Recapping the Year

Having free time never felt so good.

I have been away for a while, busy with other things. I apologize to my readers.

Therefore what was there to recap while I was away? Quite a bit.

Let me start off by saying that the UFC yesterday was awesome. Truly one of the best UFC events I have seen in a long time which says a lot.

Love him or hate him, Conor McGregor is on his way to being a big marketing draw for sir Dana White and the UFC. People who are on both sides of the spectrum will tune in to watch him fight. Although Mendes was a challenge and took the fight on short notice, McGregor won in less than three rounds. Could have, should have, would have for the McGregor haters indeed.

Gunnar Nelson, Thomas Almeida, and Jeremy Stephens. All brilliant performances. Let’s not forget Robbie Lawler who once again beat up British Columbian native Rory MacDonald. Lawler showed the heart of a champion. He is no fraud like people thought. It was a great first title defense from “ruthless” Robbie Lawler.

So while this UFC was awesome and it has been consistent at times, I take to you the next big event that happened this year in sports. The Floyd Mayweather .vs. Manny Pacquiao fight.

I knew Mayweather would win by decision, but the fight sucked. Don’t even get me started. The only people that lost that one are the people who paid 80-90 bucks for the pay per view to watch that fight.

The Seattle Seahawks .vs. New England Patriots super bowl, painful. The Patriots are admittedly my least favourite team in the league while I am a Seahawks fan. But hey, the Seahawks didn’t really deserve to win against the Green Bay Packers a few weeks earlier in the NFC championship game. They got lucky. But then again, neither did the cheating Patriots against the Baltimore Ravens after Bill Belichea…I mean Belichick pulled off another trick in the beg with his inelligible receiver on the field. Another ring for the scum sucking Patriots means another loss for the league. That last play in the super bowl will haunt Russell Wilson forever. But he has another shot next year with big Jimmy Graham in the end zone this time with Lynch in the backfield.

The NHL stanley cup finals. The Blackhawks are brilliant. What can I say. My hats off to them. Let’s not forget the Tampa Bay Lightning who have an awesome future ahead of themselves. If they don’t win a stanley cup in the next three years with the core they currently have, I will be shocked. They just ran into the best team in the league unfortunately in the finals. Toews, Kane, Keith. Those three just know how to win.

The Cavaliers losing and the Warriors winning it all in the NBA finals. Classic. Makes up for the Patriots winning the super bowl with deflated Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. There’s no better American tradition then watching “king” (I put that in quotes since he clearly isn’t one) James lose big time at the biggest stage.

He didn’t have any help, wah. Cry me a river. Also, take notes ESPN. It’s about how the Warriors won and not how Lebron lost again. I don’t care how many points he put up, when you take three quarters of your teams shots in every game, you should have over 30 points a game. Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Tim Duncan all laugh at you. I’m glad Curry won a ring, what a competitor he is and MVP season he had to go with his championship win.

Let’s also give a toast to Dustin Johnson’s US open choke. That made me feel bad for him and I am not the biggest fan of his. I’d buy him a beer if I ever saw him. That was hard to watch. Russell Wilson and Pete Carroll had to have grinned at that final hole choke job.

And Serena Williams is murdering every female tennis player. Could she be the first to win all majors in a year since Steffi Graf did it in the late 80s? I think so, without a doubt. No one is stopping her.

Great year indeed for sports, all things considered.

Jon Jones is Hilarious

There’s even more funny pictures that were taken from his Instagram/Twitter accounts where he bashed random trolls and people.

People hate on the guy for the little-ist reasons so this makes me like him even more. I always knew the good religious guy who fights like an animal in the octagon had a nasty streak to him.

He fights Dan Cormier in September I believe. That will be his toughest challenge to date. I will say if he wins he may be up there with Chuck Liddell as one of the greatest light heavyweight champions in UFC history. No question about it, the man is talented. So is Cormier.

Women MMA Is UFC’s Biggest Attraction These Days

I hate to admit it, but it seems women mixed martial arts is the UFC’s biggest market and attraction these days.

Ronda Rousey has become the UFC’s biggest star due to her antics and way of finishing fights. She gets it done when she goes in there. None of this boring lay and pray homoerotic stuff or low level stand and jab boxing that most of these UFC male champions do.

After signing the tough Holly Holm (a former boxing champion from Invicta), Dana White has set his sights on Gina Carano according to ESPN:

“One down, one to go,” White said. “I’m going to meet with Gina next week and get that f—ing thing done. Next week, man.

“It’s just a matter of me and Lorenzo going to jump on a plane to Los Angeles, get in a room with her and her lawyer and get this thing done.”

Right, that doesn’t sound dirty at all. Who doesn’t want to jump on a plane, get in a room with her and her lawyer?

Carano is already a big name and downright gorgeous. The men love tuning in to watch her fight. She fought on CBS a few times back in the days EliteXC was still around with Kimbo Slice and people knew who she was.

With some solid marketing expect a lot to tune in to watch Rousey fight both Holly Holm and Gina Carano.

Again, more than Mighty Mouse Johnson or Chris Weidman who no one would care to watch fight except their ten fans. It shows why Dana White is hyping up Ronda Rousey storylines left, right, and center.

The UFC Yesterday Sucked

What a waste of 60 bucks.

The UFC that took place yesterday (UFC 175: Weidman .vs. Machida) sucked. No two ways about it.

The prelims that took place on Sportsnet 360 and Fox Sports 1 were decent and topped off by Boston’s Rob Font knocking George Roop out with a huge right hand. Urijah Faber also choked out Axel Witsel’s twin, Alex Caceres. Overall, not bad for a free card.

But then the “real” fights took place. 60 bucks went down the drain to watch the fights on high definition. The first fight between Russell Doane and Marcus Brimage was your standard 3 rounds of “who cares” kind of fight. Doane won the decision.

Uriah Hall (who the UFC has a crush on for whatever reason) took on Thiago Santos and won. Another three rounds of who cares kind of fight. Hall won, good for him.

Before or after that (I was not paying attention as the pay per view was so dull) they had the audacity to announce one of the five fights will be canceled. Apparently Stefan Struve fainted backstage or had heart problems that went unforeseen by the UFC and Nevada athletic commission. That fight most likely would have been the best fight all night had it taken place. At least it would have been a finish.

Ronda Rousey was the highlight of the night no doubt for trashing Alexis Davis in a mere 15 or so seconds after judo tossing her and punching her out. Whether fans of mixed martial arts like to admit it or not, Ronda Rousey is perhaps the most marketable fighter the UFC has right now.

After Rousey’s huge finish Chris Weidman proceeded to defend the title against Lyoto Machida who is no doubt one of my favourite fighters. Well, the fight sucked. If I told you I didn’t pass out during it because it was so boring I would be lying. The crowd could have cared less at the Mandalay Bay Events Center. Weidman won again but people most likely cleared out after Rousey’s win.

This event shows to me a huge problem the UFC faces: the cards it puts on pay per view aren’t worth half of what they charge these days.

The last pay per view was held in Vancouver and it was awful. Four years ago the UFC could sell out Vancouver within minutes. Now they didn’t even sell out and the fights sucked on that one just like most did on this one.

UFC 173 that was headlined by Barao .vs. Dillishaw has been the only good UFC on pay per view that I can recall in the last six or twelve months. Why should I invest 60 bucks a month for a product that is lacking?

I seriously challenge you to find me a sport more boring. Like Joe Rogan said on the prelims during the Santos-Camozzi fight “I don’t like it when another guy holds another guy down”. We all don’t, Joe. That is…no comment.

Diego Sanchez .vs. Ross Pearson Worst Decision of 2014

Of course Diego Sanchez once again grabbed one of the worst decisions of all time (just like his Kampmann and Gomi wins, especially the Gomi win).

He lost 30-27 clearly from what I saw. Outstriked and rocked every round.

What do you have to do to beat this guy by decision? Pay the judges more than he possibly pays?

Good lord. First Leonard Garcia and Benson Henderson and now Sanchez seems to be best buddies with the judges.

John Dodson is the Biggest Tool

In the history of all tools, John Dodson is perhaps the biggest.

Every time I hear from the veteran UFC flyweight I come to the conclusion that he is indeed a tool. His shit eating grin pisses me off.

Let’s hope John Moraga puts him off our television sets for good on Saturday. Somehow I highly doubt it but one can hope?

Rustam Khabilov May Be a Good Bet

On Saturday rising lightweight prospect and Sambo guru from Russia Rustam Khabilov (17-1) will square off with the always tough Ben Henderson on Fox Sports 1.

I recently checked out the odds out of curiosity on Pinnacle Sports (a standard and popular sports bookie) and was quite shocked that Khabilov would be a 3 to 1 underdog.

The general consensus is that he is on the rise and he is tough. Benson Henderson is for sure always tough and a handful who has only lost to Anthony Pettis lately (once in WEC a few years back and the UFC lightweight title not too long ago).

However, has he faced anyone of Khabilov’s potential and skillset lately?

Not exactly. I predicted him to beat Thomson, Melendez, Diaz who all don’t possess the great wrestling/sambo skillset that Khabilov carries with him.

Least we not forget Khabilov is cornered by the best MMA trainer and camp in the world Jackson’s MMA who will add the gameplan to his already high skillset to make it extra tough on Henderson.

10 bucks to get 30 back if Khabilov wins does not seem like a risky investment at all. I think he could get the decision in a five round fight.

I think Diego Sanchez is past his prime and deserves to be a 2 to 1 underdog against Pearson. But don’t be surprised if he pulls off the upset as well.

Jon Jones Being Called a “Coward”

Recently there have been rumblings that Jon Jones is a coward due to the fact his new contract talks have been stalling.

Typical Dana White tactic.

Jon Jones is 20-1 and his only loss was where he kicked Matt Hamill’s ass so badly that they had to disqualify him. I highly doubt he is scared of anyone.

In fact, the person he was lined up to be facing in a few months Alexander Gustafsson is someone he beat before. In a close fight nonetheless but he clearly deserved the nod.

I think Daniel Cormier may have the style to beat Jones as he is strong as hell, has great standup, and is just an all around bad matchup. Do I think Jones fears him due to his stalled contract talks? No. Would the general public pay the 60 dollar fee to watch that one? You’re damn right, which is why they are marketing the feud already.

And no, he’s not afraid of someone he beat.

Sign the contract, Bones.