Mornin’ Muesli: Wandy, Kim, 619, Wladi & More

February 21, 2008

Random thoughts from the world of combat sports…

* Nice to see Yves Edwards get back in the title picture. I always compared his fall from grace in MMA to that of David Loiseau’s but, unlike “The Crow,” he has done a great job of reinventing himself with his new camp, American Top Team. So, KJ Noons or Yves Edwards? I know Noons looked great against Nick Diaz but I got all my money on Mr. Thugjitsu.

* This Randy Couture situation keeps getting weirder and weirder and you know what? With each passing day I continue to find myself siding with Zuffa. Where I come from it goes a little something like this: You have a contract, you honor it. No one forced Couture (above right) to sign that new deal. I have the utmost respect for him as a fighter and have worked with him on a couple of occasions but I wish he would just honor the contract and move on.

* Speaking of the Couture family, gotta give props to his wife, Kim, for telling Mauro Ranallo (is it that hard to spell the man’s name? A little respect is in order for one of the best in the business) that she will be making her official MMA debut on April 5. I wonder if she would put aside her friendship with Gina Carano to fight her because that seems to be the obvious “money-making” matchup (as much as women’s MMA can make money).

* What’s up with all this Wanderlei Silva (above left) moving down to Middleweight talk? Way too many big fights for him at 205. Keith Jardine and Chuck Liddell come to mind. I doubt we will see him at 185 anytime soon.

* I’m starting to think that the 4/2 UFC Fight Night is some kind of April Fool’s Day Joke. I mean, how many fights are going to be on this card…48? It appears as though you can add Manny Gamburyan and Jeff Cox to the lineup as well. If you’ve lost count, that’s fight #12.

* I’m actually pretty excited for Klitschko-Ibragimov this weekend. I know it doesn’t have the same kind of feel as the Lewis-Holyfield unification bout at the Garden nine years ago but, still, I have enjoyed watching Wlad mature into the best Heavyweight in the world over the last few years. Manny Steward continues to prove his worth.

* I wonder if John Duddy will look past Walid Smichet knowing full well that a huge payday is waiting for him in the form of Kelly Pavlik. I know one thing, never…eeeeevver underestimate Montreal(-based) fighters.

* This will be another friendless busy Saturday night for yours truly with the Bob Sapp Strikeforce fight, Klitschko-Ibragimov and the Joe Louis HBO Sports documentary. No one does them better than HBO Sports…no one (that was kind of a play off the Real Sports with Bryant Gumble commercial but I don’t think it will resonate).

* Tough break for Mr. 619. He had the angle of a lifetime waiting for him with Mayweather before the dreaded injury bug nailed him. Hopefully, for his sake, he can still be involved in some way but I hope they leave him out. The whole Mysterio-Mayweather friendship seems a little forced.

* TNA has finally arrived in the Big Apple! Kind of underwhelming that tonight’s house show is going down in a place I have never heard of (Webster Hall, anyone?) but I guess it’s a start. I’m wondering why they didn’t book the Hammerstein Ballroom?

* I don’t care about De La Hoya turning down WWE’s offer to appear ‘Mania as long as Roger Mayweather makes at least ONE cameo. Please make my dreams come true, Black Mamba.

* Where have you gone Samoa Joe?

  1. 10 Responses to “Mornin’ Muesli: Wandy, Kim, 619, Wladi & More”

  2. UFC Fight Night 13 got bumped to 3 hours. But how many fights can they show in that time anyways?
    I mean 12 fights is a loaded card. They could’ve easily moved some of the bigger bouts to 83 or 84 and give them undercard status. Its a shame that some of the fights on UFN 13 won’t be making the air as there is not one fight I don’t want to see.

    I don’t see how Couture will get out of his UFC contract. Frank Shamrock himself said Randy backed himself into a corner. Fedor aside there are still fights Randy should be motivated to fight in the UFC.

    I’m kind of stoked for Klitschko/Ibragimov. I have a feeling it will be a better fight than I originally gave it credit for. Ibragimov has really looked crafty as of late.

    By Matt on Feb 21, 2008

  3. I’m just getting into MMA, so I don’t know if he did this before, but I couldn’t stop laughing when Showtime listed Edwards’ fighting style as “Thug-Jitsu”

    By Miguel on Feb 21, 2008

  4. Back in the day, Edwards coined a fighting term called “Thugjitsu” and it has actually stuck.

    Here is a quote from him in an old UFC.com interview describing it:

    “Thugjitsu is two things to me: It’s the modern art of the beat-downs and it’s also the greatest show on earth. It’s really taking somebody out of their game. All the guys that train with me, we all identify with Thugjitsu, but we all have different styles. Some guys are a lot more aggressive…We have a really good Jiu Jitsu guy: If he takes you to the ground and you don’t tap, stuff is broken. Myself, I love to knock guys out. It’s just finding what’s a weakness in your opponent compared to your strength, and just exploiting it. That’s basically what Thugjitsu is.”

    Matt – sure Ibragimov has looked crafty but against who? Briggs and Holyfield? I am only interested in this one to see how quickly Wlad disposes of him.

    I know UFN 13 is three hours but, still, 12 fights? Last week’s WEC show was 2.5 hrs and they were only able to air 5 fights. There isn’t a fight on that card that I don’t want to see so it’s a shame that we’ll be missing 7 or so of them.

    By AH on Feb 21, 2008

  5. Wandy moving to MW makes no sense. The only way I can see it happening is if Anderson dominates Henderson and there is truly no competition left for Silva in the MW division. How are you going to sell Silva vs. Okami?

    Wandy only has 2 fights down in MW for him. Henderson and Franklin. It would be nice to see him avenge his loss to Henderson. I’m not sure Franklin would make it out of the 2nd rd. Wandy and Anderson are great friends so I’m not sure theyll fight.

    As for the Couture vs. Fedor campaign going on I’m getting tired of it. I’ve sided with Zuffa since day one. If the fight does end up happening I will not be ordering it to help support HDNet. I will be watching it for free the next day on FightViewer. Cuban needs to stop sticking his nose where it doesn’t belong and stop trying to make a quick buck off of possibily the biggest MMA fight in history (sorry Ariel i know you like Cuban). This fight deserves to be under the UFC banner and nowhere else.

    By steve24 on Feb 21, 2008

  6. If it doesn’t get him in trouble, I think what Cuban is doing is brilliant. Why not attach himself to biggest non-UFC fight around? He understands what the fans want and if he were ever able to get this PPV rolling I bet he would also have a loaded undercard. He’s Mark F’N Cuban after all. The man just signed Keith Van Horn for a few mil just to trade him.

    I really have no interest in seeing Franklin-Wandy. Maybe after Franklin wins 5 fights in a row.

    By AH on Feb 21, 2008

  7. I never thought of it but since Bob Sapp is under the EXC banner now with Strikeforce would a Kimbo/Bob Sapp match be a possibility?

    I would actually pay to watch that shit.

    By Matt on Feb 21, 2008

  8. Hmmm interesting. Haven’t heard any talk of it but that would definitely make sense. If he wins one or two I could definitely see that happening.

    By AH on Feb 22, 2008

  9. Oh man, I’m so amped up for the Klitschko fight. It’s about time The Garden had a worthy heavyweight bout again.

    To top it off, Lou Reed’s going to be live-blogging from inside the arena during the fight … http://gameon.msg.com/2008/02/msg-live-follow.html

    By David Rabinowitz on Feb 23, 2008

  1. 2 Trackback(s)

  2. Feb 21, 2008: wwe » Blog Archive » Mornin’ Muesli: Wandy, Kim, 619, Wladi & More
  3. Feb 21, 2008: Wwe » Blog Archive » Mornin’ Muesli: Wandy, Kim, 619, Wladi & More

Post a Comment