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By Anthony De Franco  March 12, 2010, at 4:04 pm  It was Late July last year when Josh Barnett single-handedly sunk the Affliction promotion by peeing in a cup. When he tested positive for a third time, he ruined a potential bout with the world’s best heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko and forced the card to be canceled and the the promotion to be shut down. Since then, Barnett has not sniffed a fight.
As usual, here come the Japanese to welcome another substance abuser into the fold. At a DREAM press conference, the Japanese promotion announced that Barnett would be on their 13th card.
He doesn’t have an opponent yet, but SI’s Josh Gross reported a possible matchup with “Mighty Mo” Siliga.
The question is, how relevant is Barnett at this point? Does America really care about Josh Barnett at this point? Is anyone going to rush to the TV to watch Barnett fight? The answer to that question is likely no. However, Barnett may have his own version of a saving grace. Fedor’s management has decreed that they would like to fight him at some point, and it isn’t impossible to think that Strikeforce would allow Fedor to fight in DREAM so that Barnett wouldn’t have to pass a steroid test. Remember, DREAM and Strikeforce have a co-promotional deal where they share fighters. That’s how we ended up with Nick Diaz pummeling Marius Zaromskis.
You’ll have to excuse me if I remain somewhat apathetic to Barnett until he fights in the states, or fights Fedor.
By Anthony De Franco March 7, 2010, at 6:31 pm Watch Kalib Run has been all over WEC 47 since they are at the event. They brought us these pictures of Miguel Torres’ cut that ended the fight last night. Yes, I know that he was guillotined shortly after, but let’s be honest, he panicked after the cut.
Anyone out there still want to be a fighter? Didn’t Think so.
While a lot of people are worried about Torres’ future, let’s spend some time congratulating Benavidez. That’s just what we did in our stock watch.
By Anthony De Franco March 3, 2010, at 7:30 pm The war has been raging on for quite sometime. To boxing fans, there are two kinds of people. There are fight fans, and then there are those idiots that watch two gay dudes roll around on a mat for fifteen minutes and call it fighting.
To us with half a brain, we realize that boxing is an integral part of MMA, and one that has gotten people far in the sport. Well, another Boxer is trying to make the crossover to the octagon, and for once, Dana White and the boys are biting. Today, they signed James Toney to a multi-fight deal, according to Mike Chiapetta of MMA Fighting.com:
After a long period of off-again, on-again courtship, the UFC has pulled the trigger and signed 41-year-old boxing champion James Toney.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the signing to MMA Fighting after it was first reported by FiveOuncesofPain.com.
Toney had actively campaigned for a contract from the UFC, following White around the country to several events and eventually meeting with him in Las Vegas. Toney reportedly turned down at least one contract offer before signing.
Asked when Toney would debut, White said he had “no idea.”
So, Dana White has repeatedly thrown mud towards Strikeforce for the idea of the “freak show” fight. He killed the Herschel Walker fight, and there are those that say that this is the same thing. Toney is out of his prime, seemingly out of shape, and lacks any sort of well-rounded game. He will stand in the middle of the cage and throw bombs, believing that he can knockout just about anyone out. Until he gets in the cage against a wrestler than puts him through the mat.
More than that, this whole courtship has had a bit of a carnival feel to it. From Toney following the UFC around the country, to his rants that you can’t understand, like this one:
Toney has seemingly “publicized” his way into the world’s largest MMA organization.
Is Dana wrong for this signing? Probably not. It’s not like Toney is a professional dancer wanting to fight without proper training. He is a professional boxer and what he lacks on the ground he will inevitably make up for with crisp standup. The problem will be remaining on his feet. Which I don’t believe he can do.
Look for Toney to be 1-2 and out of the UFC sooner than later. If they do keep him, it will be to market the brand to boxing fans.
Side note: Does anyone else really hope that James Toney does one of those videos calling me out and threatening to kick my ass? That would really make my day.
By Anthony De Franco March 2, 2010, at 12:23 pm Welcome to Strikeforce news day. We already touched on Fedor, so let’s move onto the guy who actually holds the belt that Fedor doesn’t seem to care too much about.
Alistiar Overeem hasn’t fought in America in since 2007. People have been calling for his head for a number of reasons, including steroid accusations. Now, he will finally make his return to Strikeforce against Brett Rogers.
In a non-title fight. Here’s the news from MMA Junkie:
“The Strikeforce heavyweight champion said he is likely to meet Brett Rogers (10-1 MMA, 2-1 SF) in a non-title fight on an as-yet-unannounced card set for May 15 in St. Louis, Mo.”
Rumored card so far:
- Fedor Emelianenko vs. Fabricio Werdum
- Alistair Overeem vs. Brett Rogers
- Andrei Arlovski vs. Antonio Silva
Now, after all the time we’ve spent criticizing Overeem, he is finally coming back. However, how much longer is this guy going to hold this belt and not have to defend it? It’s becoming a joke at this point.
Overeem is an excellent kickboxer, and thanks to the Mark McGuire workout plan, he’s added a ton of weight in the last few years. However, Rogers is a natural 265 and holds a ton of power in his hands. In the fight against Fedor, Rogers showed more than anyone thought he had on the ground and he showed he understood position and used it effectively.
Neither of these guys want to be on the floor, so we’ll see some fireworks. Don’t be shocked if Rogers upsets the Dutchman.
By Anthony De Franco March 1, 2010, at 2:25 am There is a lot to report in the world of video game MMA. THQ has begun the UFC 2010: Undisputed news cycle as they are going to release a new blog post every tuesday and Thursday, and do a Q & A with the community every two weeks. Be sure to get your questions in on their forums to make sure that they get answered.
Of course, We’ll be here to break down the news for all the true MMA fans. You know, all the people who are more excited about Gogopalatas than Kimbo Slice.
Let’s get started with some of the answers from this week’s Q & A:
Q: Are there going to be TKO’s due to injury and stoppage in Undisputed 2010?
Yes! Victories in 2010 can be achieved in a number of ways, one of which is stoppage due to cuts and injury. Did anyone tune in to UFC 110 and see the Bonnar fight that ended due to ref/doctor stoppage? ‘Stoppage’ was one of the biggest requests from our fan base, so we just had to implement these victory conditions.
A welcome addition for sure. MMA is a complex sport that has a lot of different ways to end a fight, and as such all of them should be represented in virtual form. It remains to be seen if Herb Dean is going to dive in and pull you off of your counterpart, but I hope he does.
Q: KO animations: have they changed?
Completely. Last year, we divulged that KO animations were a combination of animation and free form physics. The same is still true this year, but we changed a few things…We’ve emphasized the physics share of the equation much more. This makes the Knockout a much more high fidelity experience. How the KO looks will also be a product of how a player gets his lights put out: depending on where and how hard you land a strike, you’ll get a different looking KO. Cant wait to see some community compilations come May!
Last year, one of my biggest gripes with the game was the flying mouthpieces. While it was cool the first few times, it just made the whole thing feel fake. Now, no word on if that still happens, but we do get new KO animations. Let’s just hope that knocked out fighters don’t end up looking like ragdolls.
Q: Whats up with the game menu this year?
We redesigned the entire navigation system so you can get to where you want quickly and easily. ‘Nuff said.
Thank you, Jesus. Last year’s game was so clumsy in terms of menu navigation that it made not want to change the sponsors on my shorts in career mode. Seriously, it took SIX clicks of the “A” button to change one logo on my shorts. Does that make any sense to anyone? It’s good to hear that this complaint was heard. Hopefully the menu system makes more sense the second time around.
Alright, that is it from the Q & A, so let’s move on to the Blog entry regarding submissions.
We’ve kept the bread and butter subs that you know and love from last year’s Undisputed, but we’ve added some great variations and new options for those who want to use them. We saw a ton of people asking for the full Omoplata submission in 2010, which you’ll now be able to execute in the virtual octagon. Even the rare and elusive Gogoplata is making its Undisputed 2010 debut. Nothing spells ‘awesome’ like an shoulder lock to submission, right?
We’ve also added the Americana, D’Arce (think Thiago vs Swick in UFC 109), Peruvian Necktie, Achilles lock, Ankle Lock, Heel Hook, Arm Triangle, and tons of leg locks, just to name a few. You’ll even see some Ultimate fighters breaking out their signature subs on the mat, like BJ Penn’s rear naked choke by way of arm trap (think UFC 101 and his submission of Kenny Florian).
In addition to over twice as many new submissions along with their own distinct animations, there are new positions from which you can attempt a submission. Your posture when in the guard will affect what submission you can initiate. So if you’re down posture, you’ll be going for a Kimura whereas if your postured up, you’ll be going for a kneebar.
Another complaint from last year’s game was that there simply were not enough submissions. Now, that should be solved as just about every submission I can think of that I’ve seen in a fight in the last five or six years is in there. Well, actaully, there is no anaconda choke, which has to annoy Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.
Nothing lifeshattering, but some good reveals nonetheless.
By Anthony De Franco February 25, 2010, at 4:23 pm I know that it’s an average hype video, but I think that Brandon Vera says a couple of interesting things here.
Vera is right about one thing: Jones hasn’t really been hit by anyone yet. He’s steamrolled all his competition and at no point have we seen Jones get tagged and walk through it. While I don’t forsee Vera knocking Jones out in this fight, It is probably the best gameplan to try and stand and knock the athletic freak out.
The other thing that Vera said that is true is that he needs to get back to trying to finish people. I am sick of the safe Vera that we saw in the Randy Couture fight, I want to see some violence from him. I want to see the knockouts that made people believe he was legit back in the day. I need to see some power from him, while having enough takedown defense to stay on his feet.
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