Gina Carano compares sex and MMA on ?Conan?

We've had a lot of Gina Carano coverage lately, as the onetime Strikeforce title contender has been making the rounds to promote her movie "Haywire." This might be considered piling on, but during her appearance on Conan O'Brien's show, she talked about why she got into MMA and how fighting is like sex. It's not quite NSFW, but definitely PG.

[Yahoo! speaks with Gina Carano about Haywire]

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/gina-carano-compares-sex-mma-conan-180940511.html

Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè  Yoji Anjo  Tank Abbott Hiroyuki Abe

Rousimar Palhares spectacular leg lock finishes Mike Massenzio at UFC 142

Don't let Rousimar Palhares get near you in the Octagon. If he does, you're probably going to walk away from the fight with a limp

Palhares flashed brilliance in taking down Mike Massenzio, quickly getting a hold of his leg and finishing things with a heel hook just 63 second into pay-per-view fight No. 3 of the night at UFC 142.

Massenzio, a veteran of 19 pro MMA fights was blown away.

"That's a world-class athlete who was the better fighter tonight. I had the best camp of my career. I just got stuck. It wasn't my night. I'm really disappointed," said Massenzio.

Palhares (14-3, 7-2 UFC) has posted five submissions in seven UFC wins. The Brazilian has also had his brushes with controversy. Even after the referee stopped things, he's held on to several submission finishes a little too long in the past. Tonight, he behaved himself.

"What a great victory! It's what I always say when I get in there?if it's God's will then it is God's will. I went in there and got it done. I like submissions and I got another one tonight," said Palhares.

MIKE MASSENZIO:

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? Y! Games: Most fascinating gaming gadgets from CES

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/palhares-spectacular-leg-lock-finishes-massenzio-ufc-142-041048859.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

UFC on FX 1 picks, Vegas-style: Could Guillard?s size be the difference?

Explosiveness against technique. It's a solid way to describe the main event tonight at UFC on FX 1.

Melvin Guillard can overwhelm his opponents, while Jim Miller can slowly pick you apart with his overall game. But there may be one other factor that determines the outcomes of this one. Guillard may simply be too big for Miller, one of the smaller fighters in the lightweight division.

Guillard tweeted this morning that he'll actually be over the welterweight limit as he steps into the Octagon tonight (9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT) for this 155-pound tilt.

Kevin Iole and Frank Trigg joined myself on ESPN1100/98.9 FM in Las Vegas to make our picks using the Sin City betting odds. Iole likes Guillard and Trigg thinks the size disparity won't make a difference. He's worried about Guillard surviving if he doesn't finish the fight in the first few minutes.

UFC on FX 1 betting odds:
Best bets in bold

Melvin Guillard (+150) vs. Jim Miller (-170)
Duane Ludwig (-105) vs. Josh Neer (-115)
Mike Easton (-345) vs. Jared Papazian (+285)
Pat Barry (-155) vs. Christian Morecraft (+135)
Jorge Rivera (+130) vs. Eric Schafer (-150)
Kamal Shalorus (-140) vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov (+120)
Daniel Roberts (+265) vs. Charlie Brenneman (-325)
Daniel Pineda (-135) vs. Pat Schilling (+115)
Nick Denis (-255) vs. Joseph Sandoval (+215)

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/ufc-fx-1-picks-vegas-style-could-guillard-195512972.html

John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves 

Video: Watch Jose Aldo?s celebration with the crowd at UFC 142

Remember that Jose Aldo victory celebration we wrote about? The UFC released video of one of the cooler non-fight moments to ever happen in the UFC.  It will make you smile on this post-holiday weekend Tuesday.

The best part is that despite the crowd jumping running and jumping to get a piece of Aldo, the celebration was peaceful. The Brazilians wanted to embrace their champion, but didn't kick each other in the face to do it.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/video-watch-jose-aldo-celebration-crowd-ufc-142-133604290.html

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

UFC on FX Morning After: Anik, Florian Put on a Good First Show

Filed under:

Kenny FlorianThe work done inside the Octagon at the first-ever UFC on FX event Friday night was good, but before I get to that I'd like to take a moment to praise the work done behind the microphone.

Jon Anik, doing live play-by-play in the UFC for the first time, was a breath of fresh air. And UFC fighter Kenny Florian was a solid color commentator alongside Anik. This is a pairing that should grow together (they already have chemistry from working together on ESPN's MMA Live) and provide an authoritative pair of voices on UFC broadcasts.

Anik, in particular, is worthy of praise. He's well-prepared, knowledgeable and informative. Anik is smoother and more direct in his delivery than Mike Goldberg, the UFC's longtime in-house play-by-play man, and he seemed better able to work background information about the fighters into the flow of the fight, whereas Goldberg sometimes comes across as though he's forcing it.

If Anik continues to grow as a play-by-play man, he's going to be an excellent addition to UFC broadcasts. He has a natural feel for the flow of a fight, a good voice, and an understanding of the sport and how to describe the action. On Day One as a UFC play-by-play man, I already prefer him to Goldberg.

In addition to play-by-play, Anik handled the post-fight interviews on Friday night, and there he seemed a little bit out of his element. At times in the post-fight interviews I thought Anik ventured too far out of the commentator role and into fan territory, with comments like telling Josh Neer, "Your chin is unreal, dude." Although Anik is a UFC employee, I believe he'll better serve the audience if he comes across as more of a straight shooter and less of a promoter.

As for Anik's on-air partner, Florian is at his best when he's telling viewers why a fighter is doing what he's doing. For instance, when Daniel Roberts had Charlie Brenneman in a guillotine choke on the ground, and Brenneman escaped by turning away from it, Florian did a good job of explaining what Brenneman was doing.




"Immediately you can see Brenneman countered that guillotine choke by going to the far side," Florian said. "Going to the opposite side of that arm, that is the way you want to counter."

Lots of fighters know enough Brazilian jiu jitsu to know that, but what makes Florian good on TV is that he's eloquent enough to explain it quickly and clearly while it's happening. I also liked Florian's work on Friday night because I never got the sense that he had friends or favorites among the fighters inside the cage, which isn't always the case with fighters who work as commentators.

Ultimately, we don't tune in to a UFC broadcast -- or any other sports broadcast -- because of the announcers. We tune in because of the athletes. But we hope the commentators will entertain and inform us while we're watching. Anik and Florian did that well.

UFC on FX Notes
-- This was a very good fight card, from top to bottom. There wasn't a bad fight on it, and there were some sensational finishes, including six in the first round.

-- The main event went pretty much how I thought it was going to go: Jim Miller is just too good on the ground, and Melvin Guillard is just too bad on the ground, for a ground exchange between them to end any way other than Guillard tapping out. Miller is now 21-3 in his MMA career, with 12 of his wins by submission. Guillard is 29-10-2, with nine of his losses by submission. It's a shame that Guillard has never developed much submission defense because other than that glaring hole in his game he has the talent to be a champion.

-- Jorge Rivera retired after his fight with Eric Schafer. Rivera, who will turn 40 next month, has had a long and honorable mixed martial arts career, and it's easy to see why he has decided that now is the time: He's been fighting professionally for more than a decade, and his time in the UFC goes all the way back to UFC 44, when he beat David Louiseau, and there's not a whole lot left for him to do inside the Octagon.

Most of the talk recently about UFC fighters' pay has focused on either the entry-level fighters making as little as $6,000 a fight, or on the stars who make millions. I'd like to hear more about how well mid-level veterans like Rivera are doing financially. I would hope that Rivera has made enough money in his 15-fight career to pay off a house, put some money away for retirement, set up his gym back home in Massachusetts and generally be financially comfortable, if not rich, now that he's done fighting. Eventually it would be great to see the UFC reach the point where vested veterans have pension plans.

UFC on FX Quotes
"I was so excited. Like, I was super excited. I didn't know what to do. I was just like, I'm going to go in there and go crazy." -- Daniel Pineda, who sounded as happy as a kid on Christmas morning after he earned a first-round submission win over Pat Schilling in his UFC debut.

"I know the whole world says my jiu jitsu coach is James Toney." -- Pat Barry, making a joke at his own expense by acknowledging that his ground skills have looked almost as rudimentary as Toney's in the past. Barry still has some work to do on his takedown defense, but he did a nice job of defending himself on the ground and getting back to his feet against Christian Morecraft before eventually knocking Morecraft out.

Good Call
Joe Silva made a great decision in signing Khabib Nurmagomedov, who looked tremendous in his third-round submission win over Kamal Shalorus, a win that improved his record to an amazing 17-0. This 23-year-old Russian has a great future ahead of him.

Bad Call
Referee Herb Dean was too quick to stand up the fight when Charlie Brenneman was inside Daniel Roberts' guard in both the second and third rounds. Brenneman and Roberts were both fighting and trying to improve their positions, and Dean should have let them work it out. Coming just six days after referee Dan Miragliotta was too quick to stand up Anthony Johnson and Vitor Belfort at UFC 142, it was disappointing to see another good referee with two more premature standups.

Stock Up
Nick Denis got things started with a sensational knockout of Joseph Sandoval, using four straight short elbows to put Sandoval down just 22 seconds into the first round. The 28-year-old Denis, who has previously fought for Sengoku in Japan as well as a few smaller American promotions, is a great addition to the UFC's bantamweight division.

Stock Down
Tommy Hayden was an undefeated prospect heading into Friday night, but he had built up his 8-0 record fighting unknowns on small cards, and he wasn't ready for a grizzled veteran like Fabricio Camoes, who schooled him on the ground and made him tap in the first round. Hayden probably needs a few more fights on smaller shows before he'll be ready to step back into the Octagon.

Fight I Want To See Next
I'd love to see a rematch between Jim Miller and Gray Maynard. When they fought in 2009, Maynard won by unanimous decision, but I believe Miller may have improved more than Maynard since then. That fight would be a fascinating battle between two of the lightweight division's best grapplers.

 

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Source: http://www.mmafighting.com/2012/01/21/ufc-on-fx-morning-after-anik-florian-put-on-a-good-first-show/

Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez Thiago Alves  Andre Amade 

Bouldering Burbage photos

Finally a little sun! Yesterday I went climbing in Burbage (specifically Burbage south boulders) in the Peak District near Sheffield. I’m really glad I’ve got these boulders within 15 minutes of my home. Although in a climbing wall / gym I’m happy on 6a/6b the techniques on grit boulders are a different world: lots of smearing [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/rock-climbing-blog/~3/cezufJsw-4w/philsheard

José Aldo  John Alessio  Houston Alexander Ricardo Almeida  Eddie Alvarez