RonVreeland.com

UFC 82 has come and gone…and it was a great night of fights. The main event had all the makings of a dramatic statement that was going to be made by either Dan Henderson or Anderson Silva. With a Hendo victory, we could have seen an all-time great tackle a very consistent and steady UFC champion. If we saw Silva pull off the victory, we could have seen someone cement for themselves a notch in the all-time pound for pound best fighter list. The results speak for themselves.

Anderson Silva is without question the best pound for pound fighter in the sport today. Although this recognition belonged to Fedor Emelianenko for many years, Fedor has not really faced top opposition since facing CroCop in the PRIDE NYE 2005 special. Anderson has steadily and consistently won victories against some solid opponents, and with his recent win over Dan Henderson (a man who is on most people’s P4P greatest lists), he embodies the true P4P great. The ease with which he dispatched Hendo in the second round makes him look unstoppable at 185. Who is left in the division to present a challenge? Okami maybe…he might have some of the tools to hang with Anderson but I don’t see him pulling off the upset. Anderson is exceptional in his striking and so well-rounded throughout the rest of his game that he is a terrible matchup for anyone. There is already some talk of Silva moving up to 205, but I think that would be a mistake, at least now. I would be just as happy to see Silva defend his title as many times as he can until he decides to make the move himself. The only real challenge I see for Silva would (possibly) be Matt Lindland: given Lindland’s history with the UFC it is doubtful that this match will ever happen. Overall, the main event was a fantastic fight and definitely one to add to Silva’s legacy as one of the greatest fighters that MMA has ever seen.

Was I the only one that was surprised at Cheick Kongo’s newfound ground game? Granted, it didn’t have much of an effect at the outcome of the fight, but it was nice to see that Kong’s been adding some tools to the arsenal. As we have seen with Gabriel Gonzaga, I think having a win over Mirko CroCop in the UFC has more to do with CroCop losing the fight than the other fighters being on a higher plane. Herring looked to be in much better shape for this fight as well, let’s hope he can actually work to finish some matches as he continues to refine his MMA career. He is only 29 years old and still has a good future ahead of him. I really hope we don’t see Herring -vs- Big Nog part IV. That would be unbearable.

Jon Fitch continues his winning ways, although he did not look very impressive on Saturday night. I thought it was interesting to find out that Fitch’s eight wins in a row on the Octagon ties Royce Gracie’s all time record of consecutive wins in the UFC. A title shot can’t be far behind for Fitch.

Like most people I love George St. Pierre. I love watching him fight as he seems to be the future of elite MMA: a fighter who is just so sharp on so many different levels. I also love Matt Serra. It is going to be tough to root for a winner when they meet in April. Unlike most people, however, I am picking Serra to pull off the upset (again). Just like their first meeting, I expect the pressure of GSP fighting near his home town in front of his home crowd to be just a bit too much. Serra does not shake easily and always brings the going-for-broke attitude into his fights. I expect this fight to go into the later rounds and I expect Serra to pull off the shocking upset by submission. I could be completely wrong, but given GSP’s frame of mind before big fights, he better come prepared or Serra’s going to have a surprise for him once again.

One final thought: it was great to see Mark Coleman inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame. Conveniently enough, he also announced his upcoming fight this summer with Brock Lesnar. Coincidence? Anyone remember the UFC dusting off the aged- Ken Shamrock in a fight that would be a launching pad for future title-holder Rich Franklin?

Well, this was a completely nonsensical summary of my thoughts on UFC 82. What are your thoughts? Feel free to add some comments.

Ron is still here. It’s been over a year since I updated this page. With all the distraction of finding people and updating profiles on myspace and Facebook, I have forgotten that I actually own a domain of my own and can work on it.

Here is where I will insert the false-promise of “more content coming soon”. I do actually have new reasons to add content, specifically new music projects that have kept me occupied throughout the year. As far as my other passion, MMA, it is a chaotic and exciting time to be a fan. The MMA scene has exploded and it almost too difficult to keep up with. Yesterday, the UFC announced a partnership with new mega-huge sponsor Bud Light. This is huge for the UFC. In the last year or so we have seen some incredible changes that I would have never predicted (ok, I may have predicted some of them): PRIDE FC is gone; Cro Cop somehow dropped two fights out of three in the UFC; any fledgling millionaire who buys a cage and a couple of fighters thinks he can make a splash in the MMA scene (most cannot); Fedor is still beating up on cans. All is well with the world.

I am currently putting together a four/five song demo to fish out to a couple of interested parties. I will be sure to post that stuff on here as things shape up. I am currently mastering two of the tracks. The third track is about 85% completed and the other one or two tracks have yet to be put to tape. It is difficult to make time. In the past year I have made some significant changes to the studio: I have done away with using the dDrums for percussion and gone to a MIDI-based system for programming drum tracks. I never thought I would make that leap to MIDI but it has been a bit easier than I had initially feared. I am still using Line 6 gear exclusively for recording guitar parts: their stuff is still amazing even after three years of use in the studio.

Stay tuned, more to come!

Courtesy of the California State Athletic Commission, here are the fighter payouts for UFC 60: Hughes -vs- Gracie. It would be interesting to see what the PPV buys were, but those are closely held secrets. I am still estimating that UFC 60 was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) UFC event ever. It was a shame that Royce got so dominated in the sport that he helped to inaugurate here in the United States. Matt Hughes deserves the victory and showed yet again that he is most likely going to remain the most dominant champion in the UFC for some time to come.

Tickets sold: 10,347
Comp. passes: 4,418
Total: 14,765
Gate: $2,900,090
 

Assuerio Silva : $8,000
Brandon Vera: $16,000
John Alessio: $3,000
Diego Sanchez: $12,000
Dean Lister: $5,000
Alessio Sakara: $10,000
Royce Gracie: $400,000
Matt Hughes: $55,000
Rick Davis: $2,000
Melvin Guillard: $5,000
Fabiano Scherner: $3,000
Gabriel Gonzaga: $5,000
Matt Wiman: $3,000
Spencer Fisher: $7,000
Chael Sonnan: $5,000
Jeremy Horn: $35,000
Joe Riggs: $12,000
Mike Swick: $7,000

Total Payouts: $593,000

I thought Royce would get a little more than what he was paid for showing up; then again he probably had a percentage in the PPV purchases. I am also surprised that Matt Hughes earns as little as he does to this day in fight purse. I thought Royce would get a little more than what he was paid for showing up; then again he probably had a percentage in the PPV purchases. I am also surprised that Matt Hughes earns as little as he does to this day in fight purse.I thought Royce would get a little more than what he was paid for showing up; then again he probably had a percentage in the PPV purchases. I am also surprised that Matt Hughes earns as little as he does to this day in fight purse.

I thought Royce would get a little more than what he was paid for showing up; then again he probably had a percentage in the PPV purchases. I am also surprised that Matt Hughes earns as little as he does to this day in fight purse.

The man behind the Ultimate Fighting championship talks about broken arms, the killer instinct, and why he doesn’t want his kids to be fighters in a recent issue of Playboy Magazine. Here is the interesting interview!

Question 1
Playboy: Nine years ago the Ultimate Fighting Championship was blacklisted from television. Now your reality show, The Ultimate Fighter, is wrapping up its third season on Spike. How did you turn it around?
White: We always knew we needed to get on television, but television wasn’t ready for the UFC. The Ultimate Fighter was our Trojan horse. We got on TV and suddenly people were watching mixed martial arts without realizing they were watching it, because they got caught up in the story lines. You also get to learn about the characters and see that these guys aren’t a bunch of f***ing gorillas who just rolled in off a bar stool. You can see how hard they train and that they have real lives and families.

Question 2
Playboy: The 16 contestants on The Ultimate Fighter live together and aren’t allowed to read, watch TV or listen to music. Why?
White: It’s not good television. You don’t want to tune in and see these idiots sitting around watching TV for eight hours or reading books. It’s not easy. It starts to drive them crazy. Imagine me and you in a house together every day, training against each other and knowing that eventually we have to fight each other. These guys start to get on one another’s f***ing nerves. They’ve got 15 roommates, and the house is a mess because no one does the dishes. All these things build up.

Question 3
Playboy: If you were a UFC fighter, what would you use for your intro music?
White: That’s a tough one. I live vicariously through all these guys because I pick all the intro music. There’s a couple I would use. “For Those About to Rock” by AC/DC. We’ve been playing around with it and the lights. And DMX is perfect to walk out to. Mike Tyson has walked out to that. That’s one of the beautiful things Tyson brought to boxing. There was nothing like sitting there waiting for Tyson to walk out. We would say, ” Can you imagine being that f***ing guy in the ring right now, waiting for Tyson to come out and knock his f***ing head into the ninth row?”

Question 4
Playboy: How would Mike Tyson do in a UFC fight?
White: He would get destroyed. I know it. He’s been getting destroyed in boxing lately. I’m not trying to slam Mike Tyson, because I’m still a huge fan. I like real fighters. Guys who are real fighters are born with something other people don’t have. You either have it or you don’t. It’s that ability to cash in all your chips. You put them all on the table and say, “This thing is either going to work for me or not,” and you go at it and you’re aggressive. It’s all you do and all you f***ing think about.

Question 5
Playboy: You were an amateur boxer. Why didn’t you turn pro?
White: I found out early in my career that I didn’t have it. I was about 26 or 27 when the window started closing. For a long time it really messed with e that I hadn’t fought a pro fight. But to fight pro is a lot of work, a lot of money, and a lot of sacrifice. I didn’t take that step. I’ve always felt I didn’t have the balls to turn pro. It wasn’t that I was a afraid to fight. Fighting is what I loved more than anything. But I used to see guys at the gym who were 35 or 36 years old who hadn’t made it. I would look around and think. F***, I don’t want to be that guy.

Question 6
Playboy: Before you took over the UFC, you managed two UFC fighters, Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz. How did you become involved with them?
White: One night my partners, Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta, and I were at the Hard Rock in Las Vegas. We all boxed and had been involved with boxing for a long time. Frank said, “There’s one of those Ultimate Fighter guys.” It was John Lewis. We were saying how we wanted to learn submission fighting. I went over because I knew him, and I told him we wanted to hook up with him to learn. So we made an appointment and we all got together and started doing submissions. We got completely addicted to it. We were training three or four days a week, ripping each other’s arms off and doing all kinds of crazy shit. That’s how we got into the sport and started to love it. Through that I met Liddell and Ortiz. That’s how I started managing them.

Question 7
Playboy: Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta are childhood friends of yours from Las Vegas. In 2001 the three of you teamed up to buy the UFC. What was the first thing you wanted to change when you took over?
White: Before we bought the UFC we went to a fight in New Orleans and sat in the crowd. The old owner didn’t care about the in-house show. All he cared about was the pay-television event. He didn’t care about selling tickets and building up the in-house show and making it exciting. Lorenzo and I sat there, saying, “What if we dim the lights when they walk in, play some cool usic and get the light shows going?” We knew the first thing we needed to do was make the in-house show cool. We believed a lot of revenue could be made from ticket sales, which the old owner didn’t care about because he was more focused on the pay-per-view. We figured we’d start to build the business from the live show. It ended up being the perfect plan for us. In the early days, when we were just getting this thing off the ground, ticket sales saved our ass.

Question 8
Playboy: You worked with regulators to legitimize the UFC, adding weight classes, instituting drug testing and banning things such as head butting and biting. Did you resist any of the regulators’ new rules?
White: No. Regulators from different states used to tell the old owner that he needed to be regulated and sanctioned, and he would say, “F*** you. You aren’t going to tell me what to do with my business.” So he’d go to Alabama or Puerto Rico . We took a different approach and ran toward regulation. We asked what we could do to make this thing safe and comfortable for the regulators. It was really just an education process. In the 13-year history of the UFC there’s never been a death or serious injury. Even back in the crazy days when there was head butting and all that shit, there was never a death or serious injury. So it was just an education process.

Question 9
Playboy: Has it been hard to convince people that the UFC has changed?
White: There are people who like football and people who like hockey. I happen to f***ing hate golf. Golf is the most useless f***ing sport of all time. It’s a waste of f***ing time. It’s a waste of f***ing land. It’s a waste of everything. Homeless people are sleeping in the streets, and these rich dicks are out there golfing. Give me a f***ing break. They ought to build houses for the homeless on all the golf courses. But that’s my opinion. Some guys feel that way about ultimate fighting, and you’re never going to convert them. No one is ever going to convince me that guys who play golf are athletes and that golf is a fantastic sport. You’re never going to convert me, and some people feel that way about the UFC.

Question 10
Playboy: Dr. Peter Carmel, a neurosurgeon and members of the American Medical Association’s board of trustees, has said UFC fights are “as close to murder as you can get.” How do you respond to a critic like that?
White: He’s the ultimate rent-a-doctor. He’s a jackass. He doesn’t believe in any contact sports. At the end of the day, you’re either a fight fan or you’re not. I’m never going to convert a guy who isn’t a fight fan. I would never try. But he is so wrong. These guys are well-conditioned athletes who train and go out there and compete against each other, just like football players, who Dr. Carmel doesn’t believe in either. You’re never going to get a guy like that to look at this thing objectively and see it as a sport. I’m not sitting here telling you that the UFC is safe. When two men go out there and fight, there are risks. The good thing about this country is that we get to chose what we do with our lives. If I want to fight or if I want to play football or golf, I can do whatever the hell I want to do. If Carmel doesn’t like Ultimate Fighting, he doesn’t have to f***ing watch it.

Question 11
Playboy: One of the UFC’s biggest opponents has been Senator John McCain, an admitted boxing fan, who in the late 1990s wrote letters to all 50 governors asking them to ban what he called “human cockfighting.” What didn’t Senator McCain understand about the UFC?
White: I’ll tell you what about Senator John McCain. He’s a boxing fanatic and he went after the UFC, and thank God he did. I credit Senator McCain with our having this sport today. The bottom line is this sport needs to be regulated. The regulators make sure the fighters go through the proper medical testing, physicals and drug test. They make sure these guys are healthy; you never know from one fight to another or from training if someone has something wrong with his head or his heart. Then, on the day of the fight, regulators make sure doctors and ambulances are on-site. If it weren’t for McCain, we wouldn’t be where we are today.

Question 12
Playboy: What’s the most vicious thing you’ve ever seen during a UFC fight?
White: Nothing really makes me cringe. I love fighting. But when Frank Mir broke Tim Sylvia’s arm with that arm bar, it was pretty crazy. Hell, we have four f***ing DVDs of Ultimate Knockouts, so there have been some awesome knockouts.

Question 13
Playboy: Is it inevitable that someone will be killed or seriously injured during a UFC fight?
White: I fear it. I really do. To be honest, I don’t know how I would deal with something serious happening to one of the guys I f***ing love and care about. Take a fight like Chuck Liddell vs. Randy Couture. I love Chuck Liddell and consider him part of my family, and I’ve become very close to Randy Couture. He’s become a good friend of mine. So when they fought, two of my friends were fighting. You’d be surprised how many times my emotions get caught up in this stuff and I get freaked out by it.

Question 14
Playboy: You have several college-educated UFC fighters. Middleweight champion Rich Franklin is a former high school teacher. What makes a guy like that want to become a UFC fighter?
White: It’s the competition. These guys are real athletes and real fighters. It doesn’t matter if they used to be schoolteachers or accountants. They love to compete. It’s great when you’re part of a team and you run out onto the field and the crowd is cheering. But when you walk into a f***ing arena with 17,000 people and your music is playing and everybody is looking at you and going crazy, it’s an amazing feeling. It’s a high you can’t even imagine. Having fought myself, I know it’s something guys dream about. You can’t wait for the day.

Question 15
Playboy: Does this sport require a life of martial-arts training, or is it possible for some badass to walk in off the street and be successful?
White: Some guy walking in off the street would get killed. But if somebody walked in off the street and wanted to train in the sport, how long it would take depends on the individual. Some guys take five or six years before they’re ready to compete. For some guys it could take two. It depends on the type of athlete you are and how quickly you pick it up. It’s all about talent, and the training has really changed. Early guys like Chuck Liddell came from kickboxing and learned everything else. Randy Couture and Matt Hughes came from wrestling and learned everything else. Now, guys like Georges St. Pierre and B.J. Penn are mixed martial artists. They are well-rounded and take a bit of everything. I think this is the most exciting combat sport in the world right now. No doubt about it. And it’s only going to get more exciting as the level of athleticism continues to step up another notch.

Question 16
Playboy: Is the UFC any better than the WWE?
White: Yes, because it’s real. I think the WWE is fantastic. It’s amazing when you’re 12 to 15 years old. But when you hit 16 or 17, you realize it’s fake, and you want to see something real. I was a huge WWE fan as a kid. I got to an age when I got tired of the shit. It was just acting. Then I got into boxing.

Question 17
Playboy: You grew up in Las Vegas and live there now. Do you gamble?
White: Like a motherf***er. I went gambling last night. I also get this crazy urge to gamble on Christmas Eve. Two years ago I went out and lost $25,000. That was a fun Christmas. That night I thought, why did I do this to myself? You’re supposed to wake up and be happy on Christmas, but I can’t get any f***ing Christmas presents today that will bring back that $25,000 and make me feel better. Why did I do this to myself? I started with blackjack and got my ass kicked. Then I went to craps and got my ass kicked. Jumped over to roulette and got my ass kicked. I think I must have hit every table in the place that night. Finally I just tapped out. I drove home at 2:30 A.M., and my wife was wrapping presents. I walked in feeling like a dickhead. The whole family was there, and I’d just lost $25,000. Christmas was going to suck.

Question 18
Playboy: There have been rumors of a fight between Joe Rogan, the comedian who does color commentary for all the UFC pay-per-views, and actor Wesley Snipes. When will that happen?
White: The rumors were all buzzing, and I know some guys were trying to put the fight together. Apparently Snipes is balking at it.

Question 19
Playboy: Whom should we bet on?
White: You should bet on Rogan. He’s a bad motherf***er.

Question 20
Playboy: You have two sons, ages three and four. What if one of them wants to become a UFC fighter?
White: I love my kids so much. Do I want them to be fighters? No way. But I don’t want them to be football players either. And I don’t want them to stub their toes. And I don’t want them to get hurt at all. This is how f***ed up I am, that I sit around and think about this, but I dread the day when they get into a fight at school. I have two boys, so it’s inevitable, but I dread that day. I remember what fights were like in school. It’s traumatizing. I love my kids more than anything and I don’t want that to happen, but that’s a reality. So if the day comes when my kid wants to do motocross or wants to fight, I would never hold him back. The worst thing would be for my kid to come home and say he wants to be a dancer. But if he wants to be a dancer, I guess I have to support him.

Technorati Tags: MMA, Mixed Martial Arts, UFC, Ultimate Fighting Championship, Dana White, Zuffa, Bas Rutten, Pat Miletich, Tim Sylvia, Matt Hughes, Royce Gracie, Rich Franklin, Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, The Ultimate Fighter, TUF, PRIDE, PRIDE FC, Shooto, Pancrase, WFA, WEC, Ricco Rodriguez, Quinton Rampage Jackson, Wanderlei Silva, Fedor Emilianenko, Mirko Crocop Filopovic, Andrei Arlovski

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter was one of the most exciting ones of this season, in my opinion. First off, the middleweight bout between Kendall Grove and Kalib Starnes is by far the best fight of the show this far. Both guys went in at 110% utilizing a good combination of heart, ring tactics and strategy for the duration of the fight. At the start, Kalib scored a massive slam takedown that didn’t do as much damage as it appeared. It was a vicious slam and perfectly executed. Kendall recovered and managed to survive on the ground. When the fight returned to the feet Kendall was getting the better of the exchanges; at one point in the second round he landed a vicious knee to the body that may have damaged one of Kalib’s ribs (he immediately winced and complained about his midsection hurting but continued to fight). Round two was all Kendall; it was as if once he realized that he had hurt Kalib there he continued to release a barrage of body strikes attacking that hurt rib. The second round came to a close with Kendall looking dominant. At the beginning of the third round, Kalib verbally tapped after being separated by the referee…Kalib was unable to continue due to his supposed rib injury. Kendall was declared the winner after a very exciting bout and he is the first of the fighters to advance to the finals in the middleweight division.

The fight itself was so exciting that some of the meatier moments on the episode almost escaped me. Matt Hamill is out of active competition due to the injuries he sustained during training and his war with Mike Nickels. We didn’t even get a farewell speach from Matt; we aren’t sure if this decision was made by Matt in haste or whether he will be back for a formal good-bye. I was disappointed to see this happen because of all the fighters of this season, I though Matt had the most potential. Michael Bisping almost had me fooled into thinking that he was a nice guy by showering Matt with praise and sorrow that he is unable to continue. My cynical side was telling me that Bisping is glad he will not have to face Matt in the semis or the finals. But true to form Bisping is flat out whining like a baby a minute later as it is announced that the fighters who have already been eliminated from the competition have been brought back in to the house to aid the fighters in training. In reality, the producers are probably just hoping to throw more drama fuel to the fire. Ken Shamrock scored his first clear victory against Tito by beating him in a best-of-three match of pool hosted by UFC Dana White. Ken earned a cool ten grand for his triumphant performance. I am glad this segment aired because it really displayed that Ken isn’t a total heel. He isn’t that great of a coach though, and no amount of editing can fix that fact. His team has scored two victories in this entire competition so far.

I am not even going to go into the whole drama of Tait and Kristian choosing not to return when given the chance. It was nice knowing you guys, good luck in your chosen profession. Too bad it is not going to be MMA. I am still sad to see Matt go. Tito was bummed out about it and it was apparent. Anyway, my predictions for the rest of the semi-finals:

- Michael Bisping is going to beat returned fellow Brit Ross Pointon. The two have already faced each other in competition outside of TUF, how was this overlooked?

- Ed Herman is not going to have much trouble dispatching Rory Singer, contrary to what some of you believe.

- Josh Haynes will out-heart Jesse Forbes for the spot in the finals.

Next week we will be treated to two back to back episodes of The Ultimate Fighter to ramp up for the live finale. I am looking forward to it!

UFC President Dana White has been recently speaking about a deal between the UFC and HBO. This is exciting news for MMA fans as the sport continues to grow at a steady pace. A syndicated network deal with powerhouse HBO would ensure a much broader audience exposure to the sport. Rumors of a deal in the makings have left some negative impressions on the fading boxing community, who by now must feel the pressure of being on a the losing end of a dying sport.

There is no doubt that boxing is a great sport: a sport rich in history, well steeped in the American culture and a venue that offers some incredible moments in athletic history. On top of this, boxing has given us some of the greatest athletes of the 20th century. But times are changing. Boxing is no longer a draw, and mixed martial arts competition consistently beats boxing in the PPV game for all but the highest profile boxing matches. Boxers may still be the best boxers in the world, but they are certainly not the best fighters in the world. Even the first barbaric UFC competitions demonstrated this.

 If (and when, if what I am hearing is correct) the UFC strikes a deal with HBO, the floodgates will be open. More and more fans will come flocking to the sport as the unified rules set of mixed martial arts competition gains popularity. Hopefully in time the North American crowd can learn to better understand and appreciate the entire aspect of mixed martial arts competition (as they do in Japan); for now they are most excited with the standup portion of the game and grow weary once the match hits the ground. Things have only been improving since Zuffa took over the UFC in 2001; I don’t expect this forward trend to slow any time soon.

I can understand and appreciate the fact that there were countless hours of film created during this season’s run, and that only a certain amount of it will ever be aired. I also understand that the editing process can influence how the individuals and how the events are portrayed: for example, although I think Ken Shamrock is not the best of coaches, no amount of editing could ever convince me that he is a total heel. His fighters may not love him particularly, but to think that he is a compelte jerk is just silly. That being said, I think no amount of editing could ever convince me at this point that Michael Bisping is anything other than a whining baby. Right off the bat in this episode, Michael wastes no camera time at all making his opinions known: anytime he is training, talking to the camera or living in the house he is complaining about something or someone. It is really getting stale. There is no doubt that there is already some bad blood between Michael Bisping and Tito Ortiz golden boy Matt Hamill. During training, Bisping complains that Matt is training too hard and not letting up when told to. Part of this may be Matt’s nature and part of it may be that he is totally deaf. At one point, tempers flare and both fighters have to be told to chill out and work together. During an armbar escape drill, Matt refuses to tap as Michael turns up the pressure on his arm, resulting in Matt’s arm being hyper-extended. This causes a problem as Matt is soon to face Team Shamrock member Mike Nickels in the Octagon.

Just prior to fight day, Matt announces that he is going to keep the fight standing as he doesn’t want to attempt takedowns with an injured arm. This is an obvious contradiction to what Matt is truly skilled at, wrestling. Again, no amount of editing on the show can hide the fact that Matt is a beast. He has shown little difficulty for controlling his teammates on the ground all throughout training. Team Ortiz tries to talk Matt out of keeping the fight standing but in the end allowed him to fight the fight as he sees fit. The result was a mixture of failure and success. Mike Nickels came into this fights knowing what a superior wrestler Matt was; as a result Mike spent most of the match looking tentative on his feet and trying to avoid the shoot from Matt that never came. That is a plus for Matt as he was able to land a steady stream of strikes as Mike was “thinking downward”. Matt looked anything but sharp on his feet, keeping his hands low and landing sloppy (but effective) strikes on Mike throughout the two rounds. Matt also took a few solid shots and at one point backed up, dazed. The few times when the fight did go to the ground Matt controlled his opponent easily but showed an inability to finish the fight at any point. Mike was close to defeat more than once throughout the match and Matt seemed as if he didn’t know how to put it all togther in the cage. Matt won the fight in the second round via unanimous decision. There was no ambiguity about the decision. After the fight was over, Matt was unable to walk, refused to answer questions and didn’t really speak to anyone. He showed classic signs of exhaustion and was taken to the hospital for evaluation. Despite the drama associated with the incident Matt is going to be fine as the following week’s preview already showed him back in training.

Matt Hamill is still consdered by many to be the frontrunner in this competition. Tito Ortiz considers him to be champion-caliber. The bottom line, however, is that if he is to make a mark in the MMA world he will need to expand his base. He showed an inability to finish the fight last night and looked sloppy on his feet (as did Mike Nickels, to be fair). The days of one-dimensional fighters being successful in the UFC (fighters like Royce Gracie and Mark Coleman) are over. I hope Matt returns to the drawing board and comes out with a more polished game plan and skill set. After making his much-awaited debut last night, Matt has left a good portion of MMA fanatics scratching our heads about the future of The Ultimate Fighter as this third season heads into the semi-finals.

Royce Gracie. Kazushi Sakuraba. Rickson Gracie. Ken Shamrock. All are considered to be mixed martial arts legends in their own right that are either actively competing or who have made recent dramatic returns to the fight game. Now we can add Bas Rutten to the list of legends returning to active competition. After several months of speculation, Bas Rutten has confirmed that he is returning to active competition after a seven year hiatus. Bas is being added to what is now considered to be one of the best fight cards ever assembled on US soil for the newly-revigored fight promotion World Fighting Alliance. The WFA was a fledgling promotion that fizzled away some time ago due to poor financial decisions, poor management and poor production. The promotion has recently come under new ownership and has blown away the MMA world with their acquisition of PRIDE FC star Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, UFC veteran and respected fighter Matt “The Law” Lindland, and former UFC Heavyweight champion Ricco Rodriguez. The inaugural fight card for their newly reborn organization is absolutely stacked. On top of this, the WFA has secured the return of MMA legend Bas Rutten to this already stellar card.

Bas apparently has already chosen his opponent for his ring return, UFC notorious legend Kimo Leopoldo. You may remember Kimo from his epic battle with the then-considered unbeatable UFC champ Royce Gracie. Kimo was the first fighter to really test Gracie; after all he was only about 70 pounds heavier. Kimo has since gone on to fight for several different promotions, including PRIDE FC. In typical heel fasion, Kimo had this to say about Rutten selecting him for his return fight: “I’ve helped this sport come from bare knuckles, no rules and no excuses to where it is today, and for this man to select me specifically as the target for his comeback is an insult to everything I’ve accomplished. This will be the shortest comeback of all time, and Bas will regret the day he chose me for his return to the cage.” Although Bas has not faced active competition for about seven years, there are few people who believe Kimo poses much chance on delivering an immediate re-retirement for Rutten.

Bas has kept himself in good shape through these years do to his continued coaching, seminar and tenure as PRIDE FC color commentator. Bas is a world class striker who has developed a deadly ground game since his last victory over Kevin Randleman in the UFC to secure the heavyweight championship. When this fight happens in July we will see if Rutten still possesses the ferocity and endurance that enabled him to be one of the most feared fighters in his day. I see Rutten dominating this fight from start to finish, and a TKO victory over Kimo over round one. I expect to see the victorious “Rutten Jump” after the fight is concluded.

Some skeptics say that Rutten is just one of many fighters who are returning to the ring in order to receive a fat paycheck. While Rutten will undoubtedly command a nice price tag wherever he fights, his motivation cannot be solely for money (as is suspected of Mark Kerr’s recent “comeback” attempt). Despite earning a nice chunk of change for his work with PRIDE FC and recent hiring as a coach for the International Fight League, Rutten has recently opened a high profile MMA gym in California, Elite MMA. I don’t think that Bas is “cashing in” so to speak. This return to the fight game may be a flash in the pan or it may end up being a continuation of an already stellar career. One thing is for sure: it is unlikely that Bas will take his return or his opponent lightly. 

 Be sure to visit RonVreeland.com often as we cover Bas’s exciting return to the fight game. In preparation for Bas’s return, I am going to be adding DVD reviews of each and every fight as chronicled in the Bas Rutten Career DVDs!

Saturday evening’s UFC 60: Hughes vs Gracie Pay Per View proved to be everything it billed itself to be: an exciting showcase of up and coming fighters; the return of a venerable UFC legend; the continued domination by a current champion. There is little doubt that the UFC has scored a financial hit with the return of Royce Gracie. The PPV purchase numbers have not been released (and accurate numbers rarely are) but I am confident that this will be one of the highest PPV revenues for the UFC ever. Royce’s return was marketed in every venue possible: radio (local stations in NYC were playing UFC spots regularly), television (Spike TV practically became an infomercial for Royce and the UFC), and even tried and true dedicated sports venues such as ESPNews hosted a brief preview of UFC 60 and a candid interview with Royce Gracie. It was heavily marketed, and no doubt it was heavily viewed. How did the event pan out? More importantly, how was it perceived by its audience?

Since Zuffa took over management of the UFC several years back, the UFC brand name has been slowly and steadily improving. Gone are the fireworks, the gaudy laser light shows and horrid looking ring girls. Gone are the unending references to professional wrestling. The UFC has already declared itself to be a legitmate sport, an event in itself: UFC 60 was just the continuation of the coming out party. Production values were top notch on Saturday night. Commentary was solid, as usual. The preliminary under card fights were surprisingly good. Three of the aired fights prior to the main event ended in slick submissions; only one went to the judge’s cards. After this, it was the main event, the moment everyone has been waiting for for several months.

There was not much doubt that Matt Hughes would win the fight. I think deep down most of us who are in the scope of modern MMA knew that Matt Hughes is considered to be one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world, while Royce is usually relegated to “legend” status. Despite reliving the magic of watching Royce tap out four uneducated fighters in the same night during UFC II, there was just very little chance that he would defeat Hughes. And in ironic reality Hughes in many ways has the Gracie family to thank for that. At the start of the fight, Royce executed his gameplan of keeping Matt away by using some decent leg kicks. Royce’s biggest motive is not to be hit. He has shown a remarkable talent at accomplishing this goal over his career. He either wants to be in close, or far enough back where he is not going to be struck. This part of the game he did exceptionally well. It was when things finally went to the ground where it became a different story.

Matt Hughes without a doubt dominated Royce Gracie on the ground, like many said he would do. Matt Hughes is 39-4 in mixed martial arts competition for a reason. He is a mountain to climb for today’s active fighters in the UFC, let alone a legend who has not stepped in the Octagon for over ten years. I admit it was painful to watch Royce struggle once the fight hit the ground. Matt Hughes at one point locked in a painful looking Kimura…the fight could have ended at that point. After this, the unthinkable happened and Royce gave up his back to Matt. The fight was downhill from here as Matt landed some devastating strikes from the back that saw referee John McCarthy step in the end the bout. There were a lot of old school veterans and new school admirers watching UFC 60: Hughes vs Gracie on Saturday night. I hope that the impressions they were left with were favorable. Looking back on the progress I have seen over the last ten plus years, I would hope that these newcomers and old timers alike saw what I did: a polished program with spectacular production values; a legitimate sport with legitimate contenders; a valid competition with its own stable of capable fighters and inspiring legends. Saturday night was about Royce Gracie stepping up the line, and passing the torch to the dominant Matt Hughes. It was a victory for both champions. 

Last night’s episode of The Ultimate Fighter was a good mixture of fight training, actual competition and everyone’s favorite reality show element, drama. My first thought about this episode is that just about everytime Michael Bisping gets on camera he is complaining about something. I understand that when you put 16 guys in the same house hilarity is going to ensue, people are going to get annoying and tempers are going to flare. But come on…week after week this guy is complaining about everything and everyone. Bisping complains when Matt gets rowdy. Bisping complains when Jesse comes back and gets a bye into the semi-finals. Bisping complains about just about everyone and everything. Enough! Hopefully he soon will get a chance to release some of this pent up frustration. 

This week we also finally got to see Ed “Short Fuse” Herman fight. Ed has been touting his greatness since day one, and he is probably the only fighter with the experience to back it up (Ed holds an impressive professional MMA record of 10-3). Ed gives us a brief insight into his upbringing and family life and I felt that this was a brief high point in what is otherwise been a cheeky “inside look” at the fighter’s lives. With the exception of Josh Haynes, whose son has some serious medical problems, Ed’s short bio is the most compelling. Apparently Ed comes from the worst of troubled homes: substance abuse, physical abuse and emotional abuse all under the same roof. The product of this upbringing is what we see in Ed Herman: a brash, uncaring fighter who is not concerned about his opponents and is overly confident in his abilities. Contrast this with his opponent, Danny Abaddi. Danny is a fighter we have heard very little from throughout the series, up until now. Last night we were treated to a bizarre series of statements and actions that left me wondering just how someone like Danny made the cut in the first place. The man is just bizarre. He certainly hasn’t been making any friends in the house besides Matt, and Matt doesn’t hear so well. Danny likes to talk about things he has done, things he is capable of and things he is going to do. The problem is, I don’t think Danny can convince himself about any of the exploits: he certainly hasn’t convinced anyone else in the house about them. Michael Bisping took some time to express how annoyed he is about the whole thing, as expected. Anyway, Danny must be realizing the entire time up to this point that he is going to have to face the feared Ed Herman.  He suddenly develops a back injury, most likely posturing himself for either a way out of the fight or a convenient excuse for the defeat he is undoubtedly going to receive. I don’t think any of the crew were buying into Danny’s sudden back injury. Fight day arrives and Danny looks uncertain at best about facing Ed. Herman is just ready to finally be fighting and continues to gripe about not being picked by Tito.

Does Ed live up to the hype? The fight between Danny Abaddi and Ed Herman was definately one sided, with Ed Herman easily controlling the pace of the fight and ending it with a nice armbar submission in the first round. Was it a good perfoamance? Yes. Was it indicative of Ed Herman’s greatness? Hardly. I don’t think Danny Abaddi was a true challenge for him. We will have to see how things develop in the semi’s.

Overall, this was a good episode this week, with a good balance of training, competition and silly drama. Next week we finally get to see Matt Hamill step into the Octagon. This is the fight I have been waiting for this entire season.