Kimbo: Why are we surprised?

Heading into his bout with Ken Shamrock, Kimbo was on track to score another win over a paper opponent with an even more paper like chin. Beating Ken Shamrock was supposed to help pad Kimbo's record and help his reputation as a KO artist.

If you watched the event put on by Elite XC, you now that did not happen. 6 seconds into the fight, Seth Petruzelli put Kimbo on the mat with a stiff right jab, (yes, jab) and then pounded him out for another 8 seconds before the referee stepped in to save the "Internet Sensation."

There are many casual fans out there who are now scratching their collective heads, wondering how the incomparable Kimbo could lose. To those individuals I say, "How can you possibly be surprised?" For one, it was inevitable. Everyone loses! Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, and BJ Penn all lost. With that being said, Kimbo Slice is no Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, or BJ Penn. Second point, when Shamrock fell off the card and was replaced by Petruzelli, Kimbo actually got a legit opponent. With that being said, the possibility of Kimbo losing increased significantly. And in what was to be expected, Kimbo was exposed for what he is, a novice MMA fighter with 3 wins against weak competition (Sorry Pride fans, James Thompson is not a legit fighter).

I will not go as far as some "journalists" who say that Kimbo is not a legit MMA fighter. The guy goes out there and fights and is trained by Bas Rutten. Being trained by Bas gives legitimacy to just about anybody. Kimbo also seems to be fairly down to earth and has no delusions about where he is at in the sport in terms of ability. All in all, Kimbo seems to be a decent guy that works hard to be better. Unfortunately, the business of Kimbo Slice is a lucrative one, and we fans in the know must have him shoved down our throats as the new phenom on the block. It's a sad day when a 3-1 novice can out draw a man who arguably has never lost legitimately against top competition in Fedor Emelianenko.

-R

Goodbye, Evan.

The world lost a unique and inspiring individual last week when it was reported that Evan Tanner had died of heat exhaustion on a camping trip in the desert recently. Evan Tanner inspired me so much as a martial artist. A true self made athlete that found success based on his own hard work more than anything else. There is not much more I can say that has not already been said about Evan, so I'll just end by saying that Evan seemed to be a stand up guy who through raw determination succeeded where he should have failed. I will always be inspired by Evan's accomplishments and will respect him and his memory for as long as I am around. Rest well Evan.

-R

Quinton Jackson Needs to Get His Act Together

Any serious MMA fan knows that Quinton Jackson has had some serious problems over the last month or so. Between dropping his light heavyweight title to Forrest Griffin and then going on a hit and run spree that saw abundant damage to private and public property, Jackson is not in the best spot professionally or personally.

With all that being said, "Rampage" has seemingly decided that his behavior was not only acceptable, but also that he was not at fault for it. As of 8/26/08, Jackson was formally charged for 4 felonies and 2 misdemeanors. Since then he has plead not guilty on all counts, citing starvation, sleep deprivation, and energy drinks as the cause of his reckless behavior.

That is outright ridiculous. Even if he did commit all the charges due to those reasons, they were all things he had control over. If you're hungry, you eat. If you're tired, you sleep. DON'T DRINK ENERGY DRINKS!! I was dogged in my support for Jackson after the incident initially happened. After seeing his behavior and the behavior of Dana White, which Jackson clearly condones, not so much anymore. Jackson has gone as far as going on the record saying that he was abused by the arresting officers who apprehended him and lost feeling in his wrists for 3 weeks due to the police officers putting his cuffs on too tight. While I do not condone poor behavior on the part of law enforcement, Jackson appears to be peddling a sob story so as to appear faultless for his actions.

Instead of behaving like a 10 year old getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Jackson needs to make a public apology for his actions and own up to the fact that he made a mistake. The public is very forgiving should one seek forgiveness. Look at Martha Stewart. The woman is a criminal who spent time in jail and now is more popular than ever. I am not saying that Quinton Jackson should be jailed, but some kind of apologetic attitude would go far in repairing his reputation. At this point, he comes off as an athlete who is trying to get his way, and just may because he is famous. In this blogger's opinion, Rampage should be putting shiners on his opponents, not on the sport of MMA.

-R

Fight of the year to this point. July 2008

2008 has already been a great year for mixed martial arts and the matches we have seen thus far have been pretty damn good as well. There are several fights that come to mind when I think of fight of the year to this point. Such as:

Torres v Maeda at 135 lbs
Forrest v Rampage @ 205
Hansen v Alvarez @ 155
Kawajiri v Alvarez @ 155
Arlovski v Rothwell @ HW was an excellent fight for HW

For my money though, fight of the year to this point would have to be Cung le vs Frank Shamrock for the Strikeforce Middleweight Title. It was just one of those fights that had the drama behind it that makes certain fights really compelling. Appealing factors for the fight were more than apparent. Factors such as Le and Shamrock having trained together in the past, both are very popular in San Jose, Le, the underdog, won the fight, and a rematch is more than likely. The fight itself was no less fun to watch. Drama was a plenty as each fighter gained and lost the advantage in the match. The only drawback to the fight was that it ended indecisively, as Shamrock could not continue due to a broken arm he suffered at the feet of Cung Le. It is certainly disputable what fight is the best so far, but from my perspective, Le vs Shamrock still holds up.

-R

Rampage.....

If you have not yet heard about it, Quentin Jackson recently had a run in with the law, and I don't mean Matt Lindland. Jackson recently went and committed a hit and run in his truck. He hit a car and then went on to hit 2 more cars after blowing out his tire and driving on a wheel. He was again arrested after some friends reported he was acting very strange and should be taken in so he was not a danger to himself or others.

I am not really sure what has happened to Quentin, but I wish him the best and a speedy recovery with whatever he is going through. He is currently still being mentally evaluated and no one is sure when he'll be out and healthy again. I don't really know what lead up to this strange circumstance for Rampage, but reports have come in from different sources saying that he was on a weird fasting routine where he was not eating for 4 days and was only drinking water and energy drinks and other people were saying that he was complaining about being too fat. No one knows if this stems from his loss to Forrest Griffin recently. Although I doubt that to be the case.

In any case, I don't feel any ill will towards Rampage for his actions as I don't think he has been in his right mind for the duration of these issues. I am glad he is seeking help and hope that he come through this and gets back to doing what he's good at, fighting in the UFC.

-R

My MMA Top 10 Rankings Explained

The rankings I post on here are based on wins, losses, win streaks, losing streaks, who a fighter defeats, and current & recent wins. Recent activity counts more than overall record because rankings are where a fighter stands now as opposed to an overall look at their career. For example, I am not going to rank Dennis Hallman ahead of Matt Hughes just because Matt got armbarred twice by Hallman 5 years ago. Please let me know what you think. I get that these rankings can be argued, but they are how I see it.

-R

My MMA Top 10 Rankings (Updated 7/21/08)

P4P
1 Anderson Silva
2 George St Pierre
3 Fedor Emelianenko
4 BJ Penn
5 Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
6 Urijah Faber
7 Miguel Torres
8 Forrest Griffin
9 Quentin Jackson
10 Lyoto Machida

HW
1 Fedor
2 Randy
3 Nog
4 Andre Arlovski
5 Josh Barnett
6 Tim Sylvia
7 Fabricio Werdum
8 Gabriel Gonzaga
9 Mirko Cro Cop
10 Alistair Overeem

LHW
1 Forrest Griffin
2 Quentin Jackson
3 Lyoto Machida
4 Chuck Liddell
5 Mauricio Rua
6 Dan Henderson
7 Wanderlei Silva
8 Rashad Evans
9 Rameau Thierry Sokodjou
10 Keith Jardine

MW
1 Anderson Silva
2 Rich Franklin
3 Paulo Filho
4 Yushin Okami
5 Robbie Lawler
6 Thales Leites
7 Nate Marquardt
8 Frank Trigg
9 Yoshihiro Akiyama
10 Patrick Cote

WW
1 GSP
2 Jon Fitch
3 Josh Koscheck
4 Diego Sanchez
5 Thiago Alves
6 Matt Serra
7 Matt Hughes
8 Karo Parysian
9 Jake Shields
10 Carlos Condit

LW
1 BJ Penn
2 Takanori Gomi
3 Eddie Alvarez
4 Joachim Hansen
5 Shinya Aoki
6 JZ Calvancante
7 Josh Thomson
8 Gilbert Melendez
9 Sean Sherk
10 Tatsuya Kawajiri