If you know me and what I'm about, you understand my begrudging acceptance of today's MMA. Once the headbutts were taken away and you couldn't grind the heel of your sneaker on a man's face, the sport began to take a turn towards main stream acceptance, yet lost the grit of reality combat. While the changes to the rules allowed the sport to reach larger audiences and become an … [Read more...]
MMA Campfire Tales: Unsportsmanlike Conduct
MMA Fighters have thin skin these days. Say someone hits like a girl, or that they make funny noises during a match, or that they're legally cheating with TRT, and all of a sudden everyone has hurt feelings. Back in the day, this was just your standard banter before the fight, and for good reason: Everyone was scared shitless. If you're a judoka walking into a rickety cage … [Read more...]
MMA Campfire Tales: Phil Baroni
It was May 10th, 2002. The fully regulated sport of MMA was just starting to emerge from the darkness of straight-to-video hell, prompting me to throw away my membership to Video Thunder and find a friend with cable television. While the spectacle of yesteryear was now just a wonderful bloody memory, the legitimate sport had evolved and attracted legitimate athletes to its … [Read more...]
MMA Campfire Tales: Always a Journeyman, Never a Gate Keeper
Do you ever feel overwhelmed by all these MMA fight cards every week? Isn't it so hard to keep track of all the changes, between the injuries and failed drug tests cutting deep into promotional rosters? Don't you sometimes yearn for simpler times? You're not alone son. There are times when I look at my cable bill and have to double-check to make sure it's not my mortgage … [Read more...]
MMA Campfire Tales: Top 3 Upsets of Early MMA
So, here I am. It's a Saturday night, and I'm sitting here not watching a fight. I can't believe I used to wait four or five months for another UFC to roll around, but now I go two weeks and I'm about ready to pay the neighborhood kids to fight in my empty swimming pool out back. While I love having a nearly constant stream of fights on my over-priced cable package, one thing … [Read more...]