The LeBron James of MMA to Get One Last Shot at Glory

When he debuted in the Octagon back in October, 2005, he held chambered in each deadly, decapitating head-kick all the potential in the world.  And it seemed like that potential was being realized with a pair of wins by KO, a submission via guillotine, and a quick and violent mauling of Frank Mir.  But Brandon Vera was a Cleveland Cavalier then, stuck banging his head against a ceiling that would forever prevent him from basking in the warm glow of an NBA championship victory party at Dwyane Wade's sprawling crib.  Then came the announcement that Vera would be headlining UFC on FOX 4 opposite Brazilian hitman Mauricio "Shogun" Rua ? and today's shocker from Dana White, that the winner of the bout gets to face UFC champ Jon Jones next ? and it's as if "The Truth" has turned his back on his beloved home state and beaten a path to Miami.  It's as if Brandon Vera is the MMA equivalent of LeBron James, eschewing Ohio for the Heat, and going where he could very well find that glory that has thus far eluded him.  Well, you know what?  Y'all needs to chill.

The truth about the Truth is that his losses in the cage have come at the hands of top guys (more or less), and they came with "circumstances".  Against former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia, Vera broke his hand in the first round; against jiu-jitsu master Fabricio Werdum, the stoppage was controversial; against UFC legend Randy Couture, it was a slow death via hugging.  Vera has only truly been smashed by one fighter, UFC light-heavyweight king Jones, and at this point, you aren't anyone in the 205-pound weight class until you've been smashed by Jon Jones. 

Even Shogun has been destroyed by the reigning champ ? and when it comes down to it, who else is left for Jones to face?  Plus, the Brazilian stud, though legendary himself for all he's accomplished in both the UFC and in PRIDE FC, has been injured and rebuilt so many times, there's a high probability he could literally fall to pieces if Jones ? or even Vera ? hits him wrong.

So Vera gets his chance, about as worthy and capable as the rest on the UFC's roster.  Just, please, don't begrudge the LeBron James of MMA his shot glory.  Wouldn't you rather live in Miami instead of Ohio?

Follow Jim Genia here for more crazy.  Or don't.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/lebron-james-mma-one-last-shot-glory-220436958--mma.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Kyle Noke Drops to Welterweight to Face Charlie Brenneman at UFC 151

After a recent rough run at middleweight, Kyle Noke is moving to 170 lb. to take on Charlie Brenneman at UFC 151. “The Spaniard” will also be trying to right the ship, as he welcomes Aussie to welterweight. Noke (19-6) began his middleweight run with three consecutive victories, but fell on hard times with back-to [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29689/kyle-noke-drops-to-welterweight-to-face-charlie-brenneman/

Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade  Dean Amasinger 

Skateboarding and Claes Oldenburg


Haveboard posted an article earlier this week about the damage skateboarders have been doing to a newly installed Claes Oldenburg sculpture in Philadelphia. Then I saw Mark Suciu skating Oldenburg's Mistos sculpture in Barcelona and it got me thinking. Oldenburg's sculptures have been skated all over the world. The smooth transitions and grindable edges are hard for us to resist. The bright colors and larger than life every day objects are so photogenic even basic tricks get run in the mags. The idea of skating common objects just like Pickle O'Shawnessey did in those old Transworlds is attractive to all of us who finger boarded our way through church and school.


 Guy Mariano landed a Skateboarder cover on Dropped Bowl With Scattered Pieces And Peels in Miami. Midwestern skate site, Cherry On A Spoon is a reference to Minneapolis's Spoon Bridge And Cherry. I'm sure at least a kickflip fakie has gone down on that thing. There are reports of people skating Cupid's Span in SF. Even with the power of google image search and The Chrome Ball Incident my vague memories of tricks on sculptures hasn't been able to sniff out more examples. Maybe your memory serves you better than mine and you can give me some hints and links to add to this post.


Thanks to Vince from Spohn Ranch for the Image of someone skating Cupid's Span.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/MostlySkateboarding/~3/nDHiTLZsD9k/skateboarding-and-claes-oldenburg.html

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Picture of the day: UFC 152 main eventers dangle off CN Tower in Toronto for face-off

To promote UFC 152, the UFC came up with a creative way to have flyweight title contenders Demetrius Johnson and Joe Benavidez and middleweights Brian Stann and Michael Bisping face off.

Yep, they're just hanging around the Edgewalk of the CN Tower, 1,168 feet in the air.  Notice how Bisping has his feet on the platform but Stann is precariously dangling?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/picture-day-ufc-152-main-eventers-dangle-off-154046243--mma.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Adriano Martins vs. Issac Vallie-Flagg Added to Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy

Former Jungle Fights Lightweight Champion Adriano Martins is Strikeforce bound as he has been slotted in to face Issac Vallie-Flagg at Strikeforce: Melendez vs. Healy, which emanates from Power Balance Pavilion in Sacramento on September 29. Martins (23-6) is currently on a four-fight tear since losing the Jungle Fights Championship to now UFC fighter Francisco “Massaranduba” [...]

MMAFrenzy.com

Source: http://mmafrenzy.com/29661/adriano-martins-vs-issac-vallie-flagg-added-to-strikeforce-melendez-vs-healy/

Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander

Now in the UFC, Ulysses Gomez is sticking with Justin Bieber music

Ulysses Gomez is headed to the UFC, and he's bringing Justin Bieber with him. The veteran fighter, who has posted a 9-2 record while fighting for Bellator and Tachi Palace Fighting, will make his UFC debut at UFC  on Fox 4 against John Moraga. He is known to use a certain walkout song that isn't always popular among MMA fans, and he intends to keep it.

This is a man with the nickname "Useless," so some walkout song hate will not bother him. Justin Bieber has attended UFC shows in the past, so maybe Bieber will be at this show. He'll be so honored by Gomez's choice of music, he'll have to perform a special, impromptu concert just for fight fans. Who DOESN'T want that to happen?* And it will all be because of Gomez.

*Probably nobody wants that to happen.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/now-ufc-ulysses-gomez-sticking-justin-bieber-music-131607764--mma.html

Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama  Gilbert Aldana  José Aldo 

Dana White reverses course, gives title shot to fighter with best performance Saturday

UFC president Dana White made a shockingly bad decision during a conference call Monday with mixed martial arts reporters when he said that the winner of Saturday's UFC on Fox 4 main event between Mauricio "Shogun" Rua and Brandon Vera would get the next title shot.

Light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who defends his belt on Sept. 1 against former Strikeforce champion Dan Henderson, has already crushed all four fighters who are competing on Saturday's card at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Ryan Bader meets ex-champion Lyoto Machida in the co-main event.

But it was Vera's so-so record that prompted outrage among media and fans. Vera enters Saturday's bout at the Staples Center 1-2 with a no contest in his last four fights. His best win at light heavyweight was over Krzysztof Soszynski.

When Jones was told on Twitter the Rua-Vera winner would get a title shot, he wrote, "Scratching my head." He wasn't alone in being perplexed by White's call.

So, late Monday, White changed his mind and opened the picture up. He said the fighter who looks the best on Saturday will get the title shot against the Jones-Henderson winner, giving Bader and Machida a chance, as well.

"When the fans speak, we listen," White said in a news release. "So whoever scores the best win, whoever gets the fans excited by going out there on Saturday and looking the most impressive, he will get the winner of Jones vs. Henderson. It is down to what these four guys do Saturday night in the Octagon. Winning isn't enough, they've got to win impressively. Any one of these four fighters can take things into their own hands and make a title shot happen."

Rua lost his title to Jones at UFC 128. Before the fight that day, Jones broke up a mugging, then went out and stopped Rua at 2:37 of the third in a stunningly one-sided performance.

Rua has gone 1-1 since, beating Forrest Griffin and losing to Henderson in what has been called the best fight in UFC history.

"I want the winner of Jones vs. Henderson," Rua said. "The fight I had with Henderson was a great fight, the fight of the year, and it was a very close fight. I am OK with that. It was a great fight. But the loss to Jones, I can't live with. I could have done so much better and I want to fight him again. First, though, I have to beat Brandon Vera and winning isn't good enough. I have to be very impressive, but that it what I have trained to do."

Vera took the change in stride. He has been upbeat and confident despite the naysayers who roared when he was put into a main event. White's announcement doesn't change much for him, because Vera has been saying all along he plans to win impressively.

If he does that, he'll make a very strong case for himself.

"Beating Shogun, and beating him the way I want, corrects all the mistakes I've made and wipes away all the bad performances," Vera said. "Beating Frank Mir is probably my best performance, but people don't realize that was nothing compared to what I do all the time in the gym. I'm going to show off what 'The Truth' really is on Fox."

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/dana-white-reverses-course-gives-title-shot-fighter-141434320--mma.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

Scenes from an Underground Fight Show in New York City

Earlier today there was an edition of the Underground Combat League (UCL), New York City's long-running, unsanctioned MMA promotion.  Unlike most of the other states in the country, New York has deemed professional MMA to be illegal.  But a loophole in the law has allowed amateur events to flourish ? albeit in a quasi-hush-hush world where fighters sometimes use aliases and the locations of shows are kept secret from the athletic commission. 

Please, don't judge them too harshly.  The UCL, for instance, has churned out over forty events since its debut in 2003, and can count among its alumni such fighters as former UFC lightweight champ Frankie Edgar and International Fight League heavyweight Bryan Vetell (as well as a slew of dudes who went on to fight in Strikeforce, the WEC, Bellator and top regional promotions).  And before you accuse anyone of exploitation, remember this: everyone from promoter Peter Storm to the fighters to the fans wants to see New York State sanction the sport; it's only because New York won't that events like this exist.

You're probably about to ask something along the lines of "Well, don't you think underground shows like this one are setting the sport back and keeping it from being sanctioned?"  That's a clown-question, bro.  The politicians who favor MMA in New York have cited the state's thriving underground fight scene as a reason why the sport must be sanctioned.

Jim Genia always posts live results from these dastardly events here.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/scenes-underground-fight-show-york-city-034020567--mma.html

Cyril Abidi  Daniel Acacio Bernard Ackah  Terrance Aflague Yoshihiro Akiyama 

Who?s next for Anderson Silva? A solution to the middleweight mess

There seems to be absolutely no consensus on who should get the next middleweight title shot. Current champion Anderson Silva easily dispatched of Chael Sonnen, one of the few fighters who has challenged him in recent years, and the talent pool after Sonnen is thin. Several fighters have said they deserve the chance to stop Silva record-breaking title defense streak, but no one has distinguished himself.

As MMA is a head-to-head sport, isn't there an easy way to settle this discussion? Say, a tournament? It's not a novel idea, as the UFC is in the midst of a tournament to decide their first flyweight champion. Bellator's whole promotion is based on a tournament. Strikeforce learned with their heavyweight grand prix that surprises sometimes emerge.

To help the UFC out -- because I'm so kind -- here is a basic, eight-man tournament. The rules:

1. The tournament has already started. With several important middleweight fights having already happened this month or scheduled for a bout soon, it was the best way to include every deserving fighter and keep the division moving.
2. Three-round fights. If a bout ends in a draw, the fight will go to a fourth and decisive round.
3. If you're injured, you're out. Fights have to happen every three or four months to make this work. It's not exactly fair, but neither is life.
4. There is no seeding. Draws are decided on when fighters could most easily face each other. Without an official ranking system, seeding would be silly.

Here's the bracket:

The whole thing could take place over the next year, with the final fight happening at the UFC's Fourth of July show. The winner would face the middleweight champ in a show in early autumn.

And what could Silva do as the tournament unfolds? There's a simple -- if nearly impossible -- solution. He should fight Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. In Strikeforce, Rockhold has little else but rematches in front of him. He and Silva have both said they want to fight each other. Sure, iron clad contract rules will keep the fight from happening, and UFC president Dana White nixed the idea. However, contracts can be broken and White has changed his mind in the past.

Could this work? Too crazy to work? Tell us in the comments, on Facebook or Twitter.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/next-anderson-silva-solution-middleweight-mess-212338364--mma.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago AlvesÂ