IFL lightweight John Gunderson on yesterday. Gunderson is facing IFL champ Ryan “The Lion” Schultz on Friday and is repping The Lion’s Den. However, Gunderson recently jumped over to Xtreme Couture and he’s banking on that move to help him defeat Schultz.
“For me it’s a night-and-day difference between the training that I’ve had before,” Gunderson said of his move to Xtreme Couture. “There isn’t a day gone by that I haven’t been tapped out or got rocked a little bit. And I don’t really ever remember that happening in Reno, Nev.”
“In two to three weeks, I’m not going to show a dramatic or drastic change in my skill level,” Gunderson said. “I’m no fool, but I think within six months, I’m going to be able to show a lot better skill level… I’ve got so many great training partners, and we’ve got some good coaches there, too. I love the opportunity, and I love the gym.”
Ryan Schultz has won four in a row and picked up the IFL lightweight title when he handed Chris Horodecki his first loss back in December. Gunderson is 2-2 in the IFL and lost his last fight - to Wagnney Fabiano in November. (more…)
MMAmania.com’s 
