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	<title>Mixed Marshall Arts &#187; Kevin Marshall</title>
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		<title>Mixed Marshall Arts returns next week!</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/09/24/mixed-marshall-arts-returns-next-week/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/09/24/mixed-marshall-arts-returns-next-week/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 24 Sep 2011 04:20:35 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[mma]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[sport]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=537</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Hey everyone! Mixed Marshall Arts makes its return as  part of the launch of the all new KevinMarshallOnline.com next Monday. I hope to periodically update with my thoughts on fighting, links to other interesting news and editorials, as well as maybe a guest post or two from both fans and fighters. &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/09/24/mixed-marshall-arts-returns-next-week/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p><a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/mma01.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-538 aligncenter" title="mma01" src="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2011/09/mma01.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="235" /></a>Hey everyone!</p>
<p>Mixed Marshall Arts makes its return as  part of the launch of the all new <a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com" target="_blank">KevinMarshallOnline.com</a> next Monday. I hope to periodically update with my thoughts on fighting, links to other interesting news and editorials, as well as maybe a guest post or two from both fans and fighters.</p>
<p>In the meantime, check out this wonderful video of Kazushi Sakuraba foregoing a traditional media workout and instead making a robot cat in Photoshop. The exaltation when he&#8217;s finished is just precious.<br />
<code><br />
<a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/09/21/kazushi-sakuraba-flaunts-photoshop-skills-in-preparation-for-dre/">http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/09/21/kazushi-sakuraba-flaunts-photoshop-skills-in-preparation-for-dre/</a></code></p>
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		<title>Fedor Emelianenko Should Heed the Advice of Miguel Torres</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/02/21/fedor-miguel/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/02/21/fedor-miguel/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:23:21 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=514</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Miguel Torres has found himself the talk of the MMA blogosphere, and not because of anything he&#8217;s done in the cage. Instead, it&#8217;s for comments made about another fighter in a different weight division. Torres was recently asked for his thoughts on Fedor Emelianenko&#8216;s decisive (despite attempts by Strikeforce and &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/02/21/fedor-miguel/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_517" class="wp-caption alignright" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/fedor.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-517 " title="Fedor" src="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/fedor.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="262" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">Fedor Emelianenko finds himself at a crossroads.</p></div>
<p><strong>Miguel Torres</strong> has found himself the talk of the MMA blogosphere, and not because of anything he&#8217;s done in the cage. Instead, it&#8217;s for comments made about another fighter in a different weight division.</p>
<p>Torres was recently asked for his thoughts on <strong>Fedor Emelianenko</strong>&#8216;s decisive (despite attempts by <strong>Strikeforce</strong> and Fedor fanatics to spin it to the contrary) loss to <strong>Antonio &#8220;Bigfoot&#8221; Silva</strong>. Although Torres himself would admit that he&#8217;s nowhere near the status of Fedor in the industry, he does see some parallels between what&#8217;s happened to Fedor in his last two fights and his own career, where he went from being a champion in his division to a finding himself in a two-fight losing skid a little over a year ago.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/2011/02/20/miguel-torres-fedor-should-man-up-or-get-left-behind/" target="_blank">As he told MMAFighting.com</a>:</p>
<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;He&#8217;s at a crossroads in his life &#8230; (He&#8217;s been) dominating his division, plus the popularity, exposure and everything that comes with being The Man, a showman, a father, representing a country and people – and being a fighter. &#8230; He needs to adjust to the times and start working on being a cerebral fighter (again) and not a showman. He needs to play catch-up in a world he used to dominate. That stings really bad, but you man up or get left behind. &#8230; Russia will always be his home, but he lacks growth. Sometimes loyalty can hold you back.&#8221;</em></p>
<p><em>&#8220;I left to find growth – and everyone hates me for it, saying I&#8217;m a deserter and forgot where I came from. Even now, with my new style, people say I&#8217;m scared or not exciting. When I was training here, I didn&#8217;t give a s*** and fought for the fans. When I lost, everyone threw s*** on me saying I was nobody. My new style is actually cerebral and smart. I don&#8217;t get hurt anymore, but lost fans. When I get the belt back, they will (love me) again, but I won&#8217;t care. I&#8217;m all grown up. &#8230; I feel Fedor&#8217;s situation. It f***ing sucks, but s*** happens. All we can do is get better – and f*** everyone else.&#8221;</em></p></blockquote>
<p>Of course, the comment everyone zeroed in on was &#8220;Fedor needs to man up.&#8221; As a result, many fans seem to have missed the point Torres was trying to make, which is that if Fedor is serious about continuing his fighting career (indications are that he is despite saying after his loss that he would retire), he needs to get out of his comfort zone.</p>
<p>Specifically, he needs to leave Stary Oskol.</p>
<p>Fedor is not the fighter he once was, nor is he ever going to be. He was once a dominant force in the industry, but in the present tense Fedor is a borderline relic who has not evolved with a sport that while not necessarily in its infancy was still nary a toddler when he began his ascent. His growth as a fighter was further stunted by a management team (M-1) that sacrificed long-term viability in the industry for immediate pay-offs. As a result he fought with less frequency and against inferior competition.</p>
<p>In short: while the sport and the Heavyweight Division grew and became more competitive, Fedor did not. While new game plans and styles were devised by potential opponents, Fedor was employing outdated training methods using a body that wasn&#8217;t getting any firmer, faster, or durable.</p>
<p>Again, I don&#8217;t think Fedor is going to be in any conversations about the best active pound for pound fighter, but that doesn&#8217;t mean he can&#8217;t still be a factor in Strikeforce&#8217;s Heavyweight division or that he can&#8217;t continue to make money for himself or the promotion. However, if he&#8217;s going to do so, he needs to either bring in a team that&#8217;s going to drag him into the current decade or relocate Stateside to train at a top-flight MMA facility. If he doesn&#8217;t, he&#8217;ll find himself at the losing end of another fight that he has no business losing.</p>
<p>The most important aspect of MMA isn&#8217;t the ground game, or striking, or punches or kicks or clinches. It&#8217;s growth. A good fighter is one who is constantly making adjustments to his game to adapt not only to his next opponent, but to general trends in his division and the sport as a whole. Like a shark, an MMA fighter needs to be constantly moving himself forward.</p>
<p>Otherwise the fighter will find himself in Fedor&#8217;s position &#8211; a creature who stayed still for too long and found himself adrift in a vast ocean.</p>
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		<title>For the Hardcores: More Thoughts on the Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/for-the-hardcores-more-thoughts-on-the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/for-the-hardcores-more-thoughts-on-the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 16 Jan 2011 00:20:52 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=511</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[An addendum to the blog post I wrote for my space over on the Albany Times Union website about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament. Part of my reason for posting the occasional MMA piece over at the Times Union (usually on weekends) is to expose more people locally to the sport &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/for-the-hardcores-more-thoughts-on-the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>An addendum to the blog post I wrote for my space over on the Albany Times Union website about the Strikeforce Heavyweight Tournament.</p>
<p>Part of my reason for posting the occasional MMA piece over at the Times Union (usually on weekends) is to expose more people locally to the sport and, hopefully, help in some small way to advocate for its legalization in New York State.</p>
<p>As such, I write the posts with the idea that my audience is the casual fan with limited exposure to the sport. With that in mind, I didn&#8217;t go into greater detail of all the mis-steps and PR follies that have been committed by Scott Coker in the promotion of the Heavyweight Grand Prix because the context would be lacking, and providing it would take up far too much time (for both myself and the reader).</p>
<p>So this post is for those of you who regular read this space, even if I update it with near-comical irregularity.</p>
<p>Let&#8217;s be honest: we knew this tournament was going to be a problem as soon as we heard Strikeforce was going to build it on the precipice of a potential fight between a guy who has no interest in fighting MMA because it doesn&#8217;t pay his mortgage (Alistair Overeem who makes much MUCH more from fighting K-1 hence his absence from the scene the last three years) and another whose management team screws with Strikeforce and re-negotiates after every single fight (Fedor Emlianenko).</p>
<p><span id="more-511"></span>The issues with Fedor haven&#8217;t been addressed, though Coker has assured the MMA media that Overeem is locked down for the entire tournament and that his contract stipulates he can&#8217;t fight for anyone else, whether it be in MMA or kickboxing, until the completion of the tournament. The problem is that we&#8217;ve heard that before: not just the promise that Overeem will fight, but specifically that he&#8217;s obligated to fight X number of times for Strikeforce over the course of a certain time frame. It never happens, and until the tournament&#8217;s completed with Overeem having fulfilled that promise, we have no reason not to take Coker&#8217;s assertion with a grain of salt.</p>
<p>Then there was the whole debacle and controversy over the tournament format.</p>
<p>First there was the situation with the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title. Overeem is the champion, though he&#8217;s only defended it once in the last three years. Shortly after the tournament was announced, Strikeforce said that each fight containing Overeem would be five rounds for the title, which must have thrilled guys on the other side of the bracket who were left wondering why they&#8217;d be fighting in the first place if that&#8217;s the case. Not to mention those in Strikeforce that know it isn&#8217;t healthy for a title&#8217;s prominence for it to potentially change hands three times in as many fights.</p>
<p>With the way they&#8217;ve done business and how long it took Overeem to compete for the promotion, it would&#8217;ve made sense for them to just say the tournament is for the title itself. How many people remember a Strikeforce Heavyweight Title even exists, let alone that Overeem is the title holder? Among those who do walk around with this knowledge, would they really take offense if Strikeforce acknowledged its folly in keeping a paper champion? You might argue that Overeem&#8217;s people would, but considering his bread isn&#8217;t buttered by MMA and his people were willing to put the title on the line for every single tournament fight, it&#8217;s safe to say that vacating it for the purpose of this tournament would be a non-issue.</p>
<p>When cooler heads prevailed and that idea was quashed, Coker started putting forth the idea that each and every tournament fight, from start to finish, would be five instead of three rounds. During a press conference call this week, Coker announced that they were scrapping that idea because they &#8220;couldn&#8217;t get the Commissions&#8221; to come together on it. But as ESPN&#8217;s Josh Gross discovere after speaking to Commission representatives from the Big 3 (New Jersey, California and Nevada), that wasn&#8217;t the case and there would have been no problem in securing a five-round format for the entire tournament. What a lot of people (including some reading this) might not know is that a fight promotion can make any fight five rounds instead of three, usually but not always on the promise of it being a main event. Fight promotions only use five rounds for title fights for the sake of consistency. It&#8217;s an industry standard, not a Commission requirement.</p>
<p>As much as I like Scott Coker, he lied through his teeth on this one, which is surprising since he easily could have just left it at not being able to get all parties to agree. It wasn&#8217;t the Commissions that were blocking the idea of five rounds for every fight, it was the management of certain fighters, and perhaps rightfully so. Traditionally you only train for five rounds if you&#8217;re getting a guaranteed title shot, so it&#8217;s really not fair to ask them to change behaviors so radically without the promise of a title.</p>
<p>Besides, we&#8217;re talking heavyweights that don&#8217;t provide the most exciting decision fights at three rounds, let alone five. Just imagine Barnett and Rogers in the 4th and 5th. I&#8217;m breathing a sigh of relief right along with you.</p>
<p>And this is all just the tip of the iceberg.</p>
<p>I may seem to many that I unfairly pile on Strikeforce on this space. However, I only do so because I find their role in the industry fascinating. Whereas the UFC markets and promotes itself with the thought in mind of it being a sport, Strikeforce has much more of a professional wrestling mentality. They have names, not divisions. Just look at the weight classes other than Heavyweight, where they&#8217;ll have one legitimate Top 10 fighter for their respective division, if that.</p>
<p>Like so many other aspects of the promotion, the approach makes sense on paper. In practice, however, they&#8217;re taking something that&#8217;s more acceptable in the mainstream but still a niche sport and marketing fighters that are of interest to only the most hardcore fans within that niche. Theoretically they&#8217;re providing an alternative to the UFC that is more focused on the entertainment side, but in reality they appeal to a limited portion of an already small audience.</p>
<p>More importantly, and despite what many readers  might take away from these posts, I want a promotion like Strikeforce to succeed. As much as I&#8217;m a UFC apologist (admittedly too much so at times), I also recognize that the sport can only benefits if there is more than one option for its fans. This is not to say that there should be a handful of top tier promotions, which would make things a mess. Rather, I think the sport would only benefit from several sustainable promotions, whether at the regional or national level, that can give exposure on a large stage to fighters that otherwise would only be competing in front of a couple hundred people at a casino ballroom.</p>
<p>With their deal on Showtime and some of the fighters already under contract, Strikeforce can and should succeed as one of those promotions. But it won&#8217;t so long as it dilly-dallies with guys like Fedor and continues to make huge promotional missteps like this, where an unwieldy concept is embarked upon for the benefit of a small portion of the MMA community, and for little (actually negative) monetary benefit.</p>
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		<title>The Strikeforce Heavyweight Grand Prix: Shoehorning a 20th Century Concept in a 21st Century Market</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix-shoehorning-a-20th-century-concept-in-a-21st-century-market/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix-shoehorning-a-20th-century-concept-in-a-21st-century-market/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sat, 15 Jan 2011 23:06:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=505</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[When the unregulated, bare-knuckle Ultimate Fighting Championships first appeared on the national scene in the early 1990s, the draw was more than bloodlust. The concept was a one-night tournament that would determine the best pure fighter in the world. In the nearly two decades (!) since its inception, the sport &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2011/01/15/the-strikeforce-heavyweight-grand-prix-shoehorning-a-20th-century-concept-in-a-21st-century-market/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>When the unregulated, bare-knuckle Ultimate Fighting Championships first appeared on the national scene in the early 1990s, the draw was more than bloodlust. The concept was a one-night tournament that would determine the best pure fighter in the world.</p>
<p>In the nearly two decades (!) since its inception, the sport has seen dramatic changes. So much so, in fact, that the previous statement is a slight misnomer, for it might be more accurate to say that it has since <em>become</em> a sport. With State Athletic Commissions providing oversight as well as the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts_rules#Unified_rules">Unified Rules of MMA</a> adopted by the New Jersey State Athletic Commission in 2000 becoming the standard in the industry, what we see today is an amalgamation of submission wrestling with a much tamer, safer version of kickboxing that bears little to no resemblance to the concept that was introduced to American audiences in 1994.</p>
<p>Yet, in 2011, Strikeforce wants to turn the clock back and sell the mainstream on a Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament.</p>
<p style="text-align:center;"><strong><a href="http://blog.timesunion.com/marshall/sf-hw-grandprix/3359/" target="_blank"><em>Read more over on the Albany Times Union website.</em></a></strong></p>
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		<title>Eye Pokes &amp; Embarrassment</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/24/eye-pokes-embarrassment/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/24/eye-pokes-embarrassment/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 24 Nov 2010 05:10:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=498</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Last Friday, Strikeforce held one of its &#8220;Challengers Series&#8221; shows that was understandably swallowed up by the coverage for UFC 123&#8242;s stacked card. For those who don&#8217;t know, controversy erupted when the fight between Marius Zaromskis and Wachiim Spiritwolf was declared a no-contest just six seconds into the fight due &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/24/eye-pokes-embarrassment/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Last Friday, Strikeforce held one of its &#8220;Challengers Series&#8221; shows that was understandably swallowed up by the coverage for UFC 123&#8242;s stacked card.</p>
<p>For those who don&#8217;t know, controversy erupted when the fight between Marius Zaromskis and Wachiim Spiritwolf was declared a no-contest just six seconds into the fight due to an accidental eye poke delivered by Zaromskis, the DREAM Welterweight Champion, while trying to execute a flying knee.</p>
<p>That&#8217;s about when Mauro Ranallo completely lost his cool in the broadcast booth.</p>
<p><span id="more-498"></span>He started ranting about the referee giving Spiritwolf five minutes to recover from the eye poke. Ranallo explained with a heated cadence and frantic delivery that a referee can give five minutes to recover from a groin injury and a groin injury ONLY.</p>
<p>&#8230;huh?<br />
Embarrassingly, Strikeforce Rules Director Cory Schafer came out to explain to Mauro that no, he was wrong. He did so with a combination of incredulousness at Mauro&#8217;s outrage and more than a bit of attitude due to Mauro&#8217;s initial insistence. <em>Note &#8211; it&#8217;s my understanding that the reason Strikeforce has a Rules Director when the Rules are actually set by Athletic Commissions is because it specifically asks commissions to prohibit any and all elbows to the head while both fighters are on the ground.</em></p>
<p>In <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/2010/11/22/strikeforce-rules-director-explains-the-eye-poke-ruling/">an interview with MMA Fighting&#8217;s Michael David Smith</a>, Schafer explained that no, you do not get five minutes to recover only if it&#8217;s a groin injury, and discusses why he thinks there&#8217;s confusion over the rule.</p>
<blockquote><p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t know. Part of it could be that the rule is different on groin strikes. At the end of the five minutes, the fighter must continue. He doesn&#8217;t have the option of saying &#8220;I can&#8217;t continue&#8221; and then the fight goes to the scorecards. If you get a groin strike, after five minutes, you have to continue or it&#8217;s a TKO, unless the referee rules it a disqualification. But it&#8217;s a good rule to give a guy five minutes to clear his eye, if he can.&#8221;</p></blockquote>
<p>Let me get this out of the way: I like Mauro Ranallo, and always have. I cringe when he does the sexist jokes and bad puns not just based on taste, but because I know from following him through his years in Pride to the present day that he&#8217;s so much better than that.</p>
<p>That said, he should know better. He should know better than to get as worked up as he does, particularly when he&#8217;s supposed to be in the role of play by play and he has a guy like Pat Miletich next to him to explain the rules.</p>
<p>He should also know that groin strikes are NOT the only time a fighter is given five minutes to recover. Because he&#8217;s been there when it&#8217;s happened, most notably in the first EliteXC main event between Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie.</p>
<p>The bigger question than all this, though: why is Strikeforce giving a guy with an 8-7 record a title shot in the first place?</p>
<p>This promotion continues to confound me.</p>
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		<title>UFC 123: Rampage vs. Machida Controversy Shows Fans and Journalists Still Need to be Educated</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/21/ufc-123-rampage-vs-machida-controversy-shows-fans-still-need-educating/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/21/ufc-123-rampage-vs-machida-controversy-shows-fans-still-need-educating/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Sun, 21 Nov 2010 20:02:05 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=486</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Honestly, I&#8217;m surprised at the controversy. I sat with my roommate and watched the main event and remarked at how you could see in Lyoto Machida&#8217;s stance how much confidence he&#8217;d lost. He used to avoid getting hit as a strategy, but now it looked he was just plain tentative &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/21/ufc-123-rampage-vs-machida-controversy-shows-fans-still-need-educating/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Honestly, I&#8217;m surprised at the controversy.</p>
<p>I sat with my roommate and watched the main event and remarked at how you could see in Lyoto Machida&#8217;s stance how much confidence he&#8217;d lost. He used to avoid getting hit as a strategy, but now it looked he was just plain tentative and scared of getting hit.</p>
<p>It was one of the concerns I had about Machida going into that fight. The cliche goes that the true mark of a champion or a legend is how he recovers from losing, and I wasn&#8217;t sure how Machida would respond to his loss to Mauricio &#8220;Shogun&#8221; Rua, particularly since it was so decisive.</p>
<p>In the third round, Machida was on top of Jackson and looked up to view the clock as if to say &#8220;how long do I have to ride this out?&#8221; Seeing he had a full two minutes left, he went for a submission and narrowly avoided another legendary powerbomb slam from Jackson as a result. He, unlike so many other fighters, let go once he was lifted into the air.</p>
<p>It was the only smart thing I thought he did that entire fight.</p>
<p>I thought the fight was an easy 29-28 for Jackson, so imagine my surprise when I got home from the fight and saw the controversy on the internet. I figured if anything people would take issue with one of the judges scoring it for Machida. Yet here were people &#8211; even some people that while not working in the industry I would consider experts &#8211; using terms like &#8220;robbery!&#8221;</p>
<p>Then I realized what the problem was: for all the things that people have come to known about the sport, they still don&#8217;t know what the judging criteria are.</p>
<p><span id="more-486"></span></p>
<p>Perhaps some of the hesitation and hostility was held over from previous controversies. Earlier that night, journalists and fans in attendance noted a very controversial split decision ruling for Nick Lentz over Tyson Griffin in the opening bout.</p>
<p>Certainly there are issue with MMA judging and with specific MMA judging (crosses arms, taps foot and looks over at Cecil Peoples). However, if we&#8217;re going to take the judges to task for educating themselves on the sport, we should also know what the actual judging criteria are.</p>
<p>The judging criteria in MMA are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Clean strikes</li>
<li>Effective grappling</li>
<li>Cage (or ring) control</li>
<li>Aggression</li>
</ul>
<p>What&#8217;s amazing is that the UFC actually tells this to viewers on literally every single card on a graphic that explains the rules of the bouts, and yet still people will call the decision to give both the 1st and 2nd rounds to Rampage a &#8220;robbery.&#8221;</p>
<p>Maybe they&#8217;ve just seen the graphic so many times they tune it out, but I think moreso it&#8217;s that people think the UFC are just explaining their view of things. They&#8217;re not. Those are the actual judging criteria as defined by the Unified Rules of MMA.</p>
<p>In other words, having a slight edge in the number of clean strikes landed alone does not &#8211; and can not &#8211; give a fighter a round. Which is why Machida did not win either the 1st or 2nd round of his fight last night.</p>
<p>The only round Machida had the edge in grappling was the 3rd round. In the first two rounds, Jackson out-grappled him. Machida&#8217;s elusiveness also worked against him in the first two rounds, as he would often retreat from Jackson. This allowed Jackson to indicate everything about the fight: the pace, the placement, whether it was standing or on the ground. There&#8217;s your Octagon control.</p>
<p>Last but not least, aggression. Sure, Jackson is a counter-puncher and last night was no different. But he went in after Machida several times in the first two rounds. Machida simply evaded and waited for his opening, landing a few clean strikes here and there.</p>
<p>Fight Metrics will show that he had a slight edge in kicks landed, but that&#8217;s not enough. It&#8217;s not enough for the judges, and it&#8217;s not enough for the sport.</p>
<p>You can perhaps make the argument that the criteria themselves should be changed. I disagree. There&#8217;s too many different facets of this sport to start trying to develop a simple mathematical formula to determine a winner. You can only do that with a combat sport that only allows striking and limited takedowns, and even then you&#8217;re going to have your problems.</p>
<p>This sport is what it is, and those are the criteria. And by those criteria, Jackson easily won that fight.</p>
<p><em>For more on this subject, read my post from last April on <a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/2010/04/11/mathematic-martial-arts-why-stats-dont-tell-the-whole-story-of-pennedgar/">why I felt the first Edgar/Penn fight was scored correctly</a>.</em></p>
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		<title>New UFC Feature and UFC 123 Predictions: Why the Oddsmakers Have Rampage/Machida All Wrong</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/19/new-ufc-feature-and-ufc-123-predictions-why-the-oddsmakers-have-rampagemachida-all-wrong/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/19/new-ufc-feature-and-ufc-123-predictions-why-the-oddsmakers-have-rampagemachida-all-wrong/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 19 Nov 2010 18:37:55 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=481</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Check out my latest article for the UFC! It&#8217;s called Grand Slams and highlights ten of the most epic, impressive feats of strength displayed in the Octagon. Surprisingly, when compiling the list we found that 4 of the 10 are fighting on this weekend&#8217;s card (UFC 123, Saturday November 20th &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/11/19/new-ufc-feature-and-ufc-123-predictions-why-the-oddsmakers-have-rampagemachida-all-wrong/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<div id="attachment_482" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 310px"><a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/jones-bonnar-1.jpg"><img class="size-medium wp-image-482" title="Jones-Bonnar-1" src="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/jones-bonnar-1.jpg?w=300" alt="" width="300" height="200" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">The look on Bonnar&#039;s face says it all (photo courtesy UFC.com; used with permission)</p></div>
<p>Check out my <a href="http://www.ufc.com/news/Grand-Slams">latest article for the UFC</a>!</p>
<p>It&#8217;s called <strong>Grand Slams</strong> and highlights ten of the most epic, impressive feats of strength displayed in the Octagon. Surprisingly, when compiling the list we found that 4 of the 10 are fighting on this weekend&#8217;s card (UFC 123, Saturday November 20th @ 10:00pm).</p>
<p>In addition to highlights and videos of slams from four of this weekend&#8217;s participants &#8211; Quinton &#8220;Rampage&#8221; Jackson, Matt Hughes, Gerald Harris, and Tim Boetsch &#8211; we also highlight slams that were not impressive so much as important and literally changed the landscape of MMA.</p>
<p>From the article:</p>
<blockquote>
<div><em>American wrestlers have dominated the MMA landscape in almost every weight class, but in the early days it was Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu that ruled the day and was thought to be the predominant form for the sport.</em></div>
<div><em>That changed when Dan Severn made his debut.</em></div>
<p><em> </em><em></em></p></blockquote>
<p>To read more, check out <a href="http://www.ufc.com/news/Grand-Slams"><strong>Grand Slams: The Greatest Slams in UFC History</strong></a> by yours truly.</p>
<p>You can also purchase a lot of the classic fights mentioned for only $2 each, many of which are classics going out of your way to see. And the classic Maynard/Emerson double-knockout is actually a FREE download (courtesy <a href="http://www.theultimatefighter.com">TheUltimateFighter.com</a>) that&#8217;s worth going out of your way to see.</p>
<p>After the jump: my picks for UFC 123, broadcast live on pay-per-view from the Palace of Auburn Hills and showing at various locations throughout the area (including Jillian&#8217;s on North Pearl St. in Albany).</p>
<p><span id="more-481"></span></p>
<p><strong>Quinton &#8220;Rampage&#8221; Jackson vs. Lyoto Machida<br />
Prediction</strong>: Jackson via TKO (R2)<br />
It&#8217;s amazing to me that anybody&#8217;s able to hazard a guess as to the result of this fight. There&#8217;s so many questions: is Rampage 100% mentally into the fight game, and has Machida recovered psychologically from the first loss of his career, a quick and decisive TKO stoppage courtesy Mauricio &#8220;Shogun&#8221; Rua (really two straight losses since Rua/Machida II should have gone to his opponent)? I&#8217;m not sure in either case. I do know this, though: the mystique of Machida was much of what kept fighters either sloppy or tentative around him, which played right into his style. Somebody going at him full strength with the experience and strong chin of Jackson is going to give him a lot of trouble, and I&#8217;m surprised that&#8217;s not reflected in the odds. Sure, he didn&#8217;t look great against Evans, but Machida looked much worse against a fighter people thought was washed up over a year ago.</p>
<p><strong>Matt Hughes vs. BJ Penn<br />
Prediction</strong>: Hughes via Unanimous Decision<br />
BJ Penn will go down in history as one of &#8211; if not the &#8211; greatest lightweights in MMA history. He&#8217;s determined to cement his status as both a Lightweight and Welterweight, and a win here will go a long way towards the latter. It&#8217;s a weight class he&#8217;s no stranger to as a former champion, but in recent years he&#8217;s found a lot of trouble overcoming the size differential that comes with the move up in weight. The fact that he&#8217;s going into the fight at 165 (note: Welterweight in MMA is 156-170) and is facing a fighter who specializes in Penn&#8217;s primary weakness (wrestling) has me doubting he&#8217;ll come out of this on top.</p>
<p><strong>Gerald Harris vs. Miquael Falcao<br />
Prediction</strong>: Harris via TKO, R2<br />
As a Brazilian fighter that&#8217;s a relative unknown stateside, Falcao is tough to judge. Harris, on the other hand, has been on an absolute tear since getting his shot at redemption in the UFC, dominating everyone matchmaker Joe Silva has thrown at him. I don&#8217;t expect this to be much different.</p>
<p><strong>Phil Davis vs. Tim Boetsch<br />
Prediction</strong>: Phil Davis via Unanimous Decision<br />
Davis, an undefeated prospect, is moving up in competition by facing Boetsch. I have no doubt he&#8217;ll succeed, but he should be careful: Boetsch is a bigger and more dangerous fighter than he&#8217;s accustomed to facing.</p>
<p><strong>George Sotiropoulos vs. Joe Lauzon<br />
Prediction:</strong> Sotiropoulos via Unanimous Decision<br />
Two years ago Lauzon was where Sotiropoulos is now in the UFC Lightweight food chain, but he got derailed by an injury that shelved him for almost a full calendar year. Sotiropoulos, meanwhile, has looked impressive in his recent victories and there&#8217;s talk of a title shot in the near future should he defeat Lauzon. I expect Sotiropoulos&#8217;s superior grappling to overwhelm Lauzon.</p>
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		<title>Undertaker, Brock Lesnar, and The Business</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/10/24/undertaker-brock-lesnar-and-the-business/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/10/24/undertaker-brock-lesnar-and-the-business/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Mon, 25 Oct 2010 02:06:49 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=472</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[At UFC 121, after Cain Velasquez&#8217;s devastating knockout win over Brock Lesnar to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, there was an incident as Brock was leaving the Octagon between him and his former co-worker in WWE, twenty-six year veteran Mark &#8220;The Undertaker&#8221; Calaway. Undertaker was answering a question from MMAFighting.com&#8216;s &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/10/24/undertaker-brock-lesnar-and-the-business/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>At UFC 121, after Cain Velasquez&#8217;s devastating knockout win over Brock Lesnar to become the new UFC Heavyweight Champion, there was an incident as Brock was leaving the Octagon between him and his former co-worker in WWE, twenty-six year veteran Mark &#8220;The Undertaker&#8221; Calaway.</p>
<p>Undertaker was answering a question from <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com">MMAFighting.com</a>&#8216;s Ariel Helwani when his eyes appeared to catch something off-screen. He paused and moved towards where his eyes had become fixated: at former UFC Heavyweight Champion Brock Lesnar, who was still reeling from his loss to Velasquez.</p>
<p>Lesnar, still groggy and needing stitches for a severe cut he received from the finish, gave him a brief confused look and kept walking with his entourage.</p>
<p>The video is below, and the incident in question begins at the 0:40 mark.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjHtxPew5Os">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjHtxPew5Os</a></p>
<p>If Lesnar was confused, MMA journalists and fans were positively baffled. The morning after, the fog of confusion lifted as people tried to piece together what had happened, and the speculation began. Rumors started on the internet that WWE had made an official offer to Lesnar to face Undertaker at Wrestlemania.</p>
<p>As a background: there has been talk for some time in WWE of trying to get Lesnar back in for a short-term deal. That there&#8217;s talk, though, essentially means nothing. They talk about a lot of things that never come to fruition, and some of the ideas are so wild that in hindsight they sound ludicrous even to the person that pitched the idea in the first place.</p>
<p>This is also likely Undertaker&#8217;s final year as a professional wrestler. In the past sixteen months, it has become increasingly apparent that the years have caught up to him. Even a full-time schedule seems too much for a man who has taken more than his fair share of abuse in an industry that operates on an unnatural stretching of the pain threshold and endurance of human beings, which as everyone knows results in the highest mortality rate for any legal form of sport or entertainment in the world.</p>
<p>As such, Wrestlemania this coming Spring will most likely be Undertaker&#8217;s final match, and no doubt he (and WWE) would like a big name opponent to cap it off.</p>
<p>It is not all that unreasonable &#8211; and entirely plausible &#8211; to come to the conclusion that Undertaker was referring specifically to that. Undertaker is a company man through and through.</p>
<p>That said, I&#8217;m not completely sold on this being the case.</p>
<p>I think Occam&#8217;s Razor absolutely applies to this situation. The simplest and most likely explanation is this: The Undertaker, like so many professional wrestlers and especially those that have become as engrained and dependent on the lifestyle as he has, is a wound-up nutjob who says and does things that make sense only to him and the other carnie freaks that inhabit the strange, baffling, and outrageous world that Brock Lesnar was so lucky to escape intact.</p>
<p>Regardless of the real story behind the incident, Vince McMahon is an insanely shameless opportunist and if he hasn&#8217;t already will most definitely offer Lesnar some type of deal. For his sake, I hope Lesnar shows the same good judgement he showed in 2003 and tells the industry to take a powder, staying as far away from that insane and dangerous freak show as possible.</p>
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		<title>Tie Quan Zhang, Zuffa&#8217;s first Chinese-born Fighter, Wins in Quick Fashion</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/30/tie-quan-zhang-zuffas-first-chinese-born-fighter-wins-in-quick-fashion/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/30/tie-quan-zhang-zuffas-first-chinese-born-fighter-wins-in-quick-fashion/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Fri, 01 Oct 2010 01:49:06 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=470</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Tiequan Zhang, the first native Chinese fighter to be signed by Zuffa, won his WEC debut earlier tonight at 2:26 of the first round with a guillotine choke. His opponent, Pablo Garza, was a last-minute replacement for Jason Reinhardt and went into the bout with an undefeated 9-0 record. Certainly &#8230; <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/30/tie-quan-zhang-zuffas-first-chinese-born-fighter-wins-in-quick-fashion/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tiequan Zhang, the first native Chinese fighter to be signed by Zuffa, won his WEC debut earlier tonight at 2:26 of the first round with a guillotine choke. His opponent, Pablo Garza, was a last-minute replacement for Jason Reinhardt and went into the bout with an undefeated 9-0 record.</p>
<p>Certainly this puts many fears to rest and provides needed momentum for the UFC&#8217;s foray into China, and with his performance, Zhang has cemented himself as the poster boy for the expansion.</p>
<p>Previously: <a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/2010/09/29/wec-51-tiequan-zhang-breakout-china/">Tiequan Zhang Could Be First Breakout Chinese Star, But Questions Remain</a></p>
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		<title>WEC 51: Tiequan Zhang Could Be First Breakout Chinese Star, But Questions Remain</title>
		<link>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/29/wec-51-tiequan-zhang-breakout-china/</link>
		<comments>http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/29/wec-51-tiequan-zhang-breakout-china/#comments</comments>
		<pubDate>Wed, 29 Sep 2010 14:00:33 +0000</pubDate>
		<dc:creator>Kevin Marshall</dc:creator>
				<category><![CDATA[MMA]]></category>

		<guid isPermaLink="false">http://mixedmarshallarts.wordpress.com/?p=451</guid>
		<description><![CDATA[Heralded as a top Chinese prospect, "The Mongolian Warrior" Tiequan Zhang has his first fight outside his home country on Thursday at WEC 51, and an impressive outing could accelerate the UFC's expansion into China. But can he compete with a higher caliber of fighter? <span class="continue-reading"><a href="http://www.kevinmarshallonline.com/mma/2010/09/29/wec-51-tiequan-zhang-breakout-china/">Continue reading <span class="meta-nav">&#8594;</span></a></span>]]></description>
			<content:encoded><![CDATA[<p>Tomorrow evening&#8217;s WEC event may be headlined by one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, but culturally speaking, a more significant MMA fight is occurring on the undercard.</p>
<div id="attachment_460" class="wp-caption alignleft" style="width: 210px"><a href="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/tqz.jpg"><img class="size-full wp-image-460" title="tqz" src="http://mixedmarshallarts.files.wordpress.com/2010/09/tqz.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">&quot;The Mongolian Warrior&quot; Tiequan Zhang is heralded as a top Chinese prospect.</p></div>
<p>Chinese Lightweight fighter <strong>Tiequan (or Tie Quan) Zhang </strong>makes his <strong>WEC</strong> and North American debut on the card headlined by Featherweight Champion <strong>Jose Aldo</strong> defending his title against former Ultimate Fighter contestant <strong>Manny Gamburyan</strong>.</p>
<p>The undefeated Zhang (11-0) will take on the also undefeated <strong>Pablo Garza</strong>. His original opponent, <strong>Jason Reinhardt</strong>, was removed from the bout by the Colorado State Boxing Commission due to fears over his prescription contacts (MMAJunkie has <a href="http://mmajunkie.com/news/20820/out-of-wec-51-due-to-vision-jason-reinhardt-still-wants-crack-at-tiequan-zhang.mma">more details on the debacle</a>).</p>
<p>Zuffa&#8217;s expansion into China started at the end of last month, when <strong>Dana White</strong> tapped former NBA executive <strong>Mark Fischer</strong> to head up the <strong>UFC</strong>&#8216;s main Asia office in Beijing. Current plans incude a Chinese edition of &#8220;<strong>The Ultimate Fighter</strong>&#8221; and re-airing live UFC events on Chinese television.</p>
<p>There&#8217;s no question for the potential for the UFC to make money in China, as the country seems ready to embrace MMA and Zuffa is ready to break though. The question lies in whether Chinese fighters are ready for international competition.<span id="more-451"></span></p>
<p>Zhang will be the litmus test. His credentials are undeniable: at 16 he was a champion grappler in his native Mongolia, trains at a very high level in Sanshou, and was the first ever native Chinese Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioner to attain a purple belt. All of his wins in professional fights came via first-round stoppages, with a variety of submissions (eight in total according to Sherdog) and a handful of knockouts. The videos available on the internet show a fighter with a lot of range who can grapple but also possesses quick, unforgiving, and brutally stiff punches.</p>
<p>The problem, naturally, is that it&#8217;s easy to look like a world-beater against fighters who aren&#8217;t world class. All of Zhang&#8217;s fights have taken place in China against competition that, with only two exceptions, haven&#8217;t fought anyone outside of the mainland. Eight of his ten opponents have losing records. Five of them are winless in their MMA careers, and three of them count the loss to Zhang as their one and only fight . His last two opponents have winning records, but both are unknown fighters and one of them he submitted twice in back to back bouts.</p>
<p>Adding to the uncertainty is the fact that Zhang has only fought twice in as many years.</p>
<p>This is not to say that Zhang can&#8217;t be successful. He&#8217;s clearly gifted and has all the necessary components of an elite fighter. The question is if he can bring those together and compete at a higher level.</p>
<p>Should he be successful, it could signal a change in the industry. Not just for potential success in China, but also for Southeast Asian fighters as a whole to break the dominance of the Americans and Brazilians. If Zhang proves impressive tomorrow night and can compete at an international level, it could potentially make him an icon for the sport in China. It will prove that there is a proven fighting system in place in the country and that it can be taught to the right kind of fighter, which will in turn encourage more athletes to put on the gloves.</p>
<p>In terms of talent, Zhang is a big fish in a tiny pond. At WEC 51, we&#8217;ll find out if he can swim with the sharks.</p>
<p>&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p>In the video below, Zhang taps out opponent Daniel Digby in &#8220;Legend Fighting Championship 2&#8243; in Hong Kong via rear naked choke in thirty seconds.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAj1N_Bf_U0">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAj1N_Bf_U0</a></p>
<p>&#8212;&#8211;</p>
<p>In another fight (which starts at the 4:20 mark) he finishes his opponent Shashi Sathe in less than 30 seconds with strikes. It exemplifies my earlier point about lack of competition, however, as Sathe seems almost completely neverous and unskilled. Once hit, he immediately covers up and curls up into a ball.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP1Fl3M_b2c">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SP1Fl3M_b2c</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Tie-Quan-Zhang-16984">Zhang&#8217;s profile on Sherdog.com</a></p>
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