TUF 3 Matt Hamill VS. Mike Nickles

I just finished watching the latest episode of The Ultimate Fighter and that had to be the gayest fight I've ever seen in my life. My fricken wife could have beat Matt's ass that's how bad this was.

I swear I thought Mike was deaf, if he had only listened to his coach and his team mates he could have won this fight. All it seemed Mike was capable of was throwing these wild windmill type punches with head down and his eyes closed...?

I can't be the only person that thought this fight was weak. Matt is supposed to be some kind of Olympic caliber wrestler and he can't hang for 10 mins with out getting faint and feeling like he was going to puke?

I am sorely disappointed in this fight even my wife was like "What the hell is this?!" That being said I can only agree with the decision even though this fight was "sloppy" as Dana White put it, Matt clearly got in way more strikes than Mike did and I grudgingly admit he deserved the decision.

Neither man should be proud of that fight...

Mike
(MMA Fanatic)

Brandon Vera... Walking the walk and backing it all up.

I have to admit I've been more impressed with Brandon Vera than any of the new up and comer fighters I've seen lately. This guy has a stated goal to be the first fighter to hold the Heavy and Light Heavyweight belts in the UFC, and damn if it doesn't look like he could do it.

He's rolling right over guys that are 20, 30, 40 pounds heavier than he is and his most recent win in UFC 60 over Assuerio Silva is more proof that this guy has everything it takes to get a title shot.

Can you imagine the possible title fight scenarios? Vera VS. Sylvia (or Arlovski), Vera VS. Liddell Wow! I'll be first in line for that PPV!

The Washington Post has a great article on Vera today, check it out Here.

You can also check out Brandon's website here: Brandon Vera

And he has a cool blog with video you can see here: Brandon Vera Blog

Mike
(MMA Fanatic)

New MMA Fanatics Logo

I have to give props to my friend Scott for making up this logo for my MMA blog he's quite the photoshop genius. Thanks Buddy! You can check out his blog here: From The Mind of a Zombie

Mike Kyle on national suspension list for kicking a downed fighter

On May 5th the World Extreme Cagefighting organization held an event in Lemoore CA. One of the matchups at that fight was Mike Kyle vs. Brian Olsen. During the fight Olsen had slipped over the back of Kyle and landed on the ground on all fours, Kyle promptly delivered a hell of a kick right to Olsen's face!

Unfortunately I had missed the fight on the 5th as I was out of town but I had a chance to see the event replayed on HD NET this past weekend and view the fight that I had heard so much about.

As most of us are aware kicking a downed fighter in the head is prohibited in just about every MMA organization. Kicks to the legs and body are generally allowed in most places.

It was shocking to see Kyle take this action and when ref Josh Rosenthal stepped in to stop the fight Kyle kept pounding away and Rosenthal had to be assisted by Herb Dean to pull Kyle off of Olsen.

Well the California State Athletic Commission voted on May 26th to indefinitely suspend Kyle's license to fight in CA. Furthermore the WEC has also suspended Kyle from competing in any of their events and he has been put on the national suspension list.

I would suspect that was the last event Mike Kyle will ever have in the US as he has had trouble previously with accusations of "Dirty fighting". And good riddance too...

These are the type of actions that give MMA a bad name and provide ammo to it's detractors. Combat sports have come a long way in the last 10 years and morons like Mike Kyle that can't follow rules have no place within it's future.

Mike
(MMA Fanatic)

Another fantastic UFC event last night.

Well the torch has been officially passed, after last nights UFC 60 it's clear that the new era of UFC fighters are a step above those from the early 90's.

I expected the Matt Hughes vs Royce Gracie fight to go at least 2 rounds and I was a bit surprised at the utter domination Matt had over Royce. I was not surprised that the fight ended in a TKO ref stoppage, I expected that, just not in such an overwhelming fashion.

As I stated in my previous post this Hughes win certainly locks Matt in as the most dominant welterweight in UFC history.

I don't want to take anything away from Royce, he hung in there way beyond any other fighter would have under the same circumstances. I thought for sure that he would have to tap with the pressure Matt was applying to his arm yet if you saw the look on his face it wasn't any different than how he would look relaxing in a comfortable armchair. That's a testament to his toughness, he simply would not submit.

The remainder of the card also featured some great fights. Mike "Quick" Swick again lived up to his name by taking out Joe Riggs by guillotine choke 2:19 in round one.

Brandon Vera was able to quickly take out Brazilian big man Assuerio Silva by also utilizing a guillotine choke 2:39 in round one. Brandon just looks better and better each time he fights, could there be an eventual title fight against light heavyweight champ Chuck Liddell? Time will tell.

Up and comer Melvin Guillard just about took Las Vegas native Rick Davis' head off with a crushing overhand right that sent Davis to the mat like a ragdoll at 1:37 of round one.

All in all it was great show now it's time to wait for UFC 61 Bitter Rivals July 8th.

Mike
(MMA Fanatic)