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Anthony Johnson Gets Ready To Rumble

Anthony “Rumble” Johnson is responsible for one of the best knockouts of 2007. His disposal of Chad Reiner in just 13 seconds at Ultimate Fight Night 10 in June was as solid a UFC debut a fighter can hope for. At UFC 76, it appeared as though the 23-year-old Johnson would go 2-0 in his UFC career but Rich Clementi caught him a rear naked choke and brought him back to earth.

Now, Johnson (4-1) looks to get back to his winning ways on April 2nd at UFN 13 against Tommy Speer. Yes, the same Tommy Speer that stopped by the Park just a couple of days ago. Funny how that worked out, eh? Take a listen as Johnson talks about:

* His bout against Speer

* His response to some of Speer’s comments from a couple of days ago

* His tough loss to Rich Clementi

* The stunning Reiner KO

* Training with Kendall Grove before his fight against Jorge Rivera at UFC 80

* Which fighter he would like to fight next

Anthony Johnson – 01/18/08

Posted in Anthony Johnson, Interview, MMA, UFC | 9 Comments »

Get Ready For A Whole Lot Of Frank Shamrock

MMA legend Frank Shamrock granted The Park his first interview since the announcement that he will be facing Cung Le on March 29th in a Strikeforce/Elite XC copromotion. Among the topics touched on were:

* Why he chose to fight Le after once saying he had no interest in fighting him

* When the YouTube videos are coming

* Whether he plans to be a face or heel against Le

* Why fight Le before his brother Ken Shamrock

* The status of his fight with Ken

* His thoughts on Ken

* Why he believes Renzo Gracie won’t grant him a rematch

* His thoughts on the Randy Couture situation

* Which network passed on his reality show at the 11th hour

Shamrock is the definition of a walking sound byte and this interview was no different. Check’er out.

Frank Shamrock – 01/17/08

Posted in Elite XC, Frank Shamrock, Interview, MMA, Strikeforce | 11 Comments »

April Can’t Come Soon Enough For Tommy Speer

The Park goes a little country today as we welcome TUF 6 finalist, Tommy Speer, for a talk on all things, well, Tommy Speer. Topics discussed included:

* His upcoming fight against Anthony Johnson at Ultimate Fight Night 13 on April 2, 2008 in Denver, CO

* His thoughts on Johnson

* How their styles match up

* His unlikely road to the TUF 6 finals

* His experience on the show

* His contract status with the UFC

* His relationship with Matt Hughes

* His thoughts on Matt Serra’s behavior on TUF

* The big one: Has he read Matt Hughes’ book

Tommy Speer – 01/16/08

Posted in Interview, MMA, Tommy Speer, UFC | 1 Comment »

Justin McCully Got Next

Check out my latest Fight Network column about Justin McCully here.

UFC Heavyweight contender Justin McCully stopped by The Park today to discuss a whole host of MMA/wrestling topics. Some of the issues we talked about included:

* How he missed a chance to fight Cheick Kongo

* Why he deserves to fight the winner of Kongo-Herring

* His health status

* His ten-year journey to UFC stardom

* How he got involved in professional wrestling and MMA

* His experiences while wrestling in Japan

* Turning down a WWE developmental deal to wrestle in the original ECW

* Why Bill DeMott ruined his WWE dreams

If you’ve seen McCully’s appearances on HDNet’s “Inside MMA” you know the man brings a lot of knowledge to the table. Add to the fact that he has a background in professional wrestling and he’ll always have a permanent seat at the JP Head Table.

Justin McCully – 01/15/08

Posted in Interview, Justin McCully, MMA, UFC, Wrestling, WWE | 6 Comments »

The Angle Diaries: TNA In Japan, IFL, Brock Lesnar & More

It’s time for another edition of “The Angle Diaries” starring, you guessed it, TNA Heavyweight champion Kurt Angle. This week we cover:

* TNA’s New Japan Tokyo Dome show

* His bout against Yuji Nagata

* More on his relationship, or lack thereof, with the IFL

* His thoughts on Ken Shamrock

* Why he hasn’t competed in an MMA match yet

* How much Elite XC offered him to fight for their promotion

* Brock Lesnar’s upcoming match against Frank Mir

* How Floyd Mayweather would fare in an MMA match

As always, Angle was very candid so this one is definitely worth a listen. After all, these are “The Angle Diaries.”

Kurt Angle – 01/14/08

Posted in Interview, Kurt Angle, MMA, Wrestling | 10 Comments »

Five Years Too Late?

Roy Jones Jr. (51-4, 38 KOs) faces Felix “Tito” Trinidad (42-2, 35 KOs) next Saturday at Madison Square Garden (true).

The boxing world is buzzing over this showdown between two legends of the ring (not really).

Fans are willing to pay $5,000 to seat ringside for this bout (I would love to meet those “fans”).

A win by Jones over Trinidad could get his name back in the mix (questionable).

This is an interesting one. There has been virtually no buzz surrounding this fight, yet, when you look at what these fighters have accomplished one would expect a little more excitement from boxing enthusiasts. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that after losing three in a row, Jones has only defeated a couple of tomato cans in Prince Badi Ajamu and Anthony Hanshaw.

Nevertheless, at least he’s been keeping active. Trinidad, on the other hand, hasn’t fought since his loss to Winky Wright in May 2005. In fact, he has only fought three times since September 2001.

In an effort to get the boxing world talking about this one, Jones and the incomparable Don King recently held a conference call to discuss the upcoming bout, why we should care about it and who Jones is looking to fight next. (By the way, it may have just been a poor phone connection, but am I the only one who thought Jones sounded a whole lot like Riddick Bowe?)

Roy Jones Jr. – 01/13/08

Oh, and I think David Banks is still knocked out.

Posted in Boxing, Press Conference, Roy Jones Jr. | No Comments »

Boxing Day At The Park

Another week, another visit by our Sweet Scientist, Large of No Mas Online AND now The Sporting News Blog (congrats on the new gig my man). Some of the topics we discuss include:

* The controversy (at least in my eyes) that was Ngoudjo-Malignaggi

* The untimely death of South Korean boxer Yo-Sam Choi

* The upcoming Roy Jones Jr. vs. Felix Trinidad bout

* Who should be the first big-name boxer to try his hand at MMA

* What we should expect from David Haye (above) vs. Enzo Maccarinelli

And so much more…take a listen.

Larz – 01/12/08

Posted in Boxing, Herman Ngoudjo, Interview, No Mas | 2 Comments »

Travis Lutter Patiently Awaits His Second Chance

On my last Fight Network Radio appearance, I mentioned that I was anxiously looking forward to Travis Lutter’s return to the Octagon. Sure, he messed up by failing to make weight before his title bout against Anderson Silva at UFC 67 but that just makes me want to see him fight even more.

It’s a great story, really. He wins TUF 4 to get the title shot of a lifetime, fails to make weight, and then, despite everything, gives Anderson Silva his toughest challenge in the UFC.

While I don’t expect Lutter to get a title shot anytime soon a win in his next bout (rumored to be against Rich Franklin) would go a long way in helping people forget about last February.

That fight was supposed to happen at UFC 82 in March but Franklin suffered a torn meniscus in his right knee so the bout was postponed. Then came word that the two would get it on at the rumored April card in Montreal(!) but the recent news of Franklin’s father passing away has thrown everything up in the air.

So many questions, very little answers so I invited Lutter to The Park to discuss his bout with Franklin, when it will take place and his thoughts on weight-gate a year later.

Travis Lutter – 01/11/08

Posted in Interview, MMA, Travis Lutter, UFC | No Comments »

Dmitriy Salita Moves On To Bigger And Better

Prior to World War II, Jewish boxers were the norm. Believe it or not, some of the sport’s brightest stars were Jews. Fighters like Abe Attell, Reuven Goldstein and Maxie Rosenbloom were as good as any and while they did share the same religion, back then, they were known as great boxers who just so happened to be Jewish.

Nowadays, things are a little different. The Jewish boxer is more of anomaly. So, when I first heard about Dmitriy “Star Of David” Salita – a practicing Orthodox Jew who refuses to fight on the Jewish Sabbath (sundown on Friday evening to sundown on Saturday) as well as on all Jewish holidays – I was instantly intrigued. When I found out he learned to box after moving to Brooklyn from the Ukraine to fight off school bullies, I instantly respected him. And when I watched him dominate Shawn Gallegos to capture the NABA Light Welterweight title in August 2005, I instantly became a fan.

You see, where I come from one can not help but hear about every athlete who just so happens to be Jewish. Never mind if he rides the pine for a D-II basketball team or is a third string CFL right guard. If you’re a Jewish athlete in the public eye, I have probably heard of you. But Salita is the rare 21st Century Jewish athlete who is actually good. In fact, he is 27-0 with 15 knockouts kind of good!

However, the biggest question surrounding the 25-year-old Salita is when is he fighting next? His last fight (a unanimous decision win over Grover Wiley) was almost ten months ago. Prior to 2007, he fought at least three times a year and sometimes up to six. So, why did he just fight once last year? And why doesn’t he have any upcoming fights lined up?

Things started to make sense when news broke that Salita and promoter Lou DiBella were cutting ties effective immediately. That was my cue to reach out to Salita and find out why he hasn’t fought since last March and what the future holds for his budding career.

Dmitriy Salita – 01/10/08

(For more on Salita be sure to check out Jason Hutt’s tremendous documentary entitled “Orthodox Stance.”)

Posted in Boxing, Dmitriy Salita, Interview | 8 Comments »

Arianny Celeste Is The Queen Of The Octagon

For the last hour or so, I’ve tried to find the history of the ring card girl but to no avail. For most of us (except maybe my 90-year-old great uncle who checks out the site from time-to-time), ring card girls have been a part of the combat sports world forever. But my research has led me to believe that they were actually introduced in the late 60’s after promoters realized that fans would rather see beautiful women carrying around the signs instead of middle-aged men.

That said, most of us could never put a name to the faces of these mysterious women holding these cards. And, to be honest, no one really cared to. That is until the UFC starting using the same ones at each event and marketing them as personalities.

The first popular Octagon Girl (as they are known in UFC-land) was Rachelle Leah but she has since moved on to hosting UFC: All Access (anyone else find it weird that they continue to bill her as the host of that show but it hardly ever airs?). But then, my friends, came Arianny Celeste.

To help quench our fascination for what life as an Octagon Girl is really like, we invited the 22-year-old Celeste to talk about her experiences in the UFC, all the rumors about her personal life and what it’s like to work for Dana White. Take a listen below.

(By the way, after Rachelle and Ali Sonoma put down their signs for good, a lot of UFC fans were afraid Arianny would follow suit but she assured us that she plans on sticking around the Octagon for a while. Thank heavens.)

Arianny Celeste – 01/09/07

(photo courtesy of the UFC) 

Posted in Arianny Celeste, Interview, MMA, UFC | 6 Comments »