Enter Blue Guy

A look at what's on tap for the near future of MMA, stolen from the MMAWeekly rumors section. Some are confirmed, some are just about confirmed, some are rumors. Really, the rumored cards usually come out as such. How did Gomi vs. Horodecki slip under my radar?!? Jesus. I have to mark that one down in my calender. Nick Diaz vs. Sakurai? Yes please. I think that's a good match for Nick. I'd take him against Mach. I'm liking Danzig/Guida and Neer/Nate headlining Fight Night as well. I have huge interest in MacDonald/Maia too, which has made UFC 87 a must watch for me... like it wasn't already. Maia has been rolling through the competition with his superior BJJ, but MacDonald is the best fighter he has faced yet. MacDonald is also quite the dandy grappler. Not on Maia levels, but hopefully it's enough to keep him out of danger.

Wow, nice number to counter Affliction. I hit up two local bars last Saturday and both were showing UFC and neither were showing Affliction. I remember nothing about UFC except the KO. I don't even think I was watching it. I haven't rewatched the rest yet. It's been on like three times since too. Fuck, I gotta get my act together.

When he was on OTR this season on Next Question, Landsberg talked about playing the Rangers next season and asked him if he'd challenge Avery to scrap. Dan is just like "uh, sure?" And Landsberg finishes it off with "then the challenge is set!" Fucking Michael Landsberg calling out Sean Avery on the behalf of Dan Carcillo. Now they'll be seeing a lot of each other next year anyways.

Not quite the means I was looking for. EDIT: But on closer inspection, it's my best bet. I have no working VCR. Damn. Dream shot down.

Anybody know where I can find acquire some of the older Don Cherry Rock 'Em, Sock 'Ems? I had a few on VHS, I think I had 6 and 7 or something, from the mid 90's. Those were so much fun to watch back in the day. They'd make a nice hour long time killer/nostalgia trip. "Rick Tabaracci! ...Tabaracci again!"

Not directly related to post above, because I agree, the atmosphere is awesome. Leaf crowds get way too much shit. The lawyers in the front aren't that much of a buzzkill, the hardcore fans always level it out. Sure, if there is no action or were losing there can be lulls, but even with the place packed with the suits, it's still a rocking crowd when the game is hot.

EDIT: Actually, Clawson is right... It's been long enough. The Cup advantage has ended, flood gates open. EDIT: Bah, I meant to edit my last post. My bad.

Just to clarify, I was talking Leaf vs. Hab specific. General anti-Habness I'm all for.

It doesn't work when they have won recently enough to remember a Stanley Cup parade. EDIT: I mean any Leafs vs. Habs shit... Leaf fans will always lose in any category by default. The last time the Leafs won anything was before color was introduced to the World.

Let's look toward the future instead. So. I heard there is this kid named John something that TankNation is going gooey for. Anybody else hear this?

Probably the one they were losing like 5-0 going into the third and ended up winning 6-5 in OT. I think it was a 6-5 win (may have been 5-4) and I'm positive it was against Tampa either in 02 or 03.

We might as well open a Leafs thread. One of my most memorable Leaf games. Game 4 of Ottawa/Toronto 2001. Leafs on the verge of the sweep, the ACC was the most electric I've ever heard it. And game 3 just the hell of it. Skip to around the 1 minute mark to witness the greatness of Darcy Tucker. I miss him already.

Fedor's management had a whole laundry list of requests that UFC wanted no part of. The Red Devil fighters were one thing, Fedor's allowance to compete in Combat Sambo was another big thing (if you have ever seen Russian Combat Sambo, you know why they didn't want Fedor doing that on the side). It even got as ridiculous as Fedor's manager asking for UFC events in Russia. I wasn't at the meetings, nor was anybody reporting on them, so who knows how serious this shit really wasfor sure. Overall, the two sides didn't seem to have much success in negotiations for whatever reason. Then there was M-1, then there wasn't, now they're still kinda there for some reason and it still has something to do with Fedor and Russia, but I'm not sure what the deal is. I don't really care either. I just like it when good fighters fight other fighters in a fighting venue which will be watched by fight fans. Off topic, Mandy Moore is easily my favorite Octogon rat.

Spoiler: Click here to view I'm guessing the next show after 6 is in late October-November, so hopefully then if everything goes well. Affliction fighter salaries, taken from MMAWeekly.com The California State Athletic Commission on Monday released the fighter salary information for Affliction “Banned,” featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Tim Sylvia, which took place on Saturday, July 19, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. The following figures are based on the fighter salary information that promoters are required by law to submit to the state athletic commissions, including the winners' bonuses. Although mixed martial arts fighters do not have collective bargaining or a union, the fighters' salaries are still public record, just as with every other major sport in the United States. Any undisclosed bonuses that a promoter also pays its fighters, but does not disclose to the athletic commissions (specifically, pay-per-view bonuses, fight of the night bonuses, etc.), are not included in the figures below. In the listings below, "Main Event Fighters" are defined as fighters who compete in the main event of a show. "Main Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose fights appear on the main card, but not in the main event. "Preliminary Card Fighters" are defined as fighters whose matches take place before the live broadcast goes on the air, regardless of whether or not those matches end up airing on the TV or Internet broadcast. MAIN EVENT FIGHTERS – Fedor Emelianenko ($300,000/no win bonus) def. Tim Sylvia ($800,000) MAIN CARD FIGHTERS – Andre Arlovski ($750,000/$250,000 win bonus) def. Ben Rothwell ($250,000) – Josh Barnett ($300,000/no win bonus) def. Pedro Rizzo ($70,000) – Mark Hominick ($10,000/win bonus was $5,000) def. Savant Young ($7,000) – Renato “Babalu” Sobral ($90,000/win bonus was $30,000) def. Mike Whitehead ($50,000) – Matt Lindland ($300,000/win bonus was $75,000) def. Fabio “Negao” Nascimiento ($20,000) – Antonio Rogerio Nogueira ($50,000/no win bonus) def. Edwin Dewees ($15,000) – Mike Pyle ($20,000/win bonus was $5,000) def. J.J. Ambrose ($5,000) PRELIMINARY CARD FIGHTERS – Vitor Belfort ($140,000/win bonus was $70,000) def. Terry Martin ($30,000) – Paul Buentello ($80,000/win bonus was $20,000) def. Gary Goodridge ($25,000) – Justin Levens ($6,000) vs. Ray Lizama ($3,000)* *Bout did not take place. Total pay was negotiated. AFFLICTION “BANNED” DISCLOSED FIGHTER PAYROLL: $3,321,000

Interesting, I never thought about how well Koivu would be remember as a Hab a decade from now. He's been the leader and face for what seems like so long, but I think they whole comeback and the heart he showed really cements him in franchise history more than anything. As it should, unless he captains a Cup team. In Toronto, Wendel and Doug are God. They played hockey nasty, old school hockey. By the time I was growing up a Leaf fan, Wendel had already been here for years, but Dougie was pretty new, so I grew into a fan while watching him. Wendel got the love for being a ferocious, grinder type, but asserted the love by being a damn good skilled player too. Dougie, I think he started getting the love during the first big run to the conference finals when the whole city was living and dying on every single shift of the Cinderella story. He was right in the center of it. And then they went on another run to conference finals the next year. So Dougie was the right type of hockey player for a city that was dying for a playoff hero. He didn't bring the silver home, but still, people loved him. I can only imagine the size of the golden statue he would have got if the Leafs had won the Cup in that era. EDIT: Golden statue? I'm thinking a platinum statue that pees oil if the Leafs would have gone to the finals in 93 and beaten the Habs.

For anybody interest in the DREAM GP Spoiler: Click here to view Aoki vs. Uno was the typical Aoki dominated fight. Aoki managed to take Uno down following knee, then just worked him over, almost finishing at the end of the first with a triangle. Aoki eventually let go when it seemed like a lost cause and Uno survived. More of the same in the second, Aoki by UD. EDIT: Aoki's knee reminded me of one fight were Aoki actually looked somewhat comfortable striking, it was one of the Kikuchi fights where he landed some knees and punches. They looked to have zero power, but they were crisp at least. Eddie vs. Kawajiri was one of the best single round fights you'll ever see. Both guys got dropped and survived, the last bit is just exchanges, both guys landing nice shots, until Eddie eventually sneaks in a nice straight-uppercut combo that drops Kawajiri. Eddie thought it was over right there, but politely did a bit more damage on the ground to finally convince the ref to stop it. Unfortunately it was ruled Eddie couldn't continue into the tournament due to a cut under the eye he got in the semis, So Hansen wins the reserve bout and ends up facing Aoki in the finals. Not much happens, until Hansen KO's Aoki from standing guard and continues to rain the punches until the ref steps in. As far as I know, Eddie was sidelined because of doctors and officials or whatever, not because he thought he was injured. At least that's the way it sounded when the announcers were discussing it. I saw the fights in singly, so I missed where they announced it officially. Anyways, still haven't watched the whole thing yet. Only thing I'm left interested in is Overeem/Hunt. Which I can see Hunt losing by sub.

Still one more tonight, if you're into it. DREAM 5, which center point is the semis and finals of the LWGP. It'll be on HDnet fights at 2am and again tomorrow at 10pm I believe. And all over the net by tomorrow morning. Shinya Aoki vs. Caol Uno: This should be fun, Uno always is. Add the grappling fireworks of Aoki and the unpredictability of both, this could be the most entertaining fight all year. How quick will Aoki get this to this to ground? Because Uno's stand up could be the difference here. I've never seen Aoki look totally comfortable standing up unless he is hanging off somebody. So look for Aoki to pull guard quickly and bring Uno to his level, what else is new? I don't think Aoki will have an easy time going for the takedown, it's not his strong point to begin with and Uno has ridiculous poise and balance. Uno is as wiley as the come, he's going to be moving on the ground just as quickly as Aoki will be. Not necessarily the best way to fight Aoki on the mat, all he needs is a quick slip up to find a solid sub. On the flipside, just as Uno's activity could lead to the defeat by error, Aoki could just as easily give Uno dominant position while looking for something. Not good with a guy like Uno who is on the attack so quickly and is a damn slick grappler himself. However, if I'm Uno, I'm looking to exploit Aoki on the feet. Not much power from Uno standing, but he's quick and relentless, which could create problems for Aoki if he can't get it the ground one way or the other. What I don't like about Uno is how he goes wherever the fight takes him instead of taking the fight in his direction, which is largely due to him fighting balls out. I can see him pushing Aoki around and being very much the aggressor, but falling right into Aoki's awaiting trap. I'll go with Aoki via some triangular submission in the 2nd. Eddie Alvarez vs. Tatsuya Kawajiri: So it's another native favorite going against an underdog. Maybe that's the wrong term for Alvarez, I think darkhorse fits just right. Alvarez stock has risen significantly thanks to an impressive win over HEROS GP finalist Andre Dida and a victory coming out of a war with the always dangerous Joachim Hansen (BTW, FOTYC, find it if you can). This fight is the hardest to call in a looong time for me. Kawajiri is one of the best in the World, doesn't get enough props of fans in the west. One would argue Gilbert Melendez stole a JD away from him on NYE a few years ago. This going to rough, it's going to nasty, in your face, if it turns out to be a good fight (even the best fight on paper can turn to poo), it'll be the War of 08. Both guys have similar bases, both love to wrestle and punish their opponents with brutal GnP, they love to grind them into the mat. Both are strong, imposing guys, if either one has their opposition in dominant position, it'll feel like a long night for that guy. Both guys just keep coming, very hard to throw them off their game, they can absorb punishment and go right back their gameplan. Both guys are very good standing too, but this is were the differences come in. Eddie has the heavy hands, he likes to swing for the fences, and he has one punch KO power. Kawajiri is more of technician, he'll throw the punches in bunches and goes out their using the "strike to score" strat, as opposed to looking to finish. Not to assume that Kawajiri doesn't posses power of his own, but he is much more of a combo to score points for the judges type of striker. This is really difficult, I like Kawajiri because of the experience and the quality of opponents he's been in there with, but Eddie is hot right now and he's definitely going to be a huge player in the US very soon. Toughie. I'll take Eddie by JD. My finals: I've got Aoki vs. Eddie in there. I think Eddie would easily be the most devastating fighter Aoki has gone up against. So if Aoki wants to be on the feet as little as possible against Uno, he'll want to instant butt-scoot against Eddie. Thing is, it is zero fun to be on the ground under Eddie. He'll push Aoki, and it won't be the frantic Uno type pushing, it'll be Eddie overpowering you, keeping you in position to eat bomb after bomb after bomb after... well, you get it. Aoki does a great job staying as far away from taking any serious GnP because how long and lanky he his. It will be difficult for Eddie to find the right range to really punish Aoki from guard, he'll have to find a way inside to really do some damage. But if he can manage to pass even to just half, Aoki does not like to be hit at all. Hurt him and you can tell how uncomfortable he suddenly becomes. One good shot could be the opening Eddie needs to end it. What I notice from the Hansen fight, though, is how Eddie got caught in subs, but was able to weather them or muscle out. Now whether he can do that against a submission wizard like Aoki, I'll have to see, but with Aoki, Eddie doesn't want to be caught in those subs in the first place. That being said, Eddie to me seems just too powerful and imposing for Aoki to last the whole fight with. Aoki has NEVER seen somebody like Alvarez and I think he is the perfect fit to expose Aoki. And that's coming from a guy who loves Shinya Aoki. I'll take Eddie by TKO in the 3rd.

I love Jennifer Aniston. Always. Not sure if those are my favorite photos of her. She was always that much hotter on Friends. Her outfit in TOW the Monkey Gets Away was fucking amazing. With the extremely short plaid skirt. It's sad that I know outfits by episode, but when you've seen each episode a thousand times.... Yeah. Anyways, she's pushing 40 now, so I don't expect her to look like she did back in the day, but she's still so fucking hot. This always leads to people telling me how Jennifer Aniston is ugly. I get it, not everybody finds everybody else hot. That's the way it goes. There are a lot of attractive people on television. Unfortunately, I watch 90% sports on television, so I don't know any of their names. That chick who does e2 on MTV Canada and she does something on CTV too, Anna Cyzon. I love her. She's not stunning or jaw dropingly beautiful, but it's the "everyday" look I love. The type of attractive women you find at the mall or downtown or at school especially. And that's her. What Zero said, expect that works better than most celebs for me. I dunno, I have a very simple taste in women. Google images give me very little work with, youtube has provided me with her jumping up walls and shit... Did not know 41% of MTV Canada's viewers were into that shit. That's too much typing for this thread.

Spoiler: Click here to viewProblem with Rothwell/Sylvia is a guy by the name of Pat Miletich. He's got a win over Ben from years ago on his record already too. It would be a good matchup today, but the Miletich roots lay deep. Also, I always feel satisfied when Terry Martin gets KO'd. Nobody goes "TIMMMMBERRRR" like Martin, except for Sean Salmon

Spoiler: Click here to view-Fedor Emelianenko def. Tim Sylvia by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 0:36, R1 -Andrei Arlovski def. Ben Rothwell by KO at 1:13, R3 -Josh Barnett def. Pedro Rizzo by KO at 1:44, R2 -Mark Hominick def. Savant Young by Submission (Armbar) at 4:25, R2 -Renato “Babalu” Sobral def. Mike Whitehead by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27), R3 -Matt Lindland def. Fabio Negao by Unanimous Decision (30-26, 30-27, 30-27) -Antonio Rogerio Nogueira def. Edwin Dewees by TKO at 4:06, R1 -Mike Pyle def. J.J. Ambrose by Submission (Rear Naked Choke) at 2:51, R3 -Vitor Belfort def. Terry Martin by KO at 3:12, R2 -Paul Buentello def. Gary Goodridge by Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27) Fedor didn't even give Tim a chance to do anything. http://www.dailymotion.com/search/afflicti...timsylvia_sport Like a hot knife through butter. Poor Pedro, I wish he wasn't such a stubborn counter fighter, Josh did a great job a keeping it standing, avoiding any real damage aside from eating the odd jab, great movement, used the front kick well, and timing the KO perfectly. I'm seeing the front kick more and more now, not a lot of MMA fighters are used to defending that. Pedro looked pretty good... up until he lost. Not as active as I thought he could have been, but he was right to respect Josh's stand up I guess. Still, he avoided the majority of Josh's attempted bull rushes and broke away from the clinch with ease. He was the victim a flawless executed KO. What makes me the most happy about last night, having Affliction around, is that we got to see a revitalized and refreshed Andrei Arlovski taking on Ben Rothwell, who was stuck in MMA purgatory known as the IFL, really needing a place to break out. What a fight that was. Andrei looked spot on, he was pushing the pace, landing quick and effective punches, but what really impressed me is how well was pacing himself. He used to go too hard for too long and would leave himself open to getting caught mid-rush. Not this time, he was smart enough to back off when he felt Rothwell was going to respond. It paid off, by the third round, Rothwell was a sitting duck, Andrei didn't need to rush into anything (EDIT: ok, he rused into a lot, but I'm going by Arlovski standards). Punches in bunches when the opportunity is there and it should pay off in the end. It's not the old Andrei, it's the new and improved Andrei from what I saw. Props to Ben, kept as active as he could and showed a chin a fucking chin and half and a ton of heart. One of the announcers said it would take a 2x4 to KO Rothwell. Considering what Andrei was landing, yeah, it pretty much did. Oh Andrei, one thing... DITCH THE FUCKING LEGLOCKS!

I'll probably end up watching Affliction tomorrow and hopefully UFC will be all over television all over the place. Which is most likely will be. Wow, some old favorites this weekend, Goodridge, Vitor, and Pedro. Personally, I'll be rooting for these guys pretty hard. Even though they'll all probably end up losing. Terry Martin hits too hard! A lot of people are picking Irvin. I dunno, I can see Silva standing for a bit, feeling out, clinch, and pull guard. Irvin is the wrong guy for Anderson to show off his striking at 205 with. Come to think of it, the level of striking from 185 to 205 is big, a lot of top notch strikers at light heavyweight. Don't get me wrong, Anderson would still be up there with the best strikers, but there are a lot of experienced and dangerous strikers that could have Silva seriously showcasing his ground arsenal more than ever. I like Anderson to do some damage on the mat and keep the stock of his ground game soaring. Hey, I heard Fedor was fighting this weekend. Tim is the biggest test for Fedor in a long time, no duh, but I still can't shake the feeling of the normal Fedor affair. You look at his opponent and you think about what he's got that could possibly work against Fedor, then realize Fedor could probably do the exact same thing and make look a million times as easy and slick. It's like even if the guy poses a threat, I'd have to see Fedor actually lose with my own two eyes to truly believe it. In this fight, it's simple; speed and poise vs. power and size. Not that either fighter is limited to those qualities, but it should be the story of the fight. Facing a big, hulking opponent is nothing new for Fedor, nor is fighting a guy with the hands and power of Tim. He's beaten guys that were bigger AND have better hands. Fedor should have no problem getting used to the presence of big Tim. I've always thought that Tim was a decent fighter overall, great striker, but his size is his biggest asset and hides most of flaws. Not that Tim isn't well rounded, I mean he was very impressive on the ground against a seasoned grappling vet in Jeff Monson, but he lacks a cetain cool. I dunno, that's the only word I could think of. If you can bring Tim down a level, catch him with something, or push him around, he appears to lose it really quickly and leaves himself open to get finished. He goes from imposing, well rounded monster to big, lumbering, confused fighter looking like a whale out of water. With Fedor, you should be ready for an all out assault at all times, he'll turn it on and take over a fight. It won't be easy to get in there to do some damage, I'm not even sure that's what Fedor wants to do. Still, it's entirely possibly that Fedor could get hot and out box Tim, if that could lead Timmy entering one of his "uh's", then the night will end with a swift victory for Fedor Emelianenko. If it goes to the ground, I got to like Tim to do something damage initially if he ends up in dominant position. He doesn't need to leave the guard, he can post up, fire away. Of course, the whole Fedor factor means he can lock you into an armbar out of nowhere in the blink of an eye. Fedor's guard will be fairly active, so that could produce Tim with opportunities to sneak out of there, there will always be a catch to each escape, an arm gets caught, a knee meets Mr. Cup, who knows? With those big-ass arms, that could be a lamb being lead to the slaughter. Any of those big limbs are looking like dinner for Fedor, that's your safest bet of the night for this fight, IMO. Fight goes to the ground, Tim gets top position, gets sloppy, gets caught. Jam done. It's so predictable I don't even want to go for it, but it sticks out like a sore thumb when just looking at their names across from each with "vs." in the middle. Now, if Tim is smart, he'll get out of there ASAP, but for the time being he needs to stay posted and be smart. Attack, but don't get crazy unless he can smell blood, if not, might not even be the worst thing to loaf and get the stand up. It's a cheap out, but the key for Timmy in this fight is to take advantage of whatever he can get. A cheap stand up? Hey, as long as it goes back to his playing field. If he manages to send Fedor to the ropes, by all means fight to finish. Zero hesitation. If you wait for the right time to try to end it, it'll be too late, because by then Fedor will have had his hand raised. I'll go Fedor via submission, 2nd round.

So Page is in the looney bin. Fucking awesome. http://sherdog.com/news/news/jackson-under...valuation-13712 Street cred + Crazy mother = Self marketing genius. Fuck Kimbo, all that nigga gotta do is eat. This nigga gotta make sure that got his head on straight before he plows into another pregnant woman. Meh, he probably just wants to be out of reach of any means of communication just in case Joe Silva wants him to fight Wandy next. Nigga don't need another brain-quake that's for sure.

Did anybody see the ending credits of Off the Record? It was clips of Maple Leaf goals from last season and Ron Wilson behind the bench set to the version of the HNIC theme they played during the ending credits on CBC. It's the one they play in between periods and after the game. Pretty weird.

I'm not ruling out the Athletic Commission thing, but why they would let it come from Dana and why he would need to gather all his fighters to tell them? I'm thinking it has to have something to do directly with the UFC and it's something they can keep under wraps until they feel like announcing it. If NYSAC thing was going down, I think we'd hear some serious rumblings of its happening beforehand. If it is sanctioning, fucking kudos Dana and the UFC for being at the center of this.

Dana has got the MMA community on edge with this fucking announcement. Mayweather, Fox, De La Hoya, Vince McMahon... This shit is ridiculous. Dana says the announcement will change the business in the next 5 years. That I don't if I read TOO too much into, because Dana loves to drop the "5 year" thing in terms of what he's accomplished already in the UFC. Mayweather, seems like a giant pipe dream for now. Unless Floyd is getting some kind of MMA development contract. Vince McMahon? Coincidentally has a press conference scheduled on the same day as Dana, but from what I've heard that has something to do with Crazy Uncle Vinnie's Zillion Dollar Give-a-way. The Fox deal sounds about right, however there is an interesting twist. Apparently Dana has stated the announcement is NOT a TV... Now the rumors are circulating that Fox has purchased UFC from Zuffa. Which isn't as far fetched as it might seem. It's been no secret the Fertitta's always have the UFC on the table for the right price. I'm too lazy to find the exact quote where Dana says it's not a TV deal, so if anybody can confirm or deny him saying this, go nuts.